Catalyze 2026: Community advocate Aron Bryce

We’re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year and give us catalyzing ideas for making St. Pete a better place to live. What should our city look like? What are their hopes, their plans, their problem-solving ideas? This is Catalyze 2026.

At the end of 2025, as St. Petersburg continues growing faster than most stakeholders anticipated, Aron Bryce finds himself returning to a familiar question: How do you welcome new energy without losing a city’s soul – what drew people here in the first place?

​For Bryce, the answer starts at the neighborhood level.

​As a longtime community advocate and Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) leader, Bryce has spent the past several years focused on the connective tissue of the city – block by block, association by association. That doesn’t always make headlines, but it shapes daily life in St. Pete in tangible ways: Cleaner streets, better communication between residents and City Hall, stronger civic participation and neighbors who actually know one another.

​“Neighborhoods are where the city really lives,” Bryce said. “If we get things right at that level – if people feel heard, supported and invested – everything else becomes easier.”

​That philosophy has also guided his broader work in the community. Bryce has consistently championed small businesses, local artists and grassroots initiatives that bring people together, regardless of backgrounds or zip codes.

​Whether it’s supporting neighborhood cleanups, honoring veterans through community events or helping address food insecurity through local partnerships, he strives for a practical and people-centered approach.

​One of the clearest expressions of that focus is the St. Pete CommUNITY Festival, a homegrown event designed to bring residents, nonprofits, artists, first responders and small businesses into the same shared space. “It’s intentionally inclusive, intentionally local and intentionally unpolished in the best way,” Bryce said.

​“These kinds of events remind us who we are,” he explained. “They create opportunities for connection that you can’t replicate online or outsource to a consultant.”

​As St. Pete grows, Bryce believes that intentionality will “matter more than ever.” He noted that “development and new residents bring opportunity, but they also bring pressure – especially for long-term residents and legacy businesses.”

​“We should be honest about the fact that growth can be disruptive,” Bryce said. “That doesn’t mean we stop it. It means we manage it better.”

​Some ideas he believes are worth exploring include targeted tax incentives or relief programs for longtime residents and small, locally owned businesses. Bryce said those policies can help stabilize rather than displace communities.

​“It’s not about freezing the city in time, but about making sure the people who helped build St. Pete are not pushed out of it,” he added.

​Bryce sees an opportunity for smarter, more humane policies when addressing homelessness. He noted that the City of Houston has reduced its number of unhoused residents by over 60% through a coordinated Housing First approach, which prioritizes providing permanent housing before supportive services.

​“That model works because it treats housing as a foundation, not a reward,” Bryce said. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We need the political will and regional coordination to adopt what’s already proven.”

​Arts and culture are also central to his vision for the city’s future. St. Petersburg’s identity as a city of the arts “is not guaranteed, it requires constant care and investment,” Bryce said.

​Live music, public art, festivals and small creative gatherings all play a role, he added, from major events, including the We Belong Here electronic dance music extravaganza, to neighborhood-scale efforts, such as the St. Pete CommUNITY Festival.

​“St. Pete is the city of the arts,” Bryce reiterated. “But it takes work to keep it that way.”

​He is also “energized” by changes on the horizon, particularly the city’s emerging technology ecosystem. Bryce believes facilities like the ARK Innovation Center, home to CodeBoxx and several startups, have shifted the perception of St. Petersburg.

​“You never used to think ‘tech’ when you thought of St. Pete,” he said. “That’s changing. And that’s not a bad thing, as long as we integrate it into who we already are.”

​For Bryce, the future isn’t about choosing between neighborhoods and innovation, or culture and technology. It is about alignment.

​“Let’s use our neighborhoods, our art, our music, our culture and our technology to drive innovation, prosperity, and success,” he said. “For lifelong residents and newcomers alike. From the poorest to the wealthiest.”

​Bryce believes that vision will only work if St. Petersburg resists the urge to splinter – “by income, neighborhood or ideology.”

​“At the end of the day, we are stronger together,” Bryce concluded. “And if we can keep that at the center of how we grow, St. Pete’s best days are still ahead.”