Temple Terrace, Florida

==Rejuvenation and redevelopment==

Temple Terrace's rebirth took place in 1984–1987 with the appointment of Thomas C. Mortenson as the City's Building and Zoning Director and 1st Community Development Director [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/336291860/].  Mortenson, with the assistance of City Engineer Paul Tomasino, and City Attorney Ted Taub, were responsible for the annexation of Telecom Park and numerous areas adjacent to the city, thereby tripling the tax base and doubling the size of the city.  Creating a favorable development environment and working with the Mayor and City Council, the trio worked to attract new businesses, and shopping centers, as well as redevelopment of existing business areas and vastly expanded housing in the community.  Numerous new subdivisions were created during this period giving the city a firm tax base and identity that made Temple Terrace a desirable safe place for raising families, conducting business, and an environmentally sound community [https://www.dl-online.com/news/559906-mortenson-hits-ground-running].

Temple Terrace is currently in the process of redeveloping {{convert|50|acre|m2}} (the southeast quadrant) of its 1960s-era downtown. The goal of the city is to build a mixed-use, medium-density, pedestrian-oriented downtown.

The city hired noted town planner [http://www.tortigallas.com Torti Gallas + Partners] in 2004 to create a [[New Urbanist]] [http://www.tortigallas.com/portfolio/downtown-temple-terrace-revitalization-master-plan master plan and redevelopment code] for the entire {{convert|225|acre|km2|adj=on}} downtown area (four quadrants of 56th Street and Busch Boulevard), all with citizen input. The city also initiated a [[form-based code]] for its downtown, created a façade-improvement grant program, implemented a multi-modal transportation model to encourage alternatives to the automobile, and began revitalizing 56th Street with entry towers, landscaping, street furniture, placing utilities underground, and improved lighting.

The site of the new downtown area is the site of the downtown area that was originally planned in the 1920s but never built because of the Great Depression. Many of the planning concepts and architecture of the redevelopment area are based on the original plan and Temple Terrace's unique 1920s historic Mediterranean Revival architecture.