What can Downtown St. Pete learn from European cities?
/St. Petersburg seems to be getting a lot of attention these days. And why shouldn’t it? We live in a city with good parks and trails, easy access to water, a bayfront downtown, and funky Central Avenue to tie it all together. And all of this without much traffic thanks to the well-connected street grid. Even though the city, and especially the downtown and Central Avenue, have made great strides in the last 5-10 years (as the long-time locals keep reminding me), the urban planner in me is always looking for ways to make a good thing better. And while some hesitate to look across the Atlantic for inspiration, I find there is much to learn from European cities and their immersive urban environments, especially as it relates to the downtown area.
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A new family-owned restaurant serving pizzas, burgers, empanadas, and other Argentinian dishes is preparing to open in Pinellas Park.
Pizzardis will open at 7820 49th Street North, near England Brothers Park and the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center. The building was previously home to Pinellas Park's Fresh Produce.
Owner Victoria Fecarotta said she and her husband expect to welcome their first customers during the last week of September.
For Fecarotta, the restaurant is rooted in memories of food bringing people together in Argentina, from long Sunday lunches to Friday nights spent sharing pizza with family.
She moved to the United States in 2001 and, after years in the restaurant business and previously owning a restaurant with her husband in Chicago, is ready to open a place of her own in Pinellas County.