North Hyde Park

North Hyde Park is home to one of Tampa's older neighborhoods. Although historically less noted, it fills a larger portion of the region interconnecting two more renowned areas of Tampa: West Tampa to the north and Hyde Park to the south.

Located just west of Downtown, residents here have the privilege of easy access to its urban amenities as well as to thoroughfares that put many other locales within reach, rather conveniently. Like much of Tampa, the neighborhood is also experiencing transitions. One can see this in the architecture itself. There are older structures such as the sparse brick buildings along Howard Ave, commonly called cigar factories, and there are historic cracker-style homes from the early 1900's throughout the neighborhood. Yet many newer structures are constructed with blocks and perhaps stucco; a popular trend in Florida.

In 2004, however, a set of building guidelines called the West Tampa Overlay (W.T.O.) was adopted. This overlay serves to "…maintain the continuity of structures patterned after and reminiscent of development in West Tampa in the 1920's." Except for the swath south of North A Street (along Kennedy Blvd), North Hyde Park lies almost entirely in this W.T.O. District.

Generally speaking, the colorful mix of a humble, yet industrious people makes this neighborhood meekly vibrant on any given weekday, yet relatively serene on the weekend. It is the hope of residents and civic leaders alike in this area to nurture an environment that supports homesteading here.