FRIENDLY STAY-TAMPA BAY!!!

Cities by the Sea

Insist on a vote. Set up the county as a city. If Tampa undertakes the initiative, the chances of Pinellas considering it are all the greater. One county could make history. Two would rewrite the book. Consolidation would be an achievement that pays big.
Shake loose from paralysis, eliminate corrupt old offices and entrenched financial interests, and streamline. Less expense. Coordination is what we need.
Back in the day, in the '70s, this initiative was undertaken in Hillsborough County, four times! The pros increasing each year, it was never voted on again. How could that happen? We’re a whole lot more urban now. Over 81% of the US is.
I can’t speculate what’s whipping this obeisant population into rout, but I’d say the notion of “Seize life daily” is the most destructive slogan you could put out there. This area wants to stop being the nation’s biggest joke. Cheesy is "Seize life daily" and tin-ear. Why don't we have a referendum and seize our future instead?
Nothing is the image you got because you’re not from here. Only voter revolt and an active community can mobilize this sleeping giant to wake. Tell you one thing: I’m someone who retired here and in retirement I’ve never felt more in command of my circumstances than now. Hey, I earned it. Isn’t it about time Tampa Bay stands up?
"Command central" will garner attention. It’s up to us, the people. Let us begin.

If there’s a problem with Tampa Bay having no image, it’s purely political. All that’s
preventing Tampa from being the 7th largest city in the United States is that it
hasn't filled out to the county line as have most cities--Jacksonville even.
All that’s preventing Pinellas from joining our nation’s Big Ten is not incorporating the
county into one big city. Put both cities together and you have the country’s 4th largest right after NYC, Chicago and LA.
It's inevitable to have one big super-city called Tampa Bay. It even has a nice ring
to it. The word bay has more color than Florida has flowers. Budapest merged
two cities Buda & Pest. Yo if Istanbul can straddle two continents . . .
Becoming #4 US we put this place on the world map and elevate the entire state.
Florida is after all #4 in population after California, Texas and New York and about to
be #3. The nation's most populated region is no longer the Northeast. It's the South.
If it's true we represent momentum, is it getting ahead of ourselves to claim the future? Disney did when he went Disney World. Our twin metropolises have suburbs with millions and we’re one of the big market shares, but we’re reduced by the rapidity of our growth. We’ve outgrown our trappings. We're backward.
It’s time to go from behind ourselves to ahead. Most recently measured at 3.1%
annual growth, we need people to fill up all that empty housing. In this healthy climate, it's time to bring some bustle to pedestrian life.

Think big and the world will respond with embassies and attention. Think small and
Tampa and St Pete are relegated to #56 and # 71 as they are today. Divided we fall,
humbled not by others but ourselves. It’s up to us and us only to forge something new out of ourselves politically. We could be the model for the century. Trademark Tampa Bay as a fresh entity and it could be the spirit people invoke. Two vying cities bridging the gulf of division to unify and we turn around polarization destroying the social fabric.
In this spirit, even if we are the fastest growing megalopolis in the country, our most
salient characteristic is Defense. Why not take our 15 minutes of fame and turn the
international phrase central command into something more cosmopolitan? For words to describe us I'd use a game-changer capitalizing on both sports psychology (there we rule!) and our only actual claim to fame: “Command Central.”
It’s an injunction that renders obsolete our image of fecklessness and folly: Hulk Hogan, election botches, gubernatorial squelching of rail line and health care, Jill Kelley, etc.).

Transformation is a brand. It eliminates any talk of “vanilla”. Size makes for strength.
"Command Central” neutralizes the marginality that afflicts us. Instead of kvetching
about our nothingness, celebrate our everythingness. Diverse is what we are. We’re
an international port of call. Five of the 16 biggest ports in the US sit on the Gulf.
“Command central” is what to do in sport. Focus is Basics 101 but never lose sight
of the fact in choosing location you exchange cost of living for quality of life. Here, in hard times, we have the sunshine that keeps flora and fauna profligate and humans reassured. Here there's safety in numbers: megalopolis without density is precious. It furnishes all needs. Here we have that genial laid-back positioning that combines mainland prices with island quiet.
But we're not endpoint; we're conduit. Between Miami and New Orleans ain't bad.
Houston, can you read me? Traffic in every direction amidst low-density environment makes for value: bang for the buck. Nature abounds and you get all the space you could ask for.

S I Z E = S T R E N G T H
"Insist on yourself. Be original."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I am larger, better than I thought.
I did not know I held so much goodness."
--Walt Whitman

Sail and Sand - Life is Grand in Tampa Bay

This is the sailing capitol of Florida and we should promote the great sailing that can be had on Tampa Bay and then the beaches and open water of the Gulf for relaxing, fishing, and gentle breezes. (Send royalty checks on a quarterly basis please.)

Daniel Barshay--your commentary is outstanding.

Tampa Bay, Florida's Best Kept Secret!! I see flashes of all the things around the Bay.... We MUST include all parts of the Bay Area, from Beaches to Pro Sports, and from Convention areas to Theme Parks, and from fishing and boating to Night-Life and History, Casino to Cruise ships... I could go on. I would even get the Tampa Bay license plate!!! We ARE the Melting Pot of the GREAT Melting Pot. Visit Tampa Bay where you can play everyday!!!! I am so PROUD to be a Native of Tampa Bay!! This is a long overdue, great idea!!!!

Come here for the strip clubs, stay for the pill mills! And while you're here, file someones tax return!!!!! Yay!

Living on the Sunrise side of Tampa Bay, I love looking out across the Bay in the morning and seeing the silouette of the city's skyline draped against the back drop of a pastel colored sky. The cloud formations in the skies above Tampa Bay are also so interesting and beautiful!! I've lived all over the country and I've never seen clouds as beautiful as we have here. Perhaps, it's because of our superior air quality; no smog, nor industrial smoke stacks obscure our blue skies, and indeed, we have some of the most beautiful beaches on the West Coast of Florida, such as Caladesi Island, Clearwater Beach, and Fort Desoto. Tampa Bay is also known as the "Lightning Capital of the World," but I think it should be changed to the most "Enlightening Metropolitan Region" as we have everything to support good quality of life right here in our own back yards: besides good climate and pristine beaches, we have good universities, good healthcare system, art and science museums like the Dali and Mosi, port city to support shipping and cruiseline industry, plentiful golf courses, mineral springs Spa & resort fitness centers, spectacular variety of ethnic restaurants, seafood and American cuisine; year round art and music festivals, first class entertainers at Straz theater, Ruth Eckerd Hall, and Mahaffey theater, Mac Dill AFB, a classy and user friendly airport with a USO, Busch Gardens theme park, Marine Aquariums, Deep Sea Fishing, great shopping, wineries within a day's drive, etc.

Tampa Bay is one big city. I moved here 40 years ago from New York & one day I wasn't paying attention & my eyes landed on a map of Tampa-Clearwater-St. Pete. with the connecting bridges & I realized I was looking at a map of the boroughs of one city. The map looked like Brooklyn, Manhattan, & Staten Island all connected by the bridgework that unites them. That is why we are all one city. The seperation is the competition we have by being in seperate counties. Many years ago there was talk of making one county out of it called Gandy County. I think we should just call our city Tampa Bay & be one united Metropolitan area. Wait a minute that's what it is & that's what we already are. Lets recognize it in our hearts because we already know it. Right?

I have always had a way with coming up with slogans and have lived most of my life in Tampa. Born at Tampa General Hospital on Davis Island. I know the tri-county area very well along with the amazing waterways. That is what sets Tampa Bay apart the waterways connecting the whole region. The angle that will work is all around us waterways and now it is up to you to coordinate shops, resturants, nightclubs, and put together a variety of vacation packages targeting all of the different tastes of potential tourists and Venice type motorized transportation to bring them all together. Based on ages and known interests and have yacht tours, for the older more sofisticated and speed boats for the younger and from a quick search I just performed a local company called Yachtworld wilh the right plan, prepartion, people, advertizing all the the on the water hotspots and waterways, Tampa would be known worldwide for what we have always known its waterways connecting the tricounty area. What an amazing ad campain it will make tieing off to all of the amazing destinations just waiting to advertize in a project with real possibilities to being a recognizable brand to Tampa Bay the never ending, breathtaking waterways. And the catch phrase to bring it all home is " Play The Tampa Bay Way." As the amazing commercial advertizement unfolds highlighting the unforgetable, sights and sounds along our amazing waterways.

Come to St. Petersburg - It's not Tampa!

(I've lived here two years and still haven't found any redeeming qualities for Tampa.)

As a native Floridian born in Tampa, I truly find it offensive when I hear or read about “Tampa Bay” that is a body of water, it could be a destination but it is a wet one. The cities that make up the area from Safety Harbor on the North to Tampa on the East Clearwater –St. Petersburg on the West and Bradenton on the South, all are different from each other in many ways and that is what makes them great, I am not particularly happy that others have found them come here and many have an attitude and insist on telling you how they “do it back home”. I also realize that my family is a minority in this environment…Please go back home!

My slogan suggestion: "Tampa Bay - We define 'Quality of Life'".

Tampa is the modern Key West...........

Tampa Bay - Florida at its best!

Tampa Bay - It's What's for Dinner

Or Tampa Bay - It's not Orlando

or Tampa Bay - The Different Sides of Florida

Tampa Bay - Where every day is a gift.....

How to brand Tampa Bay? Considering the comments posted so far:

Tampa has potential and Bob Buckhorn is a dynamic guy to have as our Mayor - this is a start - the population needs to participate - outside of this meager forum. That means challenging the City Council, loudly, rejecting interference from outside bodies such as the CATO Institute or individuals like Randall O'Toole that advocate sprawl, irresponsible use of resources and rejoice in undermining progressive forward motion by any community. These influences and others need to be see as detrimental and subversive to our community's success. Dynamism is contagious and the region can make use of this empowerment.

CentCom is a business - an important one for the region, however it is not a marketing pitch for tourism, private sector business or family life. The stink has to be addressed: Tampa water frontage is worthless if it smells bad (doesn't matter if at an outdoor restaurant (think Channelside reborn or sitting on a lushly gardened patio on Bayshore). Urban core density needs not only people, but business, recreation and TRANSPORTATION. 30 yrs for a LRS - too long!

Outstanding architecture! The new developments underway and soon to break ground are awesome -we need more! They need to be visually and functionally stunning - people want to live in a beautiful space - so demand that these elements are addressed .

A slogan to build a brand around:
Tampa Bay: Lush, Beautiful and Room to Grow!

I don't think a slogan is going to do it for our area. I think we have to stop being a laughing stock and stop comparing this area to truly great places. Someone from the City of Tampa once said Tampa Bay looks like Paris when the bridges are lit. I almost fell out of my chair. When I called him on it, he said he's been to Paris which leads me to believe he's blind and has no sense of smell.

It would behoove the Tampa Bay area to listen to Daniel Barshay if they're serious about improving this area. He's spot on and has lots of constructive criticism and ideas. I think the politics of combining the area is what will keep us from ever becoming a great destination, though.

Tampa Bay = Destination Fun (or Destination Sun). Tampa Bay = Total Bliss. Come to Tampa Bay, put your toes in the sand and your worries fade away. I would focus on the sun, sandy beaches, serene sunrises and sunsets - unlike anywhere else and a total feeling of good health and happiness. Tampa Bay - it IS a wonderful life!

"Tampa Bay- Beats Des Moines"

There are some great suggestions! I really like Tampa Bay - Florida at its Best! Anyone else have a creative slogan idea?

FLAVOR AND ARTS with BEACHES ON BOTH SIDES (Tampa./Hillsborough Bay and Gulf of Mexico) - We have it all!

Tampa Bay! We have it ALL! It can be yours!

Most people settle down by age 35, and usually don’t move from one metro area to another after that. And the demographic group behind the millennials is a lot smaller. Just like baby boomers, the preferences of the millennials will drive our society for two generations. They’re making location decisions based on their idea of quality of life. And they’re going to make all those decisions in the next few years -- by the time they’re 35.