I have lived in Tampa all of my life.
I’m used to the traffic and tourism.
It’s not awful during the winter months, but summer is a nightmare. Even the snowbirds are better than the tourists. I grew up in a small neighborhood outside of Tampa but I moved to the city when I became an HVAC repairman. I work for a repair company located in downtown Tampa. I couldn’t drive from the country to the city every day without sitting in traffic for an hour, so it was honestly cheaper to rent a place in the city. I had to look for several months before I found a suitable place to rent in Tampa. I really didn’t want to rent a house, and I was hoping to find an apartment with another roommate to share the rent and utilities. One thing I knew for sure was the apartment needed Central AC. Central AC is an absolute must in Tampa. The summer temperatures are often 90 degrees with 100% humidity. It’s not only uncomfortable to live without AC, but it can also be dangerous. Hot and humid temperatures can lead to heat stroke and accidental death. As soon as I found an apartment with Central AC, I moved to the city. It’s still hard to travel around town in all of the traffic, and I always make sure to leave one destination with a full tank of gas. You never know when you might end up stuck in traffic all day and it’s one of the easiest ways to unexpectedly run out of gas.