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I have a very specific question. Although these two areas are climactically and culturally different, I'm curious about the similarity in makeup as multi-nodal regions...
1) What is Tampa's relationship like with the rest of the region, and what does the rest of the region think about Tampa?
Tampa is more dominant in its region than Norfolk is. Tampa was founded as a port and center of industry and commerce. St. Petersburg was founded chiefly for tourism and retirees. Clearwater is a large city in its own right, but mostly known for tourism and being the headquarters for Scientology. Tampa's industrial heritage and port sealed its fate as the domineering city early on. Also, due to the city sitting on Tampa Bay, the football and baseball teams are named after Tampa Bay and the main airport in the area is in Tampa - while St. Petersburg and Sarasota have commercial air service, the vast majority of commercial air traffic flies into Tampa. Therefore, in terms of name identity, it's the most known and domineering city in the region.
On the other hand, Norfolk is the commercial heart of Hampton Roads and has the large military presence, but there are other cities in the immediate region with industry, commerce, military presence and legacies of their own. Virginia Beach caters to tourists and military (but mostly suburban in nature in spite of it being the largest city in the state), Newport News has the shipbuilding, etc. Besides VA Beach (which has almost 450,000 people), most of the other cities in Hampton Roads are about the same size - between 120,000 to 250,000 people or so. And due to the historic nature of the area, they had traditions that developed long ago. Some of the cities such as Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are less than 60 years old because they merged with the counties they sat in and became large suburbs overnight. Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Suffolk cover a lot of square miles, and are pretty sprawled out.
The major unifying factor in HR is the strong military presence. There's no major league sports team to unify the region either and the cities are infamous for their infighting. Moreso than many multi-polar metro areas. I think because of the fact that they are an amalgamation of mid-size cities all fighting for a piece of the pie, it feels pretty fragmented overall compared to the Tampa Bay Area.
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2) What does Tampa offer as the anchor city of a large region that Norfolk can learn from or maybe aspire to? What is in Tampa that isn't in Norfolk in terms of amenities?
2) Tampa International Airport/ - Not a hub, but serves a lot of passengers due to the population (almost 4 million people in Tampa Bay), and the heavy tourism presence there.
3) Official Site of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - HR is one of the largest metro areas in the country without a major league sports team. I bet Austin and Las Vegas will have major league sports long before HR will. The Rays play over in St. Petersburg because historically, it was more of a baseball town than Tampa. But the Yankees have Spring Training in Tampa and the Phillies are over in Clearwater.
4) The University of South Florida/ - Although HR has a LOT of colleges, there is no major state university in the region - ODU and Christopher Newport are respectable institutions in their own right (and part of the excellent University of Virginia system), but the flagship university for the state is in Charlottesville. USF isn't the flagship of Florida by a longshot, but it is a major university in its own right with a large student body and has come of age within the last decade or so.
I like both, but Tampa Bay gets my vote. More to do and pretty much year-round warmth.
Won't disagree with more to do, and won't always disagree with year round warmth, but it's dropping to a low of 49 at night next Thursday, and it is going to be absolutely glorious lol.
Tampa is more dominant in its region than Norfolk is. Tampa was founded as a port and center of industry and commerce. St. Petersburg was founded chiefly for tourism and retirees. Clearwater is a large city in its own right, but mostly known for tourism and being the headquarters for Scientology. Tampa's industrial heritage and port sealed its fate as the domineering city early on. Also, due to the city sitting on Tampa Bay, the football and baseball teams are named after Tampa Bay and the main airport in the area is in Tampa - while St. Petersburg and Sarasota have commercial air service, the vast majority of commercial air traffic flies into Tampa. Therefore, in terms of name identity, it's the most known and domineering city in the region.
On the other hand, Norfolk is the commercial heart of Hampton Roads and has the large military presence, but there are other cities in the immediate region with industry, commerce, military presence and legacies of their own. Virginia Beach caters to tourists and military (but mostly suburban in nature in spite of it being the largest city in the state), Newport News has the shipbuilding, etc. Besides VA Beach (which has almost 450,000 people), most of the other cities in Hampton Roads are about the same size - between 120,000 to 250,000 people or so. And due to the historic nature of the area, they had traditions that developed long ago. Some of the cities such as Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are less than 60 years old because they merged with the counties they sat in and became large suburbs overnight. Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Suffolk cover a lot of square miles, and are pretty sprawled out.
The major unifying factor in HR is the strong military presence. There's no major league sports team to unify the region either and the cities are infamous for their infighting. Moreso than many multi-polar metro areas. I think because of the fact that they are an amalgamation of mid-size cities all fighting for a piece of the pie, it feels pretty fragmented overall compared to the Tampa Bay Area.
2) Tampa International Airport/ - Not a hub, but serves a lot of passengers due to the population (almost 4 million people in Tampa Bay), and the heavy tourism presence there.
3) Official Site of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - HR is one of the largest metro areas in the country without a major league sports team. I bet Austin and Las Vegas will have major league sports long before HR will. The Rays play over in St. Petersburg because historically, it was more of a baseball town than Tampa. But the Yankees have Spring Training in Tampa and the Phillies are over in Clearwater.
4) The University of South Florida/ - Although HR has a LOT of colleges, there is no major state university in the region - ODU and Christopher Newport are respectable institutions in their own right (and part of the excellent University of Virginia system), but the flagship university for the state is in Charlottesville. USF isn't the flagship of Florida by a longshot, but it is a major university in its own right with a large student body and has come of age within the last decade or so.
Can't disagree that Tampa is more dominant. Which, to me, is partly one of the biggest hindrances of Hampton Roads--the lack of a true alpha city. Now, Norfolk has always played the role of "the city" in the area, but it isn't dominant. Newport News is the city in the Peninsula with only moderate Norfolk influence. Virginia Beach will always be a lesser city than Norfolk but is beginning to outgrow its reputation as "only a suburb" of Norfolk...
Technically, William & Mary is in Hampton Roads, and by all accounts that is an elite university, but it's at the northernmost point of the Peninsula. It's equidistant to Richmond and Norfolk, but has more cultural exchange with Richmond City than Norfolk, and actually is closer to Richmond time wise when taking into account the traffic around the HRBT...otherwise, CNU is too small of a school to truly boon the metro. And ODU is a good school, probably the most notable in the region but smallish itself and lower in profile than VCU, UVA, VT, and George Mason...
The vast majority of air traffic into Hampton Roads flies into Norfolk, which is a similarity it shares with Tampa. ORF handles 3 million passengers annually, compared to half a million at Newport News-Williamsburg, so Norfolk is the center of air travel. Norfolk also has a parallel in which it developed historically as the major port in the Tidewater. Norfolk lost its dominance in the region in the 50s/60s when it's suburbs combined into "cities" that outgrew Norfolk, and/or political deficiency...
So I agree with you, but how much do you believe pro sports would help elevate Norfolk's profile? It already has the AAA baseball team, is the focal point of prep sports, especially basketball, and gets the major sporting news and entertainment events. I'm not sure how much a sports franchise would help, especially when the VB Oceanfront has the momentum for a new arena in the Southside. Definitely agree that any number of cities will land a franchise before Hampton Roads...
Won't disagree with more to do, and won't always disagree with year round warmth, but it's dropping to a low of 49 at night next Thursday, and it is going to be absolutely glorious lol.
Yeah, we're in Central FL a lot during the Christmas season and you definitely need a hoodie/jacket in the evenings/morning.
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