We asked locals what Tampa Bay needs to be a better place to live. Here's what they said.

It's a leap year, and while we thought just a smidge about life four years ago (on the edge of pandemic!), Creative Loafing Tampa Bay recently looked four years ahead and asked our readers to tell us what Tampa Bay needs to be a better place in four years.

We asked respondents to our survey to speak to what they wanted their community to look like the next leap year.

Nearly 200 people chimed in—from service workers, elected officials and even journalists—and we’ve compiled the ideas into three pages of ideas, including the most prevalent concerns to the most obscure suggestions.

You can see all the responses we could get online by exploring the "What Tampa Bay Needs survey" tag on cltampa.com. (Editor's note: I'm probably going to be uploading responses through tomorrow, and will remove this note when I get through them all.)

"Whether it’s for work or play, residents just want to get where they’re going without going through an existential crisis."

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Top of mind for an overwhelming majority of respondents: transportation. People want to spend less time driving. They are keenly aware of the hidden costs baked into having to get in their cars to go to work. Whether it’s for work or play, residents just want to get where they’re going without going through an existential crisis.

After transportation, housing was the biggest concern—people just want to be able to live. Other concerns included the environment (people want more trees), safety (more cops, less cops) and even the possibility of an NBA team.

The results told me that our readership is engaged, a little enraged, but completely invested in the place they call home, not just for themselves but for future generations, too.

I hope we get to do this more often than every four years, and more than that, I hope that we’ve made some progress next time this survey comes along.

Here are all the suggestions:

Affordability and housing dominated responses to the 'What Tampa Bay Needs' survey

Traffic and transit among top concerns in 'What Tampa Bay Needs' survey

Tampa Bay needs ‘a robust system of public support for the arts’

Tampa Bay needs its venues, especially small and mid sized, to thrive

Tampa Bay needs more tax incentives for local film and television production

Tampa Bay needs more museums to stay open on weekend nights

Tampa Bay needs increased funding for the arts

I just find myself working all the time': Affordability is top of mind for this St. Pete resident

Tampa Bay needs to better advocate for the homeless and people struggling with drug addiction

Tampa Bay needs coordinated leadership on environmental, belonging, community, and cultural issues

Tampa Bay needs more trees if it wants to be a better place in four years

Tampa Bay could use more 'giveback greenery' to become a better place in four years

Tampa Bay is susceptible to climate change and needs more environmental protection

Tampa Bay needs more housing for people instead for cars

Tampa Bay needs a unified vision built around people instead of buildings

To be a better place in four years, Tampa Bay needs more 'third spaces'

Tampa Bay needs to appreciate, preserve, and honor its structural history

To be a better place in four years, Tampa Bay needs to be more bikeable

Tampa Bay needs to bring back interconnectivity between all the boroughs

Tampa Bay needs limits on snowbird and tourism volume during peak seasons

Tampa Bay needs to redefine who our 'best and brightest' are

Tampa needs a new official city flag

New design codes are not the answer, Tampa needs a small business czar for the city

Tampa Bay needs a modern version of FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps

Tampa Bay needs an NBA team

Tampa Bay needs additional transportation options for crossing the bridges and other waterways

Tampa Bay needs a daily ferry between Riverview and Tampa

‘I would choose mass transit every day instead of driving': Tampa Bay's transit system should be as cool as the region is

Tampa Bay needs Republicans to stop blocking transit solutions

Tampa Bay just needs to appreciate Ybor City for what it is

Tampa Bay needs multimodal transit so companies like Amazon will stop laughing at us

Chef Richard Hales has a few ideas on what would make Tampa Bay a better place in four years

Tampa Bay's electric companies should be not-for-profit

A downtown Chick-fil-A, plus more serious wishes, are in this list of things that would make Tampa Bay a better place to live

Rob Lorei's list of 12 things Tampa Bay needs to be a better place in four years

Tampa Bay needs fewer police and more social services to be a better place in four years

Tampa Bay would be a lot cooler if it was home to something like Arkansas' Railyard Bike Park

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