Who's Downtown Is Ahead? Jacksonville's or Tampa's?

[thelakelander]

To be fair, the Bay Area is twice as large as Jax. We've enjoyed some similar successes.....and failures, but the scale of activity is different due to the size of the communities. Living in Lakeland, before I moved to Jax, it always seemed to me that while larger, Tampa seemed to be a bit more conservative than Orlando. However, the rapid growth of Orlando seemed to fuel a desire in the Bay Area to attempt to compete. To that level, I think some of the positives of friendly competition have helped the Bay Area move forward. The same could be said of St. Petersburg and Tampa's rivalry as the two major cities in the Bay Area. Jax, on the other hand, is a bit more isolated and lacks that decent sized regional neighbor to fuel the competitive civic spirit. For the Tampa people out there, is this a fair observation?

[gjosephunf]

To be fair, the Bay Area is twice as large as Jax. We've enjoyed some similar successes.....and failures, but the scale of activity is different due to the size of the communities. Living in Lakeland, before I moved to Jax, it always seemed to me that while larger, Tampa seemed to be a bit more conservative than Orlando. However, the rapid growth of Orlando seemed to fuel a desire in the Bay Area to attempt to compete. To that level, I think some of the positives of friendly competition has helped the Bay Area move forward. The same could be said of St. Petersburg and Tampa's rivalry as the two major cities in the Bay Area. Jax, on the other hand, is a bit more isolated and lacks that decent sized regional neighborhood to fuel the competitive civic spirit. For the Tampa people out there, is this a fair observation?

Ennis I think your comparison and article was right on point! Marion Transitway is a bust should have streetcar going down. River walk was finally built etc. The "competition" has even filtered into Lakeland. I took my boyfriend to the Polk Museum of Art and Legoland and he was impressed with the growth+potential there as well. As The I-4 corridor continues to merge into the "superregion" I think there will be a greater sense of working together. I think there's less provincialism  in Tampa Bay than years past (Kriseman and Buckhorn) really teaming to push the region forward. I think what helped Orlando (politically) was the sense of "togetherness," migration, and tourism. Here in Tampa Bay we struggled with the "old-timers" having bitter memories from Tampa-St. Pete rivalry. I think at one point  (80's-early 90's) Pinellas had a larger pop than Hillsborough.

What does JAX have planned for the Landing? Maybe Khan will invest? Is there a chance for a Mayor that wants to champion LGBTQ + ally community and retain Millenials? Has the city considered sending RFP to Novare? Surprised there isn't a Skyhouse yet.

[Adam12]

To be fair, the Bay Area is twice as large as Jax. We've enjoyed some similar successes.....and failures, but the scale of activity is different due to the size of the communities. Living in Lakeland, before I moved to Jax, it always seemed to me that while larger, Tampa seemed to be a bit more conservative than Orlando. However, the rapid growth of Orlando seemed to fuel a desire in the Bay Area to attempt to compete. To that level, I think some of the positives of friendly competition has helped the Bay Area move forward. The same could be said of St. Petersburg and Tampa's rivalry as the two major cities in the Bay Area. Jax, on the other hand, is a bit more isolated and lacks that decent sized regional neighborhood to fuel the competitive civic spirit. For the Tampa people out there, is this a fair observation?

I think that's very fair. I've never considered the effects that competition of that nature could have on a city, but it certainly makes sense. Tampa has also been extremely lucky. Any city, given high quality leadership, can make itself a nicer place to live.

[Noone]

Both Uber and Lyft serve Tampa:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/10-things-to-understand-about-lyft-and-uber/2202683

Good info. Thanks for posting.
Here are the substitutes to active legislation 2014-665 Uber and Lyft in Duval county that has to get through RULES before being voted on and becoming law when and if passed by the Jacksonville city council. It was deferred at the 1/20/15 RULES Committee meeting.
1. EXPANDS the definition of vehicle for hire.
2. Conforms the City's insurance requirements with the State's requirements and clarifies that such insurance covers times while vehicles for hire are operating without an active passenger.
3. Allows the City Parking Division and Jacksonville Airport Authority to Seize, impound or immobilize for hire vehicles used in violation of ordinance Chapter 220

[tufsu1]

Anyone know what Tampa's plans are in dealing with the height of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge?

FDOT did an initial study on options last year.  None were in any way cheap.  They will be conducting a more detailed study in 2015/2016. 

[simms3]

I take issue with the emboldened words below:

I disagree for a few reasons -
First, the SoHo area in south Tampa is by far the most popular place in Tampa for young college kids. Most of the UT and USF students hang out there, and as a result many want to live near there.

To be fair, the Bay Area is twice as large as Jax. We've enjoyed some similar successes.....and failures, but the scale of activity is different due to the size of the communities. Living in Lakeland, before I moved to Jax, it always seemed to me that while larger, Tampa seemed to be a bit more conservative than Orlando. However, the rapid growth of Orlando seemed to fuel a desire in the Bay Area to attempt to compete. To that level, I think some of the positives of friendly competition have helped the Bay Area move forward. The same could be said of St. Petersburg and Tampa's rivalry as the two major cities in the Bay Area. Jax, on the other hand, is a bit more isolated and lacks that decent sized regional neighbor to fuel the competitive civic spirit. For the Tampa people out there, is this a fair observation?

Similarly, "USC" to describe South Carolina.  lol

[UNFurbanist]

Well this seems to be what Tampa thinks of us so I guess this is a situation of "it's always greener on the other side"! Even though Jax surely needs work we shouldn't forget about the great things we do have. And pretty much all of it is because of ordinary citizens adding something to the community. This is awesome exposure for the city! http://tbo.com/lifestyle/jacksonville-overflowing-with-new-thrills-20150125/

[thelakelander]

Great article!