Visited Univ. of Oklahoma yesterday...

[BullsFanInTX]

btw...i looked at Austin's wiki page....

no way is that sky line bigger than tampa's.

i guess when ever you are talking about the size of something texans always like to exagerate.

Austin's is bigger.  I lived in Tampa for many years and live here now.  But it probably is only slightly bigger.  Austin has 15 buildings of over 300 feet, plus another 6 under construction, total of 21, where Tampa only has 13 over 300'.  Austin also has numerous skyscrapers being built now, or just recently completed that aren't on that wikipedia page you saw, including the nearly 700' Austonian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Tampa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Austin

[Jamie]

Austin is definitely bigger than Tampa.

You're also forgetting the age of the university has a lot to do with how it feels. Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State, etc., are all at least three times older than USF. You can't just throw it all together in five years and have a "traditional" campus. It takes a long, long time and you may not live long enough to see it.

[Matt]

btw...i looked at Austin's wiki page....

no way is that sky line bigger than tampa's.

i guess when ever you are talking about the size of something texans always like to exagerate.

Austin's is bigger.  I lived in Tampa for many years and live here now.  But it probably is only slightly bigger.  Austin has 15 buildings of over 300 feet, plus another 6 under construction, total of 21, where Tampa only has 13 over 300'.  Austin also has numerous skyscrapers being built now, or just recently completed that aren't on that wikipedia page you saw, including the nearly 700' Austonian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Tampa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Austin

so it went from norman being a college town to columbus isnt a big city to austin is a college town with a big city to your buildings are bigger than mine?

can we get some football?

geez.

either way, tampa is a bigger area than austin.  sucks that people in austin have to climb more stairs or spend more time in elevators.

nothing against austin.  i dont know why people take so much offense on these things.  we got ohio people getting all bent out of shape and we got texans jumping in the saddle trying to argue too.

tampa bay is the 12 largest mass of americans in the same media market and we all know that its the media that units an area. 

not who has the nicest campus or tallest buildings or most corporate offices.

columbus is probably a decent place to live (although it is in Ohio and probably crawling with Buckeye scum) but i would choose austin over columbus any day.

however, tampa is my first choice. 

[BullsFanInTX]

Sorry, did not mean to offend.  Someone said Austin was a small city, which I knew was not true.  Austin is a monster to drive through during the day, worse than Tampa.  But hey, I love Tampa and plan on moving back when the job is right.  I agree ditch the city comparison and talk football.

[Bullpride08]

Columbus is not a "BIG City", any more than Austin is a big city, or Tampa is a big city. Now in relation to those three, Tampa has the largest MSA by far...with nearly 4m residents, whereas Columbus' MSA has about 1.7m, and ditto for Austin.  As MSA's these two areas are tiny compared to the Tampa-St. Petersburg MSA.

By comparing purely as cities, and their limits in term of area (landmass, and population) Tampa is the smallest of the three by far.  BUT, there is a bit more to it then that.  First, in Austin, and Columbus those cities dominate the landscape.  Tampa does not, with smaller communities like Temple Terrace, Lutz, and Apollo Beach in it's own county.  Columbus actually extends into three counties, ditto for Austin.  Tampa doesn't have that luxury....because Pinellas has St. Petersburg and Clearwater, and Polk and Pasco have their own metro cities, although both are part of the MSA. 

Also, Columbus, and Austin house over 100,000 University students both in their primary schools of The Ohio State, and UT...but all the smaller schools that reside in and around the MSA.  To put simply over 10% of the MSA population would go home during the summer.  In Tampa maybe 2% make up the population of the students (which by the way is not necessarily a good thing for an area) it gets even worse when you calculate the legislators, and people that work for the legislative bodies.  That isn't the case in Tampa, all 4m people are here 24/7, and that does make a difference, there isn't anything that dominates the Tampa landscape, we have a large military base, but we're not a military town, we've got the 9th largest University in the Country, but we're not a University town....

Tampa is a large MSA, and has multiple business districts in Tampa downtown, Westshore, Carillon, downtown St. Petersburg....this spreads the population clusters thinly, but also gives the perception of being smaller.  Collectively the jobs and incubators present in Tampa are just as big as in Columbus, and Austin.  They have some impressive Fortune 500 companies headquartered in both cities where Tampa does not....one could argue that one major bankruptcy, or Fortune 500 company relocating could decimate those towns, unlike Tampa.

In the end Columbus and Austin can cater to the University, and small town college feel because that is their primary sports influence, and the city is centralized and dominates the landscape...i.e. if you're Columbus you would be foolish not to put money and effort into keeeping the land and developments around OSU fresh...ditto for Austin.  That is all those cities are about, which is what lends them to that small city presumption.  Tampa has many cities, many major tourism venues, amazing beaches....the University doesn't define the Tampa-St. Petersburg MSA, where those other Universities do define Columbus, and Austin.  Tampa's different, being spread out and with lots of smaller communities makes it tough.  Temple Terrace is the municipality that surrounds most of USF, and Tampa is a destination location for tourism so money needs to be pumped into that.  St. Peterburg, Clearwater, Pasco...have no connection to USF and therefore have no reason to pump money, effort, or consideration into promoting, and pumping up USF-Tampa.  It's counter-intuitive for them...whereas smaller communities around Austin, and Columbus don't think that way....to them get fans there for a UT, or OSU game at all cost-- it's one of their primary tourism traps.  Remember nearly 100k more people come to Columbus on Saturday's in the fall...that's a boost that otherwise wouldn't come to those areas.  But St. Pete, they'll get their tourism regardless if they include USF-Tampa in their promos, or offers support.

[BullsFanInTX]

Tampa's MSA is 2.7M, but that also includes St Pete and Clearwater.  Austin Metro area is similar in size to Orlando's metro.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

[BobbyBull]

That is so funny that you were at OU on the 18th because I was walking around the campus on the 19th!  Hilarious.  And I was thinking the same thing - "THis is an nice freakin campus."  That Campus corner area is super sweet.  Place looks ridiculous.

But you also have to remember that OU didn't always look like that.  When Senator David Boren - now President Boren took over OU it was kinda in the dooldrums.  The place has really come a long way.  That Switzer center is pretty much brand new - their facilities are world class.  It really is a big time University.

The only thing I would debate is that I thinkt he Swamp is a better stadium.  I don't like the open ends of Memorial Stadium at OU.  I think the Swamp is a much better look.  And the stadium at OU rises STRAIGHT up.  It doesn't really pull back at all.  It looks like the upper dect is at a straight angle.

Needless to say - pretty sweet place.

[nobull.Bulls]

FYI: If you are ever on OU campus again, eat across the street from the stadium at O'Connells. good food

[SattyBull]

Who cares??