Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If all that is to be complained about is the number of strip clubs, sign me up. I live in St Louis and I can tell you that this city has WAAAAAY more issues than that.
Secondly, so maybe there are a lot of strip clubs in the area. Do you have to go to these establishments? Is there a law telling you that you must spend a certain amount of money in them per day? I agree that it doesn't always attract the highest caliber of individuals but this is America and those strip clubs are business doing just that, in the business of making money.
For all of you secretly promoting your conservatives values upon the rest of us, you should be ashamed!
I don't think you really read my post. I didn't say that the only issues in Tampa are "the strip bars", I wish it were that easy. They are many other "issues" that will make very difficult the adaptation for a newcomer every-day's life. I'm not going to pin point what I said already, so refer to the initial posting in this thread and you'll find out more "issues". Also it is not just a few strip bars making money, they and the Adult stores on literally on every block of the city, it is like a major industry, not just a "few" seedy joints. By the way, I am far from conservative.
Of course there are people out there that may find Tampa a livable city, good Lord, in this world there is always someone for everyone, but many that I know left the city, including myself.
OK, I am going to weigh in on this one..
While you are right about the strip bars around Dale Mabry and Kennedy, the city has been trying for over 30 years to close them down. You are also right about the money the owners have to fight the city and they have spent millions doing just that.
In order to understand the whole issue you have to know how the area evolved before Tampa was a big town and the biggest employer was MacDill AFB. Believe it or not at one time that area was on the outskirt of town. WalMart built that store knowing full well those clubs were down the street and had been for 20 years or more.
As a single woman I never had any fears of going out alone at night nor was I ever approached like I was a hooker, probably because I wasn't standing on a corner dressed like one. My friends and I could walk places, go to clubs/bars and never had any problems.
I lived and worked in several areas of Tampa and what you are describing is very misleading. You don't find strip clubs in every neighborhood.
Regarding your quest for employees, I can only tell you I was in management and interviewed ppl for jobs that paid a lot less than what you were paying and didn't see what you are describing in large numbers. Yes, there were a few who had no idea of how to dress for an interview and another dept hired a guy with blue-green hair who turned out to be a great employee. FYI..and this company is a well known worldwide company with a good reputation, in fact stuffy at times. The guy did change his hair color after he was hired to a more acceptable color.
To Cunparis..
You won't find strip clubs in New Tampa and I don't recall ever seeing them in Brandon. There aren't any in Westchase, Citrus Park, TnC, Carrollwood, Wesley Chapel, Land O lakes, Odessa, or Lutz.
Keeper, you still are my favorite moderator in this forum, but I do have to disagree with you this time too. First at all, to any other women out there who read this post and feel offended -my apologies. Indeed this posting was intended to be somehow "in women's favor" and how I feel women should be portrayed in other ways and not being used as a SEX product, as seems to be the case in Tampa and it's largely spread sex industry.
To answer the question to some of the postings here, I do co-own a company that has over 12 offices in 8 states and growing. Indeed, we are one of the fastest growing companies and make it to the list of Inc. 5000, so we have some experience in city relocation, hiring and else.
The reason for opening an office in Tampa was originated from our Main office in Los Angeles, CA since we needed something in the south east. Miami, in that time was out of the picture because (3 years a go) it was expensive, had significantly higher salaries and a very low unemployment rate which are important factors for a small company to avoid. We chose Tampa because of its affordability and location and after of a thorough study, it was fitting well in the picture. However we never thought of issues like the ones I explained in my initial posting, and who does? Who can imagine such things are going to happen on a major scale? almost 80% of candidates that show for a job fit the same category of "unaceptable", the city is full of terrible drivers, lacking in resources and where installing a simple phone system in an office is just like a major task to be accomplished, in fact they even never sent us a bill!!
Maybe you could call it culture shock, maybe its the way of work and living in the southeast, I don't have a clue but when we opened our other offices across the country, we never found any issues like that. People were overall puntual, hard working, respectful and well educated. Of course that there are people like that too in Tampa, although we didn't have the luck to experience many of them, unfortunately.
The botton line here is that it all depends on who you are and what you're looking for in a relocation. I do speak from the perspective of an entrepreneur that its looking for highly motivated people who wish to grow with a company and show the diligence of hard work, honesty and punctuality among many other positive factors required for success in the business world. And honestly I can't say that Tampa is a friendly city for business, because it's not.
I didn't say that "all women" may feel approached in the same way in Tampa or maybe I didn't explain myself correctly, of course there are many different types of women and some may not be approached in the same way. But I can tell you that I have plenty of stories to share that will shock anyone, of course, and I have many women telling me just this, these things do not happen as often, in the North East. As many may have imagined, during our tragic transition in the city of Tampa, we had to hire mainly out of state candidates that were moving there or we just simply relocate them. They told me first hand of their experiences with men in downtown Tampa when they went out to lunch or to the building lobby for a break. It just seems that when men live in a city where the prevalence of the sex shops is so frequent, this may influence their behavior with the opposite sex. This is just a thought based on the feedback of personal experiences from my own female employees that were not originally from the Tampa area.
If you are looking for a nice retirement, good weather or anything non-related to the working world, you may find it ok, but I would still look at some other areas instead, Sarasota and Naples are at the top of my list for the West Coast of Fl.
Because we are a business that needs largers cities than that, we went to the East coast of Florida and relocated our office to Brickell, we found a very different picture there and yes, we'll stay there definitely and in fact we are just looking for a second office in the Ft. Lauderdale area. But again, it's just us, someone else may prefer to go to areas like Tampa, I'm fine with that and I wish them the best luck.
To anyone that has a "legitimate business" and can identify itself, and has intentions to open a branch in Tampa, please PM and I'll be more than happy to share more in detail our business experience there and living experience as well, nothing positive though. I also can provide plenty of contact numbers of businesses and individuals in Tampa, locals and out of state ones, that can corroborate what I experienced.
By any means, good luck to anyone that looks to move to Tampa, and I would recommend first taking a transition period to "test" the area before committing to anything. You'll be grateful to yourself and to this thread. thanks
"literally every block"..."major industry"...LOL, now william are you sure about that...now if you had said a circle K on every block
I'm sorry to hear that exploitation of women sounds like a funny joke to some. Of course they are not on "every block" but on every few blocks indeed. I can guarantee you that if there is not an actual sex-shop or strip-bar there, there will be a large billboard reminding you that in the upcoming few blocks there is SEX for sale. Maybe you'll like it...
William you surely don't have to agree with me with my mod hat off and am answering a post like everyone else.
We all have our opinions and we don't have to agree with each other. What I see as a problem, you may not and visa versa.
I am just curious as to when you lived in Tampa and in what area of town?
I can agree on that...
Our offices were located in two well-known class A buildings in Downtown Tampa between the years, 2004 and 2006 and I personally was living in Harbor Island but traveling frequently.
Harbor Island is a very nice place to live, although a bit humid for some due to the fact that the island is basically a very small piece of land floating on-top of water. You can almost breath the water all year round. Very high levels of humidity and a very "quiet place" that could also bother some that need a bit more going on. If you can handle all that, it's actually a very nice place to live, especially if you work in Downtown. Its proximity to the Tampa Convention Center, and the Aquarium, is also very valuable. I actually saw some great concerts there- U2, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and others in the St. Pete Times Forum at a walking distance from my home, which is very convenient. Also Channel Side is a step from both, downtown and Harbor Island, which is good for anyone that wants to chill out and have couple of drinks within walking distance from home. I like the boat docks around Harbor Island, across from the Marriott Hotel, I don't know if you have visited this place, where you can see some very nice Sea Ray's (boats) docked. Very nice though.
Trust me, Tampa is not all bad news, but it can get on your nerves at some-point if you aren't a native. It just needs more people from up north, a bit more of a city-like culture, with a faster pace of living and the down to earth mentality that harder living areas of the country may have, i.e. New York, NY, Chicago, etc. Apparently many are not fully convince (just like me) and some of the new constructions in downtown and surroundings are still vacant, I also hear that the Donald Trump Tower project in Downtown never come to life, is that true?
Our offices were located in two well-known class A buildings in Downtown Tampa between the years, 2004 and 2006 and I personally was living in Harbor Island but traveling frequently.
Harbor Island is a very nice place to live, although a bit humid for some due to the fact that the island is basically a very small piece of land floating on-top of water. You can almost breath the water all year round. Very high levels of humidity and a very "quiet place" that could also bother some that need a bit more going on. If you can handle all that, it's actually a very nice place to live, especially if you work in Downtown. Its proximity to the Tampa Convention Center, and the Aquarium, is also very valuable. I actually saw some great concerts there- U2, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and others in the St. Pete Times Forum at a walking distance from my home, which is very convenient. Also Channel Side is a step from both, downtown and Harbor Island, which is good for anyone that wants to chill out and have couple of drinks within walking distance from home. I like the boat docks around Harbor Island, across from the Marriott Hotel, I don't know if you have visited this place, where you can see some very nice Sea Ray's (boats) docked. Very nice though.
Trust me, Tampa is not all bad news, but it can get on your nerves at some-point if you aren't a native. It just needs more people from up north, a bit more of a city-like culture, with a faster pace of living and the down to earth mentality that harder living areas of the country may have, i.e. New York, NY, Chicago, etc. Apparently many are not fully convince (just like me) and some of the new constructions in downtown and surroundings are still vacant, I also hear that the Donald Trump Tower project in Downtown never come to life, is that true?
Your posts made me chuckle a little. Although you have every right to your opinion as much as I do, your posts seemed a little thoughtless and small minded to me. Its almost as if you spent all of your time on Dale Mabry or something. There are only a few neighborhoods where strip clubs are concentrated. Did you ever bother to check out the wonderful nightlife around here? The fantastic restaurants in all different ethnicities around the world? The many cultural and art events that happen on almost a daily basis? The beautiful beaches? I have serious doubts about your 80% of applicants being the way you describe. Did you post your job ad in one of those strip clubs you are talking about? The people you describe are a small percentage of people who make up Tampa Bay, so I am not sure what you did to get 80% of those types to apply. I've been all around the country myself, so for you to come in here and bash Tampa as if it is city out of the backwoods of Kentucky is VERY unconvincing to me.
I am by no means an expert on Tampa but I lived in South FL for 3 years before moving back up to NJ...I am now being relocated to the Tampa area. I find Tampa and the surrounding areas to be a breath of fresh air during the time I have spent there visiting and for work. South East FL (FTL, Boca, MIA) made me ill... Too many people trying to look soooo important with their rediculous huge sunglasses and their "luxury cars that weren't anything special because everyone drove one" (meanwhile half of them couldn't afford their car lease...but image was everything)... DUH!!
It got so old so fast. I met very few people with any character or with much interesting to say and I am an extrovert that can usually find common ground with anyone... Most people want to know what you do or what you drive before they give you the time of day... so disgusting and vain. The women there reminded me of prostitures more than the ones I have seen in downtown Newark, NJ or the Bronx!!! At least that is the way I view gold diggers...
Just about everywhere I have traveled in Tampa has brought me in contact with REAL people that are genuinely nice and will talk to you with no ego and I enjoyed that. That includes people from work, biz contacts, and the nice woman at the bank, etc...
Maybe some people like to surround themselves in a plastic lifestyle but I am not one of them. I am looking forward to moving to the greater Tampa area very soon and I am confident my experience there will be head and shoulders above the one I had in So FL.
But one thing we all have to realize is, EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE IS DIFFERENT. Just because I was born in NJ and may have lived a faster paced lifestyle than someone born in Mississippi, I don't have the right to tell them they should be living a faster pace right? You get one life and you can live it as you choose. Many people move to FL to slow things down a bit and enjoy life. I am not one of them...I am going there to accelerate my career path, but I think my life there will be excellent...because I will make it that way with a positive outlook.
Before I get down off my soapbox I will also add, bad drivers are everywhere... and if the OP spent time in CA and NY, he should know that... they are waaaay worse in those areas when compared with Tampa... I experienced the worst drivers in MY lifetime during my stint in South FL... OMG... you need to wear a helmet.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Give Tampa a Break
(meanwhile half of them couldn't afford their car lease...but image was everything)... DUH!!
