Partially due to geography, Tampa's prestigious neighborhoods do not form a single corridor, but are instead concentrated in two regions.
Within the city limits/pre-1970s neighborhoods, the wealth is concentrated in a region called "South Tampa", which is generally west and south of downtown. The reason for this preference is distance from the port and industry which was/is located east and northeast from downtown (including Ybor City and its former cigar factories staffed by immigrants). Additionally, this region is located on a peninsula so there is plentiful waterfront property and easy access to the bay. Interestingly though, once you get
too far south the neighborhoods get less desirable, if not downright sketchy (the cutoff being Gandy Blvd). This part of town borders an air force base and Tampa's smaller, secondary port district (Port Tampa--formerly an independent municipality).
The most desirable newer suburbs (post 1970s or so) are located to the north and northwest of the city, leaving a large donut of less popular or declining 1920s-1980s neighborhoods.
