Saturday, September 1, 2012

Yo, Philly: You Shine, Compared To Tampa!

When the Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia in 2000 the city went all our to put on its best face and Philly hospitality was on ample display.
It didn't matter that Philly was and is a Democrat city -- and has been since 1951 or thereabouts. The Democrat Mayor at the time (Ed Rendell) actually spearheaded the effort to attract the convention and not only was he ecstatic about welcoming the GOP but he also put together one of the best convention support teams and volunteer armies that have ever been assembled.
I know because I was part of that volunteer effort. But the friendliness and helpfulness didn't end with the official volunteers. Rather, it extended to ordinary Philadelphians -- cab drivers, restaurant proprietors and service workers, hotel employees, bus drivers and even office workers and other professionals. Everybody turned on the charm.
People went all out to be courteous, helpful and friendly.
And security was top-notch as well. True, this was pre 9/11 and security was not quite as stringent as it is today. But security personnel worked round the clock and proved to be patient, cheerful, thorough and altogether invaluable.
The whole thing was a triumph for Philly and proved to be a turning point for the city. In a very real way it put Philly on the map as a first-rate convention destination and a touring and dining mecca.
Now, a decade later Tampa has had its moment.
I wish I could say the same things about Tampa that I've just said about Philly (and that I could have said about New York in 2008 as well). But regrettably, I can't.
Don't get me wrong: Tampa has a great airport, some really beguiling natural beauty, abundant waterways, nearby beaches and a decent city skyline.
Yet, service personnel, volunteers and just plain ordinary Tampa residents didn't seem particularly jazzed about the GOP convention. In fact, some of them looked at delegates and attendees with a look that seemed to say: "What the hell are YOU doin here?"
When I told someone I was there for the convention he actually asked me "WHAT convention?"
On the way into town we were welcomed by a huge billboard that proclaimed: "Welcome Republicans to Tampa, a city with a Democrat Mayor and all-Democrat City Council."
Like much of Florida, the Tampa area is not particularly pedestrian-friendly. Things are sprawled out over a huge area. And, if you don't have wheels, you're pretty much flat outta luck.
The buses provided to take us from our hotels to the Tampa Bay Times Forum and back again were fine but the bus system itself was chaotic.
The convention organizers had three big nights (the "first night" was a reprieve, thanks to Isaac) to get the kinks out of the bus system and they failed. Tales of conventioneers not getting back to their far-flung hotels till two or three o'clock in the morning (thanks to bus foulups) were not uncommon.
Convention volunteers often seemed clueless and frequently could not answer even the simplest questions. It may not have been entirely their fault. Maybe they simply were not given the proper preparation and/or the adequate training. Who knows?
I do know that one of the bus volunteers was just as nasty as she could be and when I shook my finger at her to admonish her she threatened to call the police. Not content to threaten me, she got one more shot in as I boarded the GOP "express" bus. "When something bad happens to you, think of me," she said. Can you imagine?
In an effort to give myself some added mobility without spending the huge sums required to cab around the Tampa/St.Pete/Clearwater area I tried public transportation, such as it is.
That turned out to be a mistake. Oh, the buses did arrive on time. No problem with that. But buses were often scheduled far apart and the situation on the buses was sketchy at best.
For example, buses from Pinellas Park to "downtown" Tampa run only four or five times a day and the last bus leaves Tampa at 7 PM. In fact, most buses seems to stop running altogether after 7 or 8 PM.
During one trip we were harassed by an obviously deranged passenger who accused us of talking about her (we didn't even know her) and then followed us off the bus and into the downtown area. We eventually had to report her to security on the street.
On another public transit adventure we were treated to a scruffy lowlife who loudly heaped foul-mouth abuse on his female companion. The bus driver quietly warned him once. That was it. He continued without further warning. The situation was so bad we had to leave that bus and wait for another one.
Later, a local bus driver filled us in on all this. He told us that the only people who take public transit in the Tampa area are those who cannot afford anything else. He said that what we had witnessed was the norm. This is not to disparage people who are out of work or down on the luck or whatever. This is what the bus driver said. He informed us that Tampa has a huge homeless population and that the buses are also frequented by ex-cons, almost-cons and those in rehab or those waiting to be placed in rehab.
It's a said and sometimes dangerous situation.
But when we're in a city, we like to break through the usual tourist/convention bubble and see things from the vantage point of natives. Well, turns out most natives don't ride buses, period.
Hey, this is not to say I won't give the Tampa area a second chance (actually a third since I've been here once before for a day). But I'm not leaving Tampa with a warm 'n fuzzy feeling. Not by a longshot.

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