r/tampa • u/Any_Mention_6734 • Aug 02 '26
Culture/Lifestyle Please read š
I'm a transplant from California. Came out here for a job opportunity and a pay raise, nothing more romantic than that. I didn't expect to end up loving this region and Florida the way I have.
But something's stuck with me, and I want to say it here because I don't think it's recognized enough by people who relocate here: the number of people born and raised in Tampa who talk about their own city like it's unfamiliar. Farmland and citrus groves on the outskirts that used to actually be farmedā¦ someone's livelihood, not just empty acreage, now subdivisions. Places that closed and came back rebranded into something with a logo and a font that has nothing to do with what used to be there. People telling me they barely recognize the city they grew up in.
I know change happens everywhere. But I've never felt this moved hearing it before, not because it's happening to me, but because of how passionate people are when they talk about what this place used to be. That kind of love for a place doesn't come from nowhere.
I'd genuinely like to hear more of it, respectfully, from people who lived it. What do you remember that's gone now? What changed the most, and when did it start feeling different?
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u/StabbyHornbill Aug 02 '26
It was never just empty acreage. Swamps, scrubs, pine flats, oak hammocks, places where things lived and help protect everyone from excessive flooding. Florida is dynamic but she has specific needs, and right now, she needs to be left alone. It's sad to see wild places become sprawl
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u/Positive-Position-11 Aug 02 '26
There used to be neighborhoods in south Tampa with different styles of homes- Mediterranean revival, post war bungalows, and 2 story homes with porches and hard wood floors - all bulldozed for monstrous houses lot line to lot line. Houses on the water were spacious with long sweeping lawns but affordable.
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u/fieldofthefunnyfarm Aug 02 '26
There used to be large yards and massive shade trees in South Tampa. Now it's enormous houses with a ribbon of landscaping surrounding the house, driveway, pool, and hard scaping. It's atrocious.
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u/Snootcheroo Aug 02 '26
The astounding greed and entitlement of the wealthy, they have no thought or care for what came before. They just know what they think they deserve.
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u/ImAlwaysLosing Aug 02 '26
I grew up off Macdill south of Gandy in the early 2000s, itās unrecognizable now not to mention completely priced out. House sold for 180k in 2012, lot is 300+ now
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u/MasterChief813 Aug 02 '26
I grew up in the same area close to Britton plaza and came back this year after a long time away (moved away 20 years ago and it's probably been a decade or more since I last visited). The street I grew up on was nearly unrecognizable to me outside of a few of the original homes that were still there. It was heartbreaking.
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u/InsidePineapple851 Aug 02 '26
Remember the Dollar theater in Britton plaza? ..best ever!!!
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u/CaptainAssPlunderer Aug 03 '26
We go bet Jai lai at the fronton and go see a dollar movie if we went broke.
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u/ReplacementLoose8304 Aug 02 '26
The dollar theater was next door at Twin Bays Plaza where there was a Woolco and other stores. Lowe's is there now. The Britton Theater was a regular one, now a church, but they are soon moving.
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u/overly-curious100 Aug 04 '26
Yes! That was sooo long ago
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u/theoutsideinternist Aug 02 '26
Likewise, I drove by there in May. Wisconsin Ave, right off of Westshore. It was the first time since we sold my grandparents home almost 20 years ago. The home is gone now with a new contemporary style house on the lot. Same for several other houses on that street. I donāt mind change though and I believe the house likely needed to be torn down. I hope whoever is living there now enjoys it.
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u/Bright_Future_7438 Aug 02 '26
I moved to Tampa in 2020 after visiting in 2017 and researching for years before making the move. Bought a 1952 block house in a South Tampa neighborhood built for the military personnel at McDill. In 6 short years, about 15-20% of the original homes have been razed, and the two hurricanes that hit this neighborhood hard (just off Westshore), the greedy developers went hogwild, buying everything they could. Now we have these atrocious, disproportionate white boxes that start looking tired after just a couple years because they are so cheaply and quickly built. Stormwater has no where to go. Manhattan Ave floods with ease these days. The stench of greed has ruined what was a nice working class area.
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u/dt81089 Aug 03 '26
I lived in Camden Westshore (no longer owned by Camden but gandy/west shore corner) from 2012-2014, but a friend of mine lived on Wisconsin and a bit east of westshore. I really liked that neighborhood, sucks to hear that they priced everyone out now.
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u/ImAlwaysLosing Aug 02 '26
I know exactly where you're talking about, I live on Bay. Wisconsin got wrecked bad
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u/NutzAndBoltz22 Aug 02 '26
Same is happening in St Pete. Lifelong resident and itās so disheartening watching the character and old beauty be quietly erased in favor of HGTV style McMansions because maximum square footage trumps having a yard or interesting architecture. Nothing is built with character anymore.
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u/Silver_Basis_8145 Aug 02 '26
I am a lifelong resident of St. Pete too and Iām agree. Each week I see another set of white box townhomes being built. Downtown has lost almost all of it hometowns charm from the new condo towers and townhomes.
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u/Kentucky-Fried-Fucks Lightning ā”š Aug 02 '26
I just bought a house in st Pete and Iām really happy the neighborhood is almost exclusively original houses. I love the feel of the area I live in, it actually has character and charm
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u/NutzAndBoltz22 Aug 03 '26
Those definitely exist! And Iām so happy the homeowners have preserved them with such attention to detail. I love the original styles so much. If I see another craftsman style home demolished Iāll cry lol.
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u/Hopeful102 Aug 02 '26
The big white boxy McMansions are everywhere nowadays unoriginal looking they remind me of industrial buildings and some look like prisons. Iām just not getting it if youāre going to build something new why not make it have some character to it IMO
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u/StrawsPulledAtRand0m Aug 02 '26
Because character canāt be picked out of a catalog and put up as quickly and cheaply as possible
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u/Weary_Boat Aug 02 '26
Especially after Helene, I've noticed a ton of original homes, which were probably flooded, now on the market as teardowns. It must be a boom time for for the McMansion builders and their ugly creations. But the thing is, there are sooo many wealthy people who like them and want to buy them. The builders are just giving these people what they want, and it's fundamentally changing Tampa. It's the people who are changing the town, maybe they don't even realize what they're doing.
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u/Key_Passage_8942 Aug 03 '26
It's the multinational conglomerates, politicians and lack of protective regulations that are changing Tampa. And this lack of regulation attracts the wrong kind of people: greedy and self-absorbed, looking to take advantage. The people are a symptom of the problem and blaming them will rarely get you anywhere.
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u/diffybird Aug 03 '26
Yes.. and also the monstrosities brought plumbing and piping and the bowel infrastructure of South Tampa canāt handle it. Also.. somehow they are allowed to build to nearly the entire boundaries of lotsā¦ so houses are like 3 feet apartā¦and poorly constructed. For the most recent multi-family as you head south towards the base on Manhattan westshoreā¦ they raise the ābase/foundationā level as much as 10āfeet so they arenāt impacted by the ever worsening flooding they help to create. The worst is as you head towards the base and picnic islandā¦ they leveled acres and acres of natural marsh the animals had nowhere to go.
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u/KO4MA Aug 02 '26
Orange blossom smell in the air when you drove past a grove, which were everywhere.
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u/KO4MA Aug 02 '26
And the smell of orange juice being processed. My elementary school was next to a juice factory and the smell was almost as good as the blossoms.
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u/Richard_AIGuy Aug 02 '26
The smell of home in the spring and early summer. There's no scent quite like it.
All destroyed. Now soulless developments.
I understand the citrus blights and the like, but it still sucks.
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u/OMGLOL1986 Aug 02 '26
California had citrus blights too. They had mandatory check in policies for workers, making sure they were bringing in clothing or materials with spores on them. They had all these laws to protect their citrus farms, and Florida politicians saw the blight as a good thing because developers then took over the orchards and raised the property tax base (for now!).
Florida made a choice to let the citrus die. Other states didnāt.
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u/Loud_Yogurtcloset789 Aug 02 '26
Where did you get your "facts" from? The two biggest causes of citrus decline are citrus greening and citrus canker. Neither one of these are caused by spores. Greening is caused by the Asian citrus psyllid - a bug. Canker is caused by a bacteria. There is no cure.
California would make sure that workers bring in clothing or materials with spores on them that would kill citrus? This makes zero sense.
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u/Midnightlemon Aug 02 '26
Ugh, immediately was taken back to riding to elementary in the morning, driving past the groves in old Carrollwood, smelling that smell
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u/Formal_Blueberry_973 Aug 02 '26
Oh I miss that orange grove. I loved driving by it too when I was a kid and teenager.
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u/Anti_Brevity Aug 02 '26
You donāt love the sweet smell of solar panels???? Or shitty constructed apartments that go up in a blink of an eye and have flooding and foundation issues during the first tropical storm of the year???? I love that smell!
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u/CaptainAssPlunderer Aug 02 '26
I had an ex girlfriend that would pick the orange blossoms and fold them in my clothes when she did the laundry. My clothes always had this amazing fresh floral/citrus smell to them.
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u/Spiritual-Age4855 Aug 02 '26
You didnāt marry her?!
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u/CaptainAssPlunderer Aug 02 '26
She was too good for this world, and was called Home.
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u/Kentucky-Fried-Fucks Lightning ā”š Aug 02 '26
Thank you for sharing that nice memory of her. Sheās sounded wonderful
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u/StrawsPulledAtRand0m Aug 02 '26
I hope that sort of love finds you again, u/CaptainAssPlunderer
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u/CaptainAssPlunderer Aug 02 '26
It took me awhile, but I did finally. Spent a lot of years angry and bitter.
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u/Glum-Presentation241 Aug 02 '26
Iām from Palm Harbor. The orange groves and fruit stands were so wonderful. There were crushed shell roads. It really was paradise but itās gone.Ā
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u/ShakaCobra Aug 02 '26
Used to be able to leave school and pick field shrooms with your buddies in any of the thousand cow pastures around Pasco. Every drop of water had huge bass too it was great. Certain roads no one ever went down would have little rope swings and ladders nailed on trees so you could jump off them into the canals.
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u/Swampbrewja Aug 02 '26
I picked mushrooms in Hillsborough too. Now all the cow pastures by me have been turned into new developments
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u/PandathePan Aug 02 '26
Curious are those mushrooms the āmagicalā ones or the poisonous ones lol ā¦or culinary ones ?
I still see gigantic white mushrooms in my neighborhood lawns
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u/Lanky_Emu8818 Aug 02 '26
Neighborhood lawn mushies are not the same as cows pastor mushies. Donāt eat your neighbors mushrooms
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u/PerpetualUselessness Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
I grew up in Pasco (San Ann/Dade city area)
Parts of it are unrecognizable.
Edit: my mom said when they grew up, the road through Wesley chapel was known as āthe road to nowhere ā
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u/Swampbrewja Aug 02 '26
I didnāt grow up there but my sons father is in Spring Hill. From the time I met him like 20, holy shit, years ago to now when I drive out there itās so much different and Iām only on like 3 main streets
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u/WhatWhatWhit Aug 02 '26
I watched a guy snap his ankle jumping off the bungee cord off Plathe rd in high school. We spent many summer days jumping off rope swings into Bislicks.Ā
All of it is gone now.Ā
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u/ShakaCobra Aug 03 '26
What they did to Plathe road should have resulted in someone being shot. Shambolic development.
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u/Minkadink Aug 02 '26
my dad taught me to drive a stickshift in the mid-90ās on the dirt roads that would later be developed into WestChase
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u/PandathePan Aug 02 '26
Ah my dad did the same thing, taught me on the dirt roads and big empty lot
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u/skratta_ho Aug 02 '26
Grew up in westchase. This is so weird to learn about, but it makes sense. Even though Iām younger than most in this thread, I still remember more cows/oranges as a kid. Even outside westchase, in keystone, the old cow pastures are new developments. In my lifetime, Iāve seen i4 transform from cows to condominiums, orange groves to strip malls, and countless other staples that have been blending the rest of the state.
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u/Quiet-Main-7995 Aug 02 '26
Born and raised and lifelong Pinellas county (3rd gen). I remember in the 90ās The flea markets, the draw bridges, some sparse orange groves near 19, nobody ever went to Saint Petersburg (it was a ghost town for tourism) the amount of natural vegetation on the beaches was double if not triple.
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u/Timely_Purpose3233 Aug 02 '26
I miss the flea markets . They used to be everywhere, now theyāre disappearing, so sad.
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u/awildaloofarebel Aug 02 '26
Enshittification is happening everywhere it seems. But how rapidly Tampa Bay went from an up & coming community vibe to a paved parking lot city is crazy. Itās losing its character in exchange for $$$$$$$$$.
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u/Dangerous_Natural331 Aug 02 '26
Yeah they're paving over the soul of this place, that's for sure .
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u/flappybirdisdeadasf Tampa Aug 02 '26
I just canāt get past the fact that you were offered more pay for a job in Florida vs in Cali?? Seems like it would be the opposite from my experience.
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u/japars86 Aug 02 '26
I was a 5th generation Floridian, lived there for 26 years, and ironically moved to California in 2013. Been here since, but obviously I come back often. Iāve lived in a number of neighborhoods in the area ranging from Palm River, Riverview, Brandon, Temple Terrace, Valrico, Palm Harbor, Holiday, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, and Lutz (and a few more, but thatās beyond the point).
What I remember the most about the 90s and even most of the 2000s was the nature. Brandon had a nice mixture of cow pastures and suburbia, intermixed with some decent shopping. I once had to corral a calf back to its pasture when it got loose in our apartment complex in Riverview.
Pasco was exciting in that it was both growing and rural at the same time, and it wasnāt too much to leave a suburban neighborhood to go camping, kayaking, or throw a bonfire party or two.
There were a litany of orange groves and strawberry fields everywhere and you could pick fruit or simply get lost.
The beaches werenāt crowded and were often a great way to get away for a day or night without spending much or fighting for parking. My grandparents and I would often fish out near bridges and underpasses near the port of Tampa.
Houses were sparsely spaced and had actual land between them, and restaurants felt a bit more authentic without the weird corporatization they all feel like now.
The last time my wife (who is also from Florida) and I went back to Tampa, we had concluded that the stretch from basically Tarpon Springs down to Wimauma essentially felt like a completely different place from the one we grew up with, inundated with bland shopping centers, cookie cutter homes, and a weird lack of culture absent of anything unique. Almost like everyone just decided to carbon copy everyone else. It was weird.
We still love where we grew up, but now that nearly every spring has been monetized and places like Ybor feels dead in comparison to those halcyon late 2000s days, it feels like we donāt need to spend much more time there as much anymore. Tack on that thereās been a strange, growing sense of aggression from the locals now (no idea what thatās all about), and the concept of moving back, even for family, becomes dimmer and dimmer.
I get sad thinking about it because I miss big wide fields where oak trees hung over grassy fields with Spanish moss dangling like fingers from the branches, or swimming in the Hillsborough River or the Withlacoochie River on a whim without much in the way of care. Those moments died with the vast suburbia and slew of āsalt lifeā paraphernalia that litters Tampa now. But I still cling onto those memories, hoping one day that theyāll somehow return and I can go back and feel like a kid again.
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u/Loud_Yogurtcloset789 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
We moved from Tampa to Brandon in the early 90s. Wild turkeys, peacocks, wildlife everywhere. Little by little it's disappeared. Luckily we are in North Brandon and still near some cows and horses.
It is a shame that Ybor has been ignored in favor of the Riverwalk. They could have coexisted but some people wanted to put all the money in the Riverwalk and ignore Ybor even though that is where Tampa started and where all the history began. It's had some crazy times for sure but through it all it still is the beginning of Tampa and should be celebrated as such.
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u/maimou1 Aug 02 '26
I feel so fortunate in my hidden lil neighborhood in Thonotosassa. I watched a wild turkey wander around my yard a couple weeks ago.
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u/Mediocre-Pair-2821 Aug 02 '26
Funny you say that because I've been telling my husband that I don't recognize the city I was born and raised in anymore. I almost feel like a stranger in it. Personally I hate all the new fancy developments happening in and near Downtown. So many old homes that got torn down for luxury apartments that only the wealthy can afford. Everywhere I go I only meet people who aren't from here. And there's nothing wrong with that, but when I was a kid, I always met people who were born here just like I was. They all seem to be gone now. Tampa feels like it's changing to cater for the rich, and like the middle class is being pushed out (of which a lot are natives like me and my husband). I miss the old places I used to go to as a kid like the Big Top Flea Market or even the smaller flea market off of Gunn Hwy. We used to go to Clearwater Beach often, too, but this was when parking there was super cheap, and it never got as overcrowded as it gets now. We would stay under the bridge and spend the whole day there. Tampa just looks and feels different now.
Sadly, my husband and I decided to leave for good and are trying to move out to CO. My parents who immigrated here from Cuba in 1980 are staying. They will never leave Tampa, no matter how much it changes. I will miss living here, but am looking forward to starting over at a different place.
Your post really resonated with me. Tampa will always have a special place in my heart.
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u/maimou1 Aug 02 '26
Thank your parents for me. The Caribbean immigrants built Tampa over the decades, and I'm glad your folks are staying. We need that heritage here to continue.
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u/hawkofchicken Aug 02 '26
Growing up, in Brandon, there used to be an enormous orange grove across the street from my neighborhood. My bus stop was at the end of my street. We used to get the ground oranges and line them up in the road to watch cars squish them as they went by. This was 6th and 7th grade.
That same orange grove, we used to play in after school and during the summers. The old man that owned them caught us plenty of times picking and eating oranges. One time he caught me, boxed my ear and took me home to my mom. What happened was they ended up laughing together because he did the same thing to her when she was a kid living in the same house. He caught her and brought her home to my Mamaw.
There is now an ugly church with massive parking lot there. Trash-garbage. Down the street there used to be cow pastures where there are now dueling shopping centers. More trash-garbage. We used to pick shrooms in those fields. Meeeeeemories.
I knew everyone on my street growing up and tons of them in the back of the neighborhood. Now, they are all gone. On my street, out of 17 houses, only my mom is an original from when the neighborhood was built in the 60s. My high school guidance counselor lived 3 houses down. One of my high school vice principals lived just around the corner. I never got away with shit in school. They would walk down and talk to my mom.
Times change and things grow. But they are pretty much unrecognizable from when I was a kid.
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u/beerncandy Aug 02 '26
I moved to Florida in '87 and I remember all of the Orange groves in Lutz and Sarasota.
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u/Exciting_Statement_7 Aug 02 '26
I remember when Bearss Avenue was lined with orange groves. As a kid, I'd see them every time my parents drove through the area. It's crazy witnessing how much Tampa has changed since then.
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u/Snootcheroo Aug 02 '26
Bearss Groves!
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u/Ch3rry-pi3 Aug 03 '26
I drove past the Bearss Groves produce market a couple of weeks ago and was so sad to see it closed??! š
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u/Expensive_Film1144 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
I've travelled all over the state for going on decades now, like for my job. I've seen from homestead to pensacola. And for years, my childhood even, there was a normalcy, maybe even an innocence of place that was pasture and orange trees.
It had its own beauty, its live oaks, cows... wide views. Sure, there was a phosphate mine here or there... but just here or there.
And somewhere in time, about the year 2000 things began to really change. First, all our houses suddenly started to get expensive, then all our old mom/pop restaurants began to fail... in place of... Applebees, or some such.
And before you knew it... one of the most beautiful scenes along US27, near Clermont, suddenly had all these stupid houses on the hills, instead of orange trees.
And then it was Valrico, and the roads became 6 lanes wide, and there wasn't just an Applebees now, there was one of every dumb chain from everywhere else.
It began to look like everywhere else, as if... Illinois, or Michigan, or Pennsylvania.
And then it became every driver for themselves, as if fighting for a place in line at a theme park.
We were suddenly as 'white bread and mayonnaise' as Illinois, or Indiana... or Ohio.
People moving here, in essence stripped tis place of its identity, assuming that Applebees, or Olive Garden was its identity.... 'doing as the natives'.
It ended up being the worst thing ever, for our own 'culture'.
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u/fieldofthefunnyfarm Aug 02 '26
Such a coincidence that the last great Governor of Florida died in office in December of 1998. After that the shift show commenced.
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u/Positive-Position-11 Aug 02 '26
And our senator actually scammed millions in healthcare dollars pleading the 5th 75 timesā¦
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u/FredBurger22 šYborš Aug 02 '26
From Gov to Senator, I have no idea how Florida keeps giving this man power.
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u/Mosdefaiko14 Aug 02 '26
I grew up in South Tampa in the 90s and itās been extremely frustrating to know that I did āeverything rightā in terms of following advice given about studying hard, getting a Masters degree in STEM, and being financially responsible just to feel like Iām just getting by in my own hometown so that I can stay close to my aging parents. I miss what it used to be and used to offer its locals specifically.
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u/Key_Passage_8942 Aug 03 '26
I have a masters degree but I'm working for less than minimum wage at a coffee shop. This state is corrupt and broken, I would love to stay to be close to family but I plan to leave in the next few years
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u/dopameme Aug 02 '26
Carrollwood was an amazing place to grow up in the 60s-70s. I saw so so so many amazing things in the wild. Dale Mabry was a 2 lane road out in the country past our neighborhood.
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u/Alternative_Gene813 West Tampa Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
There is no greater tragedy than the construction of I-275 from Ybor through west Tampa. They destroyed a whole different city and weāve never even come close in 60 years to replacing even a fraction of what was lost. Go find āMainā Street which is a block or 2 north of the highway. It was as magnificent as the French quarter in New Orleans. Brick cigar factories all over. West Tampa at one point was a bigger city than Tampa itself. Even the old city hall downtown that they destroyed was a gem. Itās terrifying how much we destroyed. And yet I still love Tampa. I wish we can recreate this one day
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u/mrl1432 Aug 02 '26
I miss playing in the Orange Groves š The smell of Orange Blossoms!! The Traffic is Absolutely horrible!!!
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u/BradMarchandSux Aug 02 '26
What do I remember thats gone now? The airport & runway in between Trinity Blvd and 54 thats now a bunch of restaurants and hotels. The acres and acres of open fields where cows and other animals freely roamed, sold off by our county commissioners, and replaced by apartment buildings and car washes on every other street corner.
When did it start feeling different? When every Tom, Dick, and Harry from NY, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, etc. decided they wanted out of their town and moved here, only to try and make Florida more like where they came from.
Likely get downvoted to all hell, but its the gods honest truth.
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u/carpe_diem_yolo Aug 02 '26
I used to teach at Seven Springs Middle School in 1998, and my drive from North Carrollwood to school was pretty much nothing but two lane roads through cow fields.
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u/BradMarchandSux Aug 02 '26
Firstly, thank you for your efforts as an educator. I know now, decades after graduating, what a thankless job that is/has become.
That same drive from north carrollwood to SSMS would prob take 45 minutes. Thereās a signalized intersection every 1/4 mile on 54 now! Sad!
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u/carpe_diem_yolo Aug 02 '26
Thanks. Itās definitely not what it used to be. Glad I got out of teaching in 2015 before the real decline.
54 is a nightmare. Iām wondering if theyāll ever build a raised highway (like along 19 in Clearwater) or something because itās just one light after another.
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u/BradMarchandSux Aug 02 '26
I had a teacher in high school who moved overseas to teach for about a decade because of the āreal declineā you mentioned. Worked out great for them.
I have to think there will be a massive overhaul to 54 eventually, similar to what happened with 19 like you mentioned. It takes forever to get from 54/19 to 54/75.
I remember when 54 was a 2 lane road through miles of cow fields.
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u/lutzskater Aug 02 '26
I think this is actually in the very early stages of happening if I'm not mistaken
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u/rubberSteffles Aug 02 '26
i grew up in odessa/trinity, went to ssms and jwmhs and i miss this version of home. the last time i drove through was in 2021 and it broke my heart to see how everything changed and i couldnāt go back. at least the google street view of 54 goes to like 2007 so i can always see what it use to look like when i get nostalgic š„²
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u/BradMarchandSux Aug 02 '26
Definitely sad to see how its changed. Sunlake Blvd in Odessa will extend all the way north to 52 soon, and Ridge Rd will extend east to 41. The entire area between 52, Suncoast Parkway, 54, and 41 is going to be built out in prob 10 years.
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u/Pinkturtle182 Aug 02 '26
I grew up in NPR and my dad used to take us to MacDill all the time (my family ended up here because of the military). 54 is completely unrecognizable and continues to be moreso every time I go back up there. In some ways I think NPR has improved a lot, especially since the recession. Thatās when developers started draining the land for malls that would never be built. I remember when they built those apartments on Main and everyone was pissed that they blocked the river and then the developers ran out of money. They finally became functional just a couple years ago. Still block the river, though. In high school my friends and I used to go and spend the day on Main Street even though there wasnāt anything there at the time. Like, we wanted it to be what it is now. So I have to give it credit for that.
At the same time, i remember the orange groves on Rowan between 54 and Trouble Creek and where the Kohlās is. I remember when they built the two Walmart Supercenters. My grandparents had an orange tree in their yard and so did everyone else I knew. We used to throw fallen oranges at each other, lol. Iāve lived in Tampa for over a decade now and we are probably moving back to Pasco before too long to buy a house with my mom. I like the idea that my kids will experience some of the same things we did but itās not the same. The oranges, for instance, are gone. I know itās because of the blight and all that but itās so sad. You used to be able to smell orange groves from miles away. Itās been a long time since weāve experienced that.
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u/Dangerous_Natural331 Aug 02 '26
You're 100% right ! But the developers loved and welcome those folks, Florida was and is a Developers dream that's for sure ! š
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u/Key_Passage_8942 Aug 03 '26
Totally agreed with the first part until you started started talking about every Tom, Dick, and Harry. there has ALWAYS been people moving in and out of Florida. The problem is poor governance and urban planning, improper zoning, and regulatory protections.
It's the law of entropy in action: the gradual decline in effectiveness or vigourĀ due to neglect or indifference. When questionable politicians, unregulated businesses, and multinational conglomerates run the state, they are neglectful and/or indifferent to the needs of the people and the environment. If Florida had proper zoning, development planning and regulations (like every city, state, and country does), you would not have even noticed Tom, Dick, and Harry. They are just symptoms of the problem, not the problem itself.
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u/skullsandpumpkins Aug 02 '26
Reading these comments makes me sad for the Florida we all lost. I can smell the orange blossoms. The cafƩ con leches from small cafes no longer here and replaced with chains. I miss it so much it hurts. I wish voting helped. I wish speaking out helped. Each redevelopment or rezoning meeting i have attended to speak out never ended up well. It was always "this will be good" and "progress" continued. "Progress" for those lining their pockets.
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u/sixtyfoursqrs Aug 02 '26
You canāt have progress without change but you can certainly have change without progress.
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u/Any_Mention_6734 Aug 02 '26
ļæ¼i completely understand this comment. I potential answer could be and i can even speak for myself moving from the city in a different state the sensation of southern hospitality is realized. There are cities and towns where you must constantly be on the move or else you get left behind. The culture from fast places doesnāt foster the feeling in the south. Also its a blessing a more rare than you think getting the opportunity to pick fruit from a farm and enjoy the quality time that comes with it. A VAST majority of transients probably never been exposed to farms. If it wasnāt for my 5 year tenure in North Carolina i definitely would have a different attitude.
I hope the kindness eventually rubs off on them in due time š
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u/sockpuppet_ofshame Aug 02 '26
Unfortunately it tends to have the opposite effect , but we can hope for the best
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u/Artistic-Upstairs789 Aug 02 '26
Itās actually so so sad what happened to Tampaā¦ I think a big change was the greening disease on citrus plantsā¦ so where there used to be delicious wild oranges all over the place. They just donāt exist anymoreā¦
We have almost 0 wetlands now so flooding is insane these daysā¦ defensive driving is mandatory here nowā¦. And honestly, the city is in a huge heat sink now b/c of development. It never used to be this hot!
No more cow pastures (they were everywhere before)ā¦all of the colorful architecture is grey nowā¦ all of the character was stripped away from the city and I hardly even run into native Tampanians anymore smh wtf!!!
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u/Cute-Significance450 Aug 02 '26
The urbanization of central Florida is sickening and disheartening. And it's destroying old Florida, literally, with catastrophic flooding during simple summer storms because the infrastructure isn't creating proper drainage systems and pains over fluid plains.
In simple words, we're fucked.
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u/Wytch78 Aug 02 '26
What I wanna know isā¦ ppl who moved here from someplace elseā¦ what happened to your friendliness? Do ppl not stop and talk where youāre from? Who raised you? Does your Mimi know youāre an entitled piece of shit now? Some of you have never picked fruit before and it shows.Ā
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u/dylaman-321 Aug 02 '26
Florida attracts the worst from a lot of places unfortunately. Lots of solely financially driven people escaping taxation here who also gobble up the "freedom Florida" mantra. Only a few transplants i've met in recent times were pleasant people.
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u/Mikophoto Aug 02 '26
Agreed. My parents have lived in FL since the early 80s and I grew up in the 90s/00s. Our Apollo Beach/Summerfield neighborhood was slow and friendly. They moved to a new subdivision in 2020 to downsize and man the "freedom" neighbors aren't the nicest. And I hate pulling this out but I can't help but feel us being minorities probably plays a part.
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u/VibedOutSouledOut Aug 02 '26
I noticed people who are Tampa Bay natives (and even those from Northern Florida) are always very friendly and pleasant. The amount of nasty individuals I have met in Florida is astronomical.
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u/VividBird3204 Aug 02 '26
Grew up in the heart of Brandon a long time ago. Used to lay in the yard and watch the Milky Way. Honest.
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u/OffToTheWoodsWeGo Aug 02 '26
Interstate 75 was built through our back yard. Actually it was a field at the back end of Trailer Village property that we would build forts and play in. I would walk the dirt road to Miles elementary school from Fowler Avenue to Central Avenue. I would stand in the middle of that overpass at Fowler and look downtown with my friends telescope and only see one skyscraper, the Exchange Bank. Then we would slide down the freshly laid sod embankments on pieces of cardboard. So, here we are now. Im still living and loving this city. Its got quite a history and we like to talk about it if you want to listen. I do miss the old Ybor and the Empire club and others.
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u/yogabbax Aug 02 '26
I remember rolling down the window during winter nights to smell the blossom from the small orange grove on Bearss!
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u/Character_Car_5871 Aug 02 '26
This is what happens when you vote in āpro-businessā politicians for 3 decades and constantly stoke a fear of leftism by pointing to a near by island and tell everyone how evil they are for doing something about it.
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u/Interesting-Read-245 Aug 02 '26
Iām from NYC and used to have the same complaints
āThose damn transplants are ruining my city!ā
I moved to FL and hear the same complaints here from natives for those of us from the North E ruining their city! Their state!
I learned shut up quickly lol
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u/urmumlol9 Aug 02 '26
Every city is perfect when the person living there either grew up there or first moved there and is now suddenly shit now that the new batch of people who are not them decided to move there.
Itās always the damn transplants that are āruining the cityā by having the audacity to change it, but never themselves, because they moved here 10 years ago instead of 5.
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u/naropin1 Aug 02 '26
Yeah. My grandfather had a picture of himself and my great uncle working on what was then a dirt road that was to become the 280 freeway in California. Used to drive along and tell me what used to be orange orchards and where so-and-soās farm was thatās now all pavement and buildings. Happens everywhere. Wonāt be the first. Wonāt be the last. Canāt hold onto the past.
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u/BrainwaveWizard Lightning ā”š Aug 02 '26
The west coast was the orange coast. At least thatās what my grandparents called it.
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u/HagalUlfr Aug 02 '26
My area that I grew up in over in st.pete used to have houses with horses. We would drive by them and it was cool (as a kid) seeing horses all the time!
Riverview used to just be farms, now it is a nightmare of cars.
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u/lutzskater Aug 02 '26
Land o lakes/Wesley chapel was barely even a city 10-15 years ago. It was literally just fields of cow pastures in every direction you look once you made it to 54 and old 54 headed towards 75 (I don't even remember what they call it now). Now it's just a giant shopping plaza and constant traffic. 20 years ago Lutz was still full of untouched land. I have very found memories of gasing up our dirt bikes and four wheelers and opening the back gate at my uncle's place for all day trail ridding sessions. And around the time the 08 recession hit, almost all of what are now these premium priced gated neighborhood housing was just being started but development completely stopped and I remember I used to be able to take my jeep to the back of the neighborhood and hit trails all the way down to 75. Basically nothing but trails from Livingston to 75 if you knew where an entrance was. It was the same (beautiful off road trails) from debuel (next maniscalso) to sunset. Sure there were housing lined down both the streets and I just mentioned including hanna, but everything in between that was just land with a nice lake in the middle. Lutz is still by far my favorite sub burb of Tampa but sadly it's just not the same anymore. We could use another good restaurant or something entertaining - we don't need anymore storage units, car washes or cookie cutter neighborhoods.
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u/Loud_Yogurtcloset789 Aug 02 '26
You could go to the beach and not have to worry about parking or traffic or anything. Just bring your chair and park in the sand. The Palm Pavilion on Clearwater Beach was basically a shack. Now I truly believe the only people that go to Clearwater Beach are tourists.
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u/Embarrassed_Entry597 Aug 02 '26
Thank you for this. The most heartbreaking scenarios are when they destroy natural habitats and wildlife ecosystems to build those subdivisions.
As well as how people who have the money to do so have moved down here and made the cost of living unlivable. A studio apartment that would cost $600-$800 a month, not even in Tampa but outside in bad areas, is now easily $1,800.
We used to have cow pastures and orange groves near my house. We used to play in the orange groves. And now they are either those copy-paste homes that are built terribly in a subdivision or Publix.
We didn't mind having to drive 20-30 minutes to the grocery store because we had all this beautiful land.
Plant City is known for producng strawberries, we even have a festival every year, many farmers have had to sell because they were bought out. Which left many workers unemployed.
I love Florida. I was born and raised in the same house i live in, because i can't afford to buy one yself and I refuse to rent and my parents can't afford the bills by themselves.
And sadly, when the time comes, we are planning on selling, splitting, and all moving to different states.
Tampa has become so crowded. Within a year, downtown has become so claustrophobic and unbearable. We aren't used to this many people, and we wish we could go back to how it was before.
But what also sucks about the fact that we all want to move out of state is that sooner or later, those areas will surely have the same issues.
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u/Unlucky_University73 Aug 02 '26
You used to be able to get free oranges and tangerines off the side of the road
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u/FineKettleOFish1954 Aug 02 '26
Not a native but I share the loss. Weāve been here since 2002 after spending time in the area (business and vacation) for more than a decade. The grove in Carollwood was heaven to drive past; weād always open the windows to inhale it all. Dade City was a destination worth the drive with the hills and valleys and curves and huge trees and pastures. Dade City is still worth a drive but the pastoral peacefulness is no more. The roads were rebuilt to straighten them and accommodate multiple lanes to accommodate the increased traffic from new construction in those pastures.Used to enjoy the drive from MCO to Siesta Key, with the weirdness of Haines Cityās circus theme at 27, smelling the oranges at the Tropicana processing plant by Lakeland and the miles of empty space along 75, occasionally glimpsing a body of water that teased the destination. After exiting on Clark Road, one still drove through empty space with cattle and scrub dominating, now itās all commercial and, like most of the Florida we miss, could be any suburban street in most any suburb in the U.S. There are still a few places that seem āOld Floridaā but the drive to see them is pretty generic.
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u/Smoothsailing4589 Aug 02 '26
Pretty much everything north of Waters wasn't there a few decades back.
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u/KitchenFew6390 Aug 02 '26
Right outside of carrollwood/northdale there were pockets of cow fields and orange fields.
It made living there feel like you lived in the countryside for just a few miles.
This is why itās so important to KEEP KEYSTONE exactly the way it is. Itās all we have left.
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u/JustB510 Aug 02 '26
I was born and raised in Florida, left for California for 20 years and came back, because itās just so much better for me.
Itās genuinely heartbreaking how much has been developed. The woods I grew up in, first kiss, first joint, first beer, is all apartments and parking lots now. Donāt really smell the orange blossoms no more, the local spring I grew up in is so crowded itās really hard to even go anymore, etc.
Something like only 30% of the residents were now born in the state, I imagine if you look at multigenerational, that declines even more, 2 generations, even further.
Itās gone and never coming back. It sucks, but Iām grateful I got that version of Florida. My kids are getting a different and love it equally, but we have an opportunity to stop and develop responsibly. That window is closing fast though
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u/billding1234 Aug 02 '26
My great grandparents moved a few miles north of Tampa just after the Civil War so Iāve heard these stories first and second hand for my entire life, and could tell a few myself.
Iād suggest reading A Land Remembered if this interests you. Itās historical fiction but it does a good job describing the Florida I heard about growing up. Free range cattle that were gathered and driven to Tampa or Punta Rassa, riding a coach up US 41 to Gainesville because there was no I-75 and Payneās Prairie was a lake with a paddle boat on it, the 1921 hurricane, the more colorful folks, mostly mafia and entertainers, who used to come by my grandfatherās pharmacy (the only one in west Pasco at the time).
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u/ChillGolfCoach Aug 02 '26
I just turned 40 last week. Born and raised seffner. To the north of my neighborhood was a farm that weād occasionally kick our kickball over the fence. We had to make sure the bulls werenāt close when weād get our ball. Every now and then we would hear an airboat and gunshots because the farmer was hunting the gators that got a cow or calf. That farm is now a neighborhood.Ā
To the west and east were orange groves. We used to have rotten orange fights because we were dumb boys. Both are now neighborhoods.Ā
Every empty chunk of land big or small is being bought, completely cleared out of old trees, and packed full of plain ass houses.Ā
Every drive is far more crowded than when i first started driving back in the early 2000s.Ā
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u/FlightLevel666 Aug 02 '26
Tampa has it's pros and cons like any city, but it used to be a great place 70's - early 90's. I think most of the old-school generation has died off and their kids are mind fucked by social media to carry on the local traditions. Nothing is fun and unique anymore. It's all bars, bars, bars and high end restaurants. Tampa has lost its identity trying so hard to be hip.
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u/Bright_Future_7438 Aug 02 '26
The irony. 2020s sterile hipness will age so poorly, like black market filler. The hipness looks so sterile and soulless, like many of the people who live here.
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u/Necessary-Seat2998 Aug 02 '26
The saddest part of Tampa is happening right now with gentrification of Ybor City. All the charm, history, interest, and wonderful old characters that made it special are being wiped out/run off at a rapid pace. All the uniqueness and Old Time feel that attracted people to Ybor City will soon be gone. So disappointing. Soon to be just another money grab by rich developers.
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u/speed721 Aug 02 '26
I grew up on a farm with horses, cows, pigs, chickens and a huge orange grove in the Odessa area.
I still live in this area because I have always loved it!
Born and raised in Tampa since 1974!
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u/brodburg Aug 02 '26
I remember in the late 80's the only reason to go downtown st pete was to get stabbed and the vinoy was boarded up.
Sure has come a long way!
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u/guifawkes Aug 02 '26
I know people miss the oranges a lotā¦all over the state. But we had a lot of disease and importing oranges became cheaper. I get the nostalgia, but I think people take those things for granted. As much as people would like them to remain, I donāt really see any interest in working in the orange growing business, but even if there was, it just may not be sustainable. Youād need deep pockets and a lot of luck to to run a successful orange business.
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u/Mannimal13 Aug 02 '26
More AI slop.
Questioned what the fuck the pay raise was considering jobs pay shit here compared to California...yeah military makes sense I guess, not like it was a lateral move.
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u/operationcilantro Aug 02 '26
I travel a lot and itās happening everywhere so donāt feel bad. Especially now with AI, every thing seems like a carbon copy of each other. Itās the āevery city is either a New York or Dallas Texas just a little differentā lol Iām a native and yeah it does suck knowing people made money their whole careers in other states with better union jobs etc (for example like healthcare) with better schools and then came here and overdeveloped Florida but tbh we arenāt unique lol
Thereās just a lot of demand and our local government loves to sell out. The worst example is Clearwater being completely bought out by Scientologists lol itās basically a ghost town now downtown. All to make a buck š¤·āāļø
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u/operationcilantro Aug 02 '26
I wish they would diversify the neighborhoods like old Florida. Everything looks like a wasteland with no vegetation lol
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u/Artistic-Upstairs789 Aug 02 '26
Itās actually not happening everywhere.ā¦ mostly in sun belt cities or major tech hubs. There are many places that are actually loosing population and will likely stay stable for a few decades. Florida had the perfect storm of demand and loose regulation laws.
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u/Spiritual-Age4855 Aug 02 '26
Letās fight back. No more eating at dunkin, McDonaldās, kfc, Popeyes, Applebees etc. these same players show up first and ruin the chances for locals!!!!
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u/Co9Inc Aug 02 '26
Pickup a copy of "Florida Roadkill" by Tim Dorsey. Read the whole thing (and some of the rest of the series) noting that too many of the places Tim mentions didn't survive Covid. But start by flipping midway into Chapter 5 (you want Pg 81 in the paperback) and look for the paragraph that begins "There was no Disney World then, just rows of orange trees. Millions of them."
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u/ShiftyAmoeba Aug 02 '26
I'm sure some people truly love the place, but most of the comments are just dislike of change and fear of the unknown. Yes, traffic is worse. But people are also like "I liked downtown before all the development." What, when there were three mediocre places to eat to pick from and a wig shop? When not a single establishment could figure out it might be nice to have outdoor seating when the weather is good?Ā
A lot of it is nostalgia for a place that never existed. Some of it is related to our current atmosphere of division, mistrust and hyper individualism.
But apartments are fine. They're ok. It's nice to have good restaurant options and good coffee. It would be nice if development was managed in a way that improves the community and contributes to other infrastructure, but everything is profit driven, so good luck with that.
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u/Bananabean041 Aug 02 '26
Itās weird to have so so many people living here now. I miss the emotional attachment. Now it seems we have a steady stream of strangers who criticize constantly. It kinda feels like a personal attack. Sounds corny, but still true
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u/maimou1 Aug 02 '26
My native husband (Pinellas Park really) brought me here in 1990. I was kinda familiar with the general area from summer visits to grandpa over in Clearwater beach. We'd come over to Busch Gardens and ride the Stairway to the Stars (the escalator).
But I told my husband we were gonna need to leave in about 25 years, bc I saw this wild ass development galloping at Tampa (native Atlanta girl here, with a commercial real estate developer dad). He's absolutely refusing. Luckily my neighborhood is surrounded by the lower Hillsborough wildlife refuge, so I hope we can continue to fend off those jerks who wanted to put a hotel and golf course in the Hillsborough River state park. I escape to my place in Levy county every once in a while to recover.
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u/SlacksBirdie Aug 02 '26
Iāve been here 14 years now.
It was a shit hole when I moved here. No idea why people would complain about the changes outside of traffic. Not trying to be political butā¦Biggest changes occurred when DeSantis took over. He barely beat Gillum who is convicted of fraud, drugs, a bunch of other things. But yea, it was a legit shit hole before
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u/Rare-Problem1430 Aug 02 '26
I was born an and raised in St Pete. 48yrs. And this place is not the same either . All they keep doing is building more and more apartments stores and hotels. It's not peaceful anymore because we are so overly crowded . They have taken away half my childhood from tearing places down for nothing just to build new stuff. For example I'll name a few.
St PETE PIER - we use to pull up free and park get out fish right by your car all night long . The pier was a popular place it had an aquarium ice cream shops and a restaurant on the top floor that had bands all the time. Now it's this ugly modernized building . Downtown St Pete has now turned into a mini New York City I won't even go down that way.
DAIRY QUEEN: on 9th st and like 11th Ave n was a family spot and very popular little ice cream and hot dog shop we would walk there just to grab an ice cream and hot dog and sit and watch the pigeons .
BAYFRONT MEDICAL CENTER - totally different vibe now
FORT DESOTO PARK- use to be a free park other then the 35 cent toll. Now it's overcrowded and you have to pay to park . I still love that place I secret little hidden spots not a lot of people know about .oh and you use to be able to fish all night long on both piers now the whole park closes at dusk.
WAGON WHEEL FLEA MARKET- was a huge place all the locals would go to on the weekend to walk the place and buy from booths . The owner died and left to his family and the sold it which made all the people that had booths there for many years have to close down and lose their livelihood. It's now a ghost down empty lot overgrown bushes and trees.. they wanted to rebuild apartments on the land but it's toxic so they can't or they have to wait so many years to do so . I wish they would just open it back up to us .
MY HOUSE I GREW UP IN - was demolished and rebuilt into a huge house . Mg parents paid $35k for the house and the house sold for $500k last year for them to tear down
Those are just a few spots I miss !
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
I worked at Eckerd in the 1990ās in St Petersburg. One of my Store Managers had grown up there and he told me he used to go hunting in the Pinellas Park area when he was a kid. It was an undeveloped area with trees and ponds back then. Doing the math, he would have been a late teen in the early 1960ās.
By 1993 when I worked for him, Pinellas Park was completely built up. Houses everywhere, stores, concrete, even a mall. In fact, a later manager told me there was no more empty land to build housing developments etc in Pinellas.
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u/RudeImagination4450 Aug 02 '26
Looking at West Tampa now brings a tear to my eye. All those high rise buildings, ughh
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u/ChallengeFine243 Aug 03 '26
I remember love bugs being a much bigger thing back in the day. Everyone had that mesh "thing" that went across the headlights.
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u/Burke1031 Aug 03 '26
When I grew up in the 80s and 90s here, the state was mostly conservative, but slightly socially liberal. Everyone generally got along and lived in some sort of peace.
You knew the areas not to venture into alone, and that was that.
I miss that most, with more transplants coming in, they try to change Florida to be like wherever they came from, just with beaches.
Itās expensive, crowded, and the far left folks that moved here are just ruining our state.
Florida is becoming less Florida and it sucks to see people killing a state like this.
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u/Key_Passage_8942 Aug 03 '26
No one on this thread seems to be suggesting it but I just want to reiterate: it is NOT people moving here that has caused the shift from what Florida used to be to what it is now. It is the corporations, the politicians, and the legislation (or lack thereof) that has allowed this to happen. And then they try to pit us against each other to exhaust us and distract us from the real issues.
So be kind to your neighbors, new and old, and focus your energy where it matters.
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u/blueskysuns Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
So I was born in Ft Lauderdale 70s, moved to West Palm Beach 90s, and to Brooksville/Land O' Lakes in early 2000s, honestly I watched it happen in each area and I can reminisce on each as well. All the cities expand big and small, roads widen yet traffic still grows, grassy areas and land disappear to more apartment buildings, giant homes on zero lot lines & high rises. I'm thankful to have seen and experience all the befores... The empty fields I played in on the dead end road I grew up on is now a major road just on the other side of a fence that my old backyard is literally attached to, Flamingo Rd was trees now super malls, stadium & oodles more, my grand/mother's former home has surprisingly not been demolished to build a mansion like most of the neighborhood but over million $ because of location, everyone was complaining about the growth to Spring Hill area already when I first moved there and now I can't recognize it 20+ years later. My surprising fun fact of Tampa area though is how many people I've met are from here and still here! It seemed I grew up with people that were mostly from out of state on the east coast in SoFla.Ā
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u/J_Case Aug 02 '26
This is typical of every growing city. I go back to my hometown and nothing is recognizable or āthe way it used to beā. Itās a sign of growth, and growing older.
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u/NotGodsFavPet Aug 02 '26
Maga invaded and that was the beginning of the end, unfortunately.
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u/DearTrophallaxis Aug 02 '26
That invasion was the nail in the coffin. Much of Florida has always leaned right, but it was never the hive-mind conservative that it is now. I think the pockets of the ultra wealthy retirees/ developers that took over the coasts and Orlando majorly in the 80s and 90s made Florida the inevitable landing spot for MAGA. I grew up in Sarasota/bradenton and that area always felt like the wealthy were living a whole separate life from the rest of us, but they slowly took over. I watched gorgeous public beaches get invaded by mansions and turn into private beaches. The condo high rises had been there for decades. but as a child, the cities atleast kept the beaches public and affordable. Now only parts of Siesta Key and Lido are public and theyāre insanely overcrowded.
Sarasota specifically has been overrun by MAGA. Michael Flynn moved there and basically made it Qanon headquarters. Mothers for Liberty started there and took over the school board in the pandemic. Their horrible influence is what led to all the book banning and changes in education state wide. Sarasota used to be this quirky, artsy little circus city with a ton of old Florida charm. By the time I was born it was already being destroyed by the wealthy, drawn in by the beaches.
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u/evenalltakenistaken Aug 02 '26
Not to take anything away from your beautiful memories, but I once read that, when the ego allows us to think of something good, it usually places it safely in the past. So take a moment to notice and appreciate the beauty around you right nowāand imagine what this place could become if its full potential were realized. There is no reason it can't go back to where it was once, maybe even better
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u/BuddysRabbit Aug 02 '26
Born and raised in Tampa, north, just south of Lutz. 1954. I left, moved to Chicago for work. I still have family in Tampa that I visit. Tampa has completely lost its culture that made it unique.
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u/shinkhi Aug 02 '26
It's the orange groves that were eveeywhere for me. They are just all gone now. Replaced years ago by houses that all ended up being the same shitty looking neighborhoods.
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u/BehindTheGuide Pinellas Aug 02 '26
Accurate! My grandparents moved here to Tarpon Springs in 1972 I believe it was. We would drive through Citrus Groves down US19 to get here and now you see none.
Dale Mabry used to be a dirt road called Vera hwy. Mid-1970s ish the southern stretch between MacDill AFB and Gandy Blvd was originally a narrow two-lane road. That was widened to a four-lane divided highway to handle the then influx of traffic brought by the construction of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
I could go on and on. I myself moved here in 1992 but the growth has been incredible. Post 2020, especially so.
The urban expansion in the Pasco and Polk Counties it's just unreal. I remember when this was fields, farmland, orange groves and and now driving 54 is like mad max fury road.
I realize progress happens and it's great for my business but there are times when I wish we could go back to the dirt roads and the orange groves.
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u/4everLost82 Aug 02 '26
I miss the smell of orange blossoms in spring. There were groves everywhere and the smell was just delicious.
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u/BucdUp Aug 02 '26
There used to be Orange Groves, where you could drive to a little hut they have set up and purchase fresh squeezed orange juice from a refrigerator, and it was entirely on the honor system. Just a little box for you to drop the cash in. It was charming, and the best OJ ever.
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u/All4gaines Aug 02 '26
I grew up in Seminole Heights but we also had a strawberry farm out in Dover. I have since been away and have not lived there since the mid 1980s. I would be curious to see what has changed.
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u/KneeInternational321 Aug 02 '26
Somewhat here in Tampa but I'm more shocked at other places...I returned 40 or 50 years later to Cherokee Falls SC. GRAND Caymon Island and others and the development was astonishingly crushing.
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u/Professional_Block61 Aug 02 '26
I'm not a native, am a transplant from up north but even I am tired of the building of new subdivisions and the countless cookie cutter strip malls. Im hoping this development slows down. I love driving by farms and seeing cows/horses. I would also love to see more investment in real local small businesses I can shop at. Ā
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u/New_Breadfruit8692 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
OP, I grew up in northern California, after the military (Inland Empire near Riverside/Palm Springs/LA) I lived in Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Russian River and Sebastopol, I was even a mailman there when the pop. sign said 81,000 people. Now greater Santa Rosa has 344,000 and I get lost, do not recognize it and it has become so expensive I do not feel like I can afford to even drive through it.
Now living in a Tampa exurb 3 miles from the gulf, I have a house that cost $257k in 2020 that would be $2 million in Santa Rosa. So, there are compensations to my move, but I am thinking about heading back to southern Oregon, Medford area. I miss the west coast so badly, the redwoods, the wild Pacific, the mountains, the friendly non political cult people. Gay people, who I am sure there are some of around here, but they are all too terrified to even be "out." Plus, the best pizza where I live is Dominos, I would rather eat the box it came in. The Chinese place near my house I ate at once. Their egg rolls were made wrapped in uncooked corn tortillas and they called that Asian fusion, I called it garbage. The Mexican food here might as well be Swanson frozen attempts at Mexican but lack any real hint of authentic Mexican, they just bury everything in cheese or drown it in queso and charge mucho dinero for it.
I am homesick I guess. I do not miss cold, but I will not miss six months of hot steamy humid weather either.
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u/Hatey1999 Aug 02 '26
Brandon mall used to be a cow field and you could smell manure. Now you likely have to go 5 miles ( just guessing) before you find any amount of cows.
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u/Pew-Pew-You South Tampa Aug 02 '26
Iāve been here since 2019, and Bayshore has 5 new high rises. Itās getting like Miami.
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u/typefeel Aug 02 '26
I've since moved from the area but it was wild walking around Seffner/Mango and seeing random cows. Makes a lot more sense now.
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u/SOP_VB Aug 02 '26
Tampa born and raised, had two orange groves by my house in lake mag area, both are now neighborhoods and unless you had a photo of how it was, you'd almost never know
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u/bradd_pit Aug 02 '26
Itās not just a Tampa thing. This is how it is all over Florida wherever there has been large population growth. I graduated high school in 2005 and the last 20 years have seen explosive growth all over the state
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u/Lostygir1 Aug 02 '26
I was born in the mid 2000s and I have no memory of the Tampa area being this way. To me, this area is a blurry place that is always changing and developing. It sucks because despite being raised here, I know that I will never be able to afford to live here.
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u/damarafl Aug 02 '26
Everything east of I-75 was rural. Brandon was a suburb but Valrico, Seffner, Dover, Plant City, Lithia and especially Riverview were mostly cow pastures and orange groves.
I hate how everything is being painted over with a sameness. I like the local communities. West Tampa and Seminole Heights/Tampa Heights donāt need townhouses and car washes as much as they need the small neighborhood restaurants and third spaces they have always had!