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IMO, both cities are less than well-received by many on here. I've seen a few depict Tampa as a trailer trash city, and some depict Baltimore as a big, smelly ghetto. I think whoever says this most likely hasn't visited either cities, and they both have quite a bunch to offer. Also, both cities have larger cities that tend to overshadow them. Miami and Orlando are pretty close to Tampa, while Washington and Philadelphia aren't far from Baltimore.
I've seen a few depict Tampa as a trailer trash city...
From my experience living there between 2003-05, I would largely agree with this statement. Tampa had little to offer aside from the fact that it wasn't cold. Unless of course you like seeing confederate flags on pickup trucks almost every day. Tampa has some of the rudest people that I've ever met and is also a pretty ugly city overall IMO. Downtown is a COMPLETE ghost town after 5pm - and I mean COMPLETE. At least this was the case 5 years ago. Two thumbs down.
Status:
"Pickleball-Free American"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,464 posts, read 44,100,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkozlow3
From my experience living there between 2003-05, I would largely agree with this statement. Tampa had little to offer aside from the fact that it wasn't cold. Unless of course you like seeing confederate flags on pickup trucks almost every day. Tampa has some of the rudest people that I've ever met and is also a pretty ugly city overall IMO. Downtown is a COMPLETE ghost town after 5pm - and I mean COMPLETE. At least this was the case 5 years ago. Two thumbs down.
An unfair characterization of Tampa, and a great help to the OP in helping him prove his point.
My DH and I often visit my sister-in-law and her husband in Tampa (they reside on Davis Islands); don't know where you hung out, but we find the neighborhoods of south Tampa to be lovely, and the restaurant scene to be more than adequate for a city of it's size. The people I've encountered were quite friendly. The beaches across the bay in St Pete/Clearwater are some of the nicest in Florida.
As far as Tampa being an ugly city, I find it hard to reconcile such a statement with the experience of driving up and down Bayshore Boulevard.
Not only underrated but misunderstood. The city has a reputation of having alot of urban plight and being crime ridden but those areas are highly concentrated.
- Great culture
- Good food (blue crabs, crabcakes!)
- Great architecture
- Great location, near DC, Philly, AC, NYC
- Beautiful sourrounding scenery rivers, hills, dense woodlands
- Vibrant downtown
An unfair characterization of Tampa, and a great help to the OP in helping him prove his point.
My DH and I often visit my sister-in-law and her husband in Tampa (they reside on Davis Islands); don't know where you hung out, but we find the neighborhoods of south Tampa to be lovely, and the restaurant scene to be more than adequate for a city of it's size. The people I've encountered were quite friendly. The beaches across the bay in St Pete/Clearwater are some of the nicest in Florida.
As far as Tampa being an ugly city, I find it hard to reconcile such a statement with the experience of driving up and down Bayshore Boulevard.
Bayshore Blvd, while quite nice is hardly representative of the entire city. When I say ugly, I guess it always baffled me how ugly the areas near Bush Gardens and the port (where many tourists depart on cruise ships) were. Yes, they built Channelside near the port, but GETTING to the port from the airport is an ugly trip. Same goes for getting to Bush Gardens. You'd think that you'd focus on beautifying the areas that visitors to your city are highly likely to see, leaving a good impression. Tampa never seemed to quite get this. Miami on the other hand is a Florida city that gets it (where as non-touristy areas are pretty rough in some parts).
Anyway, maybe I have a tainted viewpoint of Tampa, but I also believe that you truly have to live somewhere to get an accurate picture. I don't think I realized how rude the overall vibe of the city was until I lived there for a few months. Get outside of Davis Island, Bayshore Blvd, etc and Tampa is an ugly, redneck town in MANY parts. It shows in the mentality of the people more than anything. Drivers are EXTREMELY rude (worse than LA drivers in my experience) and Tampa people overall do not have a "helpful" mentality. Asking where something is at Home Depot will lead to the naming of an aisle 9/10 times in Tampa where as in Cleveland or Colorado Springs (the other cities I've lived in), they'll typically help you find the exact item, walking you up and down a couple of aisles if necessary. Yes, this is a generalization and merely an example (with exceptions), but it's indicative of the attitudes of a large percentage of the people in Tampa based on what I experienced - and the general attitude of a place is most definitely contagious to those who live there given enough time. Just my $.02.
Status:
"Pickleball-Free American"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,464 posts, read 44,100,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkozlow3
Anyway, maybe I have a tainted viewpoint of Tampa, but I also believe that you truly have to live somewhere to get an accurate picture. I don't think I realized how rude the overall vibe of the city was until I lived there for a few months.
I suppose that is to presume that my sister-in-law and I have not.
She has resided in:
San Francisco
Seattle
Boston
and now, Tampa.
I, in:
Atlanta
Washington, DC
NYC
Miami
In both of our opinions, you can do much worse than Tampa.
I suppose that is to presume that my sister-in-law and I have not.
She has resided in:
San Francisco
Seattle
Boston
and now, Tampa.
I, in:
Atlanta
Washington, DC
NYC
Miami
In both of our opinions, you can do much worse than Tampa.
I wasn't stating that you haven't lived in any cities worthy of comparison, but you have not LIVED in Tampa, so your assessment is one of an outsider and will therefore always be limited to some degree unless you decide to move there. You cannot tell me that your opinion of Atlanta, DC, NYC, Miami, etc didn't change at all after living there for awhile (for better or worse).
This is not a personal attack at all, but it really bothers me when C-D forum members offer up advice with no knowledge of a city. I'm not saying that you don't have any knowledge of Tampa, but rather that of a tourist. I FREQUENTLY see posts on C-D where someone says "I think city X meets your needs based on what you've described...but I've never been there myself" How can you recommend a place without first hand knowledge - if not even as a visitor?????
Anyway, my posts are now becoming off topic from the original intent of this thread, so I'll end with this one.
Tampa is not ENTIRELY trailer trash. I wouldn't even go that far. It has its nice parts and bad parts as any city. Now to have a bad experience and someone pisses in your coffee that is personal, but Tampa is not as bad as this person above is making it out to be, at least like the OP said you don't hear many people saying anything. That goes for both, been to both.
IMO, both cities are less than well-received by many on here. I've seen a few depict Tampa as a trailer trash city, and some depict Baltimore as a big, smelly ghetto. I think whoever says this most likely hasn't visited either cities, and they both have quite a bunch to offer. Also, both cities have larger cities that tend to overshadow them. Miami and Orlando are pretty close to Tampa, while Washington and Philadelphia aren't far from Baltimore.
So, which do you think is more underrated?
The "trailer trash" that people refer to in Tampa is on the outskirts of the city.
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