What are the biggest challenges facing St. Petersburg, Florida?
In Episode 103 of Talkin' St. Pete, Ryan Bogden sits down with Kevin Batdorf, a St. Pete native, local businessman, community leader, and candidate running for Mayor of St. Petersburg, for an in-depth conversation about the future of the city.
Kevin shares why he decided to run for mayor, discusses the biggest issues facing St. Petersburg, and explains how he believes the city can continue to grow while improving infrastructure, creating jobs, supporting homeownership, and preparing for future storms.
The conversation covers many of the topics residents are talking about today, including the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment, Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Rays, housing affordability, hurricane recovery, city leadership, neighborhood preservation, economic development, and public safety.
If you live in St. Pete, own a business, recently moved to the area, or simply care about where the city is headed, this episode offers an opportunity to hear directly from one of the candidates running to become St. Petersburg's next mayor.
In this episode, Ryan and Kevin discuss:
• Why Kevin decided to run for Mayor of St. Petersburg.
• The future of the Historic Gas Plant District and the Tropicana Field site.
• Housing affordability, homeownership, workforce housing, and creating opportunities for long-term growth.
• The Tampa Bay Rays and their impact on downtown St. Pete.
• Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton recovery efforts, infrastructure, and emergency preparedness.
• City budgets, permitting, leadership, and improving how local government operates.
• Albert Whitted Airport, neighborhood character, and preserving what makes St. Pete unique.
• Youth mentorship, workforce development, financial literacy, and public safety.
Our goal is to bring meaningful conversations to the community by sitting down with local business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, nonprofit leaders, and the people helping shape St. Petersburg. Hearing directly from the people involved gives our community the opportunity to better understand the ideas, challenges, and conversations happening across the city.
If you enjoy learning more about St. Pete, the people behind local businesses, and the conversations shaping our community, subscribe for new episodes every week.
What are your thoughts after watching this conversation? We'd love to hear them in the comments.
➜ Follow Kevin Batdorf on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kevin_batdorf/
➜ Follow Ryan Bogden on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ryan.bogden/
➜ Subscribe to Talkin’ St. Pete on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLQaOD7_fKqYL_XzXaDN5Q
➜ Interested in being a guest on the show?
https://linktr.ee/talkinstpete
➜ Ryan Bogden is a licensed REALTOR®.
➜ Sponsored by Bogden Homes:
https://www.bogdenhomes.com
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