Well, I’m not crazy about mosquitoes (who is?) and hurricanes (who is?).
Although, your weather is a plus. Can we ship that humidity to Milwaukee, or is that too much to ask for?
I used to live in Ft. Myers and there was something I didn’t like about Tampa, but I never could put my finger on it.
I can’t say that mosquitoes have been a problem for me, although I live inland, in the Panhandle, and they spray for them now and then. Yes, there are hurricanes, and nobody is crazy about them. Still, people live here despite them because it’s such a nice part of the world. And man, if you can find a way to get our humidity up north, you can have it!
Well, I don’t want the humidity. that’s why I’m asking if we can send it somewhere we all don’t like…like Milwaukee.
Don’t listen to the superiority stuff put out by a people who live in Tampa and deeply regret it; its kind of like listening to a brain-washed Texan.
People commute to Tampa daily from up to 60+ miles away just to avoid living in the place. When you are in Tampa for any reason, expect up to three days delay while driving on the Interstates and a week while driving on any other surface road. Beware the cross town freeway where roadway supports fall into undisclosed sink holes. Beware of people attempting to merge onto the various expressways and interstates; people in Tampa know absolutely nothing about merging into existing traffic. Be prepared for total gridlock at any time of day or night on any roadway whatever. In Tampa, your internal organs won’t just be stolen, they will be ripped out and eaten raw by starving Tampa residents while trapped in the never ending traffic jams that occur daily and in multiple locations.
Pinellas County is thousands of times better but getting here from Tampa is problematic due to the thousands of Tampa residents who routinely clog the bridges across Tampa Bay while trying to escape the death trap they call home.
Do you begin to see what I mean about these St. Petersburg types? Beware their siren song. It’s all about the organs, really. What kind of people go out of their way to boast about the contents of their Holocaust museum? Necromancers, all of them. Why encourage their cult of death when you can come to Tampa and worship pirates like decent people?
RedRosesForMe is right about the newspaper disparity though. Dunno if the St. Pete Times is the best newspaper in Florida, but it really doesn’t have to be to whip the pants off the Tampa Tribune, which is actually published by the autochthonic organisms that existed in Florida before vertebrates arrived, or so legend has it. Of course the Times is also available in Tampa, so that’s not really a problem.
On the other hand, Tampa is the home of the nation’s only trilingual newspaper, La Gaceta, containing all the news that’s fit to print in English, Spanish and Italian. This is the sort of cosmopolitanism many lesser cities can only dream about.
Speaking of literacy, one of St. Petersburg’s other points of interest is Haslam’s, Florida’s largest used bookstore, with which they lure in victims with exceptionally large brains. Every great once in a while I’ll sneak in there myself, but so far I haven’t been caught. In fact, sometimes they point and laugh.
Nah. Arizona’s got dibs.
I like Arizona’s weather, though. Harumph.
I knew a guy who’d lived in Florida his whole life, never been out of the state before; then he joined the Army and wound up in Arizona. The first phone call I got from him, he told me with awe in his voice: “You know, I always heard people say it, but I never believed them until now… It really IS the humidity! It’s like 110 degrees out here, and I feel great!”
I’m not the only one that noticed? You order a colada here and people look at you like you are on crack! Fried pork chunks? BAH!
While I disagree with your evaluation, I do agree with the difference.
As for tampa, I’ve lived her against my will for about 15 years. It really is a shit town. Most of my friends are from St. Pete. But if you want shallow, Edward Scissorhands like conformity, tampa is for you.
Well, with the exception of Terrifel, most people who live in Tampa realize how crappy it is 
But honestly, I’m not a huge fan of Tampa, never have been, but I think St. Pete is a much nicer place to live. If you’re going to be working in Tampa, it’s not unusual to commute, so you might check out Pinellas county to live in. Good luck!
-foxy
In short, Tampa sucks, St Pete rocks, and anyone who says otherwise is trying to justify the exorbitant cost of their Tampa home. Also, Tampa’s boring. And thinks it’s Atlanta (but isn’t even close) and has a downtown that rolls the sidewalks up at 5.
And, you can’t watch the sun set over the water in Tampa. And you can’t get to the most beautiful bridge and panorama of the Bay from Tampa. And they don’t have The King and I and Bangkok #9 (two awesome Thai restaurants literally half a block from each other). And the La Teresita (a Cuban institution) over on this side of the Bay is better. And our traffic’s better even though we are the densest county in Florida. Our county commission isn’t nearly as embarrassing. Ybor’s nothing special unless you like pickpockets and drunks.
Also all the people in Tampa are snots who can’t admit that we have it better over on the peninsula.
But, you can live over here and work in Tampa. And you can stay over here and visit your dad in Tampa and tell him you won’t spend the night in such a place as Hillsborough County because you have standards dammit and then head back to your lovely hotel (but not on the beach cause that commute would suck) over here in Pinellas.
Hey, at no point did I deny that Tampa is built on cursed earth. I simply pointed out that the citizens of St. Petersburg may kill you and steal your organs. This is not about civic rivalry.
In my experience (probably around 5 days over the years), in the summer the sky turns dark around 4:30 and it rains for about 20 minutes. Then the sun comes back out and it’s like it never happened.
Please…
I can’t believe people are griping about the traffic in Tampa. I live in the Baltimore/DC corridor… You ain’t seen NUTHIN"!
And as far as the griping about over-priced homes… See what 250k will get you in DC/MD/No. VA… Then come and talk to me.
I actually like Tampa/St Pete and I’m thinking about moving there soon.
I’ve had a blast in Y’bor, the Dali Museum is a sight, and if you aren’t afraid of a drive NASA’s Cape Canavral (SP?) isn’t too terribly far away. The aquarium in Tampa is a good time and Clearwater Beach was sweet also.
Have fun!
Note: I was raised in Pinellas, but now live in Hillsborough, although technically not Tampa, I consider it pretty much part of Tampa.
The only reason we live on the Tampa side is that the Pinellas County school system is FUBAR. Just in case anyone should ever use this thread as a guide to moving down here, please, please, please take that into account.
IMO Tampa side has better restaurants. Not aware of the two you mentioned, Bambi, so I’ll have to check them out. Also, surface traffic in Hillsborough is generally better, while highway traffic on the our side is definitely a mess and not getting better anytime soon.
Pinellas side is generally more laid back and generally older, although Pinellas average age has gotten younger recently. Still, you can find yourself out with a bunch of retirees depending on when and where you go in Pinellas. For some people that’s great, for others, not so. There are some good places to get out and fun to be had in Tampa. Ditto Pinellas. It’s hyperbole to suggest otherwise. Obviously Pinellas has much nicer beaches, whether pristine (Ft. DeSoto, Honeymoon and Caladesi are tops in this category) or more tourist oriented (Clearwater. St Pete) or laid back (Madeira Beach and pretty much everything in between St Pete and Clearwater). North and western Hillsborough have some nice nature sites, areas that are or were Cypress swamp and can be very lovely if you enjoy nature. But if you really want to see natural Florida you’re best off heading north of Pasco county.
You could live half way between Tampa and Orlando, within a fairly reasonable drive of either coast. That’s nice.
Yes, but then you’d have to live in Polk County. I hear they have COWS out there, for God’s sake.
gasp
COWS?!?!?
A little regional ribbing. I have a couple friends who live way out in Polk County (Mulberry and Lakeland, if you’re familiar), and I always give them a hard time about it.
Pinellas County (St Pete / Clearwater / my house) is almost completely urbanized. Pasco County (to the north) and Hillsborough County (to the east, across the bay) are urbanized along their coastlines and the parts that touch Pinellas. Outside of their urbanized areas (US 19 in Pasco and Tampa in Hillsborough), those two counties are quite rural. And almost all of Polk County (east of Hillsborough) is farmland and / or empty space.
Population densities, from Wikipedia, to illustrate:
Hillsborough: 951/mi², 1,157,738 people.
Pinellas: 3,292/mi², 924,413 people.
Pasco: 463/mi², 344,765 people.
Polk: 258/mi², 483,924 people.
To be fair, the densest parts of Hillsborough (in the older parts of Tampa) are denser than the densest parts of Pinellas. But there is basically no usable open land left in Pinellas and all of our agricultural land was long ago repurposed for housing.