Good Day Sunshine

It was good news both for snowbirds and for the Evening Independent, St. Petersburg's afternoon newspaper. On a slow news day in 1910, the Independent's publisher had come up with a brilliant marketing plan. On days when the sun didn't shine, the paper would be free.

The idea was brilliant because it indelibly stamped the "Sunshine City" moniker on St. Petersburg, which was emerging as a choice destination for northern tourists. It was cheap because the sun shines an average of 361 days a year in the Tampa Bay area. For the next 75 years, the paper was obligated rarely to forego circulation revenue.

But if sun and surf attract people to Tampa Bay, plenty of other recreational opportunities keep them here.

For lovers of the arts and sciences, there's the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Museum of Art and The Museum of Science and Industry.

Thrill seekers can check out Busch Gardens and Adventure Island. And sports fans can cheer on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Several professional baseball teams, including the New York Yankees, tune up during spring training. The area has even hosted two Super Bowls.

Not surprisingly, this winning combination of natural beauty, leisure amenities and a thriving local economy has made the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area among the fastest growing in the United States, with nearly 2.5 million people now occupying Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties.

Despite the rapid growth, housing remains relatively affordable. According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, the median price of all homes sold in the Tampa Bay area was $194,000 during the first quarter of 2006.

Concurrently, the region's median household income was $54,400. Thus, according to the HOI, families earning the region's median household income could afford to purchase 44 percent of the homes actually being sold. (Orlando is at 34.2 percent and Miami is at 13.7 percent.)

And there's no sign that the region will run out of homes for the influx of new residents anytime soon. Pinellas County, which is nearly built out, is starting to build up, with a boom in condominium construction along the beaches. Although parts of Hillsborough and Manatee counties are fully developed, wide expanses to the east are sprouting master-planned communities.

Pasco County, with the Suncoast Parkway running up its spine, has become another new frontier for development. And Hernando County, also blessed with Parkway access, is hot on its heels.

Without a doubt, the Bay area offers a rich array of home choices. We can help you narrow it down.

Following is a neighborhood-by-neighborhood primer, in which you'll find everything from new master-planned developments to charming historic neighborhoods. Undoubtedly, there's a home just right for you and your family.

Brandon

Settler John Brandon gave his name to this sprawling community in the 1850s. Then the railroad arrived in 1890. But not much else of significance happened here until 145 years later, when the giant Westfield Brandon mall opened.

Even then, plenty of cows were around to witness the hoopla. A herd of curious bovines, kept in a field near the mall, broke through a barbed wire enclosure and into the parking lot, startling drivers and pedestrians and leaving odorous souvenirs behind on an otherwise festive opening day.

"Nowhere but Brandon would you see that," says Mary Odum, a local realtor for Coldwell Banker since 1984.

Cattle are getting rarer in Brandon, which is located conveniently at the end of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway and near the junction of I-4 and I-75, creating easy access to both Tampa and Orlando.

In 1960, the first year a census was taken of Brandon, there were 1,655 residents. By 2000 there were 77,895. The geographic boundaries have grown as well, with Brandon now encompassing an area south of I-4, east of I-75 and north of the Alafia River to Big Bend Road. The towns of Lithia, Seffner, Mango and a new rising star, Dover, are all considered part of the Brandon area.

Despite its size, Brandon isn't a city. Instead, it's one of the largest unincorporated communities in Florida. Newcomers are often surprised to learn that Hillsborough County provides Brandon's police and fire protection as well as other governmental services.

Twenty years ago, Brandon offered a wide array of solid if unremarkable homes, attracting a large contingent of military families and retirees from nearby MacDill Air Force Base. The average price was around $50,000. Today, the median home price in Brandon is pushing $300,000-and there's no shortage of $1 million-plus homes.

Brandon has always been known for its family-oriented neighborhoods, a tradition that continues with FishHawk Ranch and FishHawk Trails, two large master-planned communities. And local schools are considered to be excellent, another big draw for buyers.

FishHawk Ranch, in Lithia, once a working ranch, is a breathtaking tract planned for some 5,000 homes, miles of walking trails, a skate park, community pools, movie house, aquatics center and even a roller hockey rink. FishHawk Trails, a gated custom-home community on the east side of Lithia-Pinecrest, offers beautiful new homes on half-acre-plus lots. Resales are available in Bloomingdale, a Brandon mainstay now built-out with more than 4,000 single-family homes.

There are several nearby entertainment venues. The Florida State Fairgrounds provides year-round events and festivals. The Ford Amphitheatre on the fairgrounds regularly presents pop, country and rock concerts.

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, complete with a 50-foot-tall guitar at the entrance, offers live entertainment, restaurants and bars and a full-service spa as well as slot machines and roulette wheels.

Downtown Tampa

Tampa started out as a fort. President James Monroe approved a military post to be built at Hillsborough Bay in 1823 and, by the following year, Fort Brooke was completed. The peninsular Tampa area, which juts out into Tampa Bay, has had a military presence ever since.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Tampa was a major staging ground for 30,000 of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, who were preparing to invade Cuba. And MacDill Air Force Base is on the tip of the Interbay Peninsula, eight miles from downtown.

For many years, downtown Tampa was only a place to work. Now it's increasingly becoming a place to live as well, with condominiums planned from the downtown core through the Channel District, adjacent to the Port of Tampa, and all the way to historic Ybor City.

Replicas of the city's 1920s-era historic streetcars make it easy and fun to get from one end of downtown to the other. The city's impressive skyline marks the bustling waterfront region and provides a gleaming glass-and-steel backdrop for many of the area's high-profile attractions. The St. Pete Times Forum, Channelside entertainment complex, Florida Aquarium, Yacht StarShip and Ybor City provide plenty of opportunities for fun and relaxation on or near the water.

The west side of downtown, along the scenic Hillsborough River, is home to the Tampa Convention Center, Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa Museum of Art, University of Tampa, Henry B. Plant Museum (formerly the Tampa Bay Hotel) and Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

But there's probably no place in Hillsborough County with a more active nightlife than Ybor (pronounced E-bore). This funky National Historic Landmark District-the second-largest in Florida, after St. Augustine-was once home to cigar factories where Cuban immigrants toiled, hand-rolling cigars as el Lector read newspapers and novels to them.

Some of the red brick former cigar factory buildings and social clubs remain, as do a significant number of other structures built around the turn of the last century.

The influence of Cuban culture is still strong along Seventh Avenue. Within a few blocks, you can buy a Cuban-style cigar, eat authentic Cuban sandwiches or black beans, rice and plantains, and enjoy a cup of steaming Cuban coffee.

The district has several popular restaurants and bars, and no fewer than 25 major events are celebrated each year, including illuminated night parades, cultural and arts festivals and a weekend farmers' market.

Ybor's energy has attracted a burgeoning creative class, including architects, engineers and designers. And on the east side, there's an industrial area teeming with manufacturers and distributors. Today's "Cigar City" is becoming a place where newcomers want to live as well as work and play.

"It's an up-and-coming place to live," says Marc Hamburg, owner of Florida Real Estate Associates and chairman of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce. "Property values are holding steady and increasing. Even the president of our chamber is living in the district."

For example, the relatively new Camden Ybor City apartments were recently converted to condominiums while new multifamily projects are rising on long-empty lots. And many tiny shotgun-style homes-known locally as casitas-are being restored as private residences. Several have been preserved and relocated to a square near the Ybor City State Museum, where one is being used as an art gallery and another as a tearoom.

In addition to new residential developments, commercial and office projects are popping up and attracting relocating companies. Among them are UTek, a technology transfer company with offices in London and Israel, and WilsonMiller, an engineering firm bringing 120 employees to the Old Ybor Brewing Company building.

Ybor, with all its patina and history, is adjacent to one of Tampa's newest and fastest-emerging residential communities, Channelside. A decade ago, few would have been brave enough to predict a condominium craze in this once gritty industrial seaport district. But considering the spectacular waterfront views from up high, it's surprising that it took so long.

In addition to the new condominiums, there are several mixed-use projects either announced or under way featuring ground-floor retail, restaurants or offices with residential towers above.

"I see Channelside and Ybor eventually getting married, especially as the Tampa Park and Central Park projects get under way," says Hamburg. "Channelside has the water and the port while Ybor has the history. But both are urban environments that appeal to young professionals."

Century-old Seminole Heights, one of the city's first suburbs, is another thriving neighborhood in the downtown area. Blighted 20 years ago, it's yet another Bay-area turnaround story.

When Hamburg moved there in the 1980s to be closer to downtown, he began buying older homes on the cheap and renting them to low-income tenants. Lately, as leases have expired, he's found buyers competing for his properties-and offering top dollar.

"Values have gone way up," Hamburg says. "Properties that were once rented are now being bought by professionals. The housing stock is making a big change."

The Hillsborough River anchors Seminole Heights, which is dotted with small parks. Private properties on the little river are selling for prices over $1 million-sums that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. But buyers came to realize that its tributary's direct access to the Gulf of Mexico was a premium Seminole Heights asset.

Neighborly porch parties are routine, giving new residents a chance to get to know each other and veterans the chance to gossip. And an annual Seminole Heights tour of homes is a popular event.

New Tampa

Tampa Palms was the community that changed the course of Hillsborough residential development. But nobody would have expected that until Denver developer Ken Good came to town in the 1980s with fistfuls of cash and a vision of a neighborhood like no other.

For generations, Bruce B. Downs Boulevard had been known as "the Road to Nowhere," carved out so a few prominent families could access their hunting camps in northeast Hillsborough.

Eventually, much of the land was sold off in large tracts to developers, including Good, who developed 9,100 acres as Tampa Palms. In 1985 he convinced the city of Tampa to annex the land, which was barely contiguous to Tampa proper. It became the city's largest annexation of residential acreage in 100 years.