Perhaps Tampa’s best-known neighborhood, Ybor City chronicles the history of Tampa’s (and arguable Florida’s) immigrant experience and the local journey along the country’s economic roller coaster ride.

“Founded in 1886 by Vicente Martinez Ybor, Ybor City became ‘the cigar capital of the world’ by 1900,’’ boasts the City of Tampa’s website. A thriving hub of tobacco manufacturing, it soon became home to a growing working class of immigrants from Spain and Cuba and Italy, as well as from Germany, Eastern Europe and China as entrepreneurs, restauranteurs and shopkeepers arrived to meet a growing community’s needs.

That thriving pool of diverse talent created a living environment rich with an abundance of talent and innovation in architecture, dining, entertainment, social and civic organizations, housing and health care. 

It’s that image of American success and not the ups and downs in between that developers see today in their vision for the future of Ybor City as an attractive hub of live, work, play and stay spaces for creatives, artists, techies, foodies, designers, educators and innovators connecting Tampa’s Downtown, Port Tampa Bay and neighborhoods to the north and east.