The Resurrection of Downtown Tampa’s Crown Jewel
The red neon “Open” sign in the window of Franklin Street News Stand would flicker on at 7 a.m., followed by the neon signs for the news stand's neighbors–the Shoe Hospital and Carmen's Sandwich Shop–shortly thereafter. A block away, the homeless people sleeping in front of Sacred Heart Church would wake up, roll up their blankets and seek shade from the hot sun. And then, for the next two hours, downtown would lay quiet, waiting for the rush of attorneys, judges, politicians and financial analysts who made downtown their home from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Packed into their offices, they left for only an hour each day to eat at one of the few restaurants scattered throughout downtown, and then disappear when work ended. The neon signs would shut off. The homeless would return to Sacred Heart's lawn, and the downtown would once again become a ghost town.
Up until a few years ago, this was the average weekday scene in downtown Tampa. Today, though, this once forgotten area of the city is bustling with life 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Condominium towers adorning seemingly every corner of downtown Tampa are filling up with residents. To accommodate these downtown denizens, new restaurants, bars and cafés are popping up around the towers. A new Tampa Museum of Art will open this fall. Electric golf cart taxis shuttle people about. Business at the Tampa Theatre has never been better. Even venerable dive bar The Hub opened new digs in 2002.
Yes, downtown Tampa is alive again. There are reasons to live and play in downtown. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic fills the streets and sidewalks from the early hours of the morning until, well, the early hours of the morning.
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