Tampa is NOT a great city (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: apartments, lawyers, home)

[William Hamilton]

... and that's just only the beginning of what you are going to encounter if you move to Tampa. I own a business and we had an office in Downtown Tampa for about 2 years. At first, I relocated from Los Angeles, CA to take charge of the opening, hiring, getting the office ready, etc

Initially my impression was that Tampa had the feeling of a small town, but I thought it was because I had been living in Los Angeles and NY for a while, but I was pretty impressed with the combination of a cute and nice downtown skyline, water channels and the nearby Harbour Island home community with nice housing, affordable luxury apartments and 1/2 mile proximity to Downtown. Basically you could live on an island two minutes away about from your office in Downtown and even walk to work.

But that was just the "outsider's experience" that everyone may get when visiting Tampa.

While conducting job interviews from the other side of the table (hiring), we saw things we never believed could be real in this day and age, 85% of the candidates not only looked unpresentable but they actually looked as if they were coming from the welfare agency. From visible Tattoos, to tongue piercings and with poor-fitting clothing, absolutely no manners, and the worse part is that they had Bachelors Degrees in their resumes!!. Most showed up late to the job interviews or just "didn't show up" at all for an over 50k administrative office job in a city where the average salary is around 30-35k.

We called the Tampa Chamber of Commerce and they said that the reason for this could be the that Tampa has a very low unemployment percentage in the area but to be honest I just don't believe it, I think that place is a swamp-hole.

Did you notice the prevalence of dozens of highly visible Strip Bars and Adult Entertainment stores in that city? They are on every major street throughout the city - even on Dale Mabry NEXT to WALT-MART!! with huge signs saying FREE lap DANCE Specials. You can drive almost in "any direction" out of Downtown Tampa and you'll see a sign or a billboard saying "NUDE GIRLS HERE" or "XXX video Store" and of course HOOTERS, since they were founded in Clear Water, near Tampa.

The city is trying to sue the Strip Bars to move them out but its not easy since these places have a lot of cash to pay Lawyers and they just sue the city back. And this culture is influencing youth in this city. Women are "afraid" to go out anywhere because they will be approached as if they were hookers in search of a tip..

I could go on an on of the many reasons why you should NOT move to Tampa or any other nearby cities if you are a normal family or professional planning to interact with locals once there, and if you plan to be active in your community.

RENT first if you are still planning to go there, and see it by yourself. If you buy in this market, then you'll be trapped there since selling is not a choice anymore these days.

I would recommend to you anywhere on the East Coast of Florida, from West Palm Beach to Coral Gables, there are plenty of communities of any types to choose from.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by William Hamilton

Did you notice the prevalence of dozens of highly visible Strip Bars and Adult Entertainment stores in that city? They are on every major street throughout the city - even on Dale Mabry NEXT to WALT-MART!! with huge signs saying FREE lap DANCE Specials. You can drive almost in "any direction" out of Downtown Tampa and you'll see a sign or a billboard saying "NUDE GIRLS HERE" or "XXX video Store" and of course HOOTERS, since they were founded in Clear Water, near Tampa.


I would recommend to you anywhere on the East Coast of Florida, from West Palm Beach to Coral Gables,

Woah woah woah, have you ever been to West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale?? If those two cities don't have the most fetish shops, adult video stores and strip clubs scattered in one city, I don't know what city does. Even compared to Tampa, where you won't see porn and fetish stores in upscale areas like you do in Bayview and Las Olas. That being said Tampa is pretty bad in that regard, certainly one of the worst, but look at what you are comparing it to.

Although one thing I did notice is that the burbs have way more of that going on. Down 19 in Palm Harbor and generally nice areas and I noticed you see a bit of that. Drive down Univeristy Drive in Broward or Military Trail in Palm Beach and you won't see many/any XXX signs.

Why the hell do I notice these things, lol.

[William Hamilton]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Woah woah woah, have you ever been to West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale?? If those two cities don't have the most fetish shops, adult video stores and strip clubs scattered in one city, I don't know what city does. Even compared to Tampa, where you won't see porn and fetish stores in upscale areas like you do in Bayview and Las Olas. That being said Tampa is pretty bad in that regard, certainly one of the worst, but look at what you are comparing it to.

Although one thing I did notice is that the burbs have way more of that going on. Down 19 in Palm Harbor and generally nice areas and I noticed you see a bit of that. Drive down Univeristy Drive in Broward or Military Trail in Palm Beach and you won't see many/any XXX signs.

Why the hell do I notice these things, lol.

I do agree that Tampa is not the only place out there with bad taste, but I wasn't trying to compare it with Ft lauderdale or West Palm Beach in that specific regard (adult entertainment) but the overall living and working experience on those areas.

I have been driving almost everywhere thru Ft. Lauderdale downtown recently looking for office property, Las Olas etc and I didn't saw any strip bar or fetish store nor in Miami or Coral Gables or even South Beach.
I'm sure that something like that will be around but I never saw one, what that means that they aren't visible or prime located like in Tampa where everyday you drive to work or go to the grocery store, you'll see the sign of the nude naked lady saying FREE LAP DANCES ON FRIDAYS!!

many believe that Tampa is very disgusting place to allow Nude/Strip Clubs to do business NEXT to a Walt-mart and Sonic in a main street near downtown Moderator cut: website removed What those children are going to think when they go shopping with mom and dad for the weekend and see a bunch guys rushing inside of a shack with lights?

[cunparis]

I'm curious if this is just for downtown tampa and the immediate area or if it also applies to surrounding areas. I am looking at new tampa, brandon, and brandenton. Are they like this?

[Keeper]

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.

[tonynorie]

As a Tampa native (age 61) it's enlightening to be occasionally reminded of what the city's image is when visited by an out-of-towner. And, because I'm aware that visitors or newbies are "all eyes" when visiting a new city or town, it's not a secret that they notice things that we as Tampans drive by every day and don't give a second glance.

Although we have a lot of adult clubs I've never thought of it as unique to Tampa. I just think of it as a result of prevailing permissive and liberal society nationwide.

As for the proximity to Wal-Mart I think that is a good thing. It makes it more convenient for patrons of Mons Venus to buy a can of Raid and spray down from head to toe before stepping foot in the club........

[tampaguy03]

And here is my two cents on mr william's generalizations about Tampa...the adult businesses are mostly confined specifically to two areas of the city, Drew Park and East Tampa(Adamo Drive). World Famous Mons Venus and SPace Odyssey were on Dale Mabry Hwy loooooong before any other retail/restaurant establishments even exisited. I have not scene any adult businesses of these sorts in South Tampa(the one on Gandy Blvd closed); or downtown(except one in Channelside, but I believe that one has closed as well); or the outlying suburbs of Carrollwood, New Tampa areas of the city.

As far as types of people applying for jobs, I once was a hiring manager and and recruiter for several high profile companies scouting executive positions to fill, and have to say that nearly all of the applicatns were all college educated, aware of the skills and background necessary for the positions, and very professional.(salaries ranged from 35k for admin positons to 85k for managerial positions)....so although opinions are accepted on this forum, im not sure I agree with william's generalizations.

[Spree]

It's the same story on the Texas boards - California people moving in and complaining that Texas isn't like California - the weather, the people, driving on the roads, the restaurants blah blah blah. If CA is so great, why move?

[Mike1306]

The OP states he owns the business and he came here to open the office.

Seems to me, complaining about an area after you have opened an office is your own fault.

Did you check out the location first?
Why did you choose the area?
Many of the things you complain about were right out in the open, not hidden from you.

Now I also lived in Broward and Dade county and if you don't think you have many of the same issues only in greater numbers, you are sorely mistaken.

[ManFromMissouri]

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!