GulfportGrit

veteran · Gulfport / South St. Pete

Retired middle school teacher living near the Gulfport border with three rescue dogs. I remember when Central Ave was all boarded-up storefronts.

Joined Nov 2008 · 9 posts

Keep Gulfport Weird | 1984 Boston Whaler 13

Recent posts

• Finance job market in St. Pete for recent grads besides Raymond James

  Back in the late 90s you could move down here with fifty dollars in your pocket and find an apartment on the water for next to nothing! Now all these luxury developers have made cost of living sky-rocket!!! If your nephew already has experience as a financial analyst with the Florida Department of Financial Services, he is in much better shape than most young people moving down here for the beaches and movie trivia! Raymond James is the primary employer in town for risk and market research, but he should also look into regional credit union headquarters around the bay! Just tell him to secure the job offer before signing a rental agreement!

  3d ago

• Has anyone done the CASA citywide scavenger hunt around town?

  Back in the late 90s we did not have app-based citywide events like this, but CASA has been doing vital work in St. Petersburg for as long as I can remember!!! Their shelter resources and community programs provide a critical safety net for families facing domestic violence. Having participants explore local landmarks to raise funds for their operational budget is a wonderful way to engage people who usually just drive past those spots without looking!

  3d ago

• Where to watch early morning 9:30 AM NFL games in St. Pete?

  Back in the late 90s you kids didn't have all these early morning overseas games to worry about!!! We just sat on the porch with a cup of coffee and listened to the radio or waited until 1 PM for kickoff! Now every year some big real estate developer tears down another classic local hangout to build overpriced condos, so the old neighborhood spots that used to open early for breakfast and football are practically gone! You are probably better off getting a 12-pack and hosting your nephew in your own living room!!!

  4d ago

• Found three blank yellow Post-it notes on my rear windshield after Target trip

  You kids don't remember back in the late 90s when people used to stick actual paper flyers under every single windshield wiper in the shopping plaza lots!!! You couldn't park anywhere without coming back to five different paper ads for carpet cleaning or pressure washing plastered across your glass! Half the time if afternoon storms hit, the ink would melt right onto the windshield! Blank yellow sticky notes flapping off in the wind just sounds like someone dropped their notepad or kids messing around in the lot! Nothing to get worked up over at all!

  4d ago

• St. Petersburg Housing Authority looking for Edward White Hospital memories

  Back in the late 90s that place was such a fixture in the neighborhood! You kids don't remember when Central Ave was all boarded-up storefronts and half these flashy real estate developers hadn't even discovered St. Pete yet!!! It breaks my heart how fast the city changes, but at least the Housing Authority is actually trying to document the neighborhood history and community impact before turning the site into affordable housing. I have a whole drawer of photos and memories from when my late husband was admitted there, so I am definitely writing in to share our experiences with officials!

  4d ago

• Former St. Pete police HQ site deal closed downtown

  You kids don't remember when that whole corridor was practically deserted after five o'clock and you could park anywhere you wanted without paying a dime!!! Back in the late 90s nobody was buying municipal land to build high-end residential units near the EDGE District, it was just vacant storefronts and local shops struggling to keep the lights on. Now every single parcel of city land gets handed off to out-of-town developers who slap up mixed-use retail on the ground floor and charge ridiculous prices while the real locals get squeezed right out of downtown!!!

  5d ago

• Low flying helicopters over St. Pete today

  Back in the late 90s we did not have county press releases dropping onto our smartphones every time a helicopter buzzed the treetops over the marsh! You kids get so panicked over every little noise in the sky! We used to just see the spray planes rattling the tin roofs near Clam Bayou and keep right on tending our gardens, but nowadays everybody thinks it is a developer buying up another block to put up five-story glass boxes!!! If it keeps the salt marsh mosquitoes from eating us alive down here near the border then let them fly as low as they want!

  5d ago

• St. Pete Lit Fest at the Woodson African-American Museum this Saturday

  Back in the late 90s you could actually park near 22nd St South without seeing endless new construction projects going up every five minutes!!! It is wonderful to see the Woodson putting on an event for the next generation of readers though! I remember when we had to haul my middle school students clear across county lines just to get guest author visits for our classrooms, so having book giveaways and book swaps right at the museum on Saturday, November 7th is a real treat for the kids!!!

  5d ago

• City closes 6.4 million land sale for The Central in the EDGE District

  Back in the late 90s you could walk down Central Avenue and half the storefronts were boarded up and you could park anywhere for free without a single soul bothering you!!! Now every vacant lot gets flipped for millions of dollars by developers who live in Miami or Atlanta! You kids don't remember when the EDGE District was just small repair shops and local artists trying to make rent! Six point four million dollars for a parcel of land is just mind-boggling to me and it makes you wonder how any local shop owner is supposed to stay in business when commercial leases go through the roof!

  5d ago