Spotlight on St. Petersburg, Florida

The City of St. Petersburg is located on a peninsula on the central west coast of Florida.  St. Petersburg is the fourth largest city in Florida spanning 60 square miles and is home to over 240,000 residents.  Mayor Bill Foster, in cooperation with the City Council, continues to add to the expansive parks system.  St. Petersburg boasts more than 150 parks on approximately 2,500 acres of public land dedicated to parks and recreation, including a seven mile preserved downtown waterfront area.  Running through the city is the Pinellas Trail, which is a 37 mile hiking/biking trail connecting St. Petersburg with central and northern Pinellas County.  This is the longest urban linear trail in the Eastern United States.  The City of St. Petersburg has been recognized by the America’s Promise Alliance six years in a row as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People and one component of this award is the Mayor’s Playing Close to Home initiative.  The City has committed to building playgrounds within a safe walk of every child in St. Petersburg, and with City property being limited, they partnered with the Pinellas County School District, in a joint-use agreement, to place eight city owned playgrounds on school properties throughout the city.  During school hours these parks are exclusively used by students, but in the evenings and on weekends the parks are open to the public.  The City has received a gold medal in Goal V: Active Kids at Play for these efforts.

Councilmember Leslie Curran at the Gladden Park Fitness Zone

The City of St. Petersburg collaborates with several partners to support the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns, and Counties (LMCTC) goals, such as the Pinellas County School District (PCSD), the Pinellas County Health Department, All Children’s Hospital, Coordinated Child Care of Pinellas, Inc. and the Juvenile Welfare Board.  An example of this support and collaboration is with the PCSD; the school system offers a nutritious breakfast and/or lunch during the school year for many of the 35,000 public school students, and during the summer months when there is no school, the City provides healthy meals through their recreation programs.  The City of St. Petersburg has also developed private/public partnerships to increase the number of community gardens throughout the city and has revised local laws to allow for gardens absent zoning changes, which were previously required.  Additionally, the City has supported gardening by providing City-owned lands, modifying water use fees to exclude wastewater charges, and supplying free mulch where requested.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created the Communities Putting Prevention to Work program to address two of the leading preventable causes of premature death and disability—obesity and tobacco use.  The Pinellas County Health Department was awarded funding through the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Program.  To complement Goal I of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties, the Early Learning Coalition of Pinellas County’s Health and Nutrition Specialist met with child care center directors throughout Pinellas County, discussing three main goals: increasing physical activity, encouraging and providing healthy options for meals and snacks and celebrations, and decreasing screen time for preschoolers.  Program outcomes include:

• Sesame Street’s Healthy Habits for Life Curriculum, which focuses on the benefits of eating well and playing actively in a fun atmosphere – 345 childcare providers are now using this curriculum in their programs.
• Food for Thought Kits for eating well on a budget –over 9,000 kits were distributed throughout Pinellas County.
• 12 child care centers implemented policies focusing on healthy nutrition and physical activity.

Mayor Bill Foster visits a class during healthy snack time.

These and other types of partnerships allow the City of St. Petersburg to maximize community resources to promote a healthy lifestyle for all residents. To learn more about St. Petersburg’s efforts contact Lori Mataway at lori.mataway@stpete.org.