The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding
Tampa Bay on the west coast of
Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
,
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and
Clearwater. It is the
18th largest metropolitan area in the
United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
The exact boundaries of the metro area can differ in different contexts.
Hillsborough County and
Pinellas County (including the cities of
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
,
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Clearwater, and several smaller communities) make up the most limited definition. The
United States Census Bureau defines the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (
MSA) as including Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties; and it is the 18th-most populated MSA in the country.
Unlike most large metropolitan areas, Tampa is not part of any
combined statistical area
Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...
and is the second-most populated MSA in the United States to not be part of one.
Other definitions of the Tampa Bay area include:
*the four counties in the MSA plus
Citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nativ ...
and
Manatee
Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...
Counties, used by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
*the four counties in the MSA plus Citrus, Manatee and
Sarasota Counties, used by the
Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority
*the four counties in the MSA plus Citrus, Manatee, Sarasota and
Polk Counties, used by the Tampa Bay Partnership and the
Tampa Bay media market.
This wider area may also be known as West Central Florida as part of
Central Florida
Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
.
Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area
The population of the Tampa Bay MSA is 3,175,275 people as of the
2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...
.
The following is a list of principal cities and
unincorporated communities
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
, including
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
s (CDPs), located in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater MSA based on the
2010 U.S. Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serv ...
:
Principal cities
Each of these cities has a population in excess of 250,000 inhabitants:
*
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
*
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
More than 100,000 inhabitants
*
Clearwater
*
Lakeland
*
Riverview (CDP)
*
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
* Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
* Brandon, ...
(CDP)
*
Spring Hill (CDP)
More than 10,000 inhabitants
Demographics
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater MSA consists of the following ethnic demographics:
Age
Ethnicity
=Hispanic or Latino by origin
=
Geography
The Tampa Bay area is located along
Tampa Bay which it is named for.
Pinellas County and
St. Petersburg, Florida lies on a peninsula between Tampa Bay and the
Gulf of Mexico, and much of the city of
Tampa, Florida lies on a smaller peninsula jutting out into Tampa Bay.
Climate
The Tampa Bay area has a
humid subtropical climate (Koppen ''Cfa'') with hot, humid summers, with daily
thunderstorms, drier, predominantly sunny winters, and warm-to-hot springs with a pronounced dry season maximum. On average, two days experience frost per year in the cooler parts of the Tampa Bay area, less than annually in the coastal parts. However, hard freezes (low temperatures below ) are very rare, occurring only a few times in the last 75 years. The
United States Department of Agriculture designates the area as being in
hardiness zones 9b and 10a. Coastal parts of the Tampa Bay area closely border a
tropical savanna climate (
As) with many tropical microclimates due to maritime influences of the Gulf of Mexico and the
400-square-mile Tampa Bay. Plant climate-indicator species such as
coconut palm
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...
s and
royal palm
''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...
s, as well as other elements of south Florida's native tropical flora, reach their northern limits of reliable culture and native range in the area. Highs usually range between year-round. Tampa's official high has never reached —the all-time record high temperature is . St. Petersburg's all-time record high is exactly .
Pinellas County lies on a
peninsula between Tampa Bay and the
Gulf of Mexico, and much of the city of Tampa lies on a smaller peninsula jutting out into Tampa Bay. This proximity to large bodies of water both moderates local temperatures and introduces large amounts of
humidity into the atmosphere. In general, the communities farthest from the coast have more extreme temperature differences, both during a single day and throughout the
seasons
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...
of the year.
Economy
As of July 1, 2019, the largest employers within the Tampa Bay area are:
Finance and insurance
Nearly one in four of the state's business and information services firms resides in Tampa Bay. These firms range from
financial service
Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...
s firms to
information technology providers to professional services organizations such as
law firms
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...
, accounting firms, engineering firms,
consulting
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
and more. As a gateway to the Florida High Tech Corridor, Tampa Bay is home to many information technology firms along with many business services providers.
Financial services firms:
*
Bank of America
*
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...
*
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi ( stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomera ...
*
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and inter ...
*
Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
*
Raymond James Financial
*
Franklin Templeton
*
Metlife
MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produc ...
*
USAA
The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is a San Antonio-based Fortune 500 diversified financial services group of companies including a Texas Department of Insurance-regulated reciprocal inter-insurance exchange and subsidiaries offeri ...
*
Progressive Insurance
The Progressive Corporation is an American insurance company, the third largest insurance carrier and the No. 1 commercial auto insurer in the United States. The company was co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis, and is headquar ...
*
Transamerica
*
State Farm
*
New York Life
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
Health care
With more than 50 hospitals, dozens of
clinics
A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
and ambulatory care centers, the Tampa Bay has an abundance of top-rated health care facilities for children and adults. The region also has a wealth of well-trained medical professionals—nearly 53,000 nurses and more than 9,200 physicians (including physician assistants)—provide care to Tampa Bay residents and visitors every year.
Information technology
Tampa Bay serves as the gateway to the Florida High Tech Corridor which spans 23 counties. Created as a partnership between the
University of South Florida,
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
and now including the
University of Florida, the Florida High Tech Corridor promotes the growth of the high-tech industry across
Central Florida
Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
.
Higher education and research
Academic research
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
is a key component of high-tech growth and a powerful economic engine. The presence of cutting-edge research in the region is vital to technology transfer, which enables innovative ideas discovered in academia to achieve
commercialization
Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ea ...
in the marketplace. Tampa Bay has several powerhouse research centers that are engaged in both pure scientific research and aggressively pursuing technology transfer to enrich people's lives.
Researchers at the
University of South Florida's Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Research Center (NNRC), H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and the Center for Ocean Technology at USF's College of
Marine Science
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...
are researching how to use nanotechnology for a myriad of targeted uses including drug delivery, mechanized microsurgery, customized laser
microchips
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Transistor count, Large ...
, ways to turn sunlight into
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
, purifying water, storing
hydrogen in small nanotubes, designing and developing marine sensors using microelectromechanical systems (
MEMS) and curing
cancer.
University of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...
is located in Downtown Tampa, Florida on the
Hillsborough River and is a historic university linked back to
Teddy Roosevelt.
Housing
In 2008 the area's construction based boom was brought to a sudden halt by the
financial crisis of 2007–2010, and by 2009 it was ranked as the fourth worst performing housing market in the United States.
Changes in
house prices for the area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the
Case–Shiller index
The Standard & Poor's CoreLogic Case–Shiller Home Price Indices are repeat-sales house price indices for the United States. There are multiple Case–Shiller home price indices: A national home price index, a 20-city composite index, a 10 ...
; the statistic is published by
Standard & Poor's
S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is cons ...
and is also a component of S&P's 20-city
composite index of the value of the U.S. residential real estate market.
Avionics, defense, and marine electronics
The
University of South Florida's Center for Ocean Technology, which has been a leader in
microelectromechanical systems research and development and has been using the technology to collect biological and chemical data to monitor
water quality, provided underwater technology for
port security
Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security. It refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the se ...
at the 2004
Republican National Convention. USF's Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue used its miniature robots to assist rescue teams at
Ground Zero
In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the ground ...
following the
September 11 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
.
Tampa Bay is also the location of three major military installations,
MacDill Air Force Base,
Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater
United States Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater (CGAS Clearwater) is the United States Coast Guard's largest air station. It is located at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater, Florida and is home to nearly 700 USCG ...
and Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg.
MacDill AFB
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), ass ...
is home to the
6th Air Mobility Wing
The United States Air Force's 6th Air Refueling Wing is the host wing for MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It is part of Air Mobility Command's (AMC) Eighteenth Air Force. The wing's 6th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 3d Obse ...
(6 AMW) of the
Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri.
Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from elements ...
(AMC) and the
927th Air Refueling Wing
The 927th Air Refueling Wing (927 ARW) is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Fourth Air Force (4 AF) of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and is stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. ...
(927 ARW) of the
Air Force Reserve Command
The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...
(AFRC). Both wings share flight operations of a fleet of
KC-135R Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter, C-135 Strat ...
aircraft and the 6 AMW also operates a fleet of
C-37A Gulfstream V aircraft. MacDill AFB also hosts multiple tenant organizations, to include two major combatant commands:
United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), which directs
military operations in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Iraq, and the Middle East; and
United States Special Operations Command
The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Ar ...
(USSOCOM), which has responsibility for all
special operations forces in the U.S. Armed Forces.
CGAS Clearwater is located at the
St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport. It is the largest air station in the
United States Coast Guard, operating
HC-130H Hercules aircraft and
MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters with principal missions focused on search and rescue, counternarcotics interdiction, and homeland security. The HC-130 aircraft are slated to be replaced by new
HC-27J Spartan aircraft beginning in 2017. Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg is located on the site of the former Coast Guard Air Station St. Petersburg at
Albert Whitted Airport
Albert Whitted Airport is a public airport in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is on the west edge of Tampa Bay, just southeast of downtown St. Petersburg and east of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
Hi ...
. It is home to
Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg and is homeport for the
USCGC ''Resolute'' (WMEC 620),
USCGC ''Venturous'' (WMEC 625), and numerous smaller cutters and patrol boats.
Education
Primary and secondary education is provided by the school districts of the individual counties making up the region.
The area is home to several institutions of higher learning, including the main campus of the
University of South Florida in Tampa and its satellite campus in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, the
University of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...
,
Florida College in
Temple Terrace
Temple Terrace is an incorporated city in northeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, adjacent to Tampa. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 26,690. It is the third and smallest incorporated municipality in Hillsbo ...
, and
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in New Port Richey are all four-year institutions located in the area.
Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University and
Troy University
Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...
also maintain satellite education centers at MacDill AFB.
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of st ...
also has a regional campus in
Clearwater.
There are two law schools in the area,
Stetson University College of Law
Stetson University College of Law (Stetson Law), founded in 1900 and part of Stetson University, is Florida's first law school. Originally located near the university's main campus in DeLand, Florida, the law school moved in 1954 to Gulfport, Flo ...
and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Stetson University has campuses in
Gulfport and
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
, while Thomas M. Cooley Law school is located in
Riverview.
Hillsborough Community College
Hillsborough Community College (HCC) is a public community college in Hillsborough County, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System.
History
HCC was one of the last community colleges to be created in Florida, founded in 1968. Only ...
,
St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College (SPC) is a public college in Pinellas County, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of the institutions in the system designated a "state college," as it offers a greater number of bachelor's degrees t ...
,
Polk State College
Polk State College, formerly Polk Community College, is a public college in Winter Haven, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System.
The college changed its name from Polk Community College in 2009 to reflect its first Bachelor's deg ...
, and
Pasco-Hernando State College are community colleges serving the area.
Culture
The Tampa Bay area is home to a high concentration of quality art museums. Long established communities, particularly those near the bay such as
Cuban influenced
Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spa ...
,
Old Northeast in St. Petersburg, and
Palma Ceia
Palma Ceia is a neighborhood located southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida in South Tampa. It is bounded by Miguel Street West of MacDill Avenue and Neptune Street East of MacDill Avenue to the north; Bay to Bay Boulevard from Dale Mabry to Himes ...
and
Hyde Park in Tampa contain historic architecture.
Fresh seafood and locally grown produce are available in many restaurants and in weekly
farmers' markets in multiple urban centers in the area.
Yuengling, the largest American-owned brewer, operates a brewery in Tampa, as does the highly regarded craft brewer Cigar City Brewing. The area is also known for its influence on
heavy metal music, specifically
death metal. Within both the
Florida death metal
Florida death metal is a regional scene and stylistic subdivision of death metal. Some of the most significantly pioneering and best-selling death metal acts emerged in Florida, especially in the Tampa Bay area. As a result, Tampa is unofficia ...
scene and broader genre Tampa Bay became known as the "capital of death metal."
Arts and culture make a big impact in Tampa Bay. In a single year, the economic impact of the cultural institutions in the Tampa Bay area was $521.3 million, according to a recent
PricewaterhouseCoopers study. In 2004 5.6 million people attended plays, musical performances, museum exhibits, and other cultural institutions in Tampa Bay, supporting 7,800 jobs.
Museums
*
Museum of Fine Arts near
the Pier
''The Pier'' is a 2011 Irish romantic drama film written and directed by Gerard Hurley and starring Karl Johnson, Hurley and Lili Taylor.
Cast
* Karl Johnson as Larry McCarthy
*Gerard Hurley as Jack McCarthy
*Lili Taylor
Lili Anne Taylor ...
in downtown St. Petersburg
*
Salvador Dalí Museum in downtown St. Petersburg
*
Florida International Museum at St. Petersburg College in downtown St. Petersburg
*
Florida Holocaust Museum
The Florida Holocaust Museum is a Holocaust museum located at 55 Fifth Street South in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1992, it moved to its current location in 1998. Formerly known as the Holocaust Center, the museum officially changed to i ...
in downtown St. Petersburg
*
Tampa Museum of Art
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in downtown Tampa, Florida. It exhibits modern and contemporary art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. The museum was founded in 1979 and debuted an award-winning new building in 2010 just north ...
in downtown Tampa
*USF Contemporary Art Museum on the USF Tampa campus
Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in downtown Tampa*
Museum of Science and Industry adjacent to USF's Tampa campus
*
Tampa Bay Automobile Museum
The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, located in Pinellas Park, Florida in the Tampa Bay Area, displays historic automobiles from the 20th century. All of the vehicles displayed are from the collection of Alain Cerf, a French entrepreneur and the Cerf ...
in Pinellas Park
*
Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art on the Tarpon Springs Campus of
St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College (SPC) is a public college in Pinellas County, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of the institutions in the system designated a "state college," as it offers a greater number of bachelor's degrees t ...
* The
Royal Theater Royal Theatre or Royal Theater may refer to:
Venues Australia
* Royal Theatre, Canberra
Belgium
* Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, Brussels
* Royal Park Theatre, Brussels
* Royal Flemish Theatre, Brussels
Canada
* Royal Theatre, Victoria, British ...
& Manhattan Casino Historic Landmarks in St. Petersburg
* The Carter J. Woodson African-American Museum St. Petersburg
* Tampa Bay History Center
*
Ybor City Museum State Park in
Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spa ...
Performing arts halls
*Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa
*Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater
*Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg
*Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center
Cultural events
*
Gasparilla Pirate Festival
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. The theme of the festivities is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gas ...
held every January in Tampa
*
Florida State Fair
The Florida State Fair is held annually at the Florida State Fairgrounds in East Lake-Orient Park, Florida. The official state fair of Florida, it includes indoor and outdoor exhibits, rides and shows. It is a chance for the state to showcase its ...
held every February in Tampa
*
Florida Strawberry Festival
The Florida Strawberry Festival is an annual event taking place in Plant City, Florida. The festival lasts 11 days and generates attendance of about half a million patrons from all across Central Florida and other areas. The festival is conside ...
held every March in Plant City
*Clearwater Jazz Holiday held every October in Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater; in its 32nd year
*
Guavaween
Guavaween was an annual Latin-flavored Halloween celebration which took place on the last Saturday of October in the historic neighborhood of Ybor City on Tampa, Florida. It was named after Tampa's nickname, " The Big Guava".
Since its incepti ...
, a Latin-flavored Halloween celebration held every October in the Ybor City section of Tampa
*Festa Italiana, annual festival of Italian heritage held every April in Ybor City, Tampa's Latin Quarter
Recreation
The Tampa Bay area is highly noted for its beaches, with the warm, blue gulf waters and nearly 70 miles of barriers islands from North Pinellas south to
Venice, attracting tourists from all over the world. Three of the beaches in this area,
Fort De Soto's North Beach (2005),
Caladesi Island (2008), and Sarasota's
Siesta Key
A ''siesta'' (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The ...
(2011) have been named by
Dr. Beach as America's Top Beach. The 15th
IIFA Awards
The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...
would be held at Tampa Bay Area in April 2014.
Sports attractions, in addition to the teams listed below, include many professional quality golf courses, tennis courts, and pools. Ybor and the Channel District in Tampa, downtown St. Petersburg, and the beaches all along the coast all attract a vibrant nightlife.
Theme parks
*
Adventure Island in Tampa
*
Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously B ...
in Tampa
*
Dinosaur World in Plant City
*
Weeki Wachee Springs
Weeki Wachee Springs is a natural tourist attraction located in Weeki Wachee, Florida, where underwater performances by " mermaids," women wearing fish tails as well as other fanciful outfits, can be viewed in an aquarium-like setting in the spri ...
in Hernando County
*
Legoland Florida
Legoland Florida Resort (stylized as LEGOLAND Florida Resort) is a vacation destination in Winter Haven, Florida. The resort features the Legoland Florida theme park itself, the Legoland Water Park, three on-site accommodations and a separatel ...
in Winter Haven, Polk County
Zoos and aquariums
*
Lowry Park Zoo
ZooTampa at Lowry Park (formerly known as Lowry Park Zoo or Lowry Park Zoological Garden) is a nonprofit zoo located in Tampa, Florida. In 2009, Lowry Park Zoo was voted the #1 Family Friendly Zoo in the US by Parents Magazine, and is recognized ...
in Tampa
*
Florida Aquarium
The Florida Aquarium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, publicly operated institution located in downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It is a large scale, aquarium and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This means th ...
in Tampa
*
Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and aquarium in Clearwater, Florida. It is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of sick and injured marine animals, public education, conservation, and research.
C ...
in Clearwater
*
Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary was a bird sanctuary
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as ...
in Indian Shores
Botanical gardens
*
Florida Botanical Gardens, part of the Pinewood Cultural Park in Largo
*
Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, a former tourist attraction now run by the City of St. Petersburg
*
USF Botanical Gardens in Tampa
Notable public parks and recreation areas
The Tampa Bay area is home to an extensive system of state, county, and city parks.
Hillsborough River State Park
Hillsborough River State Park is located in the northeast corner of Hillsborough County, Florida near Zephyrhills (which is itself in Pasco County). It is a popular park due to its proximity to the city of Tampa.
The park consists of over 3,383 ...
in Thonotosassa is one of Florida's original eight state parks and
Honeymoon Island State Park
Honeymoon Island State Park is a Florida State Park located on Honeymoon Island, a barrier island across St. Joseph's Sound from Palm Harbor, Ozona, and Crystal Beach. The park is in land area with submerged and of beach. It lies at the we ...
, near Dunedin, is Florida's most visited state park. Pinellas County is home to the
Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, a 37-mile running and cycling trail over a former railroad bed connecting
Tarpon Springs
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal poi ...
to St. Petersburg.
Skyway Fishing Pier State Park, the remnants of the approaches to the original
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, Fl ...
forms the world's largest fishing pier in Pinellas and Manatee counties. The shallow waters and many
mangrove islands of the bay and gulf make the area popular with
kayakers. The gulf is also home to a large number of
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
and
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
coral reefs that are popular for fishing and
scuba diving
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...
. Away from the coast,
Circle B Bar Reserve
The Circle B Bar Reserve is an area of protected lands in Polk County, Florida. Comprising at 4399 Winter Lake Road (SR 540) near Lakeland, it is managed by the Polk County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), which co-owns it with the Southwes ...
in
Lakeland (
Polk county) has been designated as a
Great Florida Birding Trail
Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail (''GFBWT'') is a 2,000 mile (3200 km) long collection of more than 500 locations in the U.S. state of Florida where the state's bird habitats are protected. The trail promotes birdwatching, environment ...
site, a program of the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is a Florida government agency founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tallahassee. It manages and regulates the state's fish and wildlife resources, and enforces related laws. Officers ar ...
.
Sports
Sports teams
The Tampa Bay Area is home to three major professional sports teams: the Buccaneers (NFL), Rays (MLB), and Lightning (NHL). The Tampa Bay area also hosts a number of minor-league and college teams.
MLB spring training teams
Major League Baseball teams have come to the Tampa Bay area for
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives establ ...
since the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
trained at Tampa's
Plant Field
Plant Field was the first major athletic venue in Tampa, Florida. It was built in 1899 by Henry B. Plant on the grounds of his Tampa Bay Hotel to host various events and activities for guests, and it consisted of a large field ringed by an oval ...
in 1913 and the
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
trained at St. Petersburg's
Coffee Pot Park
Coffee Pot Park was a ballpark in St. Petersburg, Florida home to the St. Petersburg Saints minor-league baseball team until 1928, and spring training home of the St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Phillies. Its capacity was approximately 850 for b ...
in 1914.
Grapefruit League
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives establi ...
games are still a favorite pastime for both residents and tourists alike every March. The following five Major League Baseball teams play spring training games in the Tampa Bay area:
*The
New York Yankees in Tampa
*The
Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater
*The
Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin
*The
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...
in Bradenton
*The
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
in Lakeland
Minor League baseball
Minor League baseball has also been a constant in the Tampa Bay area for over a century. The
Tampa Smokers
The Tampa Smokers was a name used between 1919 and 1954 by a series of minor league baseball teams based in Tampa, Florida. The nickname was a nod to the local cigar industry, which was the most important industry in Tampa during the years in wh ...
,
St. Petersburg Saints
The St. Petersburg Saints were a minor league baseball team that operated out of St. Petersburg, Florida. The team began as a semi-pro team and as early as October 1908, the semi-pro Saints played the Cincinnati Reds in a post-season exhibition ga ...
,
Lakeland Highlanders, and
Bradenton Growers
The Bradenton Growers were a professional baseball team based in Bradenton, Florida. A charter member of the Florida State League, they played from to . The ballclub was founded by team president and majority owner Robert M. Beall, Sr., founder o ...
were charter members of the original
Florida State League
The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...
, which began play in 1919. Current local teams include:
Florida State League
The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...
(
Class A)
*The
Tampa Tarpons
The Tampa Tarpons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Tampa, Florida. The Tarpons play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which i ...
:
George M. Steinbrenner Field
George M. Steinbrenner Field, formerly known as Legends Field, is a baseball stadium located in Tampa, Florida, across the Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium, the home of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The ballpar ...
in Tampa
*The
Clearwater Threshers
The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 200 ...
:
Spectrum Field in Clearwater
*The
Dunedin Blue Jays
The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...
:
TD Ballpark
TD Ballpark, originally Dunedin Stadium at Grant Field, is a baseball field located in Dunedin, Florida. The stadium was built in 1990 and holds 8,500 people. It is the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as home to the Dun ...
in Dunedin
*The
Bradenton Marauders
The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as the ...
:
LECOM Park
LECOM Park is a baseball field located in Bradenton, Florida. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and is named after a 15-year naming rights deal was signed with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has its ...
in Bradenton
*The
Lakeland Flying Tigers
The Lakeland Flying Tigers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Lakeland, Florida, and play their home games at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.
...
:
Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland
The area is also home to several affiliates of the
Gulf Coast League
The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the lo ...
, a
rookie league in which many young players gain their first experience in professional baseball.
Basketball
The Tampa Bay area does not have a basketball team in the
NBA; the
Orlando Magic are the closest team to the area, 85 miles east. The
Toronto Raptors made Tampa their temporary home prior to the
2020–21 NBA season
The 2020–21 NBA season was the 75th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), though the 75th anniversary was not celebrated until the following season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular season was reduced to 72 games for e ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic, necessitated by restrictions on travel between Canada and the United States that were in effect. Their "home" games were played at
Amalie Arena
Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...
.
The Tampa Bay area has had several teams in minor basketball leagues. The
Tampa Bay Titans play in
The Basketball League
The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a minor league basketball organization. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and expanded to over 44 teams as of 2022.
The Bask ...
(TBL). Their home games are played at
Pasco–Hernando State College
Pasco–Hernando State College (PHSC) is a public college in Florida with campuses in Pasco and Hernando counties. It is part of the Florida College System and has additional campuses in Brooksville, Dade City, New Port Richey, Spring Hill, ...
. The St. Pete Tide and the Tampa Gunners play in the
Florida Basketball Association
The Florida Basketball Association (FBA) is a semi-professional men's basketball league that began play in the fall of 2012 with teams in Orlando, Lake Wales, and Palm Beach Gardens.
The commissioner of the FBA is former NBA player Greg Kite.
...
(FBA). The Tide's home games are played at
St. Petersburg Catholic High School, and the Gunners are a travel team.
Sporting events
Major League sports
* Five
Super Bowls have been held in Tampa:
Super Bowl XVIII
Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference ...
in 1984,
Super Bowl XXV
Super Bowl XXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
in 1991,
Super Bowl XXXV in 2001,
Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, and
Super Bowl LV
Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Confere ...
in 2021. Super Bowls XVIII and XXV were played at
Tampa Stadium
Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The faci ...
, while Super Bowls XXXV, XLIII and LV were played at
Raymond James Stadium. The 1978
AFC–NFC Pro Bowl was held in Tampa at
Tampa Stadium
Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The faci ...
.
* The 2008 MLB
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Wor ...
; Games 1 and 2 were played in St. Petersburg at Tropicana Field.
* The
1999 NHL All-Star Game
The 1999 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place on January 24, 1999, at Ice Palace in Tampa, home to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"North America" and the World
The major criticism of the North America versus World format was that Canadians ...
was held in Tampa at the
Ice Palace. It was held again in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, having been renamed Amalie Arena by then.
* The 2004 NHL
Stanley Cup Finals; Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 were played in Tampa at the
St. Pete Times Forum
Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...
, Games 1, 2, and 5 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final were played at Amalie Arena and Games 1, 2, and 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final were played at Amalie Arena .
NCAA sports
* The NCAA football
Outback Bowl is held annually at
Raymond James Stadium, usually on January 1. The
Gasparilla Bowl
The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game was renamed the G ...
is also held annually at Raymond James Stadium, usually in December. It began in 2008 at
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg until moving to Tampa in 2018. The NCAA football
East–West Shrine Game is held annually at Tropicana Field since 2012, usually in January.
* The
2017 College Football Playoff National Championship
The 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship was a bowl game that was used to determine a national champion of college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2016 season. The game was played at Raymond Jame ...
was held at
Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017.
* Two NCAA football
ACC Championship Game
The ACC Championship Game is an annual American college football game held in early December by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) each year to determine its football champion. From its inception in 2005 to 2022, the game pit the champion of t ...
s (2008 and 2009) have been played in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium.
*
Amalie Arena
Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...
in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
has been the site for various rounds of NCAA Men's and Women's basketball championship tournament over the years, as well as conference tournaments. The 1999 NCAA
Men's Final Four was held in St. Petersburg at
Tropicana Field. The
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, 2015 NCAA
Women's Final Four and 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four were held in Tampa at the
Tampa Bay Times Forum
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...
/Amalie Arena.
* Five
NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship
The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champ ...
s have been held in Tampa:
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 � ...
,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
,
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – In ...
,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
and
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Ph ...
* The 2012 and 2016 NCAA
Men's Frozen Four were held in Tampa at the Tampa Bay Times Forum/Amalie Arena.
* Tampa will host the 2023 Division I NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Frozen Four, the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four and the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball First and Second Rounds, all at Amalie Arena.
Transportation
Air
Tampa International Airport is the largest airport in the region with 21 carriers and more than 17 million passengers served last year. In addition to the recent opening of a new
terminal
Terminal may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together
* Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line
* Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devi ...
, improvements are being planned to handle 25 million passengers by 2020.
St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport provides access to
commercial airliner
An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ai ...
s, and smaller charter craft. The airport is currently planning an expansion which will include new terminal facilities and runway extension. Dotting the landscape throughout the area, are many general aviation airports for the aircraft enthusiast and smaller corporate jets.
Rail
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
provides passenger rail service from
Union Station in Tampa.
CSX provides freight rail service for the entire Tampa Bay region.
Water
The Cross-Bay Ferry has connected Tampa's
Channelside District to Downtown St. Petersburg since 2016. The Pirate Water Taxi, also operating since 2016, has several stops along the waterways in the vicinity of Tampa's downtown area and Channelside District.
Transit systems
Bus service is provided in Hillsborough County by
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (also known as the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART)) provides public transportation for Hillsborough County, Florida. The agency provides fixed-route local and express bus service, door-to-door paratransit ...
(HART), in Pinellas County by
Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is a government agency that provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a fixed-route bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including two express rout ...
(PSTA), in Pasco County by
Pasco County Public Transportation and in Hernando County by
THE Bus. HART and PSTA provide express services between Tampa and Pinellas County, and PSTA provides connections to Pasco County. HART also operates the
TECO streetcar between Downtown Tampa and
Ybor City
Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spa ...
. In 2013, HART also began operating a
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
system called
MetroRapid
MetroRapid is an express bus system in Tampa, Florida. Operated by Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, it incorporates some bus rapid transit features. Currently, there is only one line in operation, the North-South line, with an East-West line i ...
that runs from Downtown Tampa to the
University of South Florida.
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.
Roads and freeways
The Tampa Bay area is served by these interstate highways.
*
Interstate 4
*
Interstate 75
*
Interstate 175
*
Interstate 275
*
Interstate 375
Hillsborough County is also served by other roadways such as the
Lee Roy Selmon Expressway
The Lee Roy Selmon Expressway is a all-electronic, limited access toll road in Hillsborough County, Florida, It connects the South Tampa neighborhood near MacDill Air Force Base with Downtown Tampa and the bedroom community of Brandon. T ...
(SR 618) which commutes workers from Brandon into downtown Tampa and the
Veterans Expressway
State Road 589 (SR 589), also known as the Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway, is a north–south toll road near the Florida Gulf Coast. /
Suncoast Parkway Suncoast may refer to:
* Florida Suncoast, a 1980s marketing term for peninsular (non-panhandle) Florida's Gulf of Mexico coastal counties
** Florida Suncoast Dome, the original name of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida
** Suncoast Center ...
(SR 589) which serves traffic from the
Citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nativ ...
/Hernando County border southward into Tampa. Both of these highways, which are built to limited access freeway standards, are toll roads as is the connecting junction between the Selmon Expressway and Interstate 4.
In Pinellas County,
U.S. 19 is the main north–south route through the county, and is being upgraded to
freeway standards complete with
frontage road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...
s to ease congestion through the north part of the county. Also, the
Bayside Bridge allows traffic to go from Clearwater into without having to use U.S. 19.
The
Courtney Campbell Causeway
The Courtney Campbell Causeway is the northernmost bridge across Old Tampa Bay, carrying State Road 60 between Clearwater, Florida in Pinellas County and Tampa, Florida in Hillsborough County.
History
The Causeway was commissioned by the ...
(SR 60) is one of the three roads that connect Pinellas County to Hillsborough County across the bay. The other two are the
Howard Frankland Bridge
The W. Howard Frankland Bridge is the central bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida. It is one of three bridges connecting Hillsborough County and Pinellas County; the others being Gandy Bridge and Courtne ...
(I-275) and
Gandy Bridge (U.S. 92). The
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, Fl ...
is part of I-275 and connects
Bradenton
Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries
A settlement established by Maroons or escaped s ...
and other
Manatee County
Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota- Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county ...
and
Sarasota County commuters into Pinellas County.
See also
*
Media in the Tampa Bay area
*
Central Florida
Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
*
Florida Suncoast
The Florida Suncoast (or Florida Sun Coast) is a local marketing name for the west-central peninsular Florida coastal area, also sometimes known as Florida's Beach communities. The region contains nearly of Gulf of Mexico beaches and the warm, ...
*
United States metropolitan area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or to ...
References
{{Authority control
Hillsborough County, Florida
Manatee County, Florida
Pasco County, Florida
Pinellas County, Florida
Regions of Florida
Central Florida