Downtown Tampa or St. Pete? (Pinellas Park, Wright: apartments, rent, house)

[powellmacaque]

My girlfriend and I are looking to move to either downtown. We're both USF students, but the area around USF doesn't offer enough "city life" for us. We're young and only have school and work to worry about, we'd like to live somewhere fun before settling down.

I was looking at the Metro 510 apartments near downtown Tampa, and they seem like a pretty good deal. I currently live in St. Pete, and I love the scene here; I like the "artsy bohemian" feel. I like beer bars, local "alternative" music, decent inexpensive eateries that aren't chains, and things like that. Will I be trading a lot of that in for the "bro" type clubs of Tampa, or is there a decent amount of punk/alternative culture in Tampa?

[crazynip]

The only "bro" type clubs are in the hood or ybor... you must not be looking very hard, or in the wrong places. (IE: where you buy weed?)

[powellmacaque]

It's just from what I hear from people, I've only lived in the bay area for about 6 months now so I'm still new to all of its intricacies. Last bar I went to in Tampa with a friend (it was closer to USF than it was to downtown) had a cover charge, made you bring 3 forms of ID, and had frat boys in charge of the "guest list." I'm looking for more dive type places with a bit of subculture. I know when bands that I like come to play from out of town, they typically play the State Theatre or Jannus, and are only starting to play in the Orpheum or the Ritz in Ybor.

Since a substantial amount of my income/leisure time/study emphasis is in the music scene around here, I wouldn't want to diminish my chances of playing gigs as often as possible and enjoying new acts coming up.

What are some good places in Tampa? I kind of liked Pegasus over on Busch, although I'm sure many on this forum might dislike it.

[thethinktank]

Originally Posted by crazynip

The only "bro" type clubs are in the hood or ybor... you must not be looking very hard, or in the wrong places. (IE: where you buy weed?)

By "bro" he means douchey white dudes. Like MacDintons / Hyde Park Cafe. You've got the whole racism angle pretty well covered though.

OP, if you're picking one downtown or the other, stick with downtown St. Pete for your cultural interests. Downtown Tampa is closer to the beginning of its turnaround, where St. Pete is hitting its stride. There are places like The Hub and Fly Bar downtown that can serve up a good time, but beyond that you're pretty tight on options directly down town. If you don't mind a more bro-ish mix, there are more, like Sono Cafe, Taps, Paninotecha, etc.

In Tampa, the hip spots are spread out. You can find a great time in any neighborhood without mingling with bros. The Independent in Seminole Heights (and plenty of other spots), a handful of places in Ybor, the Tiny Tap on SoHo and The Hub downtown. But comparing downtown to downtown doesn't really work.

If you find yourself deciding on Tampa, the restaurant situation is solid. You'll find plenty of indie restaurants all over. If you're curious about that specifically, I can point you in the right direction there.

[powellmacaque]

Originally Posted by thethinktank

By "bro" he means douchey white dudes. Like MacDintons / Hyde Park Cafe. You've got the whole racism angle pretty well covered though.

OP, if you're picking one downtown or the other, stick with downtown St. Pete for your cultural interests. Downtown Tampa is closer to the beginning of its turnaround, where St. Pete is hitting its stride. There are places like The Hub and Fly Bar downtown that can serve up a good time, but beyond that you're pretty tight on options directly down town. If you don't mind a more bro-ish mix, there are more, like Sono Cafe, Taps, Paninotecha, etc.

In Tampa, the hip spots are spread out. You can find a great time in any neighborhood without mingling with bros. The Independent in Seminole Heights (and plenty of other spots), a handful of places in Ybor, the Tiny Tap on SoHo and The Hub downtown. But comparing downtown to downtown doesn't really work.

If you find yourself deciding on Tampa, the restaurant situation is solid. You'll find plenty of indie restaurants all over. If you're curious about that specifically, I can point you in the right direction there.

Yea bros to me are the jersey shore types or the dudes who have nothing better to do on a Friday night than chug bud light and start fights to prove that their dad's hand-me-down Alfa Romeo is better than my Ford Focus. I'm more of a kick back, listen to music, and enjoy a few local/craft beer kind of scene myself.

Downtown Tampa would be nice because it's halfwayish between my job (Pinellas Park) and USF. Right now I rent just northwest of downtown St. Pete and while I love the area, I wouldn't mind saving a few bucks and minutes in commute time by living halfway between.

And please do recommend any and all restaurants my way, either on here or with a direct message. Since I'm newer to town, the only local gem I've discovered is Cappy's Pizza in St. Pete and Taco Bus, which are great places but I'd like to try more.

[thethinktank]

Originally Posted by powellmacaque

And please do recommend any and all restaurants my way, either on here or with a direct message. Since I'm newer to town, the only local gem I've discovered is Cappy's Pizza in St. Pete and Taco Bus, which are great places but I'd like to try more.

My friend, there is a wealth of restaurants here that you must try. First if you want a bit improvement over the Taco Bus, check out my Yelp review of Acapulco Mexican Grocery on MacDill in Tampa:

"Jesus has apparently been reborn, and she wears an apron and cooks tacos in the back of a Mexican grocery in Tampa. Her tacos are a religious experience. Her holy trinity of pollo, carnitas and pastor should be celebrated upon every sabbath, a pilgrimage of paramount culinary importance."

Beyond that one spot for Tacos, here is a collection of restaurants which regularly knock my socks off:
Wright's Gourmet House (best sandwiches in American history)
Love's Artifacts Bar and Grille (used car dealer quits profession, opens restaurant on-the-spot)
Renzo's Gourmet (argentinean market/cafe, you'll be the only gringo there and the meals are cheap and excellent)
Four Green Fields (the only real Irish pub in town, and if you visit on the weekend, the musicians will curse at you in Gaelic)
Bern's Steak House (yeah, expensive, but a three hour experience if you can set the money aside for it)
Boca Hyde Park (the name is silly, but they just opened on Monday and they're the creation of the founder of the Ceviche group and Ciro's Speakeasy. I went on Thursday, holy wow they are excellent)
Pane Rustica (go for lunch, then try to go a month without returning. foodie crack, they serve. lady bro's everywhere, but the food will slay your soul)
The Refinery (hipster foodie heaven from top deck to bottom diner)

Eat up!

[Sunscape]

Local gem: West Tampa Sandwich on N Armenia. They have been there 35 yrs, all kinds of sandwiches and regular Cuban food. Prices are great.

[corvidae]

If it were me, I would want to live in Tampa and not have as long of a commute. However I understand why you would prefer St. Pete's downtown. It isn't that there aren't nice places in Tampa, it is just that they are kind of spread out. And there really isn't that much in downtown Tampa other than offices. You have a better array of food and entertainment in South Tampa.

Ella's Folk Art Cafe has good food and an artsy atmosphere.

I like the Cigar City Brewery tasting room as well if you are into craft beer.

There is a lot of stuff in Ybor but my impression is that it is kind of bro-ish. I sometimes go to the Tampa Bay Brewery in Ybor, which is really laid back. The beer is better at Cigar City, though.

Can't really comment on the availability of music venues here. Tampa is a big-ish city so I'm sure there are some, though.

[New Horizons]

I've always liked downtown Tampa better and think it has way more potential than downtown St. Pete. For one thing it has more big buildings which gives it a more urban feel. It also has an interesting layout, the way it blends into the surrounding neighborhoods like Hyde Park and Ybor City. I love the Brorein Street bridge and the way it splits into Hyde Park or Davis Island. Tampa is just more interesting to me. Plus with the Ice Palace and convention center, there are times when it is packed downtown. If it wasn't for Jannus Landing there wouldn't be much to downtown St. Pete. And even then were talking about a couple of dive bars, pizza joints and pathetic trinket shops.

[powellmacaque]

Does anybody have any opinion on either Metro 510 in downtown Tampa or the Portland in St. Pete? The girlfriend and I toured Urban Style Flats and Fusion 1560 in St. Pete, with Urban seeming to be too "nickel and dime" and Fusion being a bit out of our price range. Metro and Portland look similar, although I've read that Portland is more or less a fancy project, but it is quite appealing considering the price and location, as long as its safe/not sleezy.