Flablog has proclaimed Tampa Bay to be the blogging capital of the Sunshine State.

How did the Bay area get this tag? Mostly because of the recent local media attention, and the dearth of a large concentration of bloggers in Florida’s other metro regions. So it’s an anecdotal call.

Perhaps the more pertinent question: Why Tampa Bay? Do we have a whole lot more time on our hands than the rest of the state? Are we that much more dissatisfied with the local media (not to say that creating traditional media alternatives is the only reason for blogging)? Are we more tech-savvy? Exposure-hungry?

I have a feeling we’ll soon see local-blogger stories coming out of the media outlets in Jacksonville, Orlando, south Florida and other areas, though. So the statewide picture will become a bit more complete. I’d be really surprised if there wasn’t a good amount of blogs zooming out of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metroplex, given the its population of 5-million (Flablog itself is based there).

In the meantime, I’m not sure there’s any way to check on Tampa Bay’s claim. Globe of Blogs categorizes just under a thousand Florida-based blogs, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to break that down by city or region (and besides, it doesn’t look like it’s an especially accurate or up-to-date directory). Sticks of Fire maintains a list, but it’s pretty much all Tampa Bay-centric.

I’m thinking this could be a job for one of those Google Maps hack jobs. I’m not volunteering — I wouldn’t have the first idea on how to do it. But if anyone else wants to take a crack (hack?) at it, go on with your bad self.