Visited Univ. of Oklahoma yesterday...

[crambone]

USF has made huge strides in the last decade. 

I agree.  It's come a long way just since I graduated in 2004.

[Joe]

Jim that isn't true at all.

Jp Morgan-chase and nationwide both base their insurance companies out of Columbus. Combined they employ more than the state gov't.

The city has had a base population around that for decades unlike Austin and Tallahassee which exploded recently.

Columbus is far from a metropolis, but it would be like saying Tampa is a small town because it was a military port that had people grow up around it.

[Guest]

Tampa by itself is a small town.. but we don't talk about Tampa without including the larger metropolitan area.. also known as "Bay"...

Columbus isn't a "destination" city... and it's not an NFL, MLB, or NBA city...

So that puts it near the top of the "small cities" list... like Providence or the Norfolk area... and behind cities like Memphis, San Antonio, and Portland.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

Columbus is like Tallahassee or Austin or Sacramento... it existed and grew because of for State Government and the university.  It is not a metropolitan area that grew as a city.

So yes, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh = Large Cities

Columbus & Austin = Small Cities

Population numbers and "corporate headquarters" don't really count.

you my dawg JimSig, but your classification system for determining what is or isn't a "large city" is nearly incoherent.

"large," by definition, is a designation of quantity.  quantity--- in western discourse, science and mathematics--- is always measured in numbers: yards, millimeters, miles, pounds, pints, parts per square inch...  all require numerical values for them to mean anything.

so it's difficult to give much credence to a system of measuring how "large" a city is that completely discounts one of the only objective empirical method of quantifying size: population.

your system of determining how "large" [aka a measure of SIZE or QUANTITY] a city is based solely on its purpose of development [e.g. "government and university"] while completely excluding numbers is, quite frankly, confounding.

there are also several examples that contradict your assertion that the designation of a city as "large" is dependent not upon quantifiable measurements such as population [or geographic area] but upon whether or not they developed as a center of "government and university" :

Boston - over half a million people in the city proper and 4.5 million metro.  is this not a "large" city because it is a capital city founded upon government and education?

Atlanta - .5 million city, 5 million metro.  capital city and center of dozens of educational institutions.  not a "large" city?

Phoenix - 1.5 million city, 4.2 million metro.  it is a capital city, the center of government, and home to ASU.  "large" city?

also, i lived in Austin for a few years during Jr. High... it absolutely has as much of a "big city" feel as Tampa, while still maintaining a strong college-town spirit.

Tampa could easily do the same, it will just take time for USF to win a few titles in a few big name college sports [football or basketball, basically] for it to permeate the city as a whole.

[Joe]

Ya but it's so close to cincy and cleveland it's not gonna be...

[Cow Pie]

USF needs to begin taking over the areas around it... especially the University Mall area which is going down hill big time. With the market the way it is and the dropping property value over there its prime to be bought out.

It'd be real nice if the mall would go belly up and USF got ahold of it...  8)

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

USF needs to begin taking over the areas around it... especially the University Mall area which is going down hill big time. With the market the way it is and the dropping property value over there its prime to be bought out.

It'd be real nice if the mall would go belly up and USF got ahold of it...   8)

i agree.

USF as an institution is still on its way up, both academically and athletically.

having that land to build new facilities, replace old facilities, or alleviate space would be awesome.

[Matt]

university mall is a boardline flea market.

[2000bull]

Just wondering, has university mall become how eastlake or tampa bay center use to be?

[Guest hm101]

a couple observations from my 4th (and final) year

- there are far more "bulls country" banners in local business and on the road now than when i started school

- more people in bulls attire out and about in public

- the mall is a joke, but they have a minor ad campaign in and around campus to try and rebrand it as a college-student friendly ****-free zone... again, a joke

- i can think of several bulls-themed businesses around campus, 2 of which were built in the last year

bull pride in the area will grow exponentially as long as USF continues to produce intelligent and loyal grads as it has in the past decade or so (and beyond for all you who came before  ).