Letter to The North Of Tampa Times

In my mailbox this morning

Good morning,

I received my copy of the St Pete Times this morning and as I read through today's paper I looked for the City Times section which I have come to expect and enjoy with my weekend paper and I finally figured out it has been replaced with the North of Tampa section. Not a problem as change happens. My curiosity over this new section quickly changed from interested to having a bad taste as I see the inside cover for the section.

The map denoting the coverage of neighborhoods and the listing of reporters has set the tone for my introduction for this new section. Noting the beats for the reporters and the exhaustive listings of the neighborhoods covered, I note a large hole in the area around the location of route 92 (Hillsborough Avenue) and I - 275 - specifically the neighborhoods of Seminole Heights. I am finding it a bit ironic that the photographer for your section - Mike Pease lives in this area/neighborhood which covers a very large geographic area yet it is not listed as a coverage area nor is there a reporter assigned to cover the neighborhood. I do note that your reporters cover every other direction north of downtown with two in New Tampa and two for the Carrollwood area. I am aware of at least two reporters for the St Pete Times that actually live in Old Seminole Heights (and your section photographer!) - therefore I am sure the paper is aware that the neighborhood exists. As a matter of fact, Elizabeth Bettendorf has a story (with a color picture) on page 9 of the North of Tampa section this very morning on a home featured on our 8th neighborhood home tour this Sunday, April 2nd.

You may be aware of the furor that the Tampa Tribune created when they dropped the "Central Tampa" section. Subscriptions to the Trib were cancelled in favor of the city-wide coverage that was being offered by the Times. As a result of a neighborhood meeting with the publishers of the Trib, we have been told that the Central Tampa section will be returning in early April. The neighborhoods of Seminole Heights, which embraces three extremely active neighborhood associations, will note the exclusion of our area from you listing of covered areas and I will suspect that this will not be the only e-mail you receive on this glaring omission.

I would be curious to hear your thoughts regarding the missing Seminole Heights neighborhood and your upfront statement of the lack of importance for the area - I think it stings more as your neighborhood coverage area breaks out pretty much every subdivision in the Tampa Palms/Hunter's Green direction but misses a whole part of Tampa which is a larger geographic area and which includes two national historic districts.

I will be sure to say hello to Mike Pease (my fellow neighbor) when I see him at the 8th Annual Old Seminole Heights neighborhood home tour that is expected to host between 1,200 - 1,500 guests this Sunday - assuming they don't use your coverage map for directions that is.

Regards,

Greg Barnhill
a long time subscriber in Old Seminole Heights