Thoughts about Tampa please. A friend is

[flvegan]

19. I don't think I could list all the pros and con, naturally.

However:
2 languages are in no way necessary. It would be helpful if one spoke Spanish, but not remotely necessary.

Bugs and snakes. Lots of bugs. Cockroaches flourish here, but keep your house tidy and you won't encounter too many. If one wanted, one could hire pest control to spray the inside/outside. If you live in the city, snakes aren't a common sight, but you may see one in your backyard from time to time. Most of them are harmless to people. They keep other wildlife in check. If you have a couple snakes, you likely will never see a mouse or rat. Venture into the woods and it would be wise to be careful. We have 4 or 5 venomous snakes. Not exactly the Everglades in that you won't see some giant python. Worse still (no me) are the spiders. Not that they're harmful, they can just be pretty large and I have an irrational fear of them.

Organic food supermarkets - you're spoiled for choice. Depending on what part of Tampa, you'll be within a short drive to a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Plus we have several more "mom and pop" stores like Rollin' Oats and Abby's. Farmer's markets are seasonal, but they're everywhere.

Expensive. Yes, from a housing standpoint, it's gotten a little out of hand. But, still not as bad as say an LA or NY. Homeowners insurance here is, in a word, stupid. You can be outside of any flood zone, have a new roof and concrete construction and still be north of $4k a year, while still having a pretty high hurricane deductible. The cost of living outside of that is comfortable and there's no state income tax. There are a plethora of comfy neighborhoods for artists and musicians.

Politics/racism/MAGAts - we've elected a D mayor since the 80's, so there's that. The current mayor is a gay woman who won by a landslide (our former police chief). I think it's been years since I've actually seen one of those stupid red hats in public. Rarely see a bumper sticker. Granted, if you go to a monster truck rally at Raymond James, you'll see them. Hillsborough County (where Tampa is) is fairly blue when compared to much of the state geographically. Racism and Christian nationalism? Yeah, it's here, but you don't hear of it much.

What do I love? Access. I have any shopping and dining experience I could want within 15 minutes. I love that it's largely a grid (streets run north/south and east/west). Lots of venues for music or other gatherings. Hell of a hockey team. Close to beaches, but you don't get the tourist overflow until you get close to the beaches in Clearwater or St. Pete, or north Pinellas. The weather. Anyone moving here from another state may find the summer heat and humidity oppressive. I got used to it, but it took a while. Of course we live under the threat of hurricanes during the season (which seems to ever extend, thanks to the "always be afraid!!1!" local news). Activities. If one likes to be active, outside activity is a year round thing. Tennis, golf, pickleball, boating, mountainbiking, hiking, swimming, volleyball, even gardening...maybe there's 30-60 days that it might be too cold. And the food. Whatever you want, it's here, and it's very good. No matter what kind of foodie or wine snob one may be, happiness will be found. On a personal note, Tampa is very vegan friendly.

What do I hate? It's gotten crowded. It's cheaper to live in Florida rather than some other states, and with work from home sticking around, more people continue to move here. Apartment buildings are constantly being built, and affordable housing here is a joke. The traffic. Where do I even begin. Remember when I said that I loved that it's largely a grid? Part of that is because the greater collective here likely couldn't negotiate a city with anything but right angles. Seriously. I grew up and learned to drive in Massachusetts. This is worse. By a lot. I've never driven in a place where there are more dumb, distracted, selfish drivers in my life. God forbid you need to drive on the interstate. I275 was designed by idiots and continues to be developed by morons. I4 is (or was) the deadliest interstate we have. Oh yes, another thing: infrastructure. Again, I love the grid layout, it's just not maintained very well. The streets are a patchwork of "good enough" and "don't care enough" repairs to the point that having a fun car proved insufferable. We have Frontier FiOS in places, where the fiber optics are buried underground. Power lines are another story. Our public transport really should be better. We have a pretty decent bus line, if you live on it. Downtown, it's easier. It's also easy to rent a scooter and embrace the chaos that seems to go with them. If it's some sort of powered transportation that isn't a car, truck or motorcycle, I don't think laws are enforced. Are you 14 and have an ATV? Drive it on the streets with 20 of your buddies on their unlicensed dirt bikes. No biggie. Traffic signs, lights and other rules of society? Not for you, scooter/bike rider! Lastly, as previously noted, housing has gotten out of hand expense-wise. The housing market has been very hot so finding a place for decent money can be difficult.

Anyway, that's off the top of my head. If you want more, let me know.