Last time I was up there was when I lived in NC and flew down for a wedding. Went straight there from the airport, paid to park in a dirt lot where someone broke into my rental's trunk (popped out the lock on the trunk lid) and stole my bags which had amongst many other things I'd prefer not to have lost: my suit for wedding, my work laptop, and my car/housekeys. Good times... Made for a very expensive trip (and night out). Nothing like trying to pull together an outfit for a Noon wedding after being at the club until 4am.
ybor during the day is pretty boring. at night its just a bunch of clubs, and the outskirts of ybor is a great place to get robbed. but, gameworks and tampa bay brewing company are in centro ybor. so thats a plus. it also has a lot of history.
Ybor city also became a heaven for Cubans leaving Cuba and thus became a center for the Tobacco trade. Tobacco, as in cigars.
I lived in Tampa for a while and, even though i was too young to party there, i knew it was the place to hang out and to be hung if you weren't careful.
The central hubub would be 7th avenue with 8th on the outskirts. There are clubs, bars, tattoo parlors, live music, restaurants, convenience stores and abandoned warehouses. Youll also run into police officers, drunken idiots, alcoholics and drug addicts; but they don't have to taint your night! Just walk quickly and make sure you know where your going (and how to get back); it can be a fun place.