With growing businesses, new residential developments, two major malls including the brand new Tampa Premium Outlets, and highly-rated schools, what is there not to like about living in Wesley Chapel?
According to WalletHub, not much at all. The personal finance website recently rated Wesley Chapel the 7th best city for families in Florida. Wallethub compared 115 Florida cities across 21 metrics, with Wesley Chapel scoring No. 1 for housing affordability and wealth gap, and finishing in the top 10 for general affordability (5th) and divorce rate (9th).
“I am very pleased with the rating,’’ says Hope Allen, the president and CEO of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC). “To be No. 1 in affordability and housing says a lot about our area and community. People do look at national ratings when looking to relocate, so it’s very important to do well in these.”
Allen also noted that Wesley Chapel is a Census-Designated Place (CDP), and to be ranked with cities across the state is a great achievement. “Pretty impressive to make the list when we’re not even a city,’’ Allen said. Wesley Chapel received its lowest marks for education, health and safety (77th).
The No. 1 city rated overall was Parkland in Broward County, just north of Coral Springs.
WalletHub’s report looked closely at four specific categories: Family Life & Fun; Education, Health & Safety; Affordability; and Socioeconomic Environment, attributing 25 points to each category.
Within those categories were 21 different metrics. For example, under Family Life & Fun, WalletHub’s experts looked at number of playgrounds per 100,000 residents, the number of family attractions like parks and museums, the percentage of families with children under the age of 18, weather and average commute time.
In 2014, Wesley Chapel was rated the fourth-best place (out of 179 studied) to own a home/raise a family by the national consumer advocacy website Nerdwallet.com. In June of 2015, Nerdwallet.com bumped Wesley Chapel up one spot to No. 3 in the ratings.Top 10 Cities
In recent issues we have run a 1/4-page advertisement that tells our readers (many of whom own businesses that want to get the most for their money in our only two distribution markets, New Tampa & Wesley Chapel) that “We’ll Show You Ours If They Show You Theirs.” Although the ad makes a light-hearted joke about it, we are deadly serious when it comes to distribution figures.
Because both of our publications are distributed by direct mail through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), we can’t “audit” our circulation figures through an independent agency (none of the accredited circulation auditors will audit direct-mail publications, and we don’t really need them to because, in order to receive the special Bulk Mail rate publications like ours receive, we have to give the Post Office enough copies to put one in at least 95 percent of every mailbox in every postal carrier route we serve or the Post Office will not deliver any of them!).
But, we think our postal receipts are an even better proof of how many households (not people; more on this below) receive our publications in their mailboxes (not thrown on their driveways in the rain) and therefore offer the most possible people in both zip code 33647 (New Tampa) and zips 33543, 33544 & 33545 (Wesley Chapel) the opportunity to read them.
As most of our readers in both markets already know (because you tell us so every day), when you have the best, most informative content of any local media outlet as well as the largest circulation, our advertisers can rest easy that there will be more eyeballs reading our words and checking out their ads than any other local medium.
And, the number of those eyeballs keeps on growing, especially in Wesley Chapel, where we have added more than 5,000 additional direct-mail households since the economic bubble hit in 2008, all at our own expense and without any significant rise in our advertising rates!
But, my primary reason for writing this piece today is to tell you that, thanks to input from readers in New Tampa (specifically living in one carrier route in Cross Creek and one in Heritage Isles) who suddenly didn’t receive one or both of our last two issues in their mailboxes, we have recently added two routes and more than 1,000 additional households in zip code 33647, bringing our all-direct-mail circulation to 26,200+ households in New Tampa.
With an average of just about three people living in every household in our area (yes, many have both more and less than three, but that is the average), that means we have nearly 80,000 potential readers in New Tampa (including one carrier route in Lake Forest, which is a Lutz address, but located along Bruce B. Downs Blvd., just south of Tampa Palms) alone! When you add the nearly 21,000 households (also unmatched in the marketplace) we direct mail to in our three Wesley Chapel zip codes, the total number of people who have ongoing direct-mail access to our publications is nearly 150,000 every four weeks (we publish 26 issues, 13 in New Tampa and 13 in Wesley Chapel, every year).
Here’s an explanation you can check with the Post Office as to why we felt we had to add two more carrier routes in New Tampa. Whenever new communities, like K-Bar Ranch, begin building in an already-established area, the Post Office will wait until there are enough households in that new development or subdivision before adding another route. That means the new households in those just-developing areas will simply be added to existing carrier routes located near that new neighborhood until there are enough households in the new community itself to warrant a new route.
All ongoing direct-mail businesses are required by the Post Office to get updated carrier route numbers, but only every 90 days (three months), so until we get our updated counts again, some of the households along those now-larger existing routes may not receive their Neighborhood News until we get our next route count update.
The Post Office has even been known to change existing routes to make it easier for the postal carriers to make sure everyone they serve receives all of their mail — and, as a federal government-funded entity, the USPS isn’t required to tell anyone about those changes (go figure).
Therefore, it’s up to you, faithful readers, to tell us if you suddenly aren’t receiving your Neighborhood News in your mailbox, so I’m always grateful when you do. I can (and I’m always happy to) prove exactly how many copies we print and distribute in each of our two markets, but I can assure you (because I always know how much we spend to mail our publications to you), that if any other local medium claims to have higher numbers of homes, apartments, businesses or readers in either market than we do, all you have to do is ask them to prove it and they’ll likely back off their claim.
The first-ever Pasco County All-Star Football Game had the county’s all-time leading rusher in Chris Schwarz (of River Ridge High) and another, Glass Wilson of Ridgewood, who ran for more than 1,600 yards last season. The county’s top wide receivers — Zephyrhills’ Jackie Tucker Jr. and Mitchell’s JJ Lewis — were lined up to catch passes. And the quarterbacks were experienced and proven.
What the game didn’t have, surprisingly, was a whole lot of points. But that didn’t stop us from getting some photos of the Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch high school standouts (see below).
In a defensive battle, the East team, represented by players from Wesley Chapel (WCH) and Wiregrass Ranch (WRH) high schools and coached by WRH head coach Mark Kantor, pulled out a 14-2 victory before a big crowd at Sunlake High in Land O’Lakes.
The touchdowns were scored by Zephyrhills’ Tre-un Everett (offensive MVP), and Pasco’s Jakiah Felder. A lot of the big defensive plays were provided by WRH linebacker Tyler DeCaire.
The Bulls’ senior had a sack in the first quarter, causing a fumble. His biggest play, however, came on the next series, when he arrived at the same time the ball did and smashed it loose from punt returner Dylan Hartley. The ball was recovered by the West, which scored a few plays later on Everett’s 35-yard run to make it 7-0.
In addition to Coach Kantor, 10 players from WCH and WRH saw action in the game, which was sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Wesley Chapel High (WCH) sophomore Jaret Michael Harshman was killed and two other Wesley Chapel teenagers were injured Wednesday night in a horrific car accident in Brooksville.
Harshman, who was 15 years old, was taken by helicopter to Bayonet Point Hospital where he died, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Harshman’s father, Mike, posted the news to Facebook.
“This evening on his way to church with friends, our oldest son Jaret was killed in a fatal car accident,’’ he wrote. “He was just shy of his 16th birthday on December 28th. Kristi & I are numb & distraught – it seems surreal to us. We love Jaret, and are so proud of him – a terrible hole will be felt in our family forever, and we are still in shock over this.”
WCH graduate Ryan Scott Miller, 18, and his brother Michael Miller, 17 and a current student at the school, were in the car with listed by the FHP with minor injuries.
According to the Facebook page of the Brooksville Christian Church, where the boys headed, Ryan Miller sustained abdominal injuries and Michael Miller had to undergo surgery for his injuries.
Ryan Scott Miller was driving a blue 2006 Chevrolet Aveo northbound on Culbreath Road, and drove through a stop sign at the intersection of County Rd. 572 (Powell Road) according to the FHP. Christopher Russell of Spring Hill was heading westbound on County Rd. 572 in a 2014 Dodge Ram, and slammed into the right side of the Chevy Aero, which spun counter-clockwise before settling into the north grass shoulder. The Dodge Ram rotated clockwise into a utility pole in the grass shoulder.
Everyone was wearing their seatbelts.
Russell did not suffer any injuries.
“Thanks to all for your prayers and thoughts,’’ Jaret’s mother Kristi wrote on Facebook. “We find comfort in knowing where Jaret is and it’s so much better for him than it is for us. I don’t want to say we’ve “lost” him…someone is not lost when you know where they are. We will meet again. But we miss him with a sorrow that can’t be explained. It is so deep. I love him and miss him so, so much.”
Kristi added that Jaret was hoping to attend Florida Christian College and become a youth minister.
The students, faculty and staff of WCH (30651 Wells Road) will remember Jaret, an honor roll student at the school, on the school track Friday night at 5 p.m.
Jaret ran on the Wildcats cross country team last season, and those attending, led by the cross country team, will walk a lap around the track while holding a banner signed by the students and staff.
(L.-r.): Bryanna Rivers, Rachel Lettiero, Mackenzie Willman, Caroline Maggi, Marin James, Alisha Deschenes and Rania Samhouri pose with their trophy after winning the Hillsborough County Cross Country Championship meet. The Wharton girls went on to finish third at States, tops in the Tampa Bay area.
A great way to forecast high school spring track season success is to evaluate a school’s success during the fall cross country season. In that regard, the members of the girls cross country team at Paul R. Wharton High on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. have put themselves in a very good position for spring track following a dominant cross country season that concluded Nov. 7 in Tallahassee.
Mired in a brutal district (District 4A-6), the Wharton cross country team had to cut its teeth by battling all season with 10-time state champion Plant and county powerhouse Newsome.
Still, they came out on top in all of Hillsborough County in nearly every instance. First, it was the Hillsborough County Championships, where the Wildcats out-distanced Plant 44-65. Next, it was at the District 4A-6 meet, where the ‘Cats clipped the Panthers 32-41.
At the 4A Region 2 meet in Lakeland, the Wharton girls had an off day but still managed third place behind Newsome, 104 to 112.
“You always know Coach (Orlando) Greene is going to field a competitive team at Plant and you know you have to be ready to roll and that you can’t count them (Newsome) out,” Wharton coach Anthony Triana said.
The Wildcat girls bounced back in a big way, however, in Tallahassee at the State championships, finishing third, the best showing for any Hillsborough County girls team, and a big jump from the previous year when Wharton was 13th.
Top cross country runners Alisha Deschenes and Rania Samhouri both placed in the top 30 individually in Tallahassee.
Deschenes was the 4A-6 District champion and set a personal best this season with a run of 19 minutes, 31 seconds at the FSU Invitational, as did Samhouri (19.44 at FSU Invitational) and Bryanna Rivers (19:50.9 at the district meet). Samhouri moved up to the No. 2 runner behind Deschenes for Wharton after starting the season at No. 5.
Samhouri used a tough finish at state track last season to fuel her cross country season, and she hopes to carry that energy from cross country into the upcoming track season. “Rania had a tough leg of the 4x800m at States, where she got passed down the final stretch,’’ Triana said, “and it’s fueled her ever since.”
Rania told Triana that the ride back from the State meet counted as her break, and she was ready for the next season. “Most kids take a couple of weeks off, Triana said. “That just shows her determination and why she did so well in cross country this season.”
Deschenes didn’t even compete for Wharton in track last season, devoting her time to the soccer pitch, but after a solid cross country campaign, she’s now slated to run for the Wildcats this coming season.
The Wharton girls started spring conditioning for track on November 23.
“Anytime you go from States to the next season, it’s all about keeping the kids hungry,” Triana said. “These girls have that. We took two weeks off from cross country States and we’re already ready to go.”
According to the FHSAA record books, no Hillsborough County girls team has ever won a team track title. The best finish by any Hillsborough County school belongs to the Wildcats in 2008, when they finished third.
It will be no picnic and certainly it will be extremely difficult to unseat 10-time and back-to-back Class 4A state champs St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, but Triana thinks cracking into the top five with eyes on the runner-up position or even better is possible.
“All last year did was give us more confidence that we can compete with anyone,” Triana said. “When that gun goes off we’re going to give it all we can and compete with those people.
“Forty or 50 points is likely to get you first or second (in Class 4A) at States. We expect to have 10-12 girls competing at the State track meet this coming season, so I’m pretty sure we can score 40 or 50 points.” Last season, the Wildcat girls finished 12th, but return most of the key contributors.
Top sprinter Aria Tate, a junior, placed sixth in the 100m hurdles at states, just missing the 200m finals by 0.08 seconds. Top middle distance runner Rivers, the school record holder in the 800m and sixth-place finisher in the event at the State meet, also is just a junior. Serena Gadson was 13th at States in the 800m and is just a sophomore. Junior Marin James returns after placing 13th in the 3200m race.
Wharton’s 4x400m relay team was dominant locally and was seventh at the 2015 State meet. The 4x800m relay was third at States, two seconds off the school record, and returns all four runners.
Field events might be the one weak spot for the 2016 Wildcats, but it’s an area of emphasis with Triana and his assistants this offseason.
“It’s part of the team that we really need to develop,” Triana said. “Long jumper Avonti Holt and high jumper Sabrena Eye will be key for us.”
