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After midnight ...
By SUSAN THURSTON
© St. Petersburg Times,
Seem strange? Not really. Then again, consider that this happened after midnight, when most people in New Tampa are sleeping, cradling newborns or watching Conan O'Brien. Less than 20 years ago, New Tampa was a vast open space where cows outnumbered people and cypress trees, not houses, covered the terrain. Until recently, the term New Tampa didn't even appear on maps. Today, this corner of Hillsborough County has evolved into a bustling, full-service community where people can buy a baby swing or a bacon cheeseburger 24 hours a day. Call it progress or call it sprawl. About 27,000 people call New Tampa home, up from about 7,000 a decade ago. City officials estimate that about one-third of Tampa's population will live in New Tampa in the next two decades. And more people means more commerce. A full range of businesses caters to every customer and every schedule. People can grab something to eat, watch a movie or shoot a game of pool long after the sun goes down. A few places never close, like Wal-Mart, Steak n Shake and Kash n' Karry. "We usually don't go to sleep until 1 in the morning so this is great," said Jeff Gonzalez of Tampa Palms, as he left Wal-Mart after 12:30 a.m. on a recent weeknight. He and his girlfriend, Melonie Wilkerson, like the late-night shopping because the lines are short and they can cruise through the store. During this visit, they went in for cotton balls and left with two carts of groceries and household goodies, ranging from a 19-inch color TV to an anti-bug fogger. "We come here to spend $5 and we always end up spending between $300 and $500," Gonzalez said.
Fortunately for Wal-Mart, they aren't alone. Plenty of shoppers work long hours, can't sleep or just have the munchies. "Every night it's something different," said overnight support manager Natasia Lamb, after a man bought a dozen roses at 4 a.m. The new amenities are a long time coming. Homeowners clamored for years for more restaurants and stores. Now that they have them, the biggest problem is traffic. "I don't necessarily enjoy the increased traffic, but it's a byproduct of the fact that more people live here," said Frank Margarella, a 10-year resident of Hunter's Green. "A lot of people might have liked the peace and quiet of not having any development, but there was certainly a lot of complaining." As the first president of the New Tampa Community Council, Margarella says the area generally has developed as planners and local leaders envisioned. The council was formed in 1993 as a chamber of commerce of sorts to promote businesses and improve New Tampa's quality of life. Others prefer simpler times, when New Tampa was a small, bedroom community. "It's nice to have all this out here, but I'd take the old way," said longtime resident Roger Kaiser. "I hate to leave the house anymore." Kaiser moved to Pebble Creek in 1979 when the area was just starting to develop. He remembers when two-lane Bruce B. Downs Boulevard was called the "road to nowhere" and had no traffic lights. The closest supermarket was 8 miles away. After midnight, deer claimed the road. Now retired, Kaiser said he never expected so much commercial development, although he admits he is powerless to stop it. "I feel it's progress. It's going to come" said Kaiser, who heads the Pebble Creek Village Homeowner Association. "You just have to go with the flow." That flow picked up in the 1980s with the development of Tampa Palms and Hunter's Green, each bringing thousands of suburbanites with cash to spend and needs to meet. No one, it seemed, wanted another Dale Mabry Highway lined with a jumbled mix of shopping centers, fast-food joints and small businesses. New home construction boomed in the early '90s and has remained strong ever since, prompting similar growth in the retail sector. New businesses have moved in and more are on the way, including The Walk shopping center at Highwoods Preserve and a giant Target just north of the Wal-Mart. "I think it's inevitable, though the traffic is getting kind of scary," said Todd Wiener, a Carrollwood dentist who has been practicing in the New Tampa area for about 25 years. Over the years, Wiener has seen New Tampa thrive with strong schools and attractive neighborhoods. Most of the growth has been positive, he said. Wiener attributes much of the success to the efforts of the community council, of which he is a board member. Top among the group's accomplishments: the overlay district, which sets standards for landscaping, signs and other aesthetics. And while he doesn't do much shopping at 3 a.m., it's nice to have the option. "When I opened up (my practice) it was like the end of the world up here," he said. "Back then if you wanted to go to Wal-Mart or even put gas in our car you had to go a long way." - Susan Thurston can be reached at (813) 226-3463.
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