Reviews & Comments
Plant City, FL
Its a Good Ol' Boy Town so u better know a Good Ol -
9/22/2009Outside of the weather, which in MISERABLE with heat and humidity, PC is a quaint rural town who wants to remain quaint and rural. 25 years ago all Plant City had, was a Dairy Queen (which is still in the same spot) and a pick quick, and a grocery store or two. When McDonalds and Barnett bank arrived on Hwy 39 (Jim Redman pkwy) Plant City exploded along the 39 corridor. Walmart and Lowe's are the highlights, Kmart closed as did the Winn Dixie and the nearest Winn Dixie or Kmart is a 15-20 mile drive. Despite that explosion of all the amenities on 39, we still have a quaint little downtown area filled with mom n pop antique shops and historical houses. Most of Plant City is rural, and its typical to see horses and cows living within the city limits. There are a lot of illegal Mexicans who come to work the strawberry fields every winter and parts of town are solely dedicated to them and their free or low dollar care. Their are also 2 separate "hood" areas where you don't want to drive if you are white, gang bangers and drugs are very common, one is in town between Alexander and 39 and the other is on the East side of 39 and goes south to about hwy 92. And there are many, what people would call "white trash" or "redneck" areas. In fact you had better be a redneck if you plan on living in Plant City. The middle age to older crowd were mostly born and raised here, are a God fearing people and there is a Baptist Church on every corner and to fit in you should belong to one. There is one Catholic Church. There is no real nightlife to speak of (Unless you count a few bars, loitering or Walmart a night life) The roads are named after many of the founding fathers and to be in good graces you should know one or be related to one. Strangers are looked upon with suspicion and people like New Yorkers are not tolerated. The "mis fits" and non rednecks usually end up living in their own little isolated communities such as Walden Lakes ro Walden Woods, and are not really considered true Plant City folks. Sadly farmers of both cattle and strawberries slowly have sold out to what we call "house farms" where investers come in and cram as many 200k plus houses on that patch of land and throw up a wall around it and give it a fancy rural sounding name like Peaceful Oaks or Majestic Bovines. There are usually major city council fights to stop that, as well as the U-Can group and the farmer that sold out is ostracized, but palms do get greased as in any town. More and more people move here from Tampa to escape big city life, then they find themselves in a housefarm with cows mooing next door that they complain about that, which doesn't make them in the good graces with the old timers or any long standing Plant City resident. People are gladly welcomed here who want to shop for antiques, enjoy bike week once a month that fills up downtown or who want to pick berries in the winter or attend the Strawberry festival and get sucked out of major money for the same flat of berries that would cost them $5.00 less in a store. Otherwise, we don't want you to stay unless you plan on buying a farm and living a rural lifestyle and even then you can expect to be shunned for a few years. Even the Sheriffs Dept and the in town Police Dept. work on the good ol' boy system, its who you know or who you are for the best service. If you can't say "yall" and if you don't have a southern Ack-Cent (or are not Mexican/Hispanic) and have no intentions of having a few chickens and a broken down car in your front yard then Plant City would not be a good fit. It is a wonderful community, The downtown area (which only makes up a very tiny part of Plant City) is pretty and quaint. IF you are or know or have a "good ol boy" relation then Plant City would welcome you with open arms. Plant City has become quite a mix of old timers keeping land in their families and those from Tampa and other city areas trying to escape the cities, and that doesn't always make for the best community relations. Brandon, our other nearby city used to be a quaint town too, then Tampa just built right up into it, and it keeps expanding up hwy 60 towards Plant City. There is still a boundary between Plant City and Brandon, including a couple map dots called Mango, Seffner and Dover (Seffner being the scummiest) but you cannot tell where Tampa ends and Brandon begins and Plant City Does NOT want that to happen to them, tho in th next 20 years it surely will so consider that if considering this as your place to put down roots.
Plant City, FL
If you like trying to breath in 100 degree jello, -
9/21/2009When it comes to weather and comfort, Plant City is in a word God-awful, unless you have a high tolerance for heat and humidity. Though nearby Tampa/St. Pete may be in the high 80's to low 90's they are cooled by surrounding waters of the gulf and Tampa Bay. Plant City, being inland and having a lot of open land, gets no cooling effect. So if you are looking at the weather channel or another news source that says Tampa has a high of 92, you can figure that mean Plant City is having a high of 97 or even 100. This weather pattern (over 90 degree temps) starts as early as March, tho more commonly at the end of April and lasts till at least mid October. Dew points during that time range from about 72 to 77, or in another term, imagine trying to walk and breath in 100 degree jello. It is that kind of unpleasant. There is no "dry heat" here so even if your acclimated to the western heat, you will not acclimate easily here. As Plant City is located near what is called the "seabreeze boundry" if you are lucky, you will get a T-Storm in the afternoon or eve. to cool it down a bit. But Plant City is also located in the i-4 lightening corridor, so just when it's cool enough to go outside, it usually isnt safe to do so. May people every year are stuck by lightening before or after they think a storm has passed. You cannot leave dogs or rabbits outside during the day as the heat will kill them and equestrian activites are only done in the very early am hours or late late at night due to the heat. Power outages are frequent due to storms, and as most of the area is rural, service by TECO is slow to restore power, so its always best to have a generator and back up window a/c unit. There is lot of mud and moskitos as well during the wet months as well, and green algea grows freely on houses and any water bowls or troughs outside for pet or livestock. The good news, albeit slight, is the winters are pleasant...highs in the mid 70's and lows in the 40's with cooler snaps, including freezing temps. There is usually a light breeze and the dew points can go into the 20's, so its very dry.Again the Tampa/St. Pete area is kept warmer in the winter by the water, so if the weather channel or any other source is calling for low of 40 there, you can expect about 33 in Plant City. There are only 2 seasons-the first one we call summer and is, I cannot stress this enough, ungodly hot, and then there is winter, our short lived very pleasant cooler season. There is no change of leaves, we go from green to brown with green, then briefly to a "spring green" on the oaks, which shed pollen profusely for about 2 months, so if you are sensitive, and most people become sensitive after living here, you have to hide inside even tho the weather is still pleasant as green dust coats EVERYTING. Also we are not protected from hurricanes and have and will suffer the effects. The 04 canes caused extensive damage, despite our inland location, including roof damage, and MANY MANY trees and power lines snapped and down. And I will say it again, when the power goes out in Plant City (unless you live in the City proper next to the Hospital) you can plan on being (in a hurricane or tropical storm situation) out of power for up to 2 weeks, with no ice or gas nearby. So to live here in anywhere further than a mile or 2 from town proper, you must be prepared for the storms.