Tampa, Florida

Tampa, is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709.

The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by various indigenous cultures, most recently the Tocobaga. It was spotted by Spanish explorers in the early 16th century, but there were no permanent American or European settlements in the area until 1824, when the US Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the site of today's Tampa Convention Center. The village of Tampa began as a small group of pioneers who settled near the fort for protection from the Seminole population in the area.

Today, Tampa is a part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. For U.S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida MSA. The four-county area is composed of roughly 2.7 million residents, making it the second largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the state, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States, behind Miami, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. The Greater Tampa Bay area has just over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U.S. Census data showed an average annual growth of 2.47 percent, or a gain of approximately 97,000 residents per year. Between 2000 and 2006, the Greater Tampa Bay Market experienced a combined growth rate of 14.8 percent, growing from 3.4 million to 3.9 million and hitting the 4 million people mark on April 1, 2007.

Tampa has a number of sports teams, such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League, and the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies in North American Soccer League (2010). The Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball, are actually based in neighboring St. Petersburg, Florida.

In 2008, Tampa was ranked as the 5th best outdoor city by Forbes. A 2004 survey by the NYU newspaper Washington Square News ranked Tampa as a top city for "twenty-somethings. Tampa is ranked as a "high sufficiency" world city by Loughborough University and is one category away from becoming a Gamma world city. According to Loughborough, Tampa now ranks alongside other world cities such as Phoenix, Cologne, and Osaka. In recent years Tampa has seen a notable upsurge in high-market demand from consumers, signaling more wealth concentrated in the area. Tampa has been tapped to host the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Tampa Bay Hotel

In 1891, Henry B. Plant built a lavish 500+ room, quarter-mile (400 m) long, US$2.5 million eclectic/Moorish Revival-style luxury resort hotel called the Tampa Bay Hotel among 150 acres (0.61 km2) of manicured gardens along the banks of the Hillsborough River. Plant's resort featured a race track, a heated indoor pool, a golf course, a 2000-seat auditorium, tennis courts, stables, hunting and fishing tours, and electric lights and telephones in every room, plus the first elevator in town and exotic art collectibles which Plant had shipped in from around the world.

The Tampa Bay Hotel was relatively prosperous for about a decade. The resort hosted thousands of guests and many celebrities of the era, but was only filled to capacity during the Spanish-American War (see below). Henry Plant died in 1899, and his heirs sold the facilities to the city of Tampa in 1904. The city operated the hotel and used the grounds as a community gathering place until 1932, when the resort was closed, remodeled, and reopened as the University of Tampa a year later.

Architecture

Tampa displays a wide variety of architectural designs and styles. Most of Tampa's high rises demonstrate Post-modern architecture. The design for the renovated Tampa Museum of Art, displays Post-modern architecture, while the city hall and the Tampa Theatre belong to Art Deco architecture. The Tampa mayor as of 2008, Pam Iorio, has made the redevelopment of Tampa's downtown, especially bringing in residents to the decidedly non-residential area, a priority. Several residential and mixed-development high-rises are in various stages of planning or construction, and a few have already opened. Another of Mayor Iorio's initiatives is the Tampa Riverwalk, a plan which intends to make better use of the land along the Hillsborough River in downtown where Tampa began. Several museums are part of the plan, including new homes for the Tampa Bay History Center, the Tampa Children's Museum, and the Tampa Museum of Art.

Tampa is the site of several skyscrapers. Overall, there are 18 completed buildings that rise over 250 feet (76 m) high. The city also has 69 high-rises, more than any other city in Florida after Miami. The tallest building in the city is 100 North Tampa, formerly the AmSouth Building, which rises 42 floors and 579 feet (176 m) in Downtown Tampa. The structure was completed in 1992, and is the tallest building in Florida outside of Miami and Jacksonville.

For most of the first half of the 20th Century, Tampa was formed with small brick and block building, such as Senator Arthena’s joyner’s former builing at 1112 E. Kennedy, that is now occupied by Tampa Bankruptcy Attorney Stanley Galewski .

Neighborhoods and surrounding municipalities

The city is divided into many neighborhoods, many of which were towns and unincorporated communities annexed by the growing city. Generally, the city is divided into the following areas: Downtown Tampa, New Tampa, West Tampa, East Tampa, North Tampa, and South Tampa. Well-known communities include Ybor City, Forest Hills, Ballast Point, Sulphur Springs, Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights, Palma Ceia, Hyde Park, Davis Islands, Tampa Palms, College Hill, and non-residential areas of Gary and the Westshore Business District.

Higher education

There are a number of institutions of higher education in Tampa. The city is home to the main campus of the University of South Florida (USF), a member of the State University System of Florida founded in 1956.In 2010, it was the eleventh highest individual campus enrollment in the US with over 46,000 students.Its mascot is the Brahman Bull, with green and gold as its colors. The University of Tampa (UT) is a private, four-year liberal arts institution. Founded in 1931 and located across the Hillsborough River from downtown Tampa, UT has over 6,500 students attending. Its mascot is the Spartan, with scarlet, black, and gold as its school colors. Hillsborough Community College is a two-year community college in the Florida College System with campuses in Tampa and Hillsborough County.

Other colleges and universities in the wider Tampa Bay Area include Eckerd College and St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg.

Economy

Service, retail, finance, insurance, shipping by air and sea, national defense, professional sports, tourism and real estate all play a vital role in the area's economy. Hillsborough County alone has an estimated 740,000 employees, a figure which is projected to increase to 922,000 by 2015. Many corporations, such as large banks and telecommunications companies, maintain regional offices in Tampa. Several Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in the metropolitan area, including OSI Restaurant Partners, WellCare Health Plans, Inc., TECO Energy, and Raymond James Financial. MacDill Air Force Base also remains a major employer as the parent installation for over 15,000 active uniformed military, Department of Defense (DoD) civil service and DoD contractor personnel in the Tampa Bay area. A significant majority of the civil service and contractor personnel are, in fact, themselves retired career military personnel. In addition to the 6th Air Mobility Wing, which is "host wing" for the base, MacDill is also home to Headquarters, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the 927th Air Refueling Wing, Headquarters, United States Marine Forces Central Command (USMARCENT), Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command Central (USSOCCENT), and numerous other military activities of the active and reserve components of the armed forces.

Downtown Tampa is undergoing significant development and redevelopment in line with a general national trend toward urban residential development. The Tampa Downtown Partnership notes development proceeding on 20 residential, hotel, and mixed-use projects as of April 2007. Many of the new downtown developments are nearing completion in the midst of a housing market slump, which has caused numerous projects to be delayed or revamped, and some of the 20 projects TDP lists have not broken ground and are being refinanced. Nonetheless several developments are nearing completion, which city leaders hope will make downtown into a 24-hour neighborhood instead of 9 to 5 business district. As it stands, Tampa residents face a decline in rent which has decreased an average of 2% next year. Nationally rent has decreased 4%.

Tampa's port is now the seventh largest in the nation and Florida’s largest tonnage port, handling nearly half of all seaborne commerce that passes through the state. Tampa currently ranks second in the state behind Miami in terms of cruise ship travel. Besides smaller regional cruise ships such as Yacht Starship and SunCruz Casino, Tampa also serves as a port of call for three cruise lines: Holland America's MS Veendam, Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, and Carnival's Legend and Inspiration.

The main server farm for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects is located in Tampa.

Airports

Tampa holds a unique distinction in the history of aviation, a status gained just ten years after the Wright Brothers first took flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On January 1, 1914, pioneering aviator Tony Jannus captained the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, the world's first commercial passenger airline. The airline flew scheduled flights from downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, across the bay to just south of where Tampa International Airport sits today, carrying just the pilot and a single passenger in a flying boat biplane. The airline's historic significance is officially recognized by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and its pilot is memorialized annually by the awarding of the Tony Jannus Award to individuals of outstanding achievement in scheduled commercial aviation.A permanent exhibit honoring the award recipients is maintained at Tampa International Airport, which also hosts a 12.5 feet (3.8 m) painted mural from the 1930s titled, History’s First Scheduled Airline Passenger Arrives in Tampa, depicting the events of New Year's Day, 1914.

Tampa International Airport (IATA: TPA, ICAO: KTPA) is Tampa's main airport and the primary location for commercial passenger airline service into the Tampa Bay area. It is also a consistent favorite in surveys of the industry and the traveling public. The readers of Condé Nast Traveler have frequently placed Tampa International in their list of Best Airports, ranking it #1 in 2003, and #2 in 2008 A survey by Zagat in 2007 ranked Tampa International first among U.S. airports in overall quality. During 2008, it was the 26th-busiest airport in North America.

Peter O. Knight Airport (IATA: TPF, ICAO: KTPF)is a small general aviation terminal located on Davis Islands near downtown.

Tampa Executive Airport (IATA: VDF, ICAO: KVDF), formerly known as Vandenberg Airport, is another option for general aviation fliers. The airport is located east of Tampa in Hillsborough County, near the interchange of I-4 and I-75.

St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (IATA: PIE, ICAO: KPIE) lies just across the bay from Tampa International Airport in neighboring Pinellas County. Though mainly a general aviation facility, the airport has become a popular destination for passenger service by discount and charter carriers. A joint civil-military aviation facility, it is also home to Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest air station in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Tourism and recreation

The city of Tampa operates over 165 parks and beaches covering 2,286 acres (9.25 km2) within city limits; 42 more in surrounding suburbs covering 70,000 acres (280 km2), are maintained by Hillsborough County. These areas include the Hillsborough River State Park, just northeast of the city. Tampa is also home to a number of attractions and theme parks, including Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Adventure Island, Lowry Park Zoo, and Florida Aquarium.

Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo features over 2,000 animals, interactive exhibits, rides, educational shows and more. The zoo serves as an economic, cultural, environmental and educational anchor in Tampa.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a 335-acre (1.36 km2) Africa-themed park located near the University of South Florida. It features many thrilling roller coasters, for which it is known, including Sheikra. Visitors can also view and interact with a number of African wildlife.

Adventure Island is a 30-acre (120,000 m2) water park adjacent to Busch Gardens. It features many water rides, dining, and other attractions typical to a water park.

The Florida Aquarium is a 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2) aquarium located in the Channel District of Tampa. It hosts over 20,000 species of aquatic plants and animals. It is known for its unique glass architecture. Adjacent to the Aquarium is the SS American Victory, a World War II Victory ship preserved as a museum ship.

The Tampa Bay History Center is a museum of Tampa Bay History located in the Channel District, Tampa, Florida of Tampa. It boasts over 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) of exhibits through 12,000 years. Theaters, map gallery, research center and museum store.

Well-known shopping areas include International Plaza and Bay Street, WestShore Plaza, SoHo district, and Hyde Park Village. Palma Ceia is also home to a shopping district, called Palma Ceia Design District. Previously, Tampa had also been home to the Floriland Mall (now an office park), Tampa Bay Center (demolished and replaced with the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers training facility, known as "One Buc Place"), and East Lake Square Mall (now an office park).

Gasparilla,Events

Perhaps the most well known and anticipated events are those from Tampa's annual celebration of "Gasparilla", particularly the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, a mock pirate invasion held since 1904 in late January or early February. Often referred to as Tampa's "Mardi Gras", the invasion flotilla led by the pirate ship, Jose Gasparilla, and subsequent parade draw over 400,000 attendees, contributing tens of millions of dollars to the city's economy. Beyond the initial invasion, numerous Gasparilla festivities take place each year between January and March, including the Gasparilla Children's Parade, the more adult-oriented Sant'Yago Knight Parade, the Gasparilla Distance Classic, Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, and the Gasparilla International Film Festival, among other pirate themed events.

Other notable events include the Outback Bowl, which is held New Year's Day at Raymond James Stadium. Each February, The Florida State Fair brings crowds from across the state, while "Fiesta Day" celebrates Tampa's Cuban, German, Italian, African-Cuban, Jewish and Spanish immigrant heritage. In April the MacDill Air Fest entertains as one of the largest military air shows in the U.S.. Guavaween, an nighttime street celebration infuses Halloween with the Latin flavor of Ybor City. Ybor also hosts "GaYbor Days", an annual street party in the GLBT-friendly GaYbor district. The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, held annually since 1989, is the city's largest film festival event, and one of the largest independent gay film festivals in the country.