By Herb Hiller

People visit this town of 16,675 on the western shore of Old Tampa Bay for the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa or because they’ve heard about the once famed citrus plantation of pioneer settler Odet Philippe, who introduced grapefruits to Florida. They enter along a two-lane Main Street that bumps across the tracks with wide sidewalks beneath tall trees. Attractive signs hung from ornamental lampposts point to side street businesses. Ibis B&B, where I stayed, is one, set in a modest neighborhood that looks like a million bucks under leafy canopy, dense with ferns, bromeliads and hedges.

Safety Harbor is no “tourist town.” Spa visitors and boaters at the marina fit themselves in. Their presence has long prospered the town. No place this small boasts as many good places to eat, from splashy art-filled Green Springs in its second century-old wood-frame house, to Southern-inspired Lincoln Heights Bistro and the three-meal-a-day down home Paradise.

Unusual street energy greeted my recent arrival. Fired-up locals were eagerly signing petitions to rehire “Al, our friendly crossing guard,” discharged for not wearing orange gloves because he complained they made him look clown-like. “But there’s always something that gets people involved,” said Don Gerson at the Tech Café, headquarters for the petitions and where visitors collect their emails.

Girls in pink tutus with their moms arrive at the West Florida Ballet Teaching School and folks prowl Our Little Secret, where Edna Kirkirt re-sells finds from garage sales. Saturday mornings are for the farmers market at John Wilson Park; selected middays for live music.

Main Street is about to get 100 new residents above shops opening across from the spa and two blocks from the historical museum. For Safety Harbor, that’s more people to get involved.

This story is excerpted from The Islas Pinellas, Standout Small Towns, in Florida's Beach, the 2006 Visitor Guide for the St. Petersburg Clearwater area.