And it would pave 7 miles of streets that have never been paved, not when the neighborhood sprouted in the early part of the last century, not when it became home to the nearby juice plant's labor force in the 1940s, and not in recent years as east Pasco grew into a booming Tampa suburb. The problem, commissioners said, is that the project would consume about two-thirds of the county's CDBG allotment each year, leaving little for other areas of the county. Once a rural community, Tommytown has become a melting pot of farm workers, young people struggling to find work and get started on their own, and longtime residents who moved in when homes were a pleasant but less expensive alternative to downtown. About half of the 255 homes are owned by landlords. Screen doors are ripped.
Porches list to one side or the other.
Dogs roam at will. At night, says Margarita Romo of the Farmworkers Self Help organization, crime thrives along darkened avenues with no street lights. Romo said she is unhappy that commissioners are reluctant to put some money into a community where she lives and works. After years of neglect, it's time for some help, she said. I don't want people to think we're pitiful, and that we don't care.