According to Forbes magazine, Tampa is one of the worst metropolitan areas for the Young & the Restless to reside in the continental United States.
Bob & Amy have lived in several major metros and have a reasonable sense of life at street level in most of the creative and economic hot spots in America — and it is a real mixed bag.
Living in a glamorous, high-profile urban environment where the cost is of living is in the stratosphere is a terrible strain for most young people — even those with great jobs. But being in a place with that much glamour, culture, and nightlife has an allure. The flipside of living where everyone is grasping, dissatisfied, self-absorbed, single, and focused strictly on their status warps and diminishes any sense of humanity or basic human decency. It can also be quite lonely.
Why burn yourself early (unless you are a James Dean impersonator), when you
could grow a happy and productive long-term career and family life in a second or third tier metro region?
Here are some questions from Bob’s unofficial Survey of Creative Metro Regions.
Can you:
- name a region with very strong ongoing population growth?
- name a region where an ambitious graduate of a community college or state school has a real chance of becoming a prosperous and respected member of the establishment?
- name a region where an educated and credentialed young people have opportunities to manage new and growing organizations?
- name a region a that has a plethora of reasonably affordable housing, abundant cultural and entertainment activities, white sand beaches, and a place where your folks can live nearby and provide free baby-sitting?
Tampa Bay is starting to look a whole lot better from this point of view.
Consider this; Richard Florida tells a story about a conversation he had with a grad student at Carnegie Mellon on why he chose Austin over several other great opportunities. The reply, “Because it’s Austin man!”
This underscores what the Forbes article sort of touches upon. Tampa lags in several of the empirical categories, and those are things we should address (affordable housing, average salaries, etc.). But the fallacy of the article is that it assumes that young people are making overwhelmingly rational decisions on where they choose to live. They are not. Most of us are not making purely rational reasons for our decisions. We are making gut level, emotional and often fashion driven decisions.
New York, LA, Boston, Washington DC, all have a strong identity and brand. Younger folks are clearly more likely to base decisions based on things like fashion, brand, vibe, reputation, etc. Tampa Bay lacks that same fashion (at least overtly) and struggles with any perceptible identity. Tampa Bay is more likely to appeal to those who are likely to look beyond fashion and hype. This is validated by the comments posted on http://www.creativetampabay.com/archives/230. We all implicitly recognize that aspect of our community. But a young, hot shot graduate, may be more likely to want to experience that vibe of NYC or LA, because that is exciting. Tampa Bay lacks a certain glamour and that is not something that should be discounted. Glamour has a power and an allure. That is something that Tampa Bay should cultivate.
Tampa Bay is a great place to if you are ready to look beyond fashion and hype. If you have a
different sense of opportunity and want to move quickly in your own direction, then a place like Tampa Bay is more for you. For those choosing those other great cities; be young, adventurous and curious. But recognize that we should be open and accommodating to those that are seeking something different. Let’s embrace our unfashionable fashion.
For the astute young local go-getters who have read down this far, we suggest you keep an eye on the following seven leading indicators before blowing town.
They are the canaries-in-the-coal mine of the emerging creative economy. Their performance over the next three to five years will probably signal the long-term economic and cultural prospects of the region.
CreativeShare’s Long-Term Leading Creative Economic Indicators
1. SRI International Marine R&D Center in St. Petersburg
http://www.sri.com/news/releases/113006.html
2. Tampa Museum of Art
http://www.tampagov.net/dept_Tampa_Museum_of_Art/index.asp
3. USF College of Business Administration in St. Pete
http://www.coba.usf.edu/programs/mba/index.html
4. Patel Center for Global Solutions
http://www.patelcenter.usf.edu/
5. The proposed “Arts Village” of The Arts Center in St. Pete
http://www.theartscenter.org/press_room/releases/mayor_new_facility.htm
6. The Studio@620
http://www.thestudioat620.com/
7. Expenditure per pupil on elementary and secondary education.
http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Tampa_FL-51271000070.aspx
8. The Ringling College of Art & Design
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Pingback by CreativeTampaBay.com » 07.16.07 — July 16, 2007 @ 2:24 am
Visions • Missions • Goals - Our Region - our Bay needs a VM Goal!
We suggest that the goal is Global Leadership in an industry [re: San Francisco Bay - IT Computer Tech…] .
And we ask all to share their answers to the following three questions:
1. Is our Bay Region a global leader in any one industry that provides many good paying jobs…and has direct spin off for all who live, work, and play here?
2. Should we be? what should that industry be? - how should we brand ourselves? - what do we wannabee?
3. If we we decide to be a global leader in an industry - what should that industry be and why?
Our answers are:
1. No
2. Yes
3. Transportation and Distribution.
Comment by bauhaus — July 16, 2007 @ 3:04 am
My wife and I both own our own consulting businesses and we are leaving Austin for Sarasota - mine happens to be targeted towards start-ups and technology commercialization and my wife’s is urban development. We will keep ties to Austin but both of us looking at the horizon see the Tampa area and south as a green field with the ideal components to grow rapidly. We are looking forward to our arrival and hope to help the area build something great!
Comment by Tim Raines — July 16, 2007 @ 5:20 am
On what grounds are we to become the Global Leader in transportation and distribution? We have a strong port and a repsected airport, but we are a notorious lag in terms of mass transit. This seems so arbitrary and has been dominated by so many other cities already. This is an industry that needs to be strengthened as a backbone to other industries, but it is not a predominantly high-tech, white collar creative industry. Why would we not want to be an innovator in industries that already thrive here. If tourism is so strong here, why not try to become a globale leade in ecotourism and cultural/heritage tourism? People seem to recognize Florida as a place to get away from it all and to see landscapes/animals/architecture that cannot be found anywhere else. Let’s preserve these unique aspects of our way of life and brand ourselves that way. But how boring is a transportation/distribution “dream” for the area!
Comment by Michael — July 16, 2007 @ 6:55 am
This may sound strange to Michael and to others - but we are in a way lucky to have such a bad transporation situation…there is nowhere to go but UP.
The best way to understand this picture - is to picture a Masari warrior with his wealth - his cattle in the background - with him holding a long tall spear in one hand and a itelephone in the other…
If you dont get this picture -then you dont get it….
And when was private jets, private yachts, Italian designed sports cars… boring?
Comment by bauhaus — July 17, 2007 @ 6:21 am
Florida’s economy is supported by a salad bowl of retirees, transplants, and snowbirds. The culture (or lack thereof)and way of life is catered to this demographic who come here to die, not to see it grow and prosper. This demographic is not looking to the future, but to the here and now. Even with all of the diversity Florida has to offer, the “powers that be” are still rooted in “old florida”. Having lived in Tampa my whole life, I am disappointed that this rebuttal to the Forbes article states there is more to life than “glamour”, culture, and nightlife. I think the author of this post missed the boat completely. It is not about “glamour”, but rather being exposed culturally as to what is going on today (i.e. fashion, visual and performing art, etc). A majority of young professionals are motivated by these finer things in life,and Tampa just doesn’t have it.
It is disappointing the author states we should be happy be in a “second or third tier metro region”. I guess we should all just strive for the white picket fence and the two kids and enjoy suburbia, because that is “normal” after all, right? To accept complacency and not challenge our city to grow and prosper defines the mindset of the older generation, not the young professional. No wonder they do not want to come here.
Comment by Rob — July 17, 2007 @ 8:29 am
I actually found this article to be very interesting (and very relatable to myself). I am a young professional of a somewhat different mindset, I guess. I am a newly married 22 year old, who works full-time for a city government and who attends graduate school part-time at The University of Tampa. I, unlike some of the other Creative TampaBay Young Professionals love Tampa Bay because of the “unalluring” reasons cited in the article–its convenient and close to my family. My husband and I recently bought our first home (a few minutes away from my mother-in-law–free babysitting when the babies come); yet we are still looking forward to the future growth of Tampa Bay. Although Tampa does not have the same “glamour and appeal” of other cities like NY, LA, or Boston; it does have a family allure with a twist of city-appeal. Tampa Bay provides the suburbia-lifestyle and mindset, as well as the city-living aspects of the performing arts, green spaces, and the like. Our city offers balance of family and excitement. Yes, we are not extreme–but we are stable. And stability will always last longer than the extreme and passing fads. On the other hand, building in a stable environment takes time…so, we must also be patient. As an MBA student at UT, I have also been exposed to the coming excitement and opportunities in Tampa. We are not hopeless–we are just the opposite. A place in growth is always more exciting than one that has already reached its pinnacle and prime. We should all be excited about the fact that we can and will be a part of the growth of our “odd-appealing” city. I cant wait to see what our city becomes in time. It is up to us–we decide.
Comment by Brittany — July 24, 2007 @ 5:53 am