Orlando vs St. pete vs Tampa (cost, state, better, comparison)

[pepsik]

Which city is better from the point of view:

1) Density of population
2) Traffic
3) Rent cost
4) Politeness
5) Quality of neighborehood

[brianpmcdonnell17]

1. Density is similar in both areas.
2. Construction makes traffic worse in Orlando, but the SunRail train is better than anything in Tampa.
3. Tampa is less expensive.
4. Similar people in both cities, more tourists in Orlando.
5. Orlando has nicer suburbs.
(Tampa and St. Petersburg are close enough that anything said of Tampa also applies to St. Peterrsburg.)

[Trigger-f]

1) Density of population - about the same, though Tampa/St Pete feels larger.
2) Traffic - Orlando has worse traffic INMO (right now with no snowbirds, traffic is a breeze crossing Tampa Bay)
3) Rent cost (not sure, I don't rent)
4) Politeness - about the same, though ORL is geared towards the theme parks, a bit fake.
5) Quality of neighborehood - about the same, but St Pete has better ambiance, tropical feel than Tampa/Orlando. Pinellas/Manatee/Sarasota counties have many nice neighborhoods on the Gulf of MX or close to the waterways.. Btw, I consider Tampa/St Pete, even Sarasota, as part of the same metro area.

[lovecrowds]

I only spend a few months in the area.

Density of Population: Tampa seemed a little denser to me personally. Pinellas County which is the one St. Petersburg seemed very dense in comparison to Orlando which was very spread out.

Traffic: They seemed to have a very good infrastructure in my opinion. Orlando seemed to have lighter traffic then Tampa as it is more spread out.

Rent: I was considering moving to the area also for a time when I was there so I looked at apartment cost. It seemed to me that Tampa/St Petersburg had lower rents then Orlando.

The one thing about Tampa, I noticed is they have had alot more older apartment buildings in the area. It seemed as though the rents were slightly lower in the Tampa area also. There seems to be far more variety of apartments in Tampa also and a wide range of rents.

Orlando, I was shocked by how high rents were on apartments. I heard that they have a very low vacancy rate on apartments because of the population growth rate. I think most of the apartments in Orlando are in big apartment complexes which tend to know how to maximize their rent prices.

Politeness: I found Orlando and Tampa to be very polite. However, Tampa seemed more friendly in my opinion. I found the culture in the area to be extremely laid-back.

I always heard that Florida was very high-strong and fast paced, but Orlando and Tampa were certainly not like that.

Quality of Neighborhoods: The Orlando Metropolitan area is the cleanest metropolitan area I have seen in the sunbelt. Tampa seems overall quite a bit older and is not as clean in my opinion. The infrastructure in Orlando is also very modern and Tampa seemed like it's infrastructure was a bit dated.

[Trigger-f]

The laid back and more affluent areas in Tampa are actually on the water, the bay or Pinellas/Manatee/Sarasota beachesor further north.. when you come from I-4(Orlando) you basically are looking at the older parts of the town, though South Tampa is pretty nice. I beg to differ on infrastructure (Tampa Bay has tons of bridges, many new ones connecting the barrier islands), plus the Skyway is the ultimate bridge in FL(still longest cable stayed bridge in the world).

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Trigger-f

I beg to differ on infrastructure (Tampa Bay has tons of bridges, many new ones connecting the barrier islands), plus the Skyway is the ultimate bridge in FL(still longest cable stayed bridge in the world).

I agree, the infrastructure of Tampa Bay is well above what Central Florida has. For whatever reason Orlando/Central Florida has always lagged well behind growth in terms of building roads and can't seem to quite figure out how to address needs until it becomes a big issue.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by lovecrowds

Quality of Neighborhoods: The Orlando Metropolitan area is the cleanest metropolitan area I have seen in the sunbelt. Tampa seems overall quite a bit older and is not as clean in my opinion.

Yeah, Orlando overall is pretty clean and attractive in many areas. But Tampa Bay is no slouch, either.

What many don't realize is that Tampa & Jacksonville are Florida's original big cities. They are both old industrial and port cities, so they have grit that Orlando never really had - and it shows. Pre-Disney, Orlando was a mid-sized regional Metro centered on citrus, insurance and defense. Until the recent past, Tampa was much larger and more important than Orlando. In some ways, it still is. But there are definitely noticeable differences between the two, even though they are only 90 miles apart.

The infrastructure in Orlando is also very modern and Tampa seemed like it's infrastructure was a bit dated.

Meh, not really. It's great that Orlando has Sunrail and that they are rebuilding I-4, but Tampa Bay has some pretty impressive infrastructure overall. The complete reconstruction of I-275 through the City is pretty transformative (as is I-4 in Orlando), and many of the bridges around the Metro are state of the art.

I like and have roots/family/friends in both.

[theurbanfiles]

In terms of overall attractions, Tampa Bay, being older and more spread out might have more, but something about Orlando just feels a little more livable and youthful, and I think the recreational infrastructure is a little better.

[jdaelectro]

Originally Posted by lovecrowds

Density of Population: Pinellas County which is the one St. Petersburg seemed very dense in comparison to Orlando which was very spread out.

Yep, Pinellas county is the densest county in Florida and in the top 30 densest in the country.

[theurbanfiles]

Is that legit? Because in the urban area I know Miami is psqm in excess of 10K. But Dade stretches out in emptiness so far after that. So it's slightly misleading, but Pinellas may be denser than anywhere outside of Miami.