TAMPA, Fla — Along Howard Avenue in the SoHo district of Hyde Park there are plenty of places to feed your appetite.
However, if you live in the area or frequent it often you may have noticed longer lines and bigger crowds.
"I would definitely say there's more people in SoHo than there was six months ago," Roland Nagy, a manager of Fine Ink SoHo said.
Nagy told us they welcome the influx of people.
"As we grow as a business and our reputation grows, obviously the foot traffic in the area helps a lot because I know a lot of people are very impulsive with their tattoos and piercings. So, it's definitely nice to have them walking by," Nagy explained.
We wanted to know what it's been like for people who live in the area and what they've seen over the last several months in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
That's where we met Gracie Gilmore.
"A normal weekend here looks like college bars are packed. I would say in years past it has been not as bad, like you can move around, but lately its been to the point where you're bumping in to people every step you take," Gilmore added.
She's lived in the area for about three years and told us since the October shooting in Ybor she and her friends are spending more time in SoHo.
"I would say there's larger groups and definitely just bigger crowds," Gilmore said.
We asked the Tampa Police Department to share the number of calls for service from the past six months in comparison to the six months prior.
They told us there were 218 police reports filed from May 2023 through October of last year. From November 2023 through this past April there were 263 reports.
That's nearly a 21 percent increase, but Lieutenant Carlos Houston said that includes all calls for service, any time of day.
"We have seen an increase in traffic down in SoHo so what we've done is we've increased the amount of officers to kind of match that energy," Lt. Houston explained.
Saturday four people were arrested after a shooting. A viewer sent us video which showed a fight in the parking lot. Several gunshots were fired as people ran for cover.
No one was shot but a bullet did hit a building.
Lt. Houston said despite the recent shooting there's no data supporting violence is on the rise.
"We have not seen an increase in crime, even though we've seen an increase in citizens coming down to SoHo, there's been no increase in crime what we've seen," Lt. Houston said.
Meanwhile, Gilmore told us she and her friends still feel safe hanging out in SoHo and they hope it stays that way.
Nagy agreed saying it's up to everyone to do their part.
"As more people come here, there's going to be more situations that occur because that's just how humans work. But, I think TPD has done a phenomenal job so far," Gilmore said.
“You threw my son under the bus. You didn't take care of him.”
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