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About the Tampa, South Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida Area Request our Free Tampa, South Tampa and Hillsborough County Relocation Package. It's packed full of useful and important information about the Tampa, South Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida area. Don't move here without it! Remember: we'll send it to you for free and without obligation. Just fill out the form and we will send it right out... Tampa, FloridaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tampa is a United States city in Hillsborough County, on the west coast of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County.. The population of Tampa in 2000 was 303,447. According to the 2006 Census estimate, the city has a population of 332,888 . Tampa is a part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the "Tampa Bay Area." 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 third largest in the Southeastern United States behind Miami and Atlanta. 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 Tampa Bay market area has 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. It is the largest media market in the state of Florida and thirteenth largest DMA Market in the United States.
HistoryThe word "Tampa" is believed to mean "sticks of fire" in the language of the Calusa, a Native American tribe. Other historians claim the name refers to "The place to gather sticks". "Sticks of fire" may also relate to the high concentration of lightning strikes that Tampa Bay receives every year during the hot and wet summer months.Toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being "itimpi", meaning simply "near it" (Stewart, pg. 231). Early explorationsWhatever its origins, the name first appears in the "Memoir" of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda (1575), who had spent 17 years as a Calusa captive. He calls it "Tanpa" and describes it as an important Calusa town. While "Tanpa" is the apparent basis for the modern name "Tampa", archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original "Bay of Tanpa". A later Spanish expedition failed to notice Charlotte Harbor while sailing north along the west coast of Florida and assumed that today's Tampa Bay was the bay that they had sought. Thus, the name was accidentally transferred north. In April of 1528, the ill-fated Narváez Expedition landed near Tampa with the intention of starting a colony. After being told by the natives of better riches to the north, they abandoned their camp after only a week. A dozen years later, a surviving member of the expedition named Juan Ortiz was rescued by Hernando de Soto's expedition. A peace treaty was conducted with the local Indians and a short-lived Spanish outpost was established, but this was abandoned when it became clear that there was no gold in the area, and that the local Indians were not interested in converting to Catholicism but were too skilled as warriors to easily conquer. The Tampa area would be effectively ignored by its colonial owners for the next 200+ years. British ruleWhen Great Britain acquired Florida in 1763, the bay was named Hillsborough Bay, after Lord Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies. Britain was more concerned with the strategically important Atlantic coast of Florida (especially St. Augustine) rather than mostly empty Gulf coast, and the Tampa area was by and large disregarded again. With the native population having died from disease long before and the Seminoles still living to the north, the only (seasonal) residents of the Tampa Bay area were Cuban fishermen. These visitors stayed in temporary settlements along the shore, catching a large haul of fish from the teeming waters of the bay to take back and sell. Florida becomes a U.S. TerritorySpain regained control of Florida in 1783 as part of the Treaty of Paris at the end of the American Revolution. Once again, the Tampa area was not a vital concern to its European owner. The United States purchased Florida in 1821 (see Adams-Onís Treaty) to end frontier Indians raids and to stem the tide of escaped slaves fleeing to the wilds of Florida from neighboring states. In fact, one of the first official U.S. actions in the new territory was a raid which destroyed Angola, a village built by escaped slaves on the shores of Tampa Bay. Frontier days
Tampa Convention Center, built at the site of Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River (on the far left) Birth of a pioneer townThe Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823) created a large Indian reservation in the interior of the peninsular Florida. As part of efforts to establish control over the vast swampy wilderness, the U.S. government built a series of forts and trading posts throughout the new territory. "Cantonment Brooke" was established in 1823 by Colonels George Mercer Brooke and James Gadsden at the mouth of the Hillsborough River on Tampa Bay, at what is now the site of the Tampa Convention Center in Downtown Tampa. In 1824, the post was officially christened Fort Brooke. A few settlers soon established homesteads around the wooden fort, but growth was very slow due to difficult conditions and the constant threat of attack from the Seminole Indian population, who lived nearby in an uneasy truce. When the Second Seminole War flared up in late 1835, Fort Brooke served as a vital military asset. After almost seven long years of vicious fighting, the war was over and the Seminoles were forced away from the Tampa region. The tiny village of Tampa soon began to grow up. The Territory of Florida had grown enough by 1845 to become the 27th state. The settlement of Tampa had grown enough by 1849 to incorporate as the "Village of Tampa", which officially occurred on January 18. Tampa was home to 185 inhabitants, excluding military personnel stationed at Fort Brooke. The city's first census count in 1850 listed Tampa-Fort Brooke as having 974 residents. Tampa was reincorporated as a town on December 15, 1855, and Judge Joseph B. Lancaster became the first Mayor in 1856. Tampa during the Civil WarDuring the American Civil War, Florida seceded along with the rest of the south to form the Confederate States of America. Fort Brooke was manned by Confederate troops and martial law was declared in Tampa in January of 1862. Tampa's city government ceased to operate for the duration of the war. In late 1861, the Union navy set up a blockade around many southern ports to cut off the Confederacy from outside help, and several ships were stationed near the mouth of Tampa Bay. However, blockade runners based in Tampa were able to repeatedly slip through the blockade to trade cattle and citrus for needed supplies, mainly with Spanish Cuba. Trying to put a stop to this, Union gunboats sailed up Tampa Bay to bombard Fort Brooke and the surrounding city of Tampa. The Battle of Tampa on June 30-July 1, 1862 was inconclusive, as the shells fell ineffectually and there were no casualties on either side. Much more damaging to the Confederate cause was the Battle of Fort Brooke on October 17-18, 1863. Two Union gunboats shelled the fort and surrounding town and landed troops, who found blockade runners hidden up the Hillsborough River and destroyed them. The local militia mustered to intercept the Union troops, but they were able to return to their ships after a short skirmish and headed back out to sea. The war ended in Confederate defeat in April 1865. In May, federal troops arrived in Tampa to occupy the fort and the town as part of Reconstruction. They would remain until August, 1869. The Lean YearsThe years after the Civil War were difficult ones in Tampa. With little industry and land transportation links limited to bumpy wagon roads from the east coast of Florida, Tampa was a small sleepy fishing village with very few people and poor prospects for development. Then came yellow fever. Borne by mosquitos from the surrounding swampland, Tampa was hit by wave after wave of yellow fever epidemics and scares throughout the late 1860s and 1870s. The disease was little understood at the time, and many residents simply packed up and left rather than face the mysterious and deadly peril. A telling moment occurred in 1869, when residents voted to abolish the City of Tampa government . The population of "Tampa Town" was below 800 in the official 1870 census count and had fallen further by 1880. (see demographics, below). The little village was dying. Another blow was to come. Fort Brooke, the seed from which Tampa had germinated, had served its purpose and was decommissioned in 1883. Except for two cannons displayed on the nearby University of Tampa campus, all traces of the fort are gone. In an odd nod to history, a large downtown parking garage near the old fort site is called the Fort Brooke Parking Garage. Phosphate, Railroads, and Cigars: Tampa Finally ProspersThen, out of the blue, Tampa's fortunes took several sudden turns for the better. First, phosphate was discovered in the Bone Valley region southeast of Tampa in 1883. The mineral, which is vital for the production of fertilizers and other products, was soon being shipped out from the Port of Tampa in ever increasing volume. Tampa is still one of the world's leading phosphate exporters. Henry B. Plant's railroad line reached Tampa and its port shortly thereafter, connecting the small town to the country's railroad system. Tampa finally had the overland transportation link that had been so sorely lacking. The railroad enabled phosphate and commercial fishing exports to go north , brought many new products into the Tampa market, and started the first real tourist industry: visitors coming in modest numbers to Henry Plant's first Tampa-area resort built literally on Tampa Bay on stilts. (This was not the still-standing Tampa Bay Hotel, which came a few years later). The new railroad link enabled another important industry to come to Tampa. In 1885, the Tampa Board of Trade helped broker a land deal with Vicente Martinez Ybor to move his cigar manufacturing operations to Tampa from Key West. Close proximity to Cuba made imports of tobacco easy by sea, and Plant's railroad made shipment of finished cigars to the rest of the US market easy by land. Since Tampa was still a small town at the time (population less than 5000), Ybor built hundreds of small houses around his factory to accommodate the immediate influx of mainly Cuban and Spanish cigar workers. Other cigar factories soon moved in, and Ybor City (as the 40-odd acre settlement was dubbed) quickly made Tampa a major cigar production center. To round out the town's population, many Italian and a few eastern European Jewish immigrants also arrived starting in the late 1880s, mainly operating businesses and shops that catered to the cigar workers. The majority of Italian immigrants came from Alessandria Della Rocca and Santo Stefano Quisquina, two small Sicilian towns with which Tampa still maintains strong ties. In 1891, Henry B. Plant built a lavish 500+ room, quarter-mile long luxury resort hotel called the Tampa Bay Hotel among 150 acres (0.61 km²) of manicured gardens along the banks Hillsborough River. The eclectic structure cost $2.5 million to build, a huge sum in those days. Plant filled his expensive playground with exotic art collectables from around the world and installed electric lights and the first elevator in town. The resort did great business for a few years, especially during the Spanish-American War (see below). But with Plant's death in 1899, the hotel's fortunes began to fade. It closed in 1930. In 1933, however, the stately building reopened as the University of Tampa. Mainly because of Henry Plant's connections in the War Department, Tampa was chosen as an embarkation center for American troops in the Spanish-American War. Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were among the 30,000 troops who waited in Tampa for the order to ship out to Cuba during the summer of 1898, filling the town to bursting . Those months, while unpleasant for the troops wearing thick wool uniforms in the oppressive Florida heat, were a great boon to Tampa's growing economy. It was also the only time when Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel was full to capacity. The founding of Ybor City, the building of Plant's railroad and hotels, and the discovery of phosphate - all within a dozen years in the late 1800s - were crucial to Tampa's development. The town suddenly expanded from sleepy backwater village to bustling town to small city. Except for temporary bumps along the way, this growth has continued unabated. The 20th centuryDuring the first few decades of the 20th century, the cigar making industry continued to be the backbone of Tampa's economy. The factories in Ybor City and West Tampa made an enormous number of cigars -- in the peak year of 1929, over 500,000,000 cigars were hand rolled in the city.[23] As the market for cigars began to wane during the Great Depression, other industries came to the fore, especially shipping and, of course, tourism. In 1904, a local civic association of local businessmen dubbed themselves Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (named after local mythical pirate Jose Gaspar), and staged an "invasion" of the city followed by a parade. With a few exceptions, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been held every year since. Bolita & the MobBeginning in the late 1800s, illegal bolita lotteries were very popular among the Tampa working classes, especially in Ybor City. In the early 1920s, this small-time operation was taken over by Charlie Wall, the rebellious son of a prominent Tampa family, and went big-time. Bolita was able to openly thrive only because of kick-backs and bribes to key local politicians and law enforcement officials, and many were on the take. Profits from the bolita lotteries and Prohibition-era bootlegging led to the development of several organized crime factions in the city. Charlie Wall was the first major boss, but various power struggles culminated in consolidation of control by Sicilian mafioso Santo Trafficante, Sr. and his faction in the 1950s. After his death in 1954 from cancer, control passed to his son Santo Trafficante, Jr., who established alliances with families in New York and extended his power throughout Florida and into Batista-era Cuba. The era of rampant and open corruption ended in the 1950s, when the Senator Kefauver's traveling organized crime hearings came to town and were followed by the sensational misconduct trials of several local officials. Though many of the worst offenders in government and the mob were not charged, the trials helped to end the sense of lawlessness which had prevailed in Tampa for decades. Mid-Late 20th centuryThe University of South Florida was established in 1956, sparking development in northern Tampa and nearby Temple Terrace. There were four attempts to consolidate Tampa with Hillsborough County (1967, 1970, 1971, and 1972), all of which failed at the ballot box with the biggest margin was 33,160 for and 73,568 against the proposed charter in 1972. The biggest recent growth in the city was the development of New Tampa that started in 1988 when the city annexed a 24-square mile (mostly rural) area between I-275 and I-75. Since then, many subdivisions and thousands of homes and businesses have filled in, accounting for much of Tampa's population growth over that time. East Tampa, which has historically been a mostly black community, was the scene of several riots, mainly due to problems between residents and the Tampa police. The 21st centuryOn January 5, 2002, just four months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 15-year-old amateur pilot Charles Bishop stole a Cessna plane and flew into the Bank of America Tower in Downtown Tampa. Bishop died, but there were no other injuries (because the crash occurred on a Saturday, when few people were in the building). A suicide note found in the wreckage expressed support for Osama bin Laden. Bishop had been taking a prescription medicine for acne called Accutane that may have had the side effect of depression or severe psychosis. His family later sued Hoffman-La Roche, the company that makes Accutane, for $70 million; however, an autopsy found no traces of the drug in the teenager's system.
Geography & ClimateTampa is located on the West coast of Florida at (27.970898, -82.464640). TopographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 170.6 square miles (441.9 km²), of which, 112.1 square miles (290.3 km²) of it is land and 58.5 square miles (151.6 km²) of it (34.31%) is water. The highest point in the city is only in the forties. Tampa bordered by two bodies of water: Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay , which both flow to form Tampa Bay, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Hillsborough River flows out into Hillsborough Bay, passing directly in front of Downtown Tampa and supplying Tampa with its main source of water. The Palm River is a smaller river flowing from just east of the city into Hillsborough Bay. ClimateTampa has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), with hot summer days and a threat of winter frost only about every 2-3 years. Highs usually range between 65 and 95 °F (18 and 35 °C) year round. Surprisingly to some, Tampa's official recorded high has never hit 100 °F (38 °C) - the all-time record high temperature is 99 °F (37 °C), recorded on June 5, 1985. In the winter, the low rarely drops below freezing (32 °F , 0 °C), an occurrence which happens, on average, once every other year. But since the Tampa area is home to much agriculture and aquaculture, cold snaps are a major worry. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Tampa was 18 °F (-7.8 °C) on December 13, 1962. Usually, the highs are around 70 °F (20 - 22 °C) with sunny skies in the winter, with the occasional passage of a cold front bringing the temperature down for a few days. In the Great Blizzard of 1899, Tampa suffered its one and only known blizzard, with "bay effect" snow coming off of Tampa Bay. The last measurable snow in Tampa fell on January 19, 1977. The accumulation amounted to all of 0.2 inches (5.1 mm), but the city, unprepared for and unaccustomed to wintry weather, came to a virtual standstill for a day. Temperatures are hot from around mid-May through mid-October, which coincides approximately with the rainy season. Summer days usually have highs in the low 90s °F (32-34 °C) with high humidity. The summer nighttime temperature usually drops into the mid 70s °F (21 - 23 °C). Thunderstorms are a common summertime feature in Tampa. These afternoon boomers can sometimes become severe, bringing gusty winds, small hail, and torrential rain. Tornadoes are rare, but not unheard of. But the biggest danger they bring is lightning. The Tampa Bay area is recognized as the "Lightning Capital of North America". Every year, Florida averages 10 deaths and 30 injuries from lightning strikes, with several of these usually occurring in or around Tampa. With each thunderstorm capable of unleashing thousands of individual bolts, it's best to stay inside until the weather clears. The most common summertime weather pattern is for heat-produced thermals to turn puffy white cumulus clouds into threatening thunderheads over the interior of the Florida peninsula. The typical wind pattern usually pushes these storms slowly westward toward the Tampa area. Sometimes they rain themselves out before making it to the coast; on many summer days in Tampa Bay, a stormy afternoon is followed by a pleasantly clear and cooler (though not exactly cool) evening. But occasionally the storms survive to move out over the Gulf of Mexico at night, where they can be seen from the beaches as spectacular light shows. A westerly or southwesterly wind flow, however, will bring even more humidity than usual into the air. On those days, rain and thunder can strike anywhere at any time around Tampa Bay. Because of these regular summer storms, Tampa has a pronounced wet season, averaging 20.6 inches (524 mm) between July and September, but only 6.2 inches (157 mm) between November and January. The wettest month is August, which averages 7.6 inches (193 mm). (August and especially September rain totals are augmented by tropical systems, which easily can dump many inches of rain in one day.) November is Tampa's driest month, averaging only 1.6 inches (41 mm). During the winter, most of the area's precipitation is delivered by the occasional cold front. Yearly precipitation averages 44.8 inches (1137 mm).
Cityscape
Hillsborough Bay (foreground), Downtown Tampa skyline (top center), and parts of the Port of Tampa, including Channelside (right) as seen from Apollo Beach Current Tampa mayor 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. The city is divided into many neighborhoods, many of which were towns and unincorporated communities that were 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. Some well-known communities of Tampa include Ybor City, Forest Hills, Sulphur Springs, Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights, Palma Ceia, Hyde Park, Tampa Palms, College Hill and non-residential areas of Gary and the Westshore Business District The following are the 15 tallest completed buildings in Tampa.
Suburbs and Surrounding CitiesBolded indicates principal city of the Metropolitan Area.
LandmarksTampa is also known for its significant landmarks. The Sulphur Springs Water Tower, a landmark in Sulphur Springs section of the city dates back to the late 1920s. Also during this time period was the construction of Bayshore Boulevard, which parallel Hillsborough Bay from Downtown Tampa to areas in South Tampa. The road has a 6-mile (9.7 km) continuous sidewalk on the eastern end, the longest in the world. Babe Zaharias Golf Course in the Forest Hills area of Tampa has been designated a Historical Landmark by the National Register of Historic Places. It was bought in 1949 by the famous 'Babe' who had a residence nearby and closed at her death. In 1974, the City of Tampa opened the golf course to the public The Story of Tampa, a public painting by Lynn Ash, is a 4' x 8' oil on masonite mural that weaves together many of the notable aspects of Tampa's unique character and identity. It was commissioned in 2003 by the City of Tampa's Public Art Program and can be found in the lobby of the Tampa Municipal Office Building. Park Tower (originally the First Financial Bank of Florida), the first substantial skyscraper in Downtown Tampa. Completed in 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in Tampa until the completion of One Tampa City Center in 1981. 
The Florida Aquarium in Channelside One obvious feature of the skyline is the Rivergate building, a cylindrical building accross from the University of Tampa. The building is affectionately known as the "Beercan building" and was featured in the movie "The Punisher" Future landmarks include The Tampa Riverwalk, a proposed continuous pedestrian walkway along the eastern end of the Hillsborough River. The sidewalk will extend from the Channelside district to Tampa Heights. The schedule time for completion is around 2010.[59]. Other landmarks within the city include theTampa Theatre, Museum of Science and Industry (which include the IMAX dome theater), Fun-Lan Drive-In (drive-in theater), and Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Downtown Tampa boasts a number of landmark high rises, including the Suntrust Building, Sykes Building, SkyPoint Condominium, Towers of Channelside, and the Bank of America Building. South of Tampa, spanning the southern part of Tampa Bay, is the massive steel-span Sunshine Skyway Bridge. CultureParks and RecreationThe city of Tampa operates over 165 parks and beaches covering 2,286 acres within city limits, 42 more in surrounding suburbs covering 70,000 acres, maintained by Hillsborugh County. This includes 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 Africa, Adventure Island, Lowry Park Zoo, and Florida Aquarium. Hot nightlife spots include Channelside and Ybor City. Events
The partially restored Centro Espanol building on Howard Ave., West Tampa. Perhaps the most well known and celebrated event is the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, or simply called Gasparilla. It has been held yearly since the first one in 1906. Gasparilla has often been referred to as the Mardi Gras of Tampa. Gasparilla is usually held on the last Saturday of January. The invasion-themed event has an attendance of over 400,000 people and impacts over 23 million dollars to the city of Tampa. The Sant'Yago Knight Parade, or Gasparilla Night Parade is usually held a one, or a few weeks after. It is considered more adult-oriented. Other notable events include the Outback Bowl, which is held New Years Day at Raymond James Stadium. The Florida State Fair in mid-February, also brings in an attendance of 400,000, and Guavaween, an open street Halloween celebration with Latin flavor taking place in Ybor City. Media
Major daily newspapers serving the city are The Tampa Tribune and The St. Petersburg Times. La Gaceta is the nation's only trilingual newspaper, written in English, Spanish and Italian. There is also a wide variety of smaller regional newspapers, alternative weeklies and magazines, including the Florida Sentinel Bulletin (which focuses coverage on the African American community in Tampa), Creative Loafing, The Oracle, Tampa Bay Business Journal, and MacDill Thunderbolt. Centro Mi Diario is a free Spanish-language newspaper published by The Tampa Tribune. SyFy Portal, SyUniverse Group Inc., parent corporation, is based in Tampa as is its owner. Major television affiliates include WFTS 28 (ABC), WTSP 10 (CBS), WFLA 8 (NBC), WTVT 13 (FOX), WTOG 44 (The CW), and WTTA 38 (My Network TV). MusicTampa became noted in the late 1990's for Jook music, a variant of the "Dirty South" or Southern hip hop genre. Several different artists from the area began to gain national recognition. These artists include Khia, Tampa Tony, Rated R and various others that were signed to national record labels. Most jook music can be described as uptempo beats and usually are accompanied by a local dance. Among these dances are the K-Wang, Juke, the Jackson Height, Stick, and the Dirty Sanchez. ReligionTampa's first church was the First Methodist Church, founded in a cabin by circuit rider J.C. Lay in 1846. The most famous church, however, is the Sacred Heart Catholic Church which was officially opened in 1905. The city also contains the St. Paul A.M.E. Church which was founded by Reverend Thomas W. Long in 1870 and is Tampa's oldest African-American congregation , and First Presbyterian Church which is housed in a Spanish mission style building from 1930. There are also many other churches such as St. Patrick Catholic Church and Christ the King Catholic Church. ShoppingSeveral large scale malls call Tampa and its surrounding areas home. Well known shopping areas include International Plaza and Bay Street, WestShore Plaza, University Mall, Westfield Brandon, and Westfield Citrus Park. Well known Hyde Park Village is an upscale open-air shopping center residing in the neighborhood of Hyde Park. Previously, Tampa had also been home to the Floriland Mall (now an office park), Tampa Bay Center (demolished), and East Lake Square Mall (now an office park). Sports
Tampa is represented by teams in four major professional sports leagues; the NFL, the NHL,Major League Baseball, and the Arena Football League. Three of the teams play in Tampa proper, while the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball play across the bay in St. Petersburg. All of the teams are considered to represent the entire Tampa Bay metropolitan area. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the area's first major franchise in 1976, and brought the area its first major sports championship at the end of the 2002 season, winning Super Bowl XXXVII against the Oakland Raiders. The NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning was established in 1992, and currently play their games in the St. Pete Times Forum. The team won their first Stanley Cup championship in Tampa in game 7 against the Calgary Flames at the end of the 2003-2004 NHL season. The Rays began play in 1998 (as the Devil Rays), but have yet to be a major contender - finishing last in the American League's East Division in nine of the ten seasons they have played. The Tampa Bay Storm play in the Arena Football League. Originally playing in Pittsburgh, the team moved to Tampa in 1991. The Storm won their first Arena Bowl championship in 1991, and have won four subsequent championships in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 2003, winning more than any other AFL team. Since 1997, the team has played its home games in the St. Pete Times Forum, which is located in Tampa. The University of South Florida football program, only eleven years old became ranked for the first time in school history after the team's week 2 victory in Auburn, Alabama against the #17 ranked Tigers. USF was ranked 23. After beating The University of North Carolina, they were ranked 18. Two weeks later on September 28, 2007, #18 USF hosted #5 ranked and Big East rival West Virginia University. The game was the first sell out in the university's short lived football history, with 67,018. That day in Tampa was proclaimed "Green and Gold Day" by the city's mayor, and the downtown Tampa skyline was illuminated green and gold. University of South Florida won the biggest game in their history 21-13, and eventually were ranked 6 in the nation. After defeating cross-state rival, University of Central Florida soundly two weeks later, the USF Bulls would set another school record - marking the first time ever that the school placed in the BCS Polls. The first BCS Poll of 2007 ranked the USF Bulls second in the nation, after Ohio State. Unfortunately, their winning streak came to an end the next Saturday and USF would go on to fall out of the rankings. The University of Tampa Spartans located in downtown Tampa are the oldest active sports organization in the city, having began playing in 1933. UT competes at the NCAA Division II level in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC). UT is among the top schools in the SSC in both championships and student-athletes named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll. Spartan teams have won NCAA-II titles in men's soccer (1981, 1994 and 2001), women's soccer (2007), baseball (1992, 1993, 1998, 2006 and 2007), golf (1987 and 1988), and volleyball (2006). With their win in 2007 the UT baseball team became the first team in Div. II baseball to win consecutive titles since UT won in 1992 and 1993.[1] The University of Tampa fielded a highly successful men's football team from 1933 to 1974 winning against then rivals University of Florida and other major college teams, and was the original team playing in Tampa Stadium. Other sports teams include:
Tampa has hosted several franchises of other professional leagues over the years. The first of these was the Tampa Bay Rowdies, started in 1975 as an expansion franchise of the defunct North American Soccer League (NASL). They played their games at Tampa Stadium. The Rowdies won the inaugural Soccer Bowl in 1975, bringing Tampa Bay its first professional sports championship. The NASL folded in 1984, while the Rowdies continued play in other indoor soccer leagues before folding in 1993. The Tampa Bay Bandits of the defunct United States Football League (USFL) began play in 1985, and played three seasons in Tampa Stadium before the league and the team folded. Coached by Steve Spurrier, their crowd-pleasing style of play was known as "banditball". The Tampa Bay Mutiny of Major League Soccer began play at Tampa Stadium in 1996, and continued through 2001 before folding. There were also the roller hockey Tampa Bay Tritons. Tampa has hosted three Super Bowls. Super Bowl 18 (1984) and Super Bowl 25 (1991). Super Bowl 35 was played in the newly built Raymond James Stadium in 2001. Tampa is slated to host the Super Bowl in February 2009. The Tampa Bay Area also hosts a number of Major League Baseball teams for spring training, as well as several minor league baseball teams. Playing in the spring training Florida Grapefruit League are:
And playing in the Minor League Baseball Florida State League (Single-A baseball) are:
EconomyService, retail, finance, insurance, and real estate 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, based on 2007 rankings:[65]
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. 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 cruiselines: 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, with additional servers in Amsterdam and Seoul. GovernmentTampa is governed under the strong mayor form of government. The Mayor of Tampa is the chief executive officer of city government. The City Council is a legislative body served by seven members, in which four are elected from specific areas of town and the other three are At-Large (serving citywide). Pam Iorio is the current mayor of Tampa. Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 303,447 people, 124,758 households, and 71,236 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,707.8 people per square mile (1,045.4/km²). There were 135,776 housing units at an average density of 1,211.6/sq mi (467.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 64.22% White (51.0% White Non-Hispanic), 26.07% Black or African American, 0.38% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.15% Asian, 0.09% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 4.17% from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.29% of the population. There were 124,758 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city the population was spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.7 years old. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,415, and the median income for a family was $40,517. Males had a median income of $31,452 versus $26,133 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,953. 18.1% of the population and 14.0% of families were below the poverty line. 26.8% of those under the age of 18 and 15.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty level. As of 2000, English spoken as a first language accounted for 77.43% of all residents, while 22.56% spoke other languages as their mother tongue. The most significant was Spanish speakers who made up 17.76% of the population, while French came up as the third most spoken language, which made up 0.63%, and Italian was at fourth, with 0.56% of the population. A 2006 study by UCLA suggests that Tampa has one of the highest GLBT populations per capita with 6.1% of citizens polled identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The Tampa Bay metropolitan area also ranks 5th of all major metropolitan areas with 5.9% being GLBT. EducationColleges and UniversitiesUniversity of South Florida, is located in Tampa, within close proximity to the city of Temple Terrace and Busch Gardens. It is currently ninth in the nation in terms of enrolled students, with a total of 44,891 students for the 2007 academic year. Its mascot is the Bull, with green and gold as its colors. University of Tampa, located across the Hillsborough River from Downtown Tampa, is a private, co-educational university. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT has over 5,500 students attending. Its mascot is the Spartan, with Scarlet, Black, and Gold as its school colors. Other colleges and universities
Public Education
Public primary and secondary education is operated by Hillsborough County Public Schools, officially known as the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC). It is ranked the eighth largest school district in the United States, with around 189,469 enrolled students. SDHC runs 206 schools, 133 being elementary, 42 middle, 25 High Schools, 2 K-8's, and 4 Career centers. There are 73 additional schools in the district that are charter, ESE, alternative, etc. 12 out of 25 High schools in the SDHC are included in Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools. LibrariesTampa's library system is operated by the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System. THPLS operates 28 libraries throughout Tampa and Hillsborough County, including the John F. Germany Main Library in Downtown Tampa. The Tampa library system first started in the early 1900's, with the West Tampa Library, which was made possible with the funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. InfrastructureRoadsThree motor vehicle bridges cross Tampa Bay to Pinellas County: the Howard Frankland Bridge (I-275), the Courtney Campbell Causeway (SR-60) and the Gandy Bridge (US 92). The old Gandy Bridge was completely replaced by new spans during the 1990s, but a span of the old bridge was saved and converted into a pedestrian and biking bridge renamed The Friendship Trail. It is the longest overwater recreation trail in the world. There are two major expressways bringing traffic in and out of Tampa. The Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway (SR-618) (also known as the Crosstown Expressway), connects to downtown Tampa from suburban Brandon as its eastern terminus and neighborhoods in South Tampa (near MacDill Air Force Base) as its western terminus. The Veterans Expressway (SR-589), meanwhile connects Tampa International Airport and the bay bridges to the northwestern suburbs as Carrollwood, Northdale, and near Land O' Lakes. Three interstate highways run through the city. Interstate 4 and Interstate 275 cut across the city and intersect near downtown. Interstate 75 runs along the east side of town for much of its route through Hillsborough County until veering to the west to bisect New Tampa. Along with highways, major surface roads serves as main arteries of the city. These roads are Hillsborough Avenue, Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Dale Mabry Highway, Busch Boulevard, Nebraska Avenue, Kennedy Boulevard, Adamo Drive, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. AirportsTampa has a long history of air travel. Just ten years after the historic first flight by the Wright Brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the St. Petersburg Tampa Bay Airboat Line of Tony Jannus became the first passenger airline in the world. The first flight was on January 1, 1914. The airline flew from roughly what is now St. Petersburg Clearwater International Airport in St. Petersburg, Florida, across the bay to just south of where Tampa International Airport sits today. There is a memorial in Tampa International Airport commemorating this event. Also for this reason, nearby St. Petersburg has earned the distinction as the "Birthplace of Scheduled Air Transportation".
Train stationsAmtrak services Tampa via the Tampa Union Train Station, located in a historic building near the port between downtown and Ybor City. SeaportsSince Tampa Bay was first spotted by Spanish explorers in the 1500s, sailors have admired its wide, sheltered beauty. But it had a problem; it's naturally very shallow - less than 30 feet (9.1 m) deep almost everywhere and well less than that in many places near the coast, including the approach to the small town of Tampa. . By the late 1800s, typical cargo ships had grown large enough that they were not able to navigate upper Tampa Bay and reach the ports of Tampa at all. In 1899, however, the US Congress authorized the dredging of a 27' deep channel to Port Tampa, Henry Plant's rail-to-ship facility just west of Tampa. In 1917, another channel was dredged out to the Port of Tampa proper, instantly making Tampa an important shipping location. The bay bottom is very sandy and the ship channels need constant dredging to keep them navigable to the largest modern cargo ships. Every year, the US Army Corps of Engineers dredge up enough sediment from the bay to fill Raymond James Stadium 10 times. Today, the Port of Tampa is the largest port in Florida in throughput tonnage, making it one of the busiest commercial ports in North America.[81] Traditionally, the largest bulk of shipments passing through the port have been phosphate and related materials, but petroleum products recently took over the mantle with an annual tonnage of over 19 million tons. Several cruise ships also make use of the Port of Tampa. Tampa's cruise ship terminals, located in the Channel District, are home to several Carnival Cruise Lines ships which regularly depart on Mexican and Caribbean sailings. Mass transitThe Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) operates streetcars as well as the bus system. HART has a signed transit deal with the University of South Florida, allowing students to ride for free on most bus routes. In addition, students from several other colleges and universities can purchases passes at half price from their school. 
A TECO streetcar picking up passengers in Ybor City. The TECO Line Streetcar System, which links Ybor City, the Channel District and downtown Tampa, began operating on Saturday, October 19, 2002. Despite the system's limited reach and comparatively slow speed (about 10-15 mph), the air-conditioned cars do offer a nostalgic method of getting around in far greater comfort than was possible a century ago. The line is intentionally reminiscent of Tampa's extensive early twentieth-century streetcar network, albeit much smaller in scope at present (2007). Currently, the line has 10 stops along its 2.4 mile (3.9 km) route. On July 1, 2007, an intermodal transportation authority was created to serve the seven county Tampa Bay area. The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) was formed to develop bus, rapid transit, and other transportation options for the region. MacDill Air Force BaseMacDill Air Force Base, located in south Tampa, is home to CENTCOM, the Central Command of the United States military; and SOCOM, the Special Operations Command. The base is run by the 6th Air Mobility Wing, and includes both the 310th Airlift Squadron, flying the C-37, and the 91st Air Refueling Squadron, flying the KC-135. Like the port, it could potentially be a target for terrorism. The base flightline was closed in the 1991 round of base closings under the Base Realignment and Closure committee discussions; at the time, the base was used for F-16 training and the air traffic in the Tampa area was considered detrimental to training; the noise produced was also considered inappropriate in a densely settled area. However, despite committee recommendations, the base remained open to house and support CENTCOM and SOCOM. The flightline was reopened in 1993 for NOAA operations, and in 1996 the air refueling squadron moved to the base from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. Approximately 14,000 people work at MacDill Air Force Base. It is a significant contributor to Tampa's economy, and the city is very supportive of the military community. In 2001 and 2003, the Tampa Bay area was awarded the Abilene Trophy, which annually honors the most supportive Air Force city in Air Mobility Command. MacDill also hosts an annual air show that is enjoyed by thousands of spectators each year. However, there were no shows in 2002 and 2003 due to 9/11. The 2006 show was also canceled due to security concerns on base. 
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