Nearly halfway into his four-year term, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is becoming better known, and increasingly people like what they see.

In a poll for the Tampa Bay Times, Bay News 9 and AM 820 News, 81 percent of respondents rated Buckhorn's job performance as average, good or excellent — up from 66 percent in 2011.

Moreover, the number of respondents who rated Buckhorn's performance as good or excellent rose from 39 to 49 percent over the past year.

By comparison, a Times poll in 2010, as Pam Iorio was wrapping up eight years in the mayor's office, found 52 percent who said she did a good or excellent job.

Also encouraging this year: Nearly three out of four of those polled say Tampa is headed in the right direction, while 18 percent said it's on the wrong track.

Full report here.