The Tampa Bay region's wealth of diversity enriches the local economy through a variety of ways, including culture, food, dance, music, job skills and perspective. In this first in an occasional series originally published by FORUM magazine, Edgardo Dangond tells his family's experience in moving to the Tampa Bay region from Colombia so he could pursue a college degree. 

Rick Fernandez: We are caught in a vicious, car centric cycle. Absent transit alternatives, more people will use more cars to create more traffic, more pollution and more congestion. There is no road wide enough, nor toll high enough, to change that fact. 

Popup art display features artist new to Tampa Bay area showcasing her work in loft for rent. 

“California has film and New York has TV. We’re trying to make Tampa Bay the place for podcasting, to be a leader in this growing medium,” says Chris Krimitsos, a local business booster who founded the Florida Podcasters Association along with a handful of other content creators.