Tampa Florida is an amazing city. Tampa is not the city it was 20 or 30 years ago, nor will it be the same in the next ten years. As technology is improving all of our lives this area knows the value of modernization not only for comfort and style but for practicality and sustainability. Step by well thought out step this city the moves are being made to assure that people think well of Tampa and can live well if they choose to reside here.
Tampa is located in Central Florida on the shoreline of Tampa Bay, Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay. The city does not actually set on the Gulf Coast as many may suspect. If you enjoy either a waterfront sunrise or sunset there is no need to live along the coast because there are miles and miles of shoreline in Tampa FL which overlook the bays and yes the rivers.
The city is but a portion of the metropolitan area as you will soon see. The city of Tampa has a population of around 400,000 while the metropolitan area is over 3,000,000. That is an amazing number of people but then again this is an amazing part of Florida and in very few ways like Miami. The feel of the city is more modern and the pace and traffic is a little better. Have no fear if you have been considering a move to Florida there is still plenty of room for you here.
When you look at a major city on Google Maps you will often see much smaller names (you may have to zoom in) that seem to be inside of the city. Those are either smaller often unincorporated cities or just neighborhoods. Tampa is divided into many of these which have developed internally or been absorbed by the growing city. Instead of listing all of those I will list the major areas in alphabetical order.
All of these area have their own distinct styles and cultural flavors. You could very easily visit this city and visit one or two areas and fall in love or really dislike what you see. However keep in mind that in a modern world we typically travel only around the immediate area that we choose to live in. There are parts of every large city that get less frequented for may reasons chief of which is simply no need to go there. Resident of Downtown Tampa for example may never venture eastward to New Tampa even though many absolutely love New Tampa.
Downtown Tampa FL is what is shown in the photo above. It is encompassed by water and is the home of the most modern portion (to date) being developed. That portion is Water Street and millions have been poured into it. Unless you like high rise condos, lofts or apartments living in Water Street or Downtown Tampa is very unlikely. However if you ever get to you will have an amazing amount of activity going on around you almost constantly. Those times you venture outside to your balcony or the streets below you can visit countless shops, restaurants, the river walk etc. etc.
East Tampa is a large area to the northeast of the downtown area. Most of this area is residential with the shopping done along the northern side or southeastern side. You will find numerous parks and communities spread across this area it is a great part of the city. For those who want to live a little bit rural and do not want to have water views this area is a great option. Interstate-4 passes along the southern portion for toll free travel.
New Tampa is a 24 square mile area which is more similar to Hillsborough County FL than what most would think of as Tampa. However you will have a Tampa address and a portion of this area does fall within the city limits of Tampa Florida. May of the near 30,000 residents her choose a slightly different lifestyle than what city life generally entails. If you visit here expect to see many new communities being built and along with them is coming shops, restaurants and of course service providers. Living in New Tampa will likely allow you to get by on a little less money and still enable you to live in a great area and of course still be in Florida.
I know that North Tampa is a bonified area of Tampa that is the 33604 and 33612 zip codes. However very few people live there as it is very small and not very many people mean just this area when they say North Tampa. They much more likely mean north of Downtown Tampa. That being said lets talk about the larger area of North Tampa. North Tampa is not a super rural area like it may look on a map. Yes it is rather large and yes there are a few rural parts but, there are some relatively developed areas here and some incredible communities. You can live in north Tampa is a gated golf course community and pay millions of dollars for your home or just a few hundred thousand. There are a lot of people here that do and absolutely love it.
South Tampa is separate location that does not include Harbour Island or Davis Islands. f you see the menu above click on Tampa and you can easily follow the links to see more on those locations. I want you to be able to scroll freely so I do not place many links in the body of posts like this one.
I could easily write a thousand words on just South Tampa because I love it here. I live on the water and there is nothing like it. South Tampa is almost like an island but alas, it is not. On the eastern side you will find Bayshore Blvd. which lays claim to the longest stretching sidewalk in America and it used to be the longest in the world. It is a whopping 4.5 miles from its southern beginning to its northern end. This sidewalks is also wide enough for quite a few people to comfortable use it even going in different directions. With the gorgeous weather we have here you could be out participating with friends and enjoying those beautiful waterfront views or cool mornings or evenings as often as you like.
Believe it or not the western side of South Tampa has been a little behind in development. That is changing because there are just so many people willing to pay for that bayfront sunset every night. Condos are springing up, marinas being built and of course there are some well established gated communities there already. South Tampa is the place to look for a waterfront home or to be within a short drive of the beaches.
West Tampa is just north of South Tampa. This area borders the Tampa International Airport and sets along Interstate-275. If you want to between the airport and Downtown Tampa this is the place. Living here will also afford you the opportunity to take the drive across the bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Really West Tampa entails a lot more area but much of it is taken up by the airport. I know I have just scratched the surface.
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