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Super7: More Than Meets The Eye Stumbling upon something positive and interesting is always a treat.  Only rarely does that same thing turn out to be genuinely special as well.   This happened when I first stepped inside Super7 (720 2nd Street N).   To the uninitiated, Super7 appears to be a small toy shop offering a menagerie of brightly colored, oddly shaped figurines.  However, after only a few moments of browsing, it happens...the beautiful books, clever t-shirts, original art and the more-amazing-than-odd toys all seem to declare in unison: "You're not at the mall, Dorothy."
How to Have a Good Time at El Cap The writers of MetroPete are on a quest to discover and talk about all the great people, places and things found in the heart of St. Petersburg.  One task we really enjoy is reviewing award winning eateries like El Cap, 3500 4th St N.  During the course of our research, we were surprised to discover that more than a third of the El Cap reviews on one popular ratings site are critical of the iconic burger joint...
Wilson's Book World: Hiding In Plain Sight  St. Pete book lovers, you are in for a treat. Hiding in plain sight at 2394 9th Street N, Wilson's Book World is the kind of business the writers of MetroPete love to find and explore. Owned and operated by the same family for nearly 40 years, this shop is a throw-back to a different era. Along with its whimsically mismatched bookshelves and just the right amount of dust, this unique bookstore offers affordable prices on 200,000 titles, genuine medieval texts, comics and original art . . . inside and out.
35BZ  Thirty-Five Block Zone "35BZ" is an abbreviation of "Thirty-FIve Block Zone," and it refers to our coverage area...a 35 block radius around downtown St Pete.  You will also see it referred to it as the "Heart of St Pete."   Why is this area special?  We have noticed a quality that sets this dynamic zone apart from much of greater St Petersburg.   In the 35 block zone, the city center and inner residential areas interact with each other in a way that creates a character that is unique.  It has to do with the vitality, variety and creativity that can be found when living, working and playing in the 35BZ.    

Metropete - Living, working, and playing in the heart of St. Petersburg, FL

Frequently Asked Questions

The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of MetroPete

Who: We are a small group of Saint Petersburg residents who live, work and play here.  We love our city...especially the urban center, and our focus is on all the good it has to offer.  So, if you revel in crime reports or problems in city politics, MetroPete is probably not for you.  On the other hand, if you do not mind discovering (or rediscovering) why this city of ours is a great place, we invite you to visit us often.

What: MetroPete is a non-commercial outlet for information, advice, pictures and stories showcasing all that is good in and around the heart of St Petersburg.  MetroPete's owner and contributors do not accept any consideration for writing about anyone or anything.

When: We like to think of MetroPete as an online magazine because it contains pictures, stories and advice.  However, it is not published periodically like most magazines.  MetroPete is a living docåument produced on a continuous basis.  As new material is prepared, it is posted.

Where is MetroPete?  Obviously, MetroPete is online, but it also has a conceptual geographic locus within the inner metropolitan area.  We call this area MetroPete or the "Heart of St Pete."  The boundaries of our MetroPete are not the same as the official city limits.  Essentially, our coverage area consists of a 35 block radius around downtown.  We have noticed a quality that sets this dynamic zone apart.  Here, the city center and inner residential areas interact creating a character that is uniquely its own.

Why Did You Start MetroPete? First we want to be a positive voice in our world.  Everyday, mainstream media outlets bombard us with biased and sensationalized coverage.  Much of this exaggerates the frequency of tragic, violent, and criminal events in our world.  In addition, we are also presented with calamitous issues occurring across the globe in regions that have little or nothing to do with our daily lives.  It is simply impossible for the average human to process and respond to the constant onslaught of crises.  This type of reporting contributes to a collective state of anxiety and a dangerously skewed perspective.  Eventually, compassion fatigue can set in, and we end up less able to care about the people we actually know.  This is not good. Of coarse, the writers of MetroPete are not suggesting we all put our heads in the sand, but neither should we consume our media unfiltered.  We have choices.  It is time to choose consciously the information we let into our hearts and minds.  Just as diet affects physical condition, the information we consume has a powerful impact on our psychological condition.  MetroPete strives to combat the destructive media blitz mentioned above by offering a positive, edifying source of information about our community and our lives.  When you get tired of all the bad things in the world, we will help you see the good things closest to you.

How is MetroPete published? The production of MetroPete is an organic process.  This means MetroPete writers do not got out looking for things to write about.  Instead, we simply live our lives in St. Pete, and when we discover something that reminds us of why we love living here, it is our cue to share it with you.  It's a subtle difference, but we think it makes all the difference.