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Back alleys — long treated as little more than service corridors and shortcut routes — have emerged as a centerpiece of Dixieland’s new redevelopment vision.
A 113-page “Restore the Core” plan presented to the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency’s advisory board on May 7 shifts the neighborhood’s focus beyond historic preservation and beautification toward connectivity. It calls for safer crossings, better pedestrian and bike access, free Squeeze shuttle service, activated alleyways, and a street network designed to make it easier to move through Dixieland without relying on a car.
“I can’t leave this meeting without calling out our alleys, because they are such a huge asset,” CRA Manager Valerie Vaught told the advisory board. “We’ve got to strengthen these alleys.”
From restoring Dixieland to reconnecting it
The updated plan replaces a redevelopment blueprint adopted in 2001, when Dixieland was still emerging from decades of decline and disinvestment.
At the time, Lakeland had about 85,000 residents. Today, the city is approaching 130,000, and Dixieland has transformed from a struggling historic corridor into one of Lakeland’s busiest urban neighborhoods.
A growing restaurant and coffeehouse scene has helped turn the 72-acre district into a hub for artists, entrepreneurs and other creatives — and a gateway between surrounding neighborhoods and Downtown.
Kelley Klepper, vice president and senior planner at Kimley-Horn and Associates, said Dixieland is “the smallest of the CRAs” but it has “one of the biggest impacts, because that’s your southern gateway.”
The original plan focused heavily on restoring historic character, improving storefronts and attracting reinvestment along South Florida Avenue.
The new draft still values history and local identity. But after months of workshops, surveys and public meetings, the emphasis has shifted noticeably toward movement and connectivity.
Today’s priorities include:
- safer crossings and sidewalks
- slower traffic
- better bike and pedestrian access
- transit connections
- improved alleyways
Residents asked for practical fixes
The updated plan leans heavily on public feedback gathered between August 2025 and April 2026.
According to a CRA memo, the process included six public engagement events, surveys and newsletter outreach that generated more than 700 individual engagements.
CRA staff gathered input at neighborhood meetings, workshops and community events, including First Friday, the Dixieland Night Market, the Farmers Market and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade.
Klepper said the planning team went “well above what most communities do to ensure that the voices that we have are being heard.”
Rather than calling for large signature projects, many residents focused on practical quality-of-life concerns.
According to survey results, included in the 229-page appendix:
- 68% of respondents prioritized sidewalk repairs and safer crossings
- 56% wanted parking improvements
- 52% cited landscaping and beautification
- 38% pointed to traffic calming and speed control
- 36% wanted lighting and safety improvements
Share your thoughts
The public engagement process is still going on. Residents can review the draft plan and submit comments through a form on the CRA’s website before the proposal moves to the City Commission.
The current schedule calls for a first reading at the Commission’s July 6 meeting and final adoption two weeks later on July 20.
The alleys become part of the network
Throughout the public engagement process, residents and business owners described alleys as overlooked assets that could serve as walking routes, gathering spaces, art corridors, and social spaces linking the restaurants, coffeehouses, and small businesses that increasingly define the district.
“What about these alleys?” Klepper asked during Thursday’s presentation. “This is a great asset that a lot of places don’t have.”
The draft proposes improving lighting, landscaping, signage and pedestrian access in key alleys while treating them as part of the neighborhood’s transportation network rather than simply service corridors.
Klepper said the idea is to build on the existing framework while helping move not just cars, but also pedestrians and bicyclists, more comfortably through the district.
Big ideas, limited authority
The draft also acknowledges the limits facing the CRA.
Many of the proposed improvements would require coordination with the city, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and other agencies, while funding remains limited.
The document notes challenges, including fragmented parcels, a relatively small CRA footprint and misconceptions about what the agency can realistically accomplish on its own.
The Dixieland CRA’s budget for 2026 is about $2 million, and consultants recommended focusing most of it on streetscape improvements and parking solutions.
The draft plan proposes allocating:
- 31% toward streetscape improvements
- 29% toward public parking solutions
- 20% toward business recruitment and incentives
- 20% toward historic preservation projects
The plan also breaks projects into short-, medium- and long-term timelines. Consultants identified 17 projects that could begin within three years, seven medium-term priorities expected to take four to seven years, and three longer-term goals projected beyond seven years.
“Government years are like dog years,” Klepper told the board. “From the time that you identify a project, design it, permit it, construct it, ribbon cut it — you’re right at five to seven years, easily.”
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