Tampa, FL Reviews

Tampa is Boring - 3/13/2024
The people in Tampa are fantastic but the city is a total bore. All events are always in South Tampa and never elsewhere, ie, North Tampa. The north end never experiences large gatherings, concerts, etc. totally boring here. Read More

Nice - 10/18/2022
I've lived in small towns before and now for the past 25 years in this large metropolis. It's a very nice city. Lots of jobs, shopping restaurants, churches, Busch Gardens and proximity to amazing beaches. The people are quite Read More

I love Tampa. Why are Miami reviews counting for T - 1/24/2022
This is my favorite city that I have ever lived in. I am reading all of these terrible reviews for Tampa, but then when I read what people are writing, they are actually writing for Miami. Why are the Miami reviews counting toward Tampa?

Anyway, this is my favorite city that I have ever lived in. I have lived in different cities in Europe, Washington DC, and New York. Tampa is hands-down the best. By Tampa, I mean Tampa Bay Area, not just the city proper. St. Pete is amazing too and that is a part of the Bay Area. You have cities, nightlife, amazing beaches, amazing suburbs. The culinary scene is incredible. You can find pretty much anything you’re looking for. However, if you were moving from the New York area and wanting this to be a clone of New York, with a Jewish deli on every corner, that’s not going to be it. There are several amazing delis, but the Jewish deli is not a corner stone of life here, so if you can’t live without a deli sandwich being available every Read More

Danger, hazardous to health. - 12/14/2021
I lived here all my life and I can ONLY think of other places I would rather be.
I’ve traveled the country for many things and even traveled internationally for business and in my 20 years of life there hasn’t been a worse place to live in Florida.

Section 1: infrastructure.
The city demonstrates a total lack of proper planning and locational understanding, with confusing roads that lead in wavy unfocused routes to roads that you can tell we’re made in the 30’s and have just been paved over, the southern tip of Tampa floods at even the slightest downpour making driving nearly impossible in some areas, with main roads flooding from an overcapacity drainage system that hasn’t been maintained or updated since the 90’s. The major roads tend to have nonsensical center turn lanes and the number of decrepit and abandoned buildings is absolutely deplorable.
Not only that but the most cultural part of the city is Ybor where outside the tourist areas seems to Read More

Run Away, Run Away!!! - 10/11/2021
Definitely the worst city I have ever lived in. The people here are scum, and if they aren't scum yet, they become it. All sites lie. The price for housing is so much higher than the rest of the country. The streets throughout haven't been maintained in decades. The underground water and sewer systems are on the verge of collapsing- to which the solution is to raise the price of utilities over the course of 5 to 6 years, and hide that money until theres enough to fix it. I do not believe it has that many years left. You can immediately tell if it's a good part of town, or if you better hit the gas pedal and fly out of there. Because of rapid rise in uncontrolled housing, utilities etc, there are a lot of homeless people. And they aren't in the city, they find shelter in the suburbs, areas you might not expect them in - and the city doesn't help them. Everything is just old here. Unkept homes, areas of empty buildings for blocks, where life hasn't touched in years. Trash everywhere Read More

Eh, not terrible - 9/26/2019
I lived here during college and while it was kinda dirty and run down in the Fowler/Fletcher area, there's certainly a lot to Read More

If you're unhappy here, it's probably you. - 12/30/2018
I was born in Tampa, and while I've traveled extensively I've always come back to my hometown. One of the first things you get used to as a kid growing up in Florida are the new people. You can usually tell who you're dealing with after meeting a transplant, most falling into one of three categories.

1, miserable people. These people try unsuccessfully to move away from their misery, never knowing they're it's source. These are the people who hate everything they see here, we're stupid, never is done right here, etc, etc. Just ignore them, there's nothing anyone can do for them.

2, assimilators. These people get it and are here to enjoy Florida. They seek out locals and live the lifestyle. They'll go fishing with you, eat the food, never complain about the heat, and genuinely seem grateful to be here.

3, the colonizers. These people are truly destructive and arrogant on a scale that hard to sum up. Even though Europeans landed in Florida Read More

I should have done my homework... - 8/25/2018
Where to start. I haven't noticed a groundswell of anti-outsider sentiment because everyone is from somewhere else. Anecdotally (based on license plates I've seen) it does seem like the bulk of transplants are climate refugees fleeing from the frigid NE and Ohio. The irony of climate refugees fleeing to coastal Florida is not lost on me.

I mention the number of transplants you'll find here because how you feel about Tampa (and Florida in general) depends on where you're moving from. I suppose if you shoveled snow in 28-degree weather for 4-5 months of each year, then Tampa may look like Valhalla. I relocated from a beautiful and temperate part of the country to Tampa for work. Generally, I find Tampa charmless and in many ways, I feel like I stepped back into 1986. Here's why:

1. Florida has some of the most aggressive drivers I have ever encountered. Weaving in an out of traffic at 30 mph over the speed limit, each time within 18 inches of your Read More

Tampa is My Nirvana - 8/19/2018
Nirvana ... Shangri-La ... My heaven on Earth ... but beware the sinkholes!

Must-See: Honeymoon Island State Park, Fort De Soto Park, Madeira Beach, Salvador Dali Museum, & St. Petersburg Metropolitan Community Read More

I don’t know what we were thinking. - 4/26/2018
Median salary here is $55K but average rent prices for a one bedroom start at $1200 for maybe 600 square feet. Forget about living in a house. The only affordable ones are in the hood surrounded by crime. (Drugs, burglary, grand theft, etc. check the crime stats through the sheriff’s department.) The traffic is awful. It takes 40 minutes to drive 6 miles and car insurance continues to skyrocket because there are so many bad drivers causing accidents. Avoid I4/275 if you value your life. There’s weed everywhere and it stinks. Gentrification is the city’s number one priority. Rent prices have increased twenty percent in two years and the housing market is garbage. Everything is overpriced for what it is. The demographic is predominantly white people who try to act like they’re classy but really just enjoy white privledge and white people activities like Hockey and trashy bars in Ybor. There is a ton of racism in the area. A TON! It doesn’t matter what shade of off white you are, there’s Read More