• Home
  • Dinning and Drinks
  • Tampa Garners High Scores for Best Recreation, Lands 5th Spot in List of Top U.S. Cities

Tampa Garners High Scores for Best Recreation, Lands 5th Spot in List of Top U.S. Cities

Tampa’s array of recreational offerings earned the city high scores in Wallethub’s recent comparative study of 100 large U.S. cities rated for their recreation and entertainment. The study considered 48 metrics for rating quality, availability, affordability, accessibility and other key indicators. Recreational facilities included movies, parks and casino, while weighing weather as influencing factor in underscoring the value of recreation.

Wallethub is a personal finance website known for rating and ranking American cities in various categories. Tampa as the 5th placer in the list of Best Cities for Recreation, ranks behind the cities of San Diego, Las Vegas, Orlando and Honolulu, ranked 1st and 4th in that order. Another Florida city, St. Petersburg landed the 27th spot.

Each metric was rated on a 100-point scale, to which a score of 100 meant that in terms of quality and cost-effective choices, the city has the most number and the best facilities to offer for fun and entertainment. Tampa garnered a score of 53.73, not far behind San Diego, which scored the highest at 58.27.

Most Popular Places for Recreation in Tampa

The Wallethub study included neighborhood parks, since green spaces are instrumental in increasing property values in addition to improving public health via pollution reduction. Paul Dial, the Director of Tampa’s Parks and Recreation says Tampa has an array of parks for everyone to enjoy, regardless of age and background.

In addition, locals and visitors alike name several places they highly recommend as top recreational sites in which to experience different entertainment and fun activities.

  • One of the most popular recreations are escape games provided by so-called es escape rooms, to which The Great Escape Room, is the forerunner.
  • Families or groups looking for a great golfing hangout choose between Topgolf and the Golfer’s Grail Indoor Golf & Tap.
  • CineBistro at Hyde Park Village and Studio Movie Grill Tampa are highly recommended as the best places in which to have drinks,dinner, and see movies.
  • Those who enjoy horse racing trek to Tampa Bay Downs, where they can watch horses up close, or while having lunch at an affordable dining room with plenty of monitors with which to watch the ongoing races,
  • The Tampa improv is where you can watch concerts and find great comedy bars that offer excellent food and drinks.
  • Recreational gambling is another popular activity and many enjoy this type of entertainment at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa. While some serious gamblers do no approve, this casino now allows guests to bring their pets.
  • The Skatepark of Tampa is where to bring your kids for skating and skateboarding, as this facility has lots of ramps and spaces to offer even for beginners.
  • Bring the entire family for fun and jumping exercise at the AirHeads Trampoline Arena, where kids also enjoy dodgeball games.
  • Tampa Bay Grand Prix, offers 2 go-karting facilities. One at Sabal Park and another in Clearwater at Ulmerton area.
  • Splitsville offers the best bowling alleys as well as food and drink choices.
  • Adventures Archery is the most recommended for archery shooting even for those who will be trying out the sport for the first time.