West Palm Beach - A Nice Downtown, But The Waterfront Needs Work

I walked around downtown West Palm Beach yesterday afternoon to see what was happening. And the answer - preparing for the U.S. Polo Association Palm Beaches Marathon, which will be taking place this Sunday morning. And no - I am not participating. Besides the fact that I have never done any running in my life, it starts at 6:00 A.M., which is just a little too early for me. Perhaps next year. After a brief look at the setup, I walked through the park located between Lake Worth and Clematis Street, which features fountains, tropical landscaping, and a public space where events such as Clematis by Night are held. Clematis Street itself, which is the heart of the downtown area, can be seen in the background of the photograph on the left, and has a variety of restaurants, bars, and shops, making for a fun place to hang out. And the nearby CityPlace neighborhood only adds to the ambiance of the area.

Flagler Drive runs along Lake Worth and separates downtown from the waterfront. On the downtown side are high rise condo buildings, a university, churches, office buildings, an amphitheater, and restaurants, including E.R. Bradley's Saloon, as seen in the photograph on the right. And whenever I drive down Flagler, I always see a crowd on the patio of Elisabetta's Ristorante, which overlooks Lake Worth, and I keep telling myself I need to check out that place one of these days.  The tropical landscaping really adds to the ambiance, but crossing the street, the area along Lake Worth really needs an upgrade.

A new city report has recommended a major redesign of the waterfront to make it "safer, more welcoming, and more connected to downtown." Their recommendations include shrinking Flagler Drive from 4 lanes to 2 to allow wider sidewalks, an expanded waterfront promenade, and replacing long stretches of blank seawall with landscaping and other amenities. And I have to say that they are right - West Palm Beach has miles of waterfront with hardly a tree in sight. More shade and more benches would be a great addition. Hopefully the city will be able to move forward with the proposal and make the waterfront a destination spot for the entire region.