[JazzmanLI]

After spending 5 years in FL, I finally decided on Tampa Bay. Nothing beat being so close to the water and the beaches, from Sarasota to St Pete to Tampa there is always something to do. The suburbs are booming, lots of new construction. My GF and I found it to be affordable. Orlando is very touristy in my opinion (yes. the entire state is) but found that Orlando has it pretty bad. Just my thoughts...

[cjairo191]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Actually your information is a bit off. Tampa has about 100K more in population than Orlando and is significantly larger. Tampa is older and has some very cool older neighborhoods that predate Orlando which was nothing more than a dusty crossroads not that long ago. Not sure where the "clean" obsession is coming from but both cities are fairly equal in that department and largely not littered or polluted. Tampa is a much more diverse city in terms of what it does offer (especially culturally) and isn't anywhere near as touristy as Orlando. The fact that Tampa and St Pete nearly adjoin one another makes for a much larger metro area than Orlando and much more to do when factoring both since St Pete alone is about the size of Orlando proper. It takes a good hour for most of Orlando to reach a beach while one can easily reach Clearwater Beach for example from most of Tampa in 35-40 minutes on weekends, which is when the vast majority would visit.

100,00 is significantly larger? Orlando appears to be a cleaner city from the start. Many will state that. Culturally? Do you mean culturally by having more major sport teams?

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by cjairo191

100,00 is significantly larger? Orlando appears to be a cleaner city from the start. Many will state that. Culturally? Do you mean culturally by having more major sport teams?

100,000 is pretty significant, especially if that represents nearly half the size of Orlando's city population. "Culturally" refers to museums and the arts. Tampa is clearly well ahead in that department, especially if you factor in what St Pete and Clearwater bring to the table.

[CrowGirl]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

Let me clear up some misconceptions being spread in this thread.

- Tampa's Downtown is somewhat dead. This will change in about ten years as Jeff Vinick and Bill Gates' plan comes together. Channelside will completely change our downtown.
- Tampa and Pinellas County are not the same place. Pinellas has the beaches, and is not Tampa.
- Downtown Tampa isn't the focus of Tampa, Ybor is. Everything that people could want in Downtown Tampa is five minutes north.
- Tampa hasn't had an MLS team in... 20 years?
- The Rays don't play in Tampa. You'll be in pretty heavy traffic to catch most of their games.
- There is plenty of affordable housing outside of Downtown. We have Seminole Heights alone, which is becoming our booming area, they're building some new places in Ybor, there's an entire apartment project in northern Downtown meant to be "mixed income."

Honestly, as a young person, you can't go wrong in either city. As far as jobs, Tampa is considered one of the leading cities in the state for employment. I'm not saying Orlando is lacking, but Tampa will be booming shortly. I'm biased, though. I run a YouTube and blog solely on the city of Tampa.

^^ Great post.

I would agree that in general you can't go wrong in eaither place. I live in Tampa so I am little biased. But there is a lot to do here, you just have to be willing to reach a little for it. And the general sense is that this is an area on the brink of being almost - trendy. Regardless of how much I would hate that,

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by cjairo191

Culturally? Do you mean culturally by having more major sport teams?

Or maybe the fact that we have a piece of land in Tampa owned by Cuba, the only piece of Cuban land an American can step on legally. Little things.

[cjairo191]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

100,000 is pretty significant, especially if that represents nearly half the size of Orlando's city population. "Culturally" refers to museums and the arts. Tampa is clearly well ahead in that department, especially if you factor in what St Pete and Clearwater bring to the table.

oh you are going by official city of Orlando population stats. Sorry thought you where going by Metro stats of 2,387,138 million for Orlando. Jacksonville throws Tampa and Orlando, and Miami to the curb with city population if you going by that.

Young couple cant go wrong in either city. Tampa is improving I have to say with the Riverwalk downtown. I just remember growing up in Orlando and you only went to Tampa for strip clubs, crazy Ybor, or Bush Gardens. Guess its changing.

[a person]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

Or maybe the fact that we have a piece of land in Tampa owned by Cuba, the only piece of Cuban land an American can step on legally. Little things.

This is something I have literally never heard a single person or media outlet tout about the area, ever.

[cjairo191]

Originally Posted by a person

This is something I have literally never heard a single person or media outlet tout about the area, ever.

Does he mean Ybor? Can the person provide a source please? Article?

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by cjairo191

oh you are going by official city of Orlando population stats. Sorry thought you where going by Metro stats of 2,387,138 million for Orlando.

People love to quote the Orlando metro area stats but need to realize what Orlando offers is primarily within the realm of tiny downtown Orlando or the SW Orlando/theme park area. The rest is pretty much generic suburban sprawl.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

People love to quote the Orlando metro area stats but need to realize what Orlando offers is primarily within the realm of tiny downtown Orlando or the SW Orlando/theme park area. The rest is pretty much generic suburban sprawl.

This ^^^. There is really no comparison. Tampa is a city with a lot of history, established in the 1800s (my grandparents immigrated here in the late 1800s). Orlando was a mere blip in the road until the 70s when Disney came to town. It (Orlando) is not my cup of tea, but I guess a lot of people like the "newness" and touristy-ness of it.