I've been living in Tampa for the past 4 years for school. I'm about to graduate and will hopefully be moving somewhere for law school so I haven't really done that much research on the job market here, or the cost of living for a college grad. I live in north Tampa, near the University of South Florida. New Tampa is a blossoming community, housing developments are popping up all over the place, but it is a pretty big commute from south Tampa, which is where the downtown business district is. South Tampa is also more expensive. You have Bayshore Blvd., which is the longest continuous sidewalk in the U.S. and where our Gasparilla Pirate Invasion and parade goes on...the houses are huge, practically mansions. That area is more pricey than others in Tampa. Here are some websites I found that might be of use.
Tampa Bay Online:
Tampa Bay Online
It's run by the Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8, it has everything from news, employment searches, things to do in the area
Moving Calculators:
Homefair.com Calculators
I actually found this on the TBO site, but here is the actual site where you can type in your salary in the city you live in, then calculate what it would be in Tampa. The same with cost of living, etc.
There are also several areas around Tampa which are very nice, such as Brandon, St. Pete, Sarasota. I'm sure you can do a search and find the Chamber of Commerce websites for all these places.