URBAN CORRIDOR – The latest issue of Urban Corridor Tampa Magazine, also known as UC Tampa Magazine, was released today. It’s the magazine’s first issue to be published exclusively online, instead of in print, and marks its change from bi-monthly distribution to bi-weekly.
UC Tampa began publication in January 2008, after I (the magazine’s owner, editor and publisher) realized many of the neighborhoods near Tampa’s urban core – especially to the north of Kennedy Boulevard – were being ignored by expensive, advertorial-based publications like South Tampa Magazine. At that time, the same neighborhoods, which were once covered by The Tampa Tribune’s Central Tampa section, were being grouped into the newspaper’s South Tampa section (although the Central Tampa section, albeit abridged, is back).
Under its original name, New Heights Magazine (named for the many north of Kennedy Boulevard neighborhoods that share a similar Heights moniker, including Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights and Riverside Heights) began with a circulation of 15,000. After two years (i.e., 12 issues) of publication, the magazine’s circulation grew to 60,000 and included readers from both sides of Kennedy Boulevard.
UC Tampa’s last printed issue, which covered November and December 2009, was the company’s most profitable and widely read. However, despite its success, I chose to move the magazine to an online-only format for two reasons:
1) Online readership at www.uctampa.com had been growing rapidly since the website’s re-launch in March 2009.
2) Most importantly, with the birth of my first child, Marlowe McGee, I felt my priorities needed adjustment. Instead of working seven day, 80-hour weeks to publish the hardcopy version of the magazine, I decided to clear my schedule to spend more time with baby Marlowe.
I determined the online-only format was the best way I could achieve my goal and still serve the often media-ignored neighborhoods near downtown Tampa. Doing so has reduced my stress and the magazine’s advertising costs (which cuts time needed to sell advertisements). The fact that I was hired as the Examiner.com’s Tampa Business District Reporter was an unexpected, yet nice bonus.
Although the print version is in hiatus, UC Tampa Magazine will continue to pursue its mission, to “Highlight Tampa’s Urban Corridor,” which includes downtown Tampa, the Heights areas, South Tampa, Ybor, West Tampa and Davis and Harbour Islands.
A subscription to the magazine's online version (and eNewsletter that announces each bi-weekly issue) is free and can be made at www.uctampa.com or http://bit.ly/aI8a1b.
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