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Was supposed to be relocating back to Nashville in August, but due to some financial matters, move-in date is being pushed to beginning of October. A friend of mine moved to Tampa in January, and told me a few days ago that she thinks I would really enjoy it--perhaps even more than Nashville. I'm curious about Tampa because I've never been. I'm a 29 year old black female that currently resides in Philly. I've lived in Nashville before, and loved it, so that was initially why I was going to move back. However there were drawbacks in Nashville that my friend said may not be the case in Tampa. For instance there wasn't as much to do in Nashville in terms of nightlife since I'm a club/bar person and really like a wide range of clubs/bars to choose from with good music. And the job market was tight back when I lived there(which was during the recession).
I'm wondering for those of you who have lived in either city which one is better for:
Economy
Black population
Schools(I have a son)
Professional Black Networks
Nightlife
Dating
Pretty factor(how pretty is the city)
Food
Creative Writers
Affordable Housing
*I have been saving up enough money to move to either city and stay for 6 months without a job(so that will give me time to look)... I am moving without a job.
Was supposed to be relocating back to Nashville in August, but due to some financial matters, move-in date is being pushed to beginning of October. A friend of mine moved to Tampa in January, and told me a few days ago that she thinks I would really enjoy it--perhaps even more than Nashville. I'm curious about Tampa because I've never been. I'm a 29 year old black female that currently resides in Philly. I've lived in Nashville before, and loved it, so that was initially why I was going to move back. However there were drawbacks in Nashville that my friend said may not be the case in Tampa. For instance there wasn't as much to do in Nashville in terms of nightlife since I'm a club/bar person and really like a wide range of clubs/bars to choose from with good music. And the job market was tight back when I lived there(which was during the recession).
I'm wondering for those of you who have lived in either city which one is better for:
Economy
Black population
Schools(I have a son)
Professional Black Networks
Nightlife
Dating
Pretty factor(how pretty is the city)
Food
Creative Writers
Affordable Housing
*I have been saving up enough money to move to either city and stay for 6 months without a job(so that will give me time to look)... I am moving without a job.
Economy- Tie. Both have good economies. Tho Nashville has a more diverse economy, compared to Tourism reliant Tampa.
Black population- Tampa. Both have large African American populations. But Tampa also has large Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean populations, with large numbers of Haitians, Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, Dominicans, and AfroCubans.
Schools- Nashville. Florida has some of the most ignorant, weird, and backwards ppl in the country, even the teens.
Pro black networks- Nashville, but ONLY cuz its close to Atlanta.
Dating- Tampa, more diverse options, Black American, AfroCaribbean, Latin Caribbean, and even white if u like whiteboys. Nashville is more black n white.
Pretty factor- Tampa definitely. Palm trees, beaches, and sub tropical environment.
Creative writers- not sure
Affordable housing- Both a low cost of living and affordable housing, compared to say Southern powerhouses like Miami or Atlanta.
I say Nashville due to the HBCU presence(Tennessee State, Fisk and Meharry).
I believe that both metros are about 14-16% Black, which is lower than Philly(about 20%). Everything else is likely similar, give or take. There is a Mexican population in Middle Tennessee, btw.
I live in Tampa and will be moving soon, 1 thing to mention is nashville is isolated in comparison, Tampa has the advantage of being close to orlando so if you find yourself bored with tampa, you could try orlando for disney world or universal studios for a weekend. You could also move there as orlando has lots of job opportunities.
Economy - not sure what industry you're in, if you're in the tourism or entertainment area, it's probably even. Tampa has the beaches, busch gardens and nashville has music, dollywood.
Black population - Toss up, nashville probably has more black people but tampa has more diversity.
Schools(I have a son) - I've heard good things about some of the schools in south nashville, tampa schools are terrible.
Professional Black Networks - probably nashville
Nightlife - nashville
Dating - probably nashville, seems like there's alot of people moving there that are looking to meet people
Pretty factor(how pretty is the city) - depends what you like, if palm trees and beaches are your thing, then it's gonna be tampa. If you like rolling hills and the countryside with southern charm, then nashville. Both downtowns aren't huge and there's not a big skyline.
Food - if you like cuban or different island foods, tampa, if you like bbq, probably nashville, everything else is a toss up
Creative Writers - not sure, but orlando is close by, could commute in a tight scenario.
Affordable Housing - Tampa, nashville prices have gone up like crazy over the past few years, tampa is $200-$300 a month cheaper for comparable apartments.
Both are great areas. I'd give Tampa the edge due to its recreational offerings. It would be good to spend some time there to get a feel for the area yourself.
Economy- Tie. Both have good economies. Tho Nashville has a more diverse economy, compared to Tourism reliant Tampa.
Black population- Tampa. Both have large African American populations. But Tampa also has large Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean populations, with large numbers of Haitians, Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, Dominicans, and AfroCubans.
Schools- Nashville. Florida has some of the most ignorant, weird, and backwards ppl in the country, even the teens.
Pro black networks- Nashville, but ONLY cuz its close to Atlanta.
Dating- Tampa, more diverse options, Black American, AfroCaribbean, Latin Caribbean, and even white if u like whiteboys. Nashville is more black n white.
Pretty factor- Tampa definitely. Palm trees, beaches, and sub tropical environment.
Creative writers- not sure
Affordable housing- Both a low cost of living and affordable housing, compared to say Southern powerhouses like Miami or Atlanta.
Talking about ignorance.. tourism is the 5th largest employment sector in Tampa.. Orlando is more reliant on tourism; Tampa Bay not so much.. shows how much people know about FL.
Wow--this thread has been revived! Thanks for the input! As others have pointed out, Nashville is expensive now--at least the parts that have the best schools. The costs of housing can be compared to the cost of philly housing! Tampa is inexpensive but lacks the charm I loved in Nashville!
Also should point out that my son is 4 and loves to swim, and loves sports... I'm wondering which one has the most family fun activities.
I did date in Nashville before, that was back in 2011/2012 and the dating life in Nashville was smaller than I was used to. A lot of people were married or taken already--but one thing that stood out was how kind and sweet southern men were, compared to the men i dated in the city. I've wondered how Tampa compares. I'm not into White men, only black and potentially rican, so I'm interested in the black dating scene. I was 25 back then, it would be interesting how dating differs in Nashville, now that I'm 29. I like the aspect of diversity though--in Tampa for my sons sake.
As a native Tennessean and someones who really loves Tampa and southwest FL in general, Tampa by a mile.
Nashville rent and property prices just keep going up, up, and up, to the point the common personal cannot afford it on the local wages offered. People talk about the "sunshine tax" in FL, but it exists in most of the South.
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