For convenience sake, we've grown accustomed to referencing the "Tampa Bay area" as if it's a single real estate market. Of course, it's not. How could it be when it encompasses several counties and millions of people?

That point was driven home this week when two development bigwigs stopped by for a chat. Todd Mansfield is chairman and CEO of Crosland, a big Charlotte-based developer. Perry Reader is president of Crosland's Florida division.

Their biggest local project will be the Starkey Ranch development in southwest Pasco County. It should arrive in a couple years, bringing the first of thousands of homes, many with traditional touches like front porches. You'll be able to walk and bike to centrally located stores and offices.

Mansfield and Reader sat unfazed as I questioned them about the wisdom of entering a saturated market with falling home prices. Haven't they read all the "Florida is Finished" stories? Didn't they know retirees now prefer North Carolina over the Sunshine State?

Their view is that desirable projects built on accessible land within easy commuting distance of the cities will thrive. Marginal projects a gas-tank-draining distance from Tampa won't do well.

"The more desirable areas will move into a scarcity position very quickly," Mansfield said.

Despite the corporate boardroom flavor of his comment, Mansfield's point is that well-situated, attractive neighborhoods should bounce back quickly and befuddle those market timers waiting for a clear housing price bottom.   

Mansfield and Reader are bright guys pulling the purse strings on tens of millions of dollars of real estate investments. They were two of the brains behind Disney's Celebration, the quaint "new town" development near Orlando loved by its residents but derided by social critics as a synthetic Pleasantville.

It's worth hearing their point of view.