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People are friendly, and the lifestyle is nice. But respondents say more could be done on race relations, high-tech jobs and schools.
By KATHRYN WEXLER and MARCUS FRANKLIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2003
TAMPA -- Residents of the greater Tampa Bay area are happy to live here overall and give the area rave reviews for its friendliness, according to a new survey.
But African-American and Hispanic residents have a less rosy view of the area, particularly regarding race relations.
The survey was commissioned by Tampa Bay Partnership, a seven-county economic development organization. A total of 1,107 voters were interviewed in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco, Sarasota, Manatee and Hernando counties.
An advance copy of the survey obtained by the St. Petersburg Times paints a portrait of an optimistic populace. A vast majority of those surveyed said the region offered the best lifestyle in the Southeast, and most thought it was a good place to raise a family or retire.
But those surveyed also said the area needs more high tech jobs, better schools and improved transportation.
Rhea Law, chairwoman of the Tampa Bay Partnership, said she learned that residents were somewhat unaware of the area's selling points. The organization will use the survey as a guide to better market the region and influence public policy.
"I think it shows we have a lack of knowledge about ourselves," Law said. "We have so many strengths -- the University of South Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center -- that make this place great, and they're not on the tip of the tongue."
The survey found that perceptions of quality of life differed along ideological lines and with regard to age, race and county of residence.
The happiest groups were Manatee County residents, seniors, Republicans, conservatives and residents earning more than $50,000 annually.
Those least positive included Hillsborough County residents, African-Americans, Hispanics, liberals and residents earning less than $30,000. Only a third of Hispanics and even fewer blacks, 15 percent, said it was "very accurate" to describe race relations as good.
Lucas Cadiz, who moved to Hillsborough County two years ago from Miami, echoed those sentiments while outside an Italian bakery in South Tampa on Monday.
"There's not a lot of intermingling," said Cadiz, 24, a computer technician consultant who is Hispanic and originally from New York.
"The white people stay in one area, the Hispanic stay in another."
Overall, 73 percent of those surveyed said their quality of life had stayed the same or improved the in past three years. But less than half of Hispanics surveyed agreed, and only a quarter of blacks said their lives were better. And minorities generally did not give leaders high scores for their efforts to attract better jobs and employers to the area.
"To the extent (the survey) reflects a feeling that there's a need to focus on economic development in the communities that are affected, I think that is accurate and we're doing that," said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, who had not seen the survey.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Thomas Scott said he agreed with the crux of the findings.
"Whites tend to enjoy a higher level of security in terms of jobs and employment," said Scott, who is black.
"African-Americans tend to be the last ones hired and the first ones laid off" and tend to make less money than whites, he said. Still, he pointed to high-ranking black officials as evidence that the region was making strides.
Sheila Green, a 52-year-old liaison in the trauma unit at Bayfront Medical Center, moved to St. Petersburg nine years ago from Newark, N.J.
Unlike most African-Americans surveyed, Green, who is black, said she is better off financially than a year ago.
"Every year I get a raise," she said.
The survey showed residents overwhelmingly support "tax breaks and other incentives" to bring new high-tech businesses to the area.
That came as good news to Tom Wallace, president of Tampa Bay Technology Forum, which wants more economic support for tech businesses.
"People recognize that high tech does play a very important part in our future," Wallace said, emphasizing the high paying jobs tech provides and the well-educated workers it attracts.
It won't happen overnight, he noted.
"I don't think it's a pipe dream, but it's a long-term process. We're where Atlanta was five years ago."
Most people said traffic congestion is getting worse. But they'd also rather fill potholes and synchronize traffic lights than make more expensive structural changes like building freeways or a regional mass transit rail system.
Public education is also lacking, residents said. The survey noted that polls show similar opinions are held nationwide.
Shannon Ezzell, 26, a Hillsborough County resident strolling through the Hyde Park retail district with her 9-month-old son Monday, said the low quality of grade schools was her only complaint about the area.
"I wish that the public schools were improved," said Ezzell, who lives in Westchase and is already shopping for private school for her son, Jackson. If schools were better, she said, she would "absolutely" enroll him in public school when he's ready.
Still, "I love it here."
Melissa Lewis moved to South Tampa in July to join friends. She's happy.
"People here are pleasant and accommodating," said Lewis, 31. "They're friendly. They're Southern."
-- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3383 or wexler@sptimes.com. Marcus Franklin can be reached at (727) 893-8488 or mfranklin@sptimes.com.