Friday's Daily Pulse

› St. Pete city council approves plan for $50 million pier [Tampa Bay Times]
With just one resolute dissenter, the St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to move forward with a new $50 million Pier. The decision came after more than a dozen speakers tried to make a case for saving the current inverted pyramid and a lengthy discussion by council members, who spoke both of their reservations about the design and agreement and praised the merits of the contract. The $4.7 million architectural and engineering services agreement with Michael Maltzan Architecture, designer of the new Pier, is the first for the project known as the Lens.

› South Florida named great place for businesses to relocate to [Miami Herald]
A new survey of business costs gives South Florida a favorable ranking for affordability. Low taxes and depressed real estate prices help. With an average weekly wage of about $870, South Florida boasts some of the country’s lowest payroll costs, according to a new study by the Boyd Company, a corporate-relocation firm in Princeton, N.J. And with real estate far more affordable than it was before the bust, executives can afford bigger homes in nicer neighborhoods than they could in past years when nothing seemed hotter than a Miami condo.

› Boutique at busy intersection employs 'graffiti mural' to attract business [Orlando Sentinel]
Millie McPherson needed something eye-catching to overcome her store's bunker-like appearance and busy location. Enter Miami artist Alexis Samaniego, whose work has ranged from album covers to store interiors to graffiti-style murals. Samaniego picked the graffiti-style mural option for McPherson's project. Samaniego began work on the sign last week on Thursday and finished it a day later.