Orlando or Tampa compared to Atlanta (Clearwater, Sanford: hotels, job market, wage)

[_Uncommon_]

Originally Posted by tricon7

Just so you know, Tampa Bay is twice the population of metro Orlando. I've lived in both, and Orlando, though large, isn't nearly as busy and congested as Tampa Bay. FYI, Pinellas County (where Clearwater and St. Pete are) is the most densely populated county in all of Florida. However, I live in Clearwater and am in a nice, quiet neighborhood, and anything I need or want is only a five or ten minute drive from me. The bay is one mile east from my house and six miles to the beach. I do miss the open spaces that Orlando offers, so it's a give and take. Winters in both places are very mild. The coldest I ever experienced in either was 33 degrees once, then the temp rocketed back up.

This is not true. Orlando has 2.6M and Tampa has 3.1M. And I disagree, I think Orlando is more congested than Tampa.

[J.Gatsby]

I think Tampa and Orlando are about the same in terms of traffic. Orlando might seem worse because I-4 seems like just keeps going and going while problems in Tampa are distributed across 4, 75, and 275.

For what it’s worth, I agree on St. Pete being the best spot and they don’t really have traffic either.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by _Uncommon_

This is not true. Orlando has 2.6M and Tampa has 3.1M. And I disagree, I think Orlando is more congested than Tampa.

I think The Orlando area and Tampa Bay Area feel roughly the same size. Orlando feels bigger than it is in part because of everything along I-4 from Sanford to Kissimmee, and the endless sprawl going east to west, as well as the core cluster. Not even getting into the tourist junk...

Tampa Bay can feel smaller than it really is because of how decentralized it is with three separate major CBDs.

That said, I think they both feel like standard ~3-4M American metros.

[J.Gatsby]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

I think The Orlando area and Tampa Bay Area feel roughly the same size. Orlando feels bigger than it is in part because of everything along I-4 from Sanford to Kissimmee, and the endless sprawl going east to west, as well as the core cluster. Not even getting into the tourist junk...

Tampa Bay can feel smaller than it really is because of how decentralized it is with three separate major CBDs.

That said, I think they both feel like standard ~3-4M American metros.

Out of curiosity, which 3 CBDs are you referring to?

Tampa is Florida’s version of LA with everything spread out. I was in Charlotte a few years ago and couldn’t believe a smaller city felt so much bigger than Tampa, but when you put everything together in one spot that’s just what you get.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by J.Gatsby

Out of curiosity, which 3 CBDs are you referring to?

Tampa is Florida’s version of LA with everything spread out. I was in Charlotte a few years ago and couldn’t believe a smaller city felt so much bigger than Tampa, but when you put everything together in one spot that’s just what you get.

Tampa, St-Pete (which arguably has a more robust “downtown” than Tampa) and Clearwater.
The latter two take a lot of focus away from the city of Tampa.

Orlando has... Orlando...
Same with Charlotte.

[J.Gatsby]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Tampa, St-Pete (which arguably has a more robust “downtown” than Tampa) and Clearwater.
The latter two take a lot of focus away from the city of Tampa.

Orlando has... Orlando...
Same with Charlotte.

Thanks, I was curious because I could think of maybe 5 real business districts. The Westshore Business District used to be the largest in the Tampa Bay Area, but that was in 2007 so downtown Tampa may have eclipsed it by now.

[_Uncommon_]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Tampa, St-Pete (which arguably has a more robust “downtown” than Tampa) and Clearwater.
The latter two take a lot of focus away from the city of Tampa.

Orlando has... Orlando...
Same with Charlotte.

Clearwater has a CBD? That’s news to me. I know there are a couple buildings and the Scientology church but I was always under the impression that the only major CBDs were Tampa and St. Pete.

And yeah, St. Pete’s downtown is definitely more robust than Tampa’s. Tampa is definitely catching up though, and will be a force in the middle part of this decade. As regards Orlando’s downtown, I think I-Drive, Citywalk, and Disney Springs take away from Orlando as well. Back in the 90s, lots of tourists would go party in downtown Orlando after hitting the parks. Church Street was POPPIN. Then Disney and Universal leveraged their locales and that pulled thousands of guests each night away from downtown. It’s still a great place to party or hit up a bar and sure, it’s nice to be away from tourists, but it has hurt downtown business and energy.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by _Uncommon_

Clearwater has a CBD? That’s news to me. I know there are a couple buildings and the Scientology church but I was always under the impression that the only major CBDs were Tampa and St. Pete.

And yeah, St. Pete’s downtown is definitely more robust than Tampa’s. Tampa is definitely catching up though, and will be a force in the middle part of this decade. As regards Orlando’s downtown, I think I-Drive, Citywalk, and Disney Springs take away from Orlando as well. Back in the 90s, lots of tourists would go party in downtown Orlando after hitting the parks. Church Street was POPPIN. Then Disney and Universal leveraged their locales and that pulled thousands of guests each night away from downtown. It’s still a great place to party or hit up a bar and sure, it’s nice to be away from tourists, but it has hurt downtown business and energy.

It did, prior to Scientology and the Clearwater and Countryside malls. When I was a little kid, it had a bustling and functional Downtown including a large outpost of Maas Brothers, the Bay Areas legacy upscale Department Store (now Macy's, of course). I will say The Church of Scientology did much more overall damage than the malls ever did. Now it's basically been reduced to collection of County Offices, it's very sad.

[firmbizzle]

Originally Posted by _Uncommon_

Clearwater has a CBD? That’s news to me. I know there are a couple buildings and the Scientology church but I was always under the impression that the only major CBDs were Tampa and St. Pete.

And yeah, St. Pete’s downtown is definitely more robust than Tampa’s. Tampa is definitely catching up though, and will be a force in the middle part of this decade. As regards Orlando’s downtown, I think I-Drive, Citywalk, and Disney Springs take away from Orlando as well. Back in the 90s, lots of tourists would go party in downtown Orlando after hitting the parks. Church Street was POPPIN. Then Disney and Universal leveraged their locales and that pulled thousands of guests each night away from downtown. It’s still a great place to party or hit up a bar and sure, it’s nice to be away from tourists, but it has hurt downtown business and energy.

Congestion on I-4 didn't help. That Disney drive to downtown seemed like 20 minutes back then. Now it's 35.

[Ichetucknee]

Interesting analysis on Orlando's downtown. You do see the occasional tourist walking around Lake Eola as if it's some big attraction, but yeah it's not touristy at all.