Town 'n' Country, Florida

Prior to the 1950s, Town 'n' Country was primarily natural areas and cattle farms. In 1958, the LaMonte-Shimberg Corporation purchased a 525-acre dairy farm from the Webb family near the Hillsborough Avenue-Memorial intersection to construct the Town 'n' Country Park subdivision, making the area one of Tampa’s first suburban communities. By the time the original developers and builders of Town 'n' Country had built their last house, the area covered more than 2,000 acres and stretched over three miles from Memorial Highway on the south to north of Waters Avenue. In this area, nearly 8,000 single-family homes and townhouses were built from 1958 to 1978 by LaMonte-Shimberg.[4]

By 1971, Tampa International Airport opened near the area, resulting in massive suburban sprawl, along the Hillsborough Avenue corridor. Due to the little zoning regulations in Hillsborough County at the time, CBS 60 Minutes did a segment on the poor infrastructure and negative environmental impact in Tampa Bay. Town ‘n’ Country and its surrounding areas closer to the bay. They were the prime focus of the segment, in part to the large amounts of raw sewage draining in to the bay and the heavy congestion along Hillsborough Avenue.[5]

Town’n’Country has long been known for its large Latino population. As early as 1968, the former Town ‘n’ Country theater, at 7575 West Hillsborough Avenue; would even alternate films between English and Spanish, or English with Spanish subtitles. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Latino’s make up the majority of Town ‘n’ Country’s residents; most of whom are Cuban and Puerto Rican. Although, in recent years the area has seen a large influx of Dominicans, Brazilians, Venezuelans, Columbians and Mexicans settling in the area, making the community a diverse ethnic enclave of Latino’s. Surrounding communities, such as Egypt Lake-Leto and Drew Park, also happen to be majority Latino communities. Many locals tend to refer to this entire area as West Tampa, which is actually incorrect; as the actual boundaries of Old West Tampa are north of Kennedy Boulevard to Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard (formerly Buffalo Avenue), then West of Rome Avenue to Dale Mabry Highway.[6]

The ZIP code for Town 'n' Country is 33615; other nearby ZIP codes include 33634 and 33635.

Town 'n' Country is located in western Hillsborough County at 28°0′36″N 82°34′22″W (28.010046, -82.572815).[7] It is bordered to the south by the city of Tampa and is about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of downtown. The CDP is bordered to the north by Westchase, Citrus Park, and Carrollwood, and to the east by Egypt Lake-Leto. To the west is the city of Oldsmar in Pinellas County. The northwest portion of Tampa International Airport is located within Town 'n' Country CDP.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62.5 km²), of which 22.1 square miles (57.3 km²) are land and 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²), or 8.39%, are water.[8]

As of the census of 2010, there were 78,422 people living in the CDP. The racial makeup of the CDP was 76.0% White, 9.7% African American, 0.4% Native American, 4.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.1% some other race, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43.8% of the population.[12]

There were 30,417 households in the CDP, out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were headed by married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57, and the average family size was 3.10.[12]

In the CDP, 22.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.6% were from 18 to 24, 30.3% were from 25 to 44, 26.2% were from 45 to 64, and 11.6% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.[12]

For the period 2011–15, the estimated median annual income for a household in the CDP was $49,559, and the median income for a family was $54,644. Male full-time workers had a median income of $39,453 versus $36,374 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $25,195. About 13.0% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.[13]