Is St. Petersburg a good place for young intellectuals? (Tampa: college, living in)

[TXRyan23]

Young, Intellectual & Diverse (Tampa, FL) - Meetup

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by jdm267

OP is not looking for intellectuals, he's looking for a cosmopolitian, diverse city where he can assimilate with people who enjoy hip bands, artist enclaves and living around vibrant cultures. In New York, we call them hipsters-who in no way should be confused with intellectuals.

Additionally, it appears that he also enjoys hanging out with people who are well traveled, have diverse outlooks on life, and are relatively young. Moreover, these types of people don't necessarily subscribe to the holy trinity of Wal-Mart - Publix - ubiquitous shopping mall containing Target, Bealls and Panera Bread. Well shame on them!

I think this is a tough order to find in Florida in general, but I'm sure that if the OP spends enough time here, he will find young people who fit the bill. Just google search Hipsters in Florida

I think most other cities have those enclaves. It seems every city has them somewhere anyways. I'm going to guess St. Pete might have it a little more than somewhere else?

[tpajr]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

Young, Intellectual & Diverse (Tampa, FL) - Meetup

this pic represents neither diversity or intellect. discuss.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by tpajr

this pic represents neither diversity or intellect. discuss.

Why do you say it doesn't represent it?

[JSnFla]

if you are a young intellectual thats super obsessed with being around very large numbers of young, highly intelligent, successful people then move to NY, Boston, DC, SF or Seattle but certainly not st petersburg or tampa. Nothing even remotely resembles a young intellectual community here, its quite the opposite actually.

[tpajr]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

if you are a young intellectual thats super obsessed with being around very large numbers of young, highly intelligent, successful people then move to NY, Boston, DC, SF or Seattle but certainly not st petersburg or tampa. Nothing even remotely resembles a young intellectual community here, its quite the opposite actually.

are you saying st pete tampa area is full of dum old peple

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by Rcsligar

I am looking for a fair sized city in FL with a sizeable population of young intellectuals. I enjoy having people around me that I can bounce ideas off of and enjoy their company. I have been to St.Pete and although the downtown is not very big, I've heard that the live music scene is pretty decent and there are some nooks and crannys to find. I like mellow lounge areas where I can smoke fine Cubans. I'm curious to hear input.

I lived in Saint Augustine for a few months twenty years ago... it was a great spot back then, not sure about now.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

I think you would enjoy downtown St. Pete. Can you visit there? It has a beautiful downtown with many museums, and Central Avenue is very bohemian with vintage stores, cafes, music venues etc. St. Pete has one of the oldest bookstores in Florida (Haslam's) where Jack Kerouac once hung out.

The Haslam Family and their Book Store

Anyway, I think it would be worth your while to check it all out. Good luck!

Yes, a visit to Saint Petesberg is worth it to visit Jack Kerouac's home there... the place he passed away at, in fact.


Friends of the Jack Kerouac House

1230 Dr Martin Luther King Jr St N
Saint Petersburg, Florida 33705

“I look up, there are the stars, just the same, desolation, and the angels below who don’t know they’re angels - ...” -Jack Kerouac

[mcharas]

Originally Posted by Rcsligar

I am looking for a fair sized city in FL with a sizeable population of young intellectuals. I enjoy having people around me that I can bounce ideas off of and enjoy their company. I have been to St.Pete and although the downtown is not very big, I've heard that the live music scene is pretty decent and there are some nooks and crannys to find. I like mellow lounge areas where I can smoke fine Cubans. I'm curious to hear input.

The only place I've come close to intellectuals in FL was when I lived in Boca Raton and was in regular contact with people that worked in finance offices downtown. And they weren't *that intellectual... Just above average. Maybe if you looked around Gainesville or near FSU/the captial, where the probability of topics to discuss is bound to be more varied, and "deeper", if you will. I mean, for an intellectual it seems to me that the better decision is not to go by beach but where the "brains" are... So why didn't you think of that? Lol.

And as far as smoking lounges, they're everywhere, in every city, in every state. So, Google???

[theurbanfiles]

So, I actually don't smoke. That said, while I also like to humble myself and not think of myself as an intellectual in "that sense" whatever that is, I do enjoy engaging with others that are intelligent. I was actually even thinking of coming up with a MeetUp of some from this forum that are somewhat similarly minded.

I find it humorous and ironic that the Young Intellectual and Diverse group came up as "sorry, the group you're looking for doesn't exist! LOL. In all seriousness though, I think you can find what you are looking for here.

I do like Saint Petersburg. Let's not forget-it's probably one of the biggest cities in the US that formed with a primary root purpose of "fun". I guess not exactly, but yes, it definitely did form as a resort/tourist town. To me, I find that there is a decent amount to offer of intellectual pursuits for a city of it's size. I didn't realize there was a Kerouac presence here also though I do know he lived in Orlando.. St. Petersburg has numerous museums, intellectual oriented events (for instance I'm going to an event tomorrow called "Nerd Nite"), and a relative cosmopolitanism with multiple pro sports teams, walkable/bikeable infrastructure (and increasingly better transit with PSTA adopting a complete streets vision and the first BRT line in the region).

Now... Is this place going to have "intellectuals in droves compared to say, "Cambridge, Mass, or Zurich, Sui"? No. In fact, honestly, it probably won't have the level of intellectual-ness comparable to Raleigh-Durham, NC. But, I still think there is enough of what you are looking for at least for a while. I have met people at coffee shops in St. Pete (Bandit, for instance), and there are still a number of things that I have not yet done or seen there.

If it helps, I am relatively community involved. Besides my educational and career pursuits, I am
-A mentor for BBBS
-A member of Preserve the Burg, St. Petersburg's historical society which does weekly walks focused on area history.
-A member of a weekly running club that also happens to meet at (and grab pints at) a brewery afterwards.

Most areas are what you make of them.