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Trip to Tampa- photos

5K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Severiano 
#1 ·
Sorry to start a new thread, but I didn't know where else to put this lol.

So, this weekend I went to Tampa for the first time in my life, believe it or not, and I was really impressed. We drove in through Temple Terrace from I-75 to see USF, Busch Gardens and the area. We drove west to Florida Avenue and drove through the Seminole Heights neighborhood, driving through all the little streets with the historic homes. It's no Coral Gables, but it was authenic, and very quaint. I was impressed by the large amount of historic homes in the area, and the abundance of old buildings/architecture.

I had read about Hillsborough High School online, so I decided to stop by and check out Tampa's oldest high school. It was amazing! Such a beautiful building. If any of you graduated from there, congrats, it looked amazing from the inside and out. We then continued to drive south down Tampa St into Downtown. Downtown was nice for a city of Tampa's size, and the core was very urban. I liked it better than Orlando's, and I loved seeing the streetlights down Florida Av.

We also walked around Channelside, Ybor City, UTampa, and the nearby residential neighborhoods along Bayshore Blvd. I also didn't know Tampa had a streetcar. Although very small, it was a nice addition, and I see there are expansions planned into Downtown and Seminole Heights. Is that still happening? Overall though, very nice city, congrats Tampa! :cheers:































 
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#13 ·
Unfortunately, I only got to drive through St. Pete and Clearwater, so I didn't get to see too much of that area, besides a quick stop at Tropicana Field. We took the Sunshine Skyway Bridge from there towards Bradenton. Where do the majority of people in Tampa work? Westshore and Downtown Tampa, or all over the Tampa Bay area?
 
#3 ·
Good pics. I am glad that you had a good time! Tampa can be a lot of fun. Overall I would say our DT and Orlando are pretty close when it comes to urbanity; but that is just my opinion.

It is interesting that Tampa really down plays the TECO line as a means of transit...but that is another topic all together! Yep, the TECO line is actually getting ready to extend into the DT core, close to where you took the pic below. That is right beside the Fort Brooke Parking garage, which will be the new "Northern" terminus when the extension happens:


Steve
 
#5 · (Edited)
Yeah, some of the pics do make it look somewhat empty; which is generally not the case any longer. Tampa has a lot to learn from St. Pete when it comes to building a vibrant DT community, but it has come leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. With that said Tampa has some work to do in the categories of walk-ability and attracting restaurants/residents. Again though, it is a different place than it was even 5 years ago.

Steve
 
#7 ·
Actually the brainiacs at HART would run the streetcar straight through that picture and destroy that whole area rather than go up another road.
 
#12 ·
I agree that Tampa St. could be a better option. However, the street scene should not be changed too much; it would really only be majorly affected in the small area between the Hyatt and the office tower beside it. A close look shows plenty of space in the middle on the other side of Jackson for the street car, and before that small area there is also plenty of space. Franklin is better in the aspect that it will not take away from a road that is used by cars.

Steve
 
#15 ·
The short answer is all over. However, DT Tampa, DT St. Pete, and Westshore are the major employment areas. To a lesser extent the Feather Sound, Rocky Point, and Hidden River areas also play a large part. I believe that Westshore has the largest amount of office space in the state, or maybe it is the largest outside of Miami, I cannot remember right now.

Steve

Edit: Beat me to it FF! :) Darn tiny keyboard!
 
#18 ·
I agree that Tampa St. could be a better option. However, the street scene should not be changed too much; it would really only be majorly affected in the small area between the Hyatt and the office tower beside it. A close look shows plenty of space in the middle on the other side of Jackson for the street car, and before that small area there is also plenty of space. Franklin is better in the aspect that it will not take away from a road that is used by cars.
Huh? There is a fountain and plaza (the nicest space in downtown) they want to completely destroy by running the streetcar through. It is actually complete idiocy. It is one of the few outside spaces that people routinely use.
 
#20 ·
Why not Marion St. or even better Morgan St? Or how about Jefferson or Pierce to Orange to Central Ave? If they do the Poe plaza right which they probably won't but if they do, imagine how much cooler that plaza would be if they left everything alone but added in the extension and a really neat trolley stop that blends in and accents the park?
 
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