Relocation, Economic Development Information and
Demographics
Capitol:
Tallahassee
State Motto: In God We Trust
State Bird: Mockingbird
Nickname: Sunshine State
State Flower: Orange Blossom
GENERAL INFORMATION
RELATING TO THE CITY OF CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
Location
The City of Clearwater (the "City"), the county seat of Pinellas
County
(the fifth most populous county in Florida), is geographically
located in the middle of the west
coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. It is situated
approximately 20 miles west of
Tampa and 20 miles north of St. Petersburg. Standing on the
highest coastal elevation of
the State, the City limits comprise approximately 25.5 square
miles of land and 8.6
square miles of waterways and lakes.
Clearwater Beach, an island, and a corporate part of the City,
is a beach community connected to
the mainland by Memorial Causeway, a four-lane, toll-free drive
stretching almost two
miles across the Intracoastal Waterway. Business on Clearwater
Beach is mainly tourist
oriented, with hotels, motels and gift shops. Many fine homes,
apartments and
condominiums offer pleasant, semi-tropical island accommodations
to permanent
residents and winter and summer visitors.
History
The area now known as Clearwater was first explored in 1528 by
Panfile de
Narvaez, a Spanish explorer who encountered a large tribe of
Indians, which his army
drove out. The Indians recaptured their territory and held it
until the Seminole Wars of
1835-42. The Indians who inhabited this area are said to have
called it "Pocotopaug,"
meaning "clear water," for the many springs of clear, fresh
water that bubbled along the
shore and even below the waterline at low tide.
Settlers began moving into the area around the time of the
Seminole Wars.
After the wars ended, the territory was opened by the Federal
government for homesteading
under the Armed Occupation Act. The first land title was granted
in 1842. The early
settlement, named "Clear Water Harbor," was incorporated in
1897. "Clear Water" later
became one word and "Harbor" was dropped in 1906 when Pinellas
County was created
by an act of the State Legislature. In May 1911, Clearwater
became the County Seat and
Clearwater was chartered as a municipality on May 27,1915.
Government and Administration
Clearwater has a council-city manager form of government. Four
council members
and a mayor are elected at large to serve overlapping three-year
terms. They appoint the
city manager and the city attorney. All other administrative and
professional positions are
appointed by the city manager in accordance with the City's
Civil Service System.
The City has approximately 1,894 employees, covered by the
City's Civil Service
law relating to recruitment, promotion, evaluation and
discipline based on merit
principles. Four employee unions represent the City's civil
labor force: two units of the
Fraternal Order of Police; two of the International Association
of Fire Fighters; and one
from the Communications Workers of America.
Transportation
Pinellas County and Clearwater are served by three major
causeways and bridges
over Tampa Bay, by U.S. 19 and I-275 to the north and south, by
I-4 and U.S. 60 to the
east
State Roads 590 and 686 also afford access to the City.
Tampa International Airport, located approximately seventeen
miles from
downtown Clearwater, provides air travel access with
approximately 260 national and
international flights daily. Limousine and taxi service to and
from the airport is available
from Clearwater and throughout Pinellas County. St.
Petersburg/Clearwater International
Airport, approximately ten miles from downtown Clearwater,
offers regularly scheduled
passenger service and charter and special group flights, on a
more limited basis to both
domestic and foreign destinations, particularly to Canada,
Mexico, and Central and South
America. The Executive Airpark, which is slightly over a mile
from the downtown
business section, provides service and maintenance for private
plane owners. The airport
has one 3,000 foot hard-surface runway and facilities for
visiting and locally based planes.
The Port of Tampa (22 miles to the east) is the closest deep
water port. The port is
serviced by a variety of steamship agents and operators. The
United States Coast Guard
maintains an air station at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater
International Airport, and a
search and sea rescue cutter station on Clearwater Harbor
opposite Sand Key.
Gulf Coast Motor Lines provides service daily between
Clearwater, St. Petersburg
and Tampa and makes connections with Greyhound and Trailways Bus
Lines in Tampa.
Scenic tours are available via Gray Line out of Clearwater and
St. Petersburg, and both
Gray Line and Gulf Coast have buses for charter. Pinellas
Suncoast Transit System
maintains 54 routes in 19 municipalities in Pinellas County. The
Jolley Trolley services the
beach area and is available for charter.
Utilities, Public Service and Community Facilities
The City owns and operates its own water and wastewater
collection systems.
Water is obtained from 17 deep wells owned and operated by the
City (approximately 20-
25%) and from wholesale purchases from the Pinellas County Water
System
(approximately 75-80%). Total daily average is approximately 29
million gallons per
day. The wastewater collection program provides for the
transmission of wastewater
through the City's underground sewer mains, collectors and
interceptor lines and for the
maintenance, repair and replacement of 363 miles of sanitary
sewer lines.
The Department of Public Works maintains 305.1 miles of paved
streets, 10.4 miles of
unpaved streets, 147 miles of stormwater mains, 567 miles of
water mains and 753 miles
of gas mains.
Electric power is provided by Progress Energy and telephone
service is provided
by Verizon of Florida, Inc. Bright House Networks and Knology
provide cable television
service under franchises with the City. Local editions of the
daily St. Petersburg Times
and The Tampa Tribune, plus weekly newspapers from adjacent
Dunedin, Largo,
Seminole and Clearwater Beach are widely distributed.
The Clearwater Public Library System consists of a main library
and four branches
which are spread evenly throughout the community for easy
access.
The City offers 42 acres of public beach front, 1,134 acres of
parks, 32 playgrounds,
numerous athletic courts and fields, seven swimming pools, an
8,500 seat baseball
and softball stadium, three golf courses, seven recreational
centers, 32 special recreation
facilities, 7.4 miles of recreational paths, boat ramps and a
209 slip yacht basin and marina.
The Philadelphia Phillies conduct spring training at the
municipal baseball stadium and have
a long-term contract for farm club training on Clearwater's
specially constructed facilities
during theWinter Instructional League Program. Clearwater is the
home of the Clearwater
Bombers, a national amateur fast pitch softball team.
Tourism
The State of Florida reported 82.5 million tourists came to
Florida during the year
2008, a decrease of 2.3% from 2007. The first six months of the
year actually showed a
2.9% increase. It was during the second six months that the
global economic crisis caused
consumers to change vacation patterns and companies to cancel
meetings and
conventions. More than 3,859,000 residents took a pleasure trip
in the fourth quarter of
2008 and in-state trips increased by 22.9% in 2008 overall.
Preliminary data collected at
14 of Florida's major airports shows a 7.3% decrease in total
enplanements to Florida for
the fourth quarter and a decrease of 2.1% for 2008. During the
fourth quarter of 2008,
overseas travel to Florida decreased by 8.0%, however overseas
visitation for the 2008
calendar year increased 1.1%. Canadian travel to Florida during
the fourth quarter shows
a 5.7% decline, yet Canadian travel to Florida increased by
14.0% overall in 2008.
According to information provided by the St.
Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention
and Visitor's Bureau, there are over 13.5 million visitors to
the Pinellas County are
annually. Tourism is the region's number one employer with
Pinellas County residents
earning a combined annual payroll of $2.9 billion annually. The
total impact of tourism to
Pinellas County is over $6.9 billion annually. Pinellas County
is ranked seventh of the top
ten destinations in Florida. Clearwater's Fun 'N Sun Festival
each spring attracts
thousands of visitors.
Education
The Pinellas County School District is the seventh largest in
the State and operates
a total of 180 schools comprising elementary through high
school, vocational schools
(including Area Vocational Centers), alternative schools,
Charter Schools and
Department of Juvenile Justice Schools within the County. The
Pinellas County School
District is the 23rd largest in the nation and the seventh
largest in the State with 19,000
part-time and full-time employees. During the 2005-2006 school
year enrollment reached
109,087 with students attending 82 elementary (K-5), 24 middle
schools (6-8), 17 high
schools (9-12), along with five exceptional schools and four
centers, four secondary
schools (6-12), 27 alternative education centers and six charter
schools. The district also
operates one adult learning center, one secondary vocational
center, two technical
education centers, two evening adult high schools and three
community schools with a
2005-2006 enrollment of 46,091. Private schools and academies
are also located within
or near the City limits. In addition, St. Petersburg College has
a Clearwater campus.
Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Beacon College in Largo,
Stetson University College of
Law in Gulfport, the University of South Florida and the
University of Tampa in Tampa
offer nearby college and post-graduate education.
Industry, Commerce and Labor
Light, clean industry is encouraged in Clearwater. In 1957, the
City of Clearwater
developed a 100 acre industrial park adjacent to the Clearwater
Airpark (Executive
Airport) and to the CSX Transportation Company. There is also a
privately owned, 35
acre industrial park. Large industries located near Clearwater
include Honeywell, General
Electric, UNISYS, Concept and Hercules Defense Electronics
Systems, Inc. During the
1999 fiscal year IMRglobal Corp. ("IMR") occupied its new world
headquarters in
downtown Clearwater.
For general information about Clearwater, including demographics,
please click
on this City of Clearwater relocation page:
Relocating or starting a business in Clearwater
The Pinellas County Economic
Development Department is also a great resource
Economic
Development
On our
Real Estate Page
you will find several realtors who will be happy to send you a
relocation Packet
