Is Tampa a nice place?

I'm thinking about transferring to the University of South Florida and I want to make sure that Tampa is a nice place because I hope it's nothing like Fort Lauderdale or Boca Raton. There's too many old people here and the people are really creeps. Also, the pessimism is pretty high here. Is Tampa more optimistic and youthful like other college towns (Gainesville or Tallahassee)?