Tampa vs. New Orleans (living, best, cost, state)

[Prickly Pear]

For living in, which city is better and why? Use the following criteria:

- COL
- Job growth
- Economy
- Culture (Social behaviors, “quirkiness”)
- Urban amenities (City parks, nightlife, dining)
- Nature amenities (less than 6 hour drive/boat?)
- Tax burden at middle class incomes (less than 80k give or take for both areas). This means more than income tax, include sales, property, etc. taxes in the equation
- “Travelability” I.e. airport quality, cost of flights, train travel if applicable, long distance bus if applicable, boat travel even could apply to both
- Transit/density/walkability and more importantly, if this is locally supported or still mostly suburban and highway support/funding in the city
- Average house price
- Weather
- Politics
- “Green Cities” what the cities are doing regarding climate change and sustainability (yes I realize both cities are not necessarily the most sustainable in the country, I’m referring to what actions they are taking to improve their situation).

Please refrain from including other criteria such as education and schools or what is considered better for kids. Not that it’s not important, just not needed for me.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

For living in, which city is better and why? Use the following criteria:

- COL
- Job growth
- Economy
- Culture (Social behaviors, “quirkiness”)
- Urban amenities (City parks, nightlife, dining)
- Nature amenities (less than 6 hour drive/boat?)
- Tax burden at middle class incomes (less than 80k give or take for both areas). This means more than income tax, include sales, property, etc. taxes in the equation
- “Travelability” I.e. airport quality, cost of flights, train travel if applicable, long distance bus if applicable, boat travel even could apply to both
- Transit/density/walkability and more importantly, if this is locally supported or still mostly suburban and highway support/funding in the city
- Average house price
- Weather
- Politics
- “Green Cities” what the cities are doing regarding climate change and sustainability (yes I realize both cities are not necessarily the most sustainable in the country, I’m referring to what actions they are taking to improve their situation).

Please refrain from including other criteria such as education and schools or what is considered better for kids. Not that it’s not important, just not needed for me.

I would imagine the tax siuation in New Orleans may be better for a middle class person or family since LA has a income tax and Florida does not.No income tax states like Florida tend to benefit the wealthy more than states with a income tax like LA.States with income taxes tend to benefit the middle class more than the rich.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by C24L

I would imagine the tax siuation in New Orleans may be better for a middle class person or family since LA has a income tax and Florida does not.No income tax states like Florida tend to benefit the wealthy more than states with a income tax like LA.States with income taxes tend to benefit the middle class more than the rich.

States with no income tax usually have high property taxes, like Texas

[C24L]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

States with no income tax usually have high property taxes, like Texas

I know that.I agree that states with no income tax tend to make it up in other ways.I would think a state with no income tax would not be the best for a middle class person.Thats what i was getting at.I would think a state like LA would be better tax-wise for a middle class person.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by C24L

I know that.I agree that states with no income tax tend to make it up in other ways.I would think a state with no income tax would not be the best for a middle class person.Thats what i was getting at.I would think a state like LA would be better tax-wise for a middle class person.

Yeah I would agree. I don't know if FL has a high property tax though.

I will say that one unique tax that New Orleans proper has is that if you own property with a New Orleans, LA address and you are not a permanent resident I think you are subject to an additional property tax of around 10% (don't quote me I'm not exact here, but I know it's high). Something like that is really neat as that means New Orleans is getting its needed revenue from people trying to profit off of vacation rentals in the French Quarter rather than having as much burden on the local residents. That doesn't necessarily guarantee that New Orleanians have a low tax burden, but things like that do help.

New Orleans is a cool city but it sure is expensive to live in. Housing costs there are absurd especially in comparison to Tampa.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

For living in, which city is better and why? Use the following criteria:

- COL
- Job growth
- Economy
- Culture (Social behaviors, “quirkiness”)
- Urban amenities (City parks, nightlife, dining)
- Nature amenities (less than 6 hour drive/boat?)
- Tax burden at middle class incomes (less than 80k give or take for both areas). This means more than income tax, include sales, property, etc. taxes in the equation
- “Travelability” I.e. airport quality, cost of flights, train travel if applicable, long distance bus if applicable, boat travel even could apply to both
- Transit/density/walkability and more importantly, if this is locally supported or still mostly suburban and highway support/funding in the city
- Average house price
- Weather
- Politics
- “Green Cities” what the cities are doing regarding climate change and sustainability (yes I realize both cities are not necessarily the most sustainable in the country, I’m referring to what actions they are taking to improve their situation).

Please refrain from including other criteria such as education and schools or what is considered better for kids. Not that it’s not important, just not needed for me.

I’m surprised this thread isn’t getting a lot of comments, so I guess I’ll try to start:

COL: Tampa, without a doubt. New Orleans is oddly very expensive, probably because of geographic constraints and outside interest around the French Quarter.

Job growth: Honestly I don’t know, but Tampa is one of the fastest growing cities. I would suspect Tampa but I’d like to hear some elaboration on this one.
Economy: See above. Probably Tampa.

Culture: New Orleans. I don’t even need to explain this one.

Urban amenities: New Orleans. Bourbon street speaks for itself, but New Orleans offers more on top of this too.

Nature amenities: Tampa. Beaches and since we are including within a 6 hour drive, I’ll include Orlando amusement parks here. There’s a lot of beach and swamp in Florida to go do. However, you are limited to Florida. New Orleans you can get to other states and potentially cooler areas with a lot more ease which is a pro to NOLA. I guess it would depend on preferences and if someone could elaborate what’s around New Orleans.

Tax burden: As stated above, probably New Orleans. Unless you are high income.

Travelability: Tampa airport is pretty nice, getting to it from Tampa is something else though. The airport is in a terrible location, traffic wise. I’d imagine it’s cheaper and easier to fly to more places from Tampa than New Orleans. You can also ferry from Tampa to the Keys which is really cool.

Urbanism: New Orleans probably. Outside of the French Quarter, the Downtown and Warehouse Districts are highly urbanized and walkable. You have the New Orleans streetcar which also takes you west into the garden district and the Audubon which is a great connection.

Average house price: Tampa. New Orleans is crazy pricey IMO.

Weather: Tampa. Both have armpit weather but Tampa a little less so.

Politics: I really don’t know and id be interested in hearing someone elaborate on this.

Sustainability: I really don’t know on this either, which is what I was hoping to hear someone who actually knows more than me who has visited a few times.

—-

So far it appears Tampa is better overall, unless someone can stare otherwise.

[projectmaximus]

Breaking it down Tampa probably wins the overall categories, but all I know is I regret not living in NOLA when I was younger. And even now, in the right circumstance, I dream of living there part-time. Tampa, although a fine place for us, does not move the needle much.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

Breaking it down Tampa probably wins the overall categories, but all I know is I regret not living in NOLA when I was younger. And even now, in the right circumstance, I dream of living there part-time. Tampa, although a fine place for us, does not move the needle much.

In some ways New Orleans is simply more appealing than Tamp is to me, despite general facts of the two areas point to Tampa. I have visited both a few times and I love New Orleans. Tampa is a bit more flavorless in comparison. Both are where my family is though, hence the comparison thread.

[Columbus1984]

Tampa for growth but New Orleans for charm and history.

[ccm123]

Tampa.