ALL about TAMPA
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7/12/2009
Well I sat here and read several reviews on Tampa and I noticed that some I did agree with and some I have never seen myself. The pros and cons of tampa... hum... I have lived in for about 6 years and some years like it and some years I do not. I am originally from california just wanted to share that to give you perspective. THe things I like about Tampa is the beauty of the downtown architecture, the amenities and size of the city is nice and small but you still have almost everything to do here and in the winter months even more because the snowbirds bring the money and that really makes the are come alive. The beaches are MUCH nicer here than in CA but I do wish the water was cooler in the summer. It really gets hot since it is in the GULF. 1 problem though is you have to remember to shuffle your feet or you might step on a RAy and then your n a world of hurt and remember there are SHARks every where but at least the water is too cloudy to see them. The summer heat is VERY VERY oppressive with the humidity and I can barely leave my house unless there is a great thunderstorm then I can tolerate it. THe storms here are amazing which is probably one of my favorite things! You also must understand I do NOT think the traffic is at all bad but I am from CAli. 30 minutes of travle is nothing to me but alot of people here won't even try to go any where if the travel time takes longer than 20 min. THe beaches are NOT actaully very close maybe an hour or so to a GOOD beach which causes alot of Tamponians to layout and sun bath off causeways which I find kind of funny. There are tons of dog parks for your dogs and beautiful tropical parks but everythign is flat so the word hiking is used quite loosely. HA HA
The major reason I am wanted to leave Tampa though is the people. I use to think LA was a shallow place but Tampa is far worse. the retirees are far more fun and happy than the peopel my age. The young people are very unpleasant when you get to know them or date them and I have noticed I am becoming racist which i have NEVEr been till I lived here. There is a dense group of people here that are EXTREMELY in considerate to anyone else but themselves and really make the place unpleasant and even worse make the place difficult to do minor chores like grocery shopping or walking your dog becasue they always hit on you CONSTANTLY and follow you everwhere. OOh yeah and the police are just as bad!!! Now I am not that amazing to look at but I literally have to take mace with me everywhere and walk my dog only at terrible times of the day beacuse it is such a problem...
Now back to the good stuff... Housing is super affordable .. except in the top areas. Jobs are decent but are pretty low paying but that is all of FLorida. THe wild life is fantastic manatees, tons of birds, deer, hog, snakes, racoon, dolphins etc .. the roads are generally clean with very little litter or graffiti. Not for the lack of certain populations trying to destroy it but the city tries to make it as nice as possible with a lot of cleaning crews.
Driving here is the worst... I have been in 5 car accidents since living here... 2 totaled my cars and I have never been at fault for any of them... oh yeah and NONE have been with senior citizens....!!!! Most have been by college students not knowing HOW to drive or foreigners.
I do not like it so flat and I really miss seeing snow on the mountains so winter time I get pretty depressed unless I take a vacation to colorado or washington or some place with a real winter spirit.
Hope all this helps you in your decisions making good luck!!
FLAME | Temple Terrace, FL