Will Orlando metro surpass tampa metro in 5 years?

[facilities man]

Tampa first grew towards St. Pete and the Gulf. Orlando first grew Northeast towards Seminole county. If Tampa and Orlando orginally grew towards each other instead of the other directions the metro areas would already have merged.

[EbonyGardens]

Regarding Atlanta, I-285 is roughly at the same distance from downtown Atlanta as SR 436 is from downtown Orlando at Altamonte Springs. It's not that big a loop. SR 417 is way further out.

Although not as dense in the suburbs yet, Orlando's geographic "reach" is as far or further than Atlanta's is to North Georgia (for the sake of comparison).

DB and Brevard are in the same boat as Sarasota and Manattee counties with regard to Tampa Bay; they have their own city centers as well.

But, DB and Titusville and Cocoa are satellite cities. I've said it before and it is a fact, that people commute from Titusville up SR 50 to O-town. They even come from Edgewater/ New Smyrna in East Volusia up SR 44 (which is being widened all the way to I-4 with a new interchange). I also know people who have commuted from Merrit Island up 528, and people who cross commute out to the Space Center from Orlando for work.

Central Florida is set up like Texas. Everything is spread way out and it is expected and accepted. People are so accustomed to driving these long distances, that they forget just how far they are driving. Just b/c there's a certain number of miles that one may think is too much between cities, doesn't change the fact that people live in one place and work in the other place.

West Volusia is, of course, part of Orlando Metro. If not, it should be.

But you also have to appreciate the geography of Orlando. East Orange County is all marshland and wetlands, and they discourage development out there. So its a natural barrier between urban areas, much like the mountain ranges in California.

However, there is a large development occurring in East Orange where 50 and 520 and 528 connect. And that development is only a few minutes drive to Titusville to the northeast, and Cocoa and Merritt and the rest of Brevard to the due east.

Also, southwest of Kissimmee, Poinciana is growing at an alarming rate right at the corner with Polk County, near Haines City. Look on Google maps.

I-4 will now be widened to I-95. All the exits will be new like in Hillsborough on I-4. DeLand will always be separate from DB b/c there a wildlife refuge between the two. Again, its a geographic boundary set by statute. It doesn't mean people would not otherwise develop the land if not for the restriction. Without it, DB and Orlando would have already merged with development. The same holds true for a portion of SR 44 from Deland to NSB.

And Cocoa is even shorter of a drive than DB is.

What does this all mean and why am I neglecting my work to type this? B/C I'm bored and this subject interests me.

Will Orlando catch Tampa? Who knows. But their growth rate is greater. I know Orange Co. is right behind Hillsborough in pop. and will surpass it within 2-3 years. Pinellas isn't growing. But Pasco is. But so is West Volusia, Osceola, and Lake (the existing recognized metro sections of Orlando).

But wouldn't it make sense to live in the city you work in? That's kind of nonsensical to commute an hour back and forth everyday to work, not to mention you have to constantly get gas on the way to and from work.

[JRS1]

It doesn't mak sense, but people do it everyday. In NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, and even in Central Florida. I wouldn't do it, unless my roots were deep in the neighborhood and the job was either temporary or paid well. But you gotta also understand there are many careers and jobs that require you to travel greatdistances from the office anyway, maybe once ot twice a week.

Here's a misconception about Orlando... again. Its fast rate of growth is not mainly fueled by endless expansion of tourist based services. That would mean all the new jobs are tourist related. they aren't. Orlando's office space market is right behind Tampa's, and if you look at the per capita figures, it's office space (metro) is roughly the SAME as Tampa's.

So, Orlando has tourism on top of that.

[Jahi98]

It doesn't mak sense, but people do it everyday. In NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, and even in Central Florida. I wouldn't do it, unless my roots were deep in the neighborhood and the job was either temporary or paid well. But you gotta also understand there are many careers and jobs that require you to travel greatdistances from the office anyway, maybe once ot twice a week.

Here's a misconception about Orlando... again. Its fast rate of growth is not mainly fueled by endless expansion of tourist based services. That would mean all the new jobs are tourist related. they aren't. Orlando's office space market is right behind Tampa's, and if you look at the per capita figures, it's office space (metro) is roughly the SAME as Tampa's.

So, Orlando has tourism on top of that.

^^^Can you show numbers that its growth is not stongly related to growth in tourist and service jobs? Of course all of the new jobs aren't tourist based. There are a lot of design firms there, the entertainment industry is growing there, there's some high tech and clearly construction is creating a lot of jobs in the area. However, it seems the hotels/resorts and theme park companies continue to be the largest private employers in the area and the hotel/resort construction continues at a mad pace.

[I-275westcoastflorida]

Tampa's Metro is estimate over 3 million now and it has the nations fastest growing job market and it has plenty of room to sprawl still. Though i consider Pinellas and Pasco and Hernado as its own metro and Hillsborough and Polk, etc a part of its own metro the census doesnt so Tampa is also growing fast and its still ahead of Orlando i dont see it passing Tampa's Metro anytime soon infact i think the only time its going to surpass Tampa is when we become St.Orlampasburg until then i doubt it.

[gjoseph]

By 2020-2030 Tampa Metro's Population will be over 5 million people and 10 million people will live 100 miles from Tampa!

Got this info from the Tampa Bay Biz Journal

-Gerald

[ATLman1]

By 2020-2030 Tampa Metro's Population will be over 5 million people and 10 million people will live 100 miles from Tampa!

Got this info from the Tampa Bay Biz Journal

-Gerald

With that many people Tampa and Orlando will be one huge metro!

[bobliocatt]

10 million people and no sufficient alternative mass transit system to help move people. Lol, I can just imagine how the drive down I-4 will be.

[illliterate02]

By 2020-2030 Tampa Metro's Population will be over 5 million people and 10 million people will live 100 miles from Tampa!

Got this info from the Tampa Bay Biz Journal

-Gerald

That would make it roughly the same size as Orlando's metro in the same era. That is basing things on the current growth trends... which unless home prices level or some big comapnies come to town, should start to level off soon... especially if the traffic gets as hellish as many people expect..

[JRS1]

All I know is that there is a statistic posted on skysrapercity stating that downtown Orlando has more office space than DT Tampa-- by alot (1.5 million ft2). Tampa metro has more than Orlando metro (more then 5 million ft2 more). Orlando has more metro than metro Jax. Those offices house the same types of industries that they house in Tampa.

That being said, if you take away Disney and the hotels, ORL has the same per capita office space as Tampa. Banking, insurance, legal, medical, industrial, defense, hi-tech, aerospace, publishing, education, etc. You name it, Orlando's got alot of it- for its size. Orlando is also a major industrial distribution hub as well.

Now, add the tourist industry on top of that, along with the convention industry. The only new service industry construction lately has been Shingle Creek (1,500 rooms), Omni Championsgate (700 rooms) and WDW Pop Century (Phase 1- 2,000 or so rooms). The rest is condos, condo-tell, and retail, etc.