There are few places in the region where it pays to step back and appreciate the big picture more than the university area of north Tampa. Major employers there are investing hundreds of millions of dollars. Government and the business community are looking to partner on new mass transit services. And efforts to build an innovation district are at the forefront of the goal of improving incomes, housing and health care in the community. It won’t happen overnight, but the leadership and commitments are in place to change the dynamics of a long-struggling area.
For decades the community was associated with three major institutions: the University of South Florida, Busch Gardens and the renamed University Mall. Over the years, an influx of rental properties and publicly subsidized housing changed the demographics of what had been a suburban community amid a campus setting. Major hospitals in the area also took off, drawing new traffic to an area that largely had been the domain of students and visitors. The university area is now a busy, diverse destination for tens of thousands of students, faculty, researchers, health care professionals, retailers, tourists, consumers and more in a packed urban setting about 10 miles north of downtown.
