I'll weigh in with a mini data sheet as it was a short visit.
Visited Tampa/St. Petersburg with a friend a week ago mostly to scope out alternatives to Dallas to reside - and I have never been. My thoughts, coming there very optimistically. I stayed in Downtown St. Pete instead of Tampa and glad I did. Did some approaches though I didn't have a particular goal being here other than checking it out.
I instantly felt healthier here. It was a similar reaction to Miami. Something about the sun, the palm trees, humidity makes me feel more alive. I had been suffering a cold/allergies and they improved after a day or two.
Downtown Tampa
Pretty dead. Avoid.
Ybor City
This is probably the only place you need to go in Tampa proper. However, it is kind of underwhelming if you've been to New Orleans/French Quarter, which is a better scene by far, NO is more walkable, more interesting culture, better food... Same kind of scene though: a little trashy/seedy, lots of tourists, loads of unpretentious bars, lots of tattoos, hipsters, loose women. Probably fairly easy to get laid here no matter who or what you are lol... If you haven't been to New Orleans, go there first...
Hyde Park
This is your standard yuppie haunt in Tampa. For most of us, this may be the best area to do Day Game. Lots of high end stores/restaurants. Nothing special though coming from Dallas where this kind of scene is our specialty.
St. Petersburg Beach
Friend and I drove around for an hour looking for parking. Seemed like a good beach if you can actually park. Nothing too interesting if you've been to other beaches in Florida though.
St. Petersburg Downtown
This is where we stayed, and up and down Central Avenue you can walk for many blocks and hit all kinds of bars, restaurants, music venues, coffee shops, record stores. Bohemian vibe, but also a trashy/seedy vibe like Ybor but a little more manageable on the weekends. Lots of elderly retirees alongside the broadest swath of humanity I've ever seen (age and scene wise). Girls are pretty middle of the pack, a few stunners here and there. Kind of friendly. Farmers Market is legit as was the First Fridays festival, though the locals seem to call that "amateur hour" and tend to avoid it. I really can't wrap my head around St. Petersburg and the kinds of people there, it's really weird.
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Overall, and this will be a contrarian opinion, I was underwhelmed with Tampa. Given that I'm into Asians/Latinas, this isn't really my favorite area for that, Miami is much better. Lots of blonde white girls, but we have those and the Asians and Latinas in Dallas. It's less pretentious than Dallas, which is less pretentious than Miami, and there's great weather. Those are the only good things I can say about it. I feel there are a lot of criminals and people evading the authorities here, definitely a seedy vibe in the air.
St. Petes is worth a visit as its easy to get a downtown hotel and logistics are quite favorable compared to a lot of places I've lived, reminding me a bit of Bourbon Street. But quality is really variable. Tampa proper seems like a logistical nightmare because you have a few disparate areas of nightlife and none of them are close. Living in St. Petes and commuting to Tampa doesn't seem like an easy thing to do either given the lack of highway infrastructure and the bridges often seem backed up, so you'd have to choose one or the other to live and work.
Overall, I couldn't see myself living in the region. If you're an artist or a hipster, St. Pete's could be interesting for a time, though it would get boring fast. There are college students and people are generally friendly and laid back and I had some great conversations. It's a little less aloof than Dallas, I had some girls open me - easy to strike up conversation. I'm more on the classy/upscale side of things and Miami is better in most ways. Overall though, I think Florida is a sewer pipe and I would rather hang in Dallas or Austin than anywhere in Florida.
Visited Tampa/St. Petersburg with a friend a week ago mostly to scope out alternatives to Dallas to reside - and I have never been. My thoughts, coming there very optimistically. I stayed in Downtown St. Pete instead of Tampa and glad I did. Did some approaches though I didn't have a particular goal being here other than checking it out.
I instantly felt healthier here. It was a similar reaction to Miami. Something about the sun, the palm trees, humidity makes me feel more alive. I had been suffering a cold/allergies and they improved after a day or two.
Downtown Tampa
Pretty dead. Avoid.
Ybor City
This is probably the only place you need to go in Tampa proper. However, it is kind of underwhelming if you've been to New Orleans/French Quarter, which is a better scene by far, NO is more walkable, more interesting culture, better food... Same kind of scene though: a little trashy/seedy, lots of tourists, loads of unpretentious bars, lots of tattoos, hipsters, loose women. Probably fairly easy to get laid here no matter who or what you are lol... If you haven't been to New Orleans, go there first...
Hyde Park
This is your standard yuppie haunt in Tampa. For most of us, this may be the best area to do Day Game. Lots of high end stores/restaurants. Nothing special though coming from Dallas where this kind of scene is our specialty.
St. Petersburg Beach
Friend and I drove around for an hour looking for parking. Seemed like a good beach if you can actually park. Nothing too interesting if you've been to other beaches in Florida though.
St. Petersburg Downtown
This is where we stayed, and up and down Central Avenue you can walk for many blocks and hit all kinds of bars, restaurants, music venues, coffee shops, record stores. Bohemian vibe, but also a trashy/seedy vibe like Ybor but a little more manageable on the weekends. Lots of elderly retirees alongside the broadest swath of humanity I've ever seen (age and scene wise). Girls are pretty middle of the pack, a few stunners here and there. Kind of friendly. Farmers Market is legit as was the First Fridays festival, though the locals seem to call that "amateur hour" and tend to avoid it. I really can't wrap my head around St. Petersburg and the kinds of people there, it's really weird.
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Overall, and this will be a contrarian opinion, I was underwhelmed with Tampa. Given that I'm into Asians/Latinas, this isn't really my favorite area for that, Miami is much better. Lots of blonde white girls, but we have those and the Asians and Latinas in Dallas. It's less pretentious than Dallas, which is less pretentious than Miami, and there's great weather. Those are the only good things I can say about it. I feel there are a lot of criminals and people evading the authorities here, definitely a seedy vibe in the air.
St. Petes is worth a visit as its easy to get a downtown hotel and logistics are quite favorable compared to a lot of places I've lived, reminding me a bit of Bourbon Street. But quality is really variable. Tampa proper seems like a logistical nightmare because you have a few disparate areas of nightlife and none of them are close. Living in St. Petes and commuting to Tampa doesn't seem like an easy thing to do either given the lack of highway infrastructure and the bridges often seem backed up, so you'd have to choose one or the other to live and work.
Overall, I couldn't see myself living in the region. If you're an artist or a hipster, St. Pete's could be interesting for a time, though it would get boring fast. There are college students and people are generally friendly and laid back and I had some great conversations. It's a little less aloof than Dallas, I had some girls open me - easy to strike up conversation. I'm more on the classy/upscale side of things and Miami is better in most ways. Overall though, I think Florida is a sewer pipe and I would rather hang in Dallas or Austin than anywhere in Florida.