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To me, the difference is St-Pete/Clearwater, which doesn’t really feel like it’s part of Tampa (again, to me) but rather an entirely separate area. North of the bridge, it just doesn’t feel like a 3-4M place.
Which brings up a whole new discussion too: Tampa Bay is very decentralized because it has several large cities so close to each other, and as such, Tampa itself just doesn’t feel as grand as it should considering the population of its metro area.
I am in both cities all the time as well, but spend most of my time in and near their downtowns, which aren’t comparable... I guess my opinion revolves more around that.
In that sense, you can make the same argument that Palm Beach County doesn't feel like it's in the Miami area. There's too many Pinellas County tags riding around Tampa to conclude to such. Also, I'm sure the census got it right, not your personal feeling. Yet, Orlando is growing faster than Tampa at the moment but let's not discredit Tampa because of a personal feeling.
Orlando will surpass the entire Tampa metro area in total number of jobs by next year. Even though Tampa has a larger population than the Orlando area. Job counts are just as important as population. I guess Tampa must have far more retired people? Orlando is growing faster and now will have the Brightline. Now Orlando is more reliant on tourism so hopefully that holds up.
That's not my argument. The fact stands that the Tampa area is quite a bit larger than the Orlando area despite the growth.
Last edited by cdw1084; 09-10-2019 at 02:46 PM..
Reason: Moved
In that sense, you can make the same argument that Palm Beach County doesn't feel like it's in the Miami area. There's too many Pinellas County tags riding around Tampa to conclude to such. Also, I'm sure the census got it right, not your personal feeling. Yet, Orlando is growing faster than Tampa at the moment but let's not discredit Tampa because of a personal feeling.
I’ve explained why I (and many others) feel this way. It’s a personal feeling, if you want to call it that, but I don’t think it’s that strange of an assessment. The extreme decentralization of the metro makes it such. Not just downtown, but also compare the UCF area vs the USF area. One is large and bustling outside of campus gates, the other is dead. Compare the I4 corridor from Kissimmee to Sanford to I-75 from Brandon to Wesley Chapel.
The census has it right, of course. I’m not arguing that. It’s just the lack of any real central core takes away from any sense of scale it would otherwise have. To me.
There are plenty of metro areas with huge population numbers that feel smaller than others with lower numbers. Dallas vs Toronto come to mind.
Orlando and Tampa both are sprawling cities. You speak of Orlando as if it's a northeastern city. Also, St. Pete is the most urban city between the two metro areas which happens to be a bridge away from Tampa. St. Pete also has the best core but it act as the secondary city in the Tampa metro. To be honest, when you break down the two metros, Tampa trumps Orlando in nearly every major statistical category except recent growth. Kudos to Orlando for making up ground but it still plays little brother to Tampa.
Last edited by cdw1084; 09-10-2019 at 09:16 PM..
Reason: Up
I have always slightly favored the Tampa metro, but there's no real appreciable difference in how large they feel, imo. Note also that Orlando is a significantly bigger tourist destination with 75 million visitors last year...if they each stay an average of 5 days that would be about +1 Million population every day.
Orlando and Tampa both are sprawling cities. You speak of Orlando as if it's a northeastern city. Also, St. Pete is the most urban city between the two metro areas which happens to be a bridge away from Tampa. St. Pete also has the best core but it act as the secondary city in the Tampa metro. To be honest, when you break down the two metros, Tampa trumps Orlando in nearly every major statistical category except recent growth. Kudos to Orlando for making up ground but it still plays little brother to Tampa.
This is one of those cases where you have the largest city in a multinodal region going up against a city that is the sole focus of its region so it's not quite apples-to-apples. The way I see it, the Tampa Bay region is obviously the biggest but Orlando definitely has the greatest momentum among the three and due to its outsized tourist/hospitality industry, it can hang right along with Tampa Bay in just about any area. All in all, I see the two as virtual equals in most respects with Jax a clear third (but could certainly be a force to be reckoned with if they ever got their ish together). Even their economies aren't all that dissimilar despite the regional population differences ($146B for Tampa Bay vs $132B for Greater Orlando).
Orlando and Tampa both are sprawling cities. You speak of Orlando as if it's a northeastern city. Also, St. Pete is the most urban city between the two metro areas which happens to be a bridge away from Tampa. St. Pete also has the best core but it act as the secondary city in the Tampa metro. To be honest, when you break down the two metros, Tampa trumps Orlando in nearly every major statistical category except recent growth. Kudos to Orlando for making up ground but it still plays little brother to Tampa.
Not at all. I think Mutiny explained it best.
Agreed on St-Pete having the best core — heck, I think it’s the most urban overall place in the entire state after Miami Beach. It just doesn’t really play the role of being the metro areas core — at all. Again, probably just the result of being part of a multinodal metro area and being tucked away in the far corner vs one that has just a single principle city, right in the center of its region.
I'm very familiar with Central Florida. I lived in Orlando for a year back in the back 2000's. Loved it! Most people are sheltered in that they have no idea how Orlando is outside of their tourist corridor. I really enjoyed it.
Tampa I like a whole lot as a city and metro (TSP).
Jacksonville I know a little less about. But it's very up-and-coming and I have high regard for it.
My choices would be for a young person: Orlando, Tampa (city), Jacksonville. The reason I say Tampa city is that as a metro it's very retiree heavy (St. Pete, Clearwater, Lakeland). The city itself has a good mix of people in terms of age ranges. Orlando has a good mix across the metro as a whole. But all 3 are good, but have different things. But the Orlando/Tampa corridor has sooooo much to offer.
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