Can Tampa grow into a world-class city??? (Miami, Orlando: houses, casinos)

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by firmbizzle

The 2 cities seem to be a disadvantage. Tampa Bay's advantage is that was developed before Orlando, thus has 3 pro sports franchises. Brightline wants to come to Tampa, but Tampa still hasn't figured out where that would be.

Originally Posted by HeartofFlorida

Tampa had over 20 years to figure that out through other multiple failed attempts at HSR.

Yet, systemic leadership deficiencies and lack of vision could potentially cause delays.

It makes a lot of sense for Tampa to allow Brightline to terminate at Tampa Union Station, since that's the only major rail facility in the Tampa Bay Area.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ta...l=en&entry=ttu

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by firmbizzle

The 2 cities seem to be a disadvantage. Tampa Bay's advantage is that was developed before Orlando, thus has 3 pro sports franchises. Brightline wants to come to Tampa, but Tampa still hasn't figured out where that would be.

The only "disadvantage" that the Tampa Bay Area has is that it doesn't have a cohesive mass transit system connecting the cities and surrounding communities. Buses don't count!

Originally Posted by HeartofFlorida

Tampa had over 20 years to figure that out through other multiple failed attempts at HSR.

Yet, systemic leadership deficiencies and lack of vision could potentially cause delays.

It makes a lot of sense for Tampa to allow Brightline to terminate at Tampa Union Station, since that's the only major rail facility in the Tampa Bay Area.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ta...l=en&entry=ttu

[kbtoy7891]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

It makes a lot of sense for Tampa to allow Brightline to terminate at Tampa Union Station, since that's the only major rail facility in the Tampa Bay Area.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ta...l=en&entry=ttu

Yep! We agree on something! Impressive lol!!!

Next step would be to have either a light rail line or something similar to Airtrain in NYC connecting to the airport, and possibly St-Pete and Clearwater (for the beaches) later down the line. That would be an instant game changer for the region. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening ever.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

It makes a lot of sense for Tampa to allow Brightline to terminate at Tampa Union Station, since that's the only major rail facility in the Tampa Bay Area.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ta...l=en&entry=ttu

Wouldn't it make sense to see if Brightline can make a profit, or even come close to breaking even, before expanding to SW FLA?

What if it loses Billions in SE Florida...do we still want them to come to SW FLA to lose Billions more, and soak taxpayers in the process for public backed Bonds that may never be repaid?

Tampa will never be a world class city...just giving my honest opinion. Compared to Prague, Vienna, & Budapest, Tampa is a shytwhole, & those random examples are not even widely considered as world class cities...maybe Vienna.

Even the USA's current world class cities have declined so much, they world class calamities...NYC, Chicago, & LA. If you look at world tourism guides, they warn prospective visitors of high crime in all 3.

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

The only "disadvantage" that the Tampa Bay Area has is that it doesn't have a cohesive mass transit system connecting the cities and surrounding communities. Buses don't count!



It makes a lot of sense for Tampa to allow Brightline to terminate at Tampa Union Station, since that's the only major rail facility in the Tampa Bay Area.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ta...l=en&entry=ttu

Tampa Union was originally discussed before Tampa decided on a multimodal terminal north of Union Station during the last iteration of HSR.


If Brightline indeed terminates at Union, I hope they also include a solid real estate plan for the area.

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Wouldn't it make sense to see if Brightline can make a profit, or even come close to breaking even, before expanding to SW FLA?

What if it loses Billions in SE Florida...do we still want them to come to SW FLA to lose Billions more, and soak taxpayers in the process for public backed Bonds that may never be repaid?

Tampa will never be a world class city...just giving my honest opinion. Compared to Prague, Vienna, & Budapest, Tampa is a shytwhole, & those random examples are not even widely considered as world class cities...maybe Vienna.

Even the USA's current world class cities have declined so much, they world class calamities...NYC, Chicago, & LA. If you look at world tourism guides, they warn prospective visitors of high crime in all 3.

Tricky Ricky said the same thing when he rejected federal funds for the same project citing "fiscal responsibility", only to turn around and invest in Brightline to line his pockets.

It's all a game...

To your point, Tampa had every opportunity including a head start over most cities in Florida to work toward becoming a "world class" city, hell, at least a "world class" destination. Yet, Tampa loses the name recognition contest to Orlando among other things in the US, never mind the world.

The increasing "no's" in the poll continue to climb as a result.

[saturno_v]

Originally Posted by HeartofFlorida

Tricky Ricky said the same thing when he rejected federal funds for the same project citing "fiscal responsibility", only to turn around and invest in Brightline to line his pockets.

It's all a game...

To your point, Tampa had every opportunity including a head start over most cities in Florida to work toward becoming a "world class" city, hell, at least a "world class" destination. Yet, Tampa loses the name recognition contest to Orlando among other things in the US, never mind the world.

The increasing "no's" in the poll continue to climb as a result.

It seems you missed the recent media recognition of Tampa on the world stage (Times, Forbes, WEF).

[kbtoy7891]

Originally Posted by saturno_v

It seems you missed the recent media recognition of Tampa on the world stage (Times, Forbes, WEF).

What does this have anything to do with? The post you responded to is 100% accurate.

[saturno_v]

Originally Posted by kbtoy7891

What does this have anything to do with?

For all its issues, Tampa is getting its "world class" recognition or whatever that term really means.

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by saturno_v

It seems you missed the recent media recognition of Tampa on the world stage (Times, Forbes, WEF).

The phrase "15 minutes of fame" comes to mind. As a former Floridian that grew up in Lakeland, I always pulled for Tampa ESPECIALLY when compared to Orlando. I want absolutely nothing to do with theme parks past of present (Disney, Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens, Circus World, Cypress Gardens, Legoland, etc). The only thing I miss is readily available beach access. However, facts cannot be ignored. Outside of the NFL, MLB and NFL, what else does Tampa have to offer? No one in America wakes up and says, "Let's go to Tampa!" LOL. However, you'd be sadly mistaken to think that the world stage looks at Florida and doesn't think Miami and/or Orlando (which could be interchangeable depending on the desired end game). Tampa isn't in the equation.

World Class Cities
Top 100 Cities to Visit - Forbes
Global Power City Index
Alpha, Beta and Gamma cities
Best Performing Cities

Exactly what does any of this info have to do with Brightline and the overall history of high speed rail in Florida? Let's see. If Tampa was such the heavy hitter that everyone claims it to be, wouldn't some sort of transit already be in place outside of TECO? If Tampa was that robust and the industrial machine that people want it to be, why was Tampa usurped... No, wrong word. Why was Tampa put on the back burner for hsr? Failed leadership. Hell, St. Petersburg moves better than Tampa.