What is the Identity of Your Community?

Communities, like individuals, have a unique character and identity.  I spent two years in Ft. Worth, Texas, while attending Texas Christian University.  (Go Horned Frogs!)  The area most people refer to as Dallas - Ft. Worth, I refer to as Ft. Worth - Dallas.  Ft. Worth sometimes seemed overshadowed by its larger neighbor.  At the time, gift shops at the international airport, situated strategically between the two cities, offered a vast sampling of Dallas souvenirs and only a few token Ft. Worth items.  Mostly there was just a friendly rivalry between the two cities.  I never felt that Ft. Worth lacked for a unique culture or identity and I enjoyed my time there.

This is how Fodor's describes Ft. Worth:

"The city and its people are more deliberate, mindful of the western legacy forever shaping their identity.  That's not to say this is a town of simple country folk - Fort Worth's Cultural District houses world-class art, showcased in architecturally significant buildings."

That's a little stereotyped but basically reflects my memory of the city.

(Google map of Pinellas County, showing the position of St. Petersburg.  Tampa in Hillsborough County is toward the right.)

Until recently, I lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, often reduced to one-third of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.  In fact, it often becomes just Tampa-Clearwater, even though St. Petersburg has about twice the population of Clearwater.  Here's how Fodor's describes St. Petersburg:

"There are two distinct parts of St. Petersburg: the at-times snobbish downtown and cultural area, centered on the bay, and the more laid-back but pricey beach area, a string of barrier islands that faces the gulf and includes St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and Madeira Beach.  Causeways link beach communities to the mainland peninsula."

Even Fodor's can't identify St. Petersburg!  The beaches referenced in that paragraph (St. Pete Beach, etc.) are not part of St. Petersburg; they are separate communities with their own local governments.  And downtown is an important but geographically small part of the total city.

Further evidence that St. Petersburg can't commit to an identity:  At first I thought this road sign identifying St. Petersburg as a "Bicycle friendly community" was a joke.  There are bike friendly areas in St. Petersburg, but this street (66th St. North, a heavily traveled commercial thoroughfare with no bike lane) is not one of them.  It's almost as if the city can't make up its mind.

Did you know a Major League baseball team plays in St. Petersburg?  Many don't, because the team won't take on the city's name.  Instead, they're the Tampa Bay Rays.  Talk about an identity complex.

The mayor of St. Petersburg recently hired a city lobbyist; skeptics have wisely pointed out that lobbying for the city should be part of the mayor's job.

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath offer a case study of The Daily Record, the newspaper in Dunn, North Carolina.  Dunn had a population less than 10,000 according to the 2000 census.  Yet the newspaper has a circulation over 8,500, based on the most recent figures I could find.  This is extraordinary at a time when major newspapers are shrinking daily.  The Daily Record has one mission - to be local.  To provide the news that national and regional newspapers or network and cable news channels cannot; to fill The Daily Record with as many local names as possible.

I picked up a copy of the St. Petersburg Times last week.  I confess I seldom purchase the local newspaper because between the internet and television, I get more news than the paper can provide (some of it from the Times' own web site).  More important, however, is the lack of news about the city from which the paper takes its name:

• On this particular weekday, there was not one item on the front page specific to St. Petersburg.  Yes, there were state and regional articles of interest to St. Petersburg, but I bet the Tampa Tribune's front page that day looked very similar.
• The food section contained a review of a restaurant in Clearwater.
• The local/state section included a couple of brief articles about St. Petersburg subjects.  It also had a substantial article about Brooke Shields, who I'm sure is a nice person but seems to have no local connection.
• The business section had a brief article about a survey released by the University of Florida in Gainesville, will over 100 miles from St. Petersburg.  Raymond James, Payless Car Rental, Jabil Circuit, and Home Shopping Network are among the companies located in St. Petersburg - it's hard to figure this out from the local newspaper.
• The St. Petersburg Times has an odd section that combines classifieds with comics and advice columns.  The classifieds are from all over Pinellas County; the rest is primarily national syndicated material.
• A weekly Life Times section contained more nationally syndicated material along with a lengthy article about local residents (some actually from St. Petersburg) competing in a Wii tournament.  This section also includes a tiny paragraph advising us to "shop locally" - despite a glaring lack of information about local businesses.
• The sports section had some local focus, with a few articles about St. Petersburg high school sports and coverage of the above-mentioned Tampa Bay Rays
• Finally, a weekly Neighborhood Times section contained several pieces specific to St. Petersburg.

The lack of a local focus doesn't seem to be hurting the St. Petersburg Times.  The newspaper has a circulation over 300,000; St. Petersburg's population is about 245,000.  The paper received two Pulitzer Prizes in 2009.

On the other hand, I have to wonder about the impact on the community and St. Petersburg's apparent lack of a coherent identity.  Would St. Petersburg be better served by a newspaper with a true local focus?  Would other news media come forward to provide local news for other Pinellas County communities?  (A local strategy would work with me.  The one day I bought two copies of the St. Petersburg Times was the Sunday that one of my photos was featured in the travel section.)  I also think our definition of "local" is too geographically broad to support strong neighborhoods and communities.

One final item:  A major Bay Area entertainment venue is called the St. Pete Times Forum.  It's in Tampa!

All of this is not to criticize the St. Petersburg Times or the city of St. Petersburg.  I loved living in St. Petersburg.  I do think it's important to consider questions about community and identity.  If we don't work to build and maintain a positive identity for our respective communities, the wrong identity may prevail.  St. Petersburg has at times been identified with a culture of cruelty.  And that's not good for anyone.