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It's no wonder that one of the most popular places people look for new homes is Greater Tampa. G.L. Homes is proud to offer Valencia Lakes in Tampa.
Tampa is one of Central Florida’s Gulf Coast cities, located on the state’s west coast. It is the second largest metropolitan area in Florida, behind Miami. Tampa is commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area, and is generally considered one of the trio of cities that make up the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area. In 2008, Tampa was ranked as the 5th best outdoor city by Forbes.
Search retirement homes for sale in Greater Tampa Bay at Valencia Lakes.
Reasons to Buy a New Home in Greater Tampa
For residents of Tampa Bay, there's no state income tax and property taxes are low. Tampa also offers a lower cost of living than other major and comparable southern cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and Charleston.
Many people relocate to the Tampa Bay area for the desirable Florida lifestyle and vibrant business climate. This city also offers a lively cultural community including a wide variety of museums, performance halls, festivals, galleries, professional sports and dining experiences. Lovers of the outdoors will appreciate the beautiful beaches and many opportunities for adventure: biking, fishing, boating, playing beach volleyball, and more. Anchored by Disney World, Universal Studios and Busch Gardens, Central Florida is also popularly known as the “tourist attraction capital of the world”.
Few sports fans can forget how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' reveled in Super Bowl glory in 2003 and the local professional hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, won the 2004 Stanley Cup.
Greater Tampa also offers several higher educational institutions, including the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, Strayer University, International Academy of Design & Technology, and Stetson University College of Law.
Also good to know, Tampa boasts some of the best healthcare facilities in the United States, including H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and three hospitals ranked as "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News and World Report.
A Brief History of Greater Tampa
In 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was the first European who arrived in the Tampa Bay area. But the Europeans, focusing their attention on eastern Florida, left the western areas alone for the next 200-plus years. In 1821, the United States purchased Florida from Spain and the first American settler arrived three years later. Shortly after, four companies of the U.S. Army established Fort Brooke to protect the harbor at Tampa Bay, a waterway now considered strategic in efforts to tame the vast wilderness surrounding this isolated frontier post. In the late 1800s, the founding of Ybor City, the building of a railroad and lavish hotels, and the discovery of phosphate, prompted a boom of growth and wealth that expanded Tampa into a small, yet flourishing city. Tampa grew considerably bigger as a result of the bases built there during World War II. Many servicemen who had been stationed in Tampa during the war, returned there for the mild Florida climate. The main Tampa downtown business district experienced major growth starting in the 1960s, and it has yet to stop. Major banks and an increasing number of corporations occupy the glass, steel and concrete buildings that now tower high above the bay.
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