HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It’s one of Tampa Bay’s fastest growing communities: south Hillsborough County. People who live, work, or commute through the area know the rapid development means the need to keep up with that growth.
For Anne Fogarty-Santomauro, her new community in south Hillsborough County checked all the boxes.
She just bought a home in Wimauma and is going to be moving from New Jersey soon.
"We told our realtor we wanted north of Tampa, and she ended up bringing us down here, and we fell in love with it,” said Fogarty-Santomauro. “This wasn't even on our radar."
Yet for folks familiar with the area like Christopher Smith, they know that growth comes with its tradeoffs.
“We have another 1,800 homes I believe that's going to be going to the south of here, and we're going to have apartments here also,” said Smith. “I mean it's incredible the growth here."
People in the community have reached out about the impact of rapid growth in south Hillsborough: with many new developments, traffic woes, and the need to meet the demand for essential services, like first responders and water.
So ABC Action News dug in to see how local leaders are addressing that.
Staring with public safety: county leaders said they are in the design phase for a new fire station just north of Sun City Center.
Last week, ABC Action News shared how Hillsborough County Fire Rescue is adding ambulances during peak hours to meet demand.
Right now, those five peak-hour ambulances are being deployed in Sun City Center, central Brandon, Riverview, Sabal Park, and the University area.
“These ambulances are now going to be on the road already moving, so that if a call comes into those areas, we should be getting there pretty quick,” said Rob Herrin with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
With water, Tampa Bay Water said right now, officials are still working out details in the design phase of the South Hillsborough Pipeline, with construction on the project expected to start in late 2025 and be completed in late 2028.
In the meantime, Tampa Bay Water completed the Brandon booster station, which brings an extra five to seven million gallons of water a day to fast growing south Hillsborough County.
And everyone knows the pain of sitting in those traffic jams.
County leaders said FDOT and the county are currently doing work on Big Bend Road, and they’re in the design phase for a widening project of 19th Avenue Northeast.
Crews are working on multiple sidewalk repair projects in the area to make them safer.
"We're very excited to move, we can't wait,” said Fogarty-Santomauro.
Still, new homeowners and long-time residents can agree there’s something special about their community.
"It's a wonderful place to live,” said Smith.
