Orkeed

There are many things to do when visiting Tampa Bay, Florida.  From the sunny beaches to the family friendly attractions and theme parks such as Busch Gardens, to the Lowry Park Zoo and the Florida Aquarium there is something for everyone.  However, if your kind of vacation does not involve the heavily populated theme parks, you may find a walk through the historic neighborhood of Ybor City a bit more your style.  Located close to the downtown area and many of the best Tampa hotels you will find this tiny enclave, which was founded in 1880 and owes its foundation on the cigar merchants and the immigrants coming from Cuba, Italy and Spain.  This cigar industry was booming for about fifty years, where upon millions of cigars were rolled and sold annually.

Neighborhoods such as this across the United States are unique and eclectic, with their multicultural and multiracial populations, offering an incredible mix of the arts, the cultures and the foods of people from around the world, combining with the people who were born in these states.  As with many American cities and neighborhoods, Ybor City suffered greatly from the effects of not only World War II, but the Great Depression as well.  This area suffered greatly as the buildings and the streets fell into disrepair due to the mass exodus from the area, and the abandonment that occurred throughout the 1950′s-1960′s.  By the beginning of the 1970′s, there were very few business still operating and the neighborhood became a questionable area.  But what usually happens in situations such as this?  The artists move in, that’s what happens.  In such neighborhoods, the rent is cheap because no one wants to live there, and during the 1980′s artists began searching out the low rents of the old cigar warehouses.

It is an interesting evolution in neighborhoods from Manhattan, to Chicago to Los Angeles.  Once the artists moved in, the abandoned brick buildings began to be converted to restaurants, bars, bookstores and apartment houses.  Throughout the beginning of the 21st Century, the area continued to thrive, and even received funding from the government of Florida to continue the rebuilding and the renovation.  Today, this is one of the more popular areas of Tampa Bay, for those looking for a bit of night life, fine and flavorful cuisine and unique market places and boutiques for shopping.  Ybor City of Tampa, one of the cities of the United States that has found a re-birth, and one of the areas of Tampa you must not miss on any trip to the beautiful and sunny coast of Western Florida.

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