# I Hate Tampa! I #$\*&ing HATE IT! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551 "2007-03-26T15:14:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/21 "2007-03-26T17:04:44Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Now, for really badly thought-out approaches to street _naming_, I’ve never seen any place other than Athens GA pull [this](http://home.earthlink.net/~ah3files/Stuff/Athens.jpg). Picture yourself at the designated intersection and not familiar with the area, and just confused enough after a few U-turns to be unsure of which direction you came in from… [/QUOTE] KRAMER: Hey, I’m on first and first. How can the same street intersect with itself? I must be at the nexus of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/22 "2007-03-26T17:10:51Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] Actually I like St Pete too. One of the benefits of Tampa is having St Pete and Clearwater so close. I wouldn’t bash any of them. As far as the “Streets and avenues” thing or the (albeit pretty neat) numbering system. A person visiting St Pete wouldn’t know this. You know this system because you are a life-long resident. I’ve lived in Tampa practically my whole life and I used to work in St Pete. And I was never aware of their system. I’ve been lost over there pleanty of times. Seems like it only works if you’re a resident or otherwise aware of it in the first place. [/QUOTE] Oh I know, we don’t exactly advertise our street system in the brochures. I guess I should say, I don’t understand why residents have to ask ask directions or get lost, unless they’re dealing with one of the, like, 3 odd streets (Tyrone, Haines Road.. uh I can’t think of anymore… I guess Arlington, Burlington, and Dartmouth, because they interupt the numbered streets). There’ve been plenty of times it took me longer to get somewhere because I didn’t know that a particular street didn’t go through because of water or the interstate or something, but I can still see in my head a map and exactly where that address would be. I worked at a gas station, and always tried to explain the grid system, and would usually be answered with a blank stare. I don’t know if they were shocked at something so logical (maybe they were used to streets like in the posts above) or they really couldn’t comprehend what I was saying. Yeah, people aren’t dumbasses because they don’t know about the grid system, but once it’s been explained it’s fairly easy to navigate. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/23 "2007-03-26T17:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre] This gives me the opportunity to ask about a frequent drunken debate an ex-roommate and I would have. He (a much bigger sports person than me) always argued that the team was not the _Tampa Bay_ “Buccaneers,” but was really the _Tampa_ “Bay Buccaneers”…as in pirates that primarily prowled the waters of the bay. Any truth to this? Seems daft to me, but what do I know? [/QUOTE] No, unfortunately, they are the Tampa Bay “Bucs.” Like I said earlier, naming a team after a body of water seems ridiculous to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/24 "2007-03-26T17:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] No, unfortunately, they are the Tampa Bay “Bucs.” Like I said earlier, naming a team after a body of water seems ridiculous to me. [/QUOTE] I’d agree with you if the team were the Tampa Bay Desert Camels or the Tampa Bay Ocelots or the Tampa Bay Arabian Horses or something. But c’mon. The Bay is right there, it _is_ a place, and buccaneers belong there. It’s a good name. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/25 "2007-03-26T17:26:34Z")
[QUOTE=Will Repair] There may be exceptions but Nashville’s street naming (based on the suggestion of little girl’s letter) is great. Avenues run NS starting at 1st downtown and numbers go up as they go west. North of Broadway/West End is ‘Ave N’ south is Ave S. Across the river the same thing except they’re streets and numbers go up to east. [/quote] Albuquerque’s streets are numbered that way and it’s entirely sensible. If Nashville’s are like that too, good for them. No bearing on the Athens intersection though, and if you don’t see the difference you haven’t thought it out sufficiently. The weird intersection in Athens GA was _not_ the intersection of Street X NE and Street X SW or something useful like that. (Athens streets are also not laid out in a nice NS vs EW grid, either!) Silly-ass street just made a huge freaking loop without getting a rename, intersected itself, and there was nary a clue on the signpost as to which of the four strips of asphalt leading away from intersection might be the one headed back into the loop northbound, which one the one headed back into the loop westbound, or leaving the loop southbound or leaving it eastbound. And, speaking from experience, it doesn’t help if your pot pipe is still kinda warm at the time. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Baron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@Baron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/26 "2007-03-26T17:38:59Z")
I’ve lived in Pinellas (St. Pete and Clearwater) for about 3 years. One of the things I’ve observed: No one from Pinellas county can find their way around Tampa. No one from Tampa can find their way around Pinellas. No one wants to live in Pinellas and commute to Tampa, because the sun in your eyes both ways will drive you insane. And I agree about Tampa being something of a cultureless suburban wasteland. I’ll take the small-urban feel of St. Pete any day. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/27 "2007-03-26T17:50:53Z")
[QUOTE=Baron] And I agree about Tampa being something of a cultureless suburban wasteland. I’ll take the small-urban feel of St. Pete any day. [/QUOTE] You really need to see more of Tampa. Have you ever been around South Howard? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/28 "2007-03-26T17:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=Nic2004] I personally have many fond (if drunkenly blury) memories of certain areas of Dale Mabry. Despite the truth in all you say, there are saving graces. [/QUOTE] Seconded, substituting Ybor City. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/29 "2007-03-26T18:29:50Z")
Oh, Ybor is not included in the rant at all. I’m not big on clubbing, but Ybor has so much history and awesome architecture and neat little shops. I like it during the day. And I confess, I’ve been to the Castle and the Orpheum once or twice. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/30 "2007-03-26T18:36:47Z")
Since we’re complaining about street naming conventions, I must mention, as an Atlanta resident, Peachtree Street. Namely that there are hundreds of them. Everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/31 "2007-03-26T18:44:07Z")
[QUOTE=XWalrus2] Since we’re complaining about street naming conventions, I must mention, as an Atlanta resident, Peachtree Street. Namely that there are hundreds of them. Everywhere. [/QUOTE] Oh I know. My mom got totally lost because of that (not that she has a great sense of direction anyway). We ended up a county or two away and then got horribly confused by Constitution St, Constitution Ave, and Old Constitution (or something like that) ---
**Author:** ![Baron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@Baron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/32 "2007-03-26T18:55:36Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] You really need to see more of Tampa. Have you ever been around South Howard? [/QUOTE] I have been in the SoHo areas and around Bayshore Blvd, and there are definitely some cool areas (including Ybor in small doses), but they just all seem so spread out. Don’t get me wrong, I do like Tampa, just not as much as I like Pinellas. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/33 "2007-03-26T19:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] Well, I’m a life long native, I do realize that Tampa Bay exists, but not as an area of land that you’d name a team after. There aren’t any Puget Sound Platypus(es/i), for example. Or the English Channel Fightin’ Tigers or something. It’s a silly silly thing to name a team after. 😛 [/QUOTE] There are, or were, the [Tidewater Tides](http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tidewater_Tides), minor league baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/34 "2007-03-26T19:15:17Z")
[QUOTE=XWalrus2] Since we’re complaining about street naming conventions, I must mention, as an Atlanta resident, Peachtree Street. Namely that there are hundreds of them. Everywhere. [/QUOTE] Oh, come on. No there aren’t. There’s Peachtree Street, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Court, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Boulevard… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/35 "2007-03-26T19:21:10Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] Oh I know. My mom got totally lost because of that (not that she has a great sense of direction anyway). We ended up a county or two away and then got horribly confused by Constitution St, Constitution Ave, and Old Constitution (or something like that) [/QUOTE] Philadelphia, for me. I was once trying to find my way out of the City of Brotherly Love in a more-or-less northerly direction. After driving for seemingly hours, constantly running into Wissahickon Avenue, I ended up at the junction of Wissahickon Avenue and Wissahickon Drive! :smack: Now, I cannot stay lost in Philadelphia, though I can reliably get lost. I simply realize that no matter what I do, I’ll end up on Wissahickon Avenue, and simply follow that out of town. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/36 "2007-03-26T19:22:48Z")
Another Floridian, voting for St. Pete. It _is_ best newspaper in Florida. Hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/37 "2007-03-26T19:24:32Z")
I’ve never forgiven Tampa for allowing Hernando de Soto to land. They could so easily have stopped hi, but nope- “C’mon in, Mr. D, we’ll watch your boats… you lookin’ for the gold it’s just over those hills, go til you see that humpbacked Indian and the Co-Cola sign and then it’s just over the crick”. I blame them for all the Indians torn up by his dogs or subjected to his diseases, and then I blame Tampa for the deaths of the innocent guys in the de Soto expedition (for while I detest their leaders and their racist exploitative mission, I do support the conquistadors). Look on the bright side: the asshole not being there meant he didn’t know you were late. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/38 "2007-03-26T19:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] You do not know bad street-numbering schemes. You may think you do, but only folks who have found themselves on a certain residential “Loop” (::looks at Google map:: I’m thinking Kimberly Lane?) in White Rock, suburb-offshoot of Los Alamos NM, know from truly bad numbering schemes. [/QUOTE] [Queens](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=astoria,+ny&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=40.768078,-73.928204&spn=0.010775,0.027122&om=1). Just try telling a guy you live “near 30th.” 30th _what?_ There’s like six of 'em in one place! ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/39 "2007-03-26T20:18:32Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] [Queens](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=astoria,+ny&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=40.768078,-73.928204&spn=0.010775,0.027122&om=1). [/QUOTE] I think we have a winner here. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551/40 "2007-03-26T20:28:48Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I’ve never forgiven Tampa for allowing Hernando de Soto to land. [/QUOTE] That was Bradenton! They’re not even in the same county! Please, Tampa has enough problems without having to shoulder Bradenton’s offenses as well. Seriously, all the other Suncoast municipalities hate Bradenton too, and deservedly so. It’s an enormous, bloated parasite, shamelessly battening on Sarasota’s modest prosperity to compensate for its own woeful lack of civic identity. Even the most zealous St. Petersburg partisan will readily concede of Tampa (and vice versa): “At least they’re not Bradenton, thank God.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-tampa-i-ing-hate-it/397551.md?page=3)