The Major Street Plan for the City of Tampa was the first report prepared by George W. Simons. It served as a framework for the other plans that he would prepare. This report is notable for several reasons.
First, it provides an early assessment of Tampa's growing pains as its streets and avenues try to accomodate increasing automobile traffic. Simons' assessments and recommendations would change the shape and appearance of the City in the years to come.
Second, the report includes both model zoning ordinances and model zoning regulations. Although this report was a street plan, it was the first, locally-prepared document to address land use and transportation in a systematic way. Many of the key features of zoning and planning taken for granted today, were first introduced locally in this report.
Third, this is one of the few Simon's reports that includes photographs of Tampa. Since they were prepared for a planning study, they are dominated by streetscenes and automobiles. One familiar with our current roads and avenues can look back and appeciate how much the city has changed.
I. Introduction
