Tampa Bay Florida information

Tampa Bay is  proof that Florida is not all about retirees: the median age is only about 40 for the region as a whole, and area residents offer employees a highly diverse and well educated labor force Tampa Bay is a services- and tech-driven engine of economic growth, not only for Central and South Florida, but indeed the entire State. Over 50% of Florida’s high tech industries and over 113 foreign-owned international companies call  the Bay area home. 

Tampa is often referred to as Wall street South and is a regional home to major banking firms like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., Raymond James, MetLife, State Farm, and Progressive Insurance to name but a few. http://www.tampabay.org/subpage.asp?navid=1&id=9

Education is big here, too.  Home to the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, and some 20 other colleges, universities, and higher education learning facilities, and to several very respected K-12 school systems, the Bay area is competitive with most metropolitan areas across the United States.

Living in Tampa Bay offers an enormous range of recreational choices, too: for example, water-related outdoor activities like beaching, birding, fishing, hiking, boating, kayaking; significant arts and cultural activities and institutions; world class restaurants and night life; and a full slate of minor and major league NFL and NHL professional sports teams.  Tampa offers all this in a relatively compact metropolitan area that in general is more manageable, easier to get around, and more laid back than metro East Coast Florida.

And if Tampa Bay is still not enough for you – is that even possible? – then Sarasota-Bradenton are just across the spectacular Sunshine Skyway south of the Bay, and metropolitan Orlando and Disney are just an hour and a half up Interstate 4. For a change of pace, more rural areas offer a very different kind of easy escape from the metropole: say,north to the quirky village of Tarpon Springs, founded by Greek sponge divers; to other northern quiet reaches of Pasco and Hernando counties; east to eastern Hillsborough and Polk counties; and southeast to Manatee and Hardee Counties.  All these latter areas offer a mix of ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, and farmland, and are within easy access by a good road network.

What if I told you that all this comes with fabulous weather and an inexpensive price tag?  How about an average summer temperature of 83 and an average winter low of 55 degrees? How about a cost of living of just 98.08?  How about an average Real Estate home cost under $250,000?

In short, imagine big city life (restaurants-nightlife-sports-Arts and Culture) mixed in with great weather and recreational opportunities along with great job opportunities and a relatively low cost of living. If this sounds good, then you have to look hard at the Tampa area. (37,000 new jobs created here last year) 

http://www.tampabay.org/subpage.asp?navid=1&id=5

General Information.

• Located in the central West coast portion of Florida, 249 miles northwest of Miami, 86 mile southwest of Orlando and 190 miles south of Jacksonville.
• 1051 square miles ?
• Average summer Temperature 90°F
• Average winter temperature is 70
• Average yearly temperature 74
• Average Annual Precipitation 53 in
• Average Rain Days 107
• Population projection 2010 -1,228,000-Hillsborough county
• Average home cost-June 2005-$240,000
• Cost of Living- 98.08
• Median age-41
• Great weather and lots of sun

Major Employment By Industry

• Agriculture
• Mining
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Transportation/Utilities
• Wholesale Trade
• Retail Trade
• Financial/Insurance/Real Estate
• Services
• Public administration

See the links to the left, for information on other topics.