Comments on: young professionals in god’s waiting room

By: Correction needed

Correction needed — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:40:31 +0000

Verve wsa formed BEFORE Emerge Tampa, and the little gadflys at the Chamber tried to recruiter the founder to the Emerge board with the requirment she disband Verve first.

So no more giving the Chamber’s little Hitler Youth lies any credit.

By: james

james — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:49:16 +0000

As a member, boardmember and past president of different YP groups, I must say that apparently many are not looking for the YP groups. Some of the best are in the arts community in St. Petersburg. The Zodiac has been around for more than 15 years and is very active in the local community rasing awareness for the Dali Museum. Plus we do though some good parties. Being an arts group we don’t go for the frat seen. If you want that stick to Emerge. They are the new Tampa Elite. If you want some good YP groups, try crossing the bridge and check out all the arts groups. We got it going on!

By: Mr. Bill

Mr. Bill — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 15:38:17 +0000

“young professionals” is such an over used term. As a former “young professional” I always asked: does that mean I can’t play with the adults ?

Our community welcomes everyone to be involved, but at the various neighborhood meetings etc, I hardly ever see anyone under 35 years of age attend.

If you don’t bother to express your opinions and views, how do you expect them to be reflected in policies and actions ?

Throw the term away. Let’s get down to al being part of a vibrant community and take the time to be a part of it.

All that it takes for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing. (and/or women)

Speak up and out. Post comments on this site and any others. BE HEARD ! But it will only happen if you bother to speak up.

By: Firedancer

Firedancer — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 05:21:58 +0000

I fully concur with the comment about discussions about what Tampa could be. I grew up nearby (in Palm Harbor, moved to Tampa for college (USF) and then went to NYC for a few years. I moved back to be closer to friends/family and to settle down. I love being back in FL, but sometimes I just can’t help but be a bit disappointed in Tampa.

Tampa has several locations that could be so much more than they currently are (Hyde Park, Channelside, Downtown, SoHo). The conclusion I have come to is that this just isn’t a priority for the local govt (i.e., Pam). Does this mean us “young professionals” aren’t being vocal enough? I admit I’ve never been to a city council meeting or one of Pam’s Town Hall meetings. I vote in local elections, but more to avoid feeling guilty than out of any sort of passion for the candidates.

I don’t know if this is the right place to put the blame. For now, I’m focusng on becoming more actively involved in local groups (Emerge Tampa, Uncorked, etc). I also took Jim Johnson’s advice and signed up for TampaOptions newsletter.

I’m glad to see there are others who feel similarly – there’s hope for Tampa yet!!

By: JB

JB — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:07:06 +0000

I have to agree with these reports that being a young professional in this area kind of stinks. I grew up in this area and moved away for 7 years, but returned last year after getting a post-grad degree to be closer to family in the area. It took me 10 months to find a job here, and it’s a contractor job with no benefits. Cost of living isn’t horrendous, but I certainly won’t be able to afford to buy property here anytime soon. With that set of circumstances, I can understand why the area is ranked so low. I have to agree with David also. It seems like a lot of “networking” or social groups are heavily centered around drinking, which is too bad if you aren’t really into that.

By: Chris W

Chris W — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:57:12 +0000

I’m 47, married, with two teenagers so I guess I’m not a “young professional” anymore. But I’ll take a whack at it.

The thing that always frustrated me about Tampa is how spread out it is, and how you have to get in your car to go out of your neighborhood. If you try to walk or bike you take your life in your hands if you want to travel any distance here. There really isn’t any enclave of affordable houses or apartments or boarding houses that’s near work, shopping, or entertainment. So you need a car, and insurance, and repairs, and $$$.

We used to have places in Tampa where you could go get a well-paying job (GE, GTE Data Services) but outsourcing and offshoring have decimated those kind of jobs.

Further, housing cost a *lot* here unless you’re willing to move into a former crack den or live in a tin can. How many young professionals can you think of who can afford $200K for 1000 square feet? I don’t know any. For this you can blame the house flippers and real estate vultures, but coupled with our anemic employment picture (lots of $10/hr jobs, but try buying a house on that) it’s no wonder we’re dead last.

By: David Jenkins

David Jenkins — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:30:08 +0000

Interesting post. See the BUMMED portion of the blog I put up today, talking about this very thing: http://maladrin.blogspot.com/2007/06/ramblerumblerant.html

As far as young professional groups in town, to me they appear to be an extension of the frat system – an organized excuse to go drink somewhere. I see very little else going on.

Not that I have a problem with going out to drink, I’m quite in favor of it actually, but I’m not deluding myself that it’s philanthropy or helping make a city better.

My theater company has tried to work with local young professional groups on several occasions and have either been outright ignored or whatever was said to happen was eventually scrapped due to either lack of interest or organization.