we have friends in St. Pete and also love the vibe there. It's true Tampa feels like a bigger more established city and they have their pockets of wealth, old, new, just like Winter Park, FL, Windermere, Dr Phillips, and now Lake Nona.. I'd be curious to hear from your viewers that don't even go to the theme parks really, but still enjoy living in central florida. I've been in Orlando since 2008 and probably only gone to the theme parks a handful of times. Great comparison as always, keep up the good work!
i actually love the buildings with a wide parking garage and a tall narrow residential section above. they usually have a pool on top of the garage as well. brilliant. it should be illegal to build anything else.
As a resident of Tampa and former Orlando resident one of the biggest difference I notice is in the area of Aesthetics. In Orlando and most of the surrounding communities there is an emphasis on Streetscaping and Beautification. They seem to pay attention to the look and feel of a place. I suppose it's due to the tourism industry. Orlando seems to have a buzz of excitement, absent in Tampa. Orlando seems to position itself as the second most important area in FL, after Miami of course, and it might just be. Also I miss the numerous community lakeside parks in the Orlando area. All of this talk of aesthetics may seem like a petty issue, but it makes a huge difference on the overall feel of an area. Tampa on the other hand has large portions in their north, central and eastern core that are very, very depressing and dilapidated. If you have ever driven on Busch Blvd near Busch Gardens that's what I am talking about. There are miles of commercial corridors that look like that in a large area. I know Orlando has a few areas like this, but it doesn't compare in size. For Tampa folks, I guess they're used to it and are mostly apathetic. It's a shame because a lot of these areas are historic or near natural beauty and have great potential. The area near Lowry park zoo has a navigable river connected to downtown, a historical water tower near two natural springs in an area that is filled with the unhoused. I don't think that situation of grunge appearance would happen in Orlando. The leaders over here mostly don't care about quality urban design. Think of the large Eola fountain, nada in Tampa. Think of Leu Botanical Gardens, nada in Tampa. These cultural amenities are mostly absent. Even parks in South Tampa are very subpar. Most of our parks have few designed amenities, they're just haphazard. Hyde Park in south Tampa is small and nice and is a Jr. Park Ave. As far as lakes, Tampa does have many beautiful lakes but most of the land is hogged by private property so you can't enjoy them if you don't live on them. The bay is typically not walking distance for most people so that doesn't help much. Tampa's downtown is much better than Orlando, even St. Pete's downtown is better than Orlando. Downtown Tampa is where the city spends the infrastructure money and that area is good. But just be aware of the vast area in Tampa that is left behind. So downtown St.Pete does have a lot of the missing cultural amenities that Tampa lacks, but it is pretty far away from Tampa. It doesn't feel like Tampa stomping grounds. The beach is not close, timewise, to Tampa. As spread out as Orlando may feel, you have more of everything within a 10 mile radius of downtown Orlando. If you want a big water sunsets go to Lake Apopka. Again St. Pete bolsters our metro but its not around the corner. The St. Pete suburbs are older and may not be appealing, but I don't know about St. Pete as much. I think north Pinellas is better than south Pinellas. Coastal West Pasco is blah and Central growing. East Pasco is hilly in parts and booming suburbs. Other booming suburbs are Riverview and South Hillsborough county. Brandon has a southerner vibe. Something annoying here is the competition between St Pete and Tampa. St. Pete thinks their better and even wanted to change the Rays name. Orlando really just has the one major downtown so it usually the focal point as the regions living room. For sports, it depends on your sport preference, but Tampa likely wins. The Bucs are huge, then the Lightning and oh yeah the Rays. So Tampa has a ton of potential and missed opportunities and Orlando does a much better job of capitalizing on the history and natural resources.
I love in Orlando because of the family that I have here, but since I moved back I’m counting the days to move !! I’ve been here for years but never liked Orlando. It’s way too artificial, don’t like the theme parks. My family we are nature lovers. My husband now has a job in Clearwater so June of next year we are moving out! Great videos! Love your options we are very similar so will contact you once we get closer to buying. Thanks !!
Great video as always, Sam. I’d say the Tampa area would win out over Orlando just because of it being surrounded by beautiful beaches. As you mentioned St. Pete is really cool and also lots of major sports teams here. However, and this is a big negative that’s really starting to annoy me, Red Tide is becoming more of a thing. And what’s the point of living here on the Gulf with that crap always being a potential problem?
@@Bejennuine Its been going on since October the bloom is now moving north. Fertilized water has been dumping out of the caloosahatchee from Okeechobee for months now and moving up the coast fueling the bloom. It's gonna get so bad this summer.
I prefer Tampa , when I was young I partied in Orlando and it was good 30 + years ago but now no way i have my big complaints about Orlando and my family and I have been to Disney so many times I can remember when the cost of the Disney was $50 yeah I said it 😆 Tampa and Miami to me is the most popular cities in Florida I'm a true Floridan that was raised in Daytona Beach . I love were I came from it really is a great and clean state .Oh and they are building a of
City to city, Orlando is better than Tampa, but when you consider the entire metro area - greater Orlando vs Tampa Bay - TB is far and away better. Downtown St. Pete is amazing; probably the best downtown of any major city in Florida. Then you have the beaches: Clearwater, Indian Rocks, Madeira, St. Pete Beach, Pass-a-Grille...etc. As a metro, Tampa bay is just better.
10 years ago St Pete but that’s getting ruined too. Now, Safety Harbor, Dunedin, Gulfport Parts of Sarasota/Siesta Key. But besides Sarasota hardly any of those could be considered “cities”. Florida cities have very few redeemable qualities
@@LivinginTampa By "the cities" do you mean all Florida cities? Or just Tampa/Orlando? Because I would do Miami/St Pete and that's about it for Florida. Why those two? Because they're the only ones I can think of off the top of my head that actually has some semblance of culture, a celebrated history and some semblance of desire for transit and sensible development. Orlando and Tampa specifically are the classic "out not up" strip mall dystopia wasteland. For some of the largest cities in one of the countries largest states there's almost nothing in the way of landmark/bedrock businesses. Transit is practically non-existent (Thanks Rick Scott) and just ask the people who sit at the Wesley Chapel exit how happy they are that they bought in "farm country" 15 years ago. Suburban life will always be a part of city life, but neither city has anything close to what would be considered a thriving downtown compared to say like a Charlotte/Atlanta/Chattanooga/Nashville/Austin/Asheville. All six of those cities are both bigger and smaller than Orlampa and have far more to offer their citizens in the way of both opportunity and lifestyle. Finally, I'll end with a story. Few years ago my buddy had a giant lumberjack beard and was getting married. So we took him to Art of Shaving at International Mall for a shave and a haircut. We're doing the groomsmen thing and taking pictures for his wife and the barber goes "you guys aren't from Tampa are you?" "uhh, no? What makes you say that?" "Well, I'm sorry, and please don't take offense but every one I've met from Tampa since I've moved here gives off wannabe middle-management that just leased a three series and thinks Forest Gump is the deepest movie ever made" While that might be a pretty all encompassing broad stroke to label quite literally millions of people lol I do think it's somewhat telling that this is the reputation the Tampa/Orlando regions have and I find it mostly accurate.
@@keswick35 but Charlotte sucks and the train n transit is way better than Orlando I'm tryna see if Orlando is better than Tampa Nashville grew up there bus non existent and hella hills you can't walk anywhere my grandma don't leave her house
