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It's currently 79 degrees on a sunny afternoon in Tampa Bay. If only the economic climate matched the actual climate, the Tampa Bay metro area may not find itself in first place on another depressing survey.
Indeed, only a few months after St. Petersburg was crowned the “saddest city in America” by Men's Health magazine, another publication has delivered another shock to the region's ostensibly delicate psyche: Tampa Bay was recognized as the most stressful metro area in a survey conducted by Sperling's Best Places of 50 metropolitan areas in the United States.
Looking at metrics measuring the unemployment rate, crime, commute time, suicide rate and divorce rate among a few others, Sperling's put Tampa Bay at the top of its list.
Now, considering the survey didn't even take into account the region's real estate market, the area could be considered even more stressful.
However, looking into 2012, there's a lot for the business community (and the community in general) to get excited about — think of this year as much needed antidepressant for the Tampa Bay metro area. So here's a memo to Tampa: relax.
In August, the Republican National Convention will take place at the newly named Tampa Bay Times Forum and is expected to bring in roughly $175 million in economic impact to the region. And that's only considering direct spending.
Joe Lopano, CEO of Tampa International Airport, has spent his first year at the position seeking to brand Tampa Bay through remodeling the airport terminal. Of all the visitors expected to attend the RNC, he expects to snare some visitors who are impressed with the region and put it on their list of vacation destinations.
Despite being branded stressful and depressed by outsiders, Tampa leaders look to make 2012 a brighter year.
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