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Originally Posted by sportf190
I moved from CT to Miami in January and I am now considering moving to maybe tampa to fit my needs. I am 23 single, and nightlife is important to me but it is just too much here in miami. I don't need 50 dance clubs and they are only on the beach, and I feel like a minority here as I am a white person. I love hispanic people but it is just too much for me. I am wondering for those who have lived in miami and tampa what would I be missing out on if i moved to tampa.? I know nightlife but I am sure tampa has a good scene I am not into all the tourists in south beach it gets old and is way to expensive for me anyways.. any advice? I love the warm weather beaches and every other aspect of florida just not so much miami.. lol
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I have lived in both cities. Tampa is completely different from miami in so many ways, but unless you visit it's just not going to register. I'll just make a list below of some pros and cons
Miami
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Pros-
*Hot, sexy people everywhere
*Nice nightlife
*Melting pot of cultures
*Only a week or two of "winter" weather aka great weather
*Cosmopolitan vibe
*Lots of young people
*Beaches are "built" to be tourist friendly
*Plenty of great shopping (Aventura mall for example) there is definitely no lack of shopping places
*Very modern, pretty developed as a city, very ritzy vibe
Cons-
*CRIME
*High cost of living
*Maniac drivers
*Hurricanes every year
*People are aggressive for no reason
*Stressful city
*It's a tiny town, it can get boring quickly
*If you are not latin, you are a minority (like someone else on here said)
*Too freakin hot, 95 degrees almost everyday of the year give or take a month or two for "winter"
*Fast paced (this can be a pro depending on how you feel about fast paced cities)
*Crazy people...people who haven't lived in Miami can only make assumptions by hearing news stories but since you have lived there, well you already know what Im talking about
*Downtown miami there are a lot of homeless
*Tourists are annoying
Tampa
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*Lower cost of living than Miami
*Lots more places to rent than miami, there are many more apartments and homes to rent in tampa than miami and theyre definitely cheaper than miami
*Less crime than Miami
*If you are white you are not a minority in tampa unlike miami
*Quiet, slower paced lifestyle -this could be a con depending on what you like
*People are less aggressive and much friendlier than miami
*Most days in the summer the temperature doesn't get higher than 89 degrees
*Lots of "natural" beauty, pine trees, forests, cattle, horses, even some ranches
*possibly more jobs than miami depending on what you do
*Drivers aren't as bad as miami, but still not excellent, you'll see a lot of umm "crushed" cars driving around with dents and bumps in various spots but still not as angry and aggressive as miami drivers
*Lots of golf courses if you like that kind of thing
*Has a seminole hard rock just like the one in hollywood, fl8
*Has a colder and longer winter...depending on what you like this can be a con
*Peninsula next to clearwater is gorgeous especially when you see it for the first time, it has a hawaii island vibe that is very appealing, if you visit tampa definitely drive to clearwater beach, indian rocks beach and all the way down to treasure island and st. pete beach its a very pretty drive
Cons:
*Tampa is known as lightning city..wanna guess why? Lots of rain and lightning I personally love both so doesnt bother me but I think for most people this is a con
*The population from my observation consists more of older people than miami, lots of Q-tips
*Little to no nightlife compared to miami/south beach, a lot of people will tell you to go to hyde park [url]http://www.thehydeparkcafe.com/[/url] heres the link...they have a gallery where you can see pictures of the type of crowd that hangs out there, you might like it
*Quiet slower paced lifestyle I put this in pro and con because depending on how you feel it could be either one, and the slower paced lifestyle affects all things from how many bars there are to how many malls there are, just to give you an idea Tampa does not have a Costco you have to go all the way to clearwater just to get to a costco and imho tampa only has one mall that is worth going to its called the International plaza
*LOTS OF TOURISTS all year round and although most of the tourists visit and stay near clearwater, a lot of tourists stay in tampa and its just annoying, and tampa attracts a lot of older, retirees as a vacation spot so its not like miami where you get hot sexy 20 yr olds from san diego coming down for spring break its almost always 40yrs old+ people and families coming from states like North carolina, ohio, texas and virginia in their SUVs, it gets annoying after awhile -there are a lot of good opinions on this website as to why tampa attracts mostly older retirees as tourists and the main point that everyone agrees on is this "Miami is a little much for older people who want to bask in the nice weather and just golf or check out Spring Training, and also a bit much for underage kids who do want to go to Orlando. Miami is more for single 20-30 somethings, and better if you are well off financially than not. Tampa is cheaper and has less crime, and is a less socially and racially stratified place than Miami."
*Some people who move from miami to tampa complain all day that the city is dead and there is nothing to do
*No beach...well the only beach worth going to is in clearwater and imo its not as great as fort lauderdale beach, miami beach, palm beach etc but thats my opinion, clearwater beach is quite pretty when you're going over the bridge to get to it the view is fantastic it was breathtaking the first time I saw it
*Lots of people on here who moved to Tampa from more developed cities such as LA, NY or SD complain that some of the people in tampa are too "redneck" and hillbilly, and in some areas of tampa and clearwater it is true, think lots of bumper stickers on 1 out of every 10 cars, some cars even have 10 or more bumper stickers, I remember one that read "My other car is a broom" possible Harry potter joke? idk (a lot of people here make jokes about people in certain areas of pinellas and pasco county marrying their cousins and only going as high as the 7th grade etc theyre definitely exaggerating but there are more "rednecks" in tampa than miami, this isnt meant to offend anyone, just look at all of the threads on here Im not making it up)
*Lots of trailer parks, funny thing is some of them are gated communities
*SINKHOLES, miami has hurricanes well so does tampa but also SINKHOLES
*Tampa was voted one of the worst dressed cities not that long ago which only matters if you care about flashy or fashionable clothes, if not then you can walk out the door in the shirt you slept in, some shorts and flip flops, run all the errands you want and no one would bat an eye
So... I don't know, just visit Tampa for yourself and stay a week and see how you like it, its not for everyone but its definitely not a bad city, you might like it a lot more than Miami
The lists weren't meant to offend anyone in anyway but I have lived in both cities and summed them up in the quickest way possible- two lists of pros and cons to both cities
you need to visit or youll never know for sure
