[Administrator]

This poll will be open for 3 days.

[Suncoast Guy]

I would say yes. Even though St. Petersburg is apart of the "Tampa Bay" region, it has over 200,000 people at least. St. Pete and Tampa have much different environments, atmospheres, people, everything. I vote "yes". I would also suggest making it a St. Petersburg/Pinellas County sub-forum, because Pinellas County has a couple of big cities. It might be beneficial to City-Data for people wanting to know just about Pinellas County, or just about St. Petersburg.

YES.

[TD*]

no, Add a Tallahassee Forum

[Suncoast Guy]

Originally Posted by TD*

no, Add a Tallahassee Forum

That is not what we are talking about. This is stricty about St. Pete. Please contact one of the MOD's of the Florida Forum about a Tallahasse forum.

Thanks!

[rgpg_99]

I'd say no to the St. Pete forum. It's not the number of people who live in that area (as mentioned by a previous poster), but the amount of activity on this forum. I see more posts from other areas (including Tallahassee, which someone mentioned before) but there are no specific sub-forums for them.

Does anyone keep any statistics on what areas/cities messages on this forum are about? Those numbers are what should drive the decisions to add sub-forums.

Then we have the "chicken and the egg" question: why is it that we don't have more participants from some areas? Is it because there is no sub-forum for them and thus, they are less motivated to participate, or is it that they are not motivated to participate, and thus, no sub-forum is created for those low-traffic areas?

Regarding the poll, there should be a third option saying: "leave it as it is", in case some people are OK with the way things are organized now.

[Keeper]

The reason you don't see many questions about St. Pete is because most are asked in the Tampa forum now. Many times ppl will ask 'Where should I live' as the header but if you read the post, they are really asking about St. Pete.

The administrator does keep statistics on threads. In case you haven't noticed FL has more sub-forums than any other state, many were created when the statistics indicated there was a need for a separate forum. I know the administrator has indicated he was monitoring the city whenever someone inquired about a new forum.

If you feel there is a need for a Tallahassee forum, one of the moderators will be happy to ask for you. It is possible the Administrator will also chime in on your request here.

[Aliza Sojourner]

Yes, I would vote for having a St Pete/Pinellas County forum. In the past I've lived in both Hillsborough and Pinellas County. They are very different and that can better be reflected if separate imho. Seekers not familiar with the area can learn more with distinctive forums.

As to the chicken/egg and numbers thing, I know that right now I'm interested in the Space Coast area. Yes, I can search by individual cities, but I believe many seekers get discouraged when they don't see individual forums and wander off, many times without getting questions answered.

[Administrator]

Yes, when it comes to possibly adding a Tallahassee sub-forum, it is one of the cities I'm monitoring and there are simply not enough threads yet. I anticipate that it will be added in several months if our current activity levels continue.

[cariad]

My vote is to rename the forum and make it clear that it includes all the towns/city areas that make up Tampa Bay. Many people live in St. Pete/Pinellas and work in Tampa-some make the opposite commute.
St Pete, Tampa-and all the areas that make up "Tampa Bay" may be very different, but geographically they are very close. I live in Pinellas, but am closer to the airport and most west Tampa neighborhoods than 95% of Pinellas County and St. Pete.

And if you do separate forums, where do people post about Holiday, Trinity, New Port Richey, Port Richey and Hudson and points north? They are as close to, or closer to Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor, Clearwater, etc. than Tampa.
Too many forums is too confusing, too limiting. Relevant posts will be lost again. The big issue-as questioned in a long ago thread-was why the sub forum was called the Tampa City forum.

[Tiger Beer]

An interesting suggestion...I realize this is a from a few years ago. But, as a person searching out information specifically about St. Petersburg, without much interest in Tampa itself. It's certainly interesting that it has been mentioned to separate them before.

As I'm not living there, it's largely irrelevant to me. But, curious if St. Pete residents might beg to differ...or if they consider themselves more or less part of the one large Tampa Bay metro...?