A spirited Bob Buckhorn laid out his vision for Tampa Tuesday, saying despite economic challenges, the city can be transformative in its future.

Mayor Buckhorn talked about downtown Tampa, transportation, jobs and the budget during his annual State of the City address.

He highlighted the city's accomplishments during the past year and laid out a plan for the city's near and long-term future. Buckhorn said the city's relationship with Hillsborough County has never been better and that Tampa is leading the state in new jobs created.

"We are in this together," Buckhorn said. "We're going to rise together. We're going to succeed together."

The annual speech comes as Tampa is facing a $20 million deficit it will need to address by July. According to Buckhorn, new downtown housing could be one of the solutions to that deficit.

The mayor said he is optimistic there will be no layoffs of city workers.

Also, Buckhorn says there is a new energy in downtown Tampa and he wants to build on it.

"There is an excitement about Tampa that hasn't existed in probably a decade," Buckhorn said. "So we are going to try and build off that."

Buckhorn also talked about the area's need to get serious about mass transit.

"We can be the economic engine that leads Florida out of this recession," he said. "We can be a region with a first-class transportation system."

At times, Buckhorn seem to be talking directly to lawmakers in Tallahassee.

"If folks in Tallahassee don't want to support us, we'll find folks in Tallahassee that will."

Also, Buckhorn said the city is close to an agreement with a major supermarket for downtown. The lack of a big grocery store is something that has limited residential housing demands downtown in recent years.

That may be changing.

"Permit activity is up," the mayor said. "Interest in Tampa is up. Capital is being deployed in Tampa, residential units are being constructed, young people are coming back to the downtown. It's an exciting time."

Reaction to speech

Budget deficit

"That is good, being the mayor you want to be the top, but being the mayor you also have to have the necessary tools to be the mayor and right now we're limited because of the deficit that we have," said City Councilman Frank Reddick.

"It wont be as painful to close that gap as it has before," said City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione.

General feeling about speech

"He's trying to move the city forward and that's something we haven't seen before. We've seen them do certain things but everybody wasn't included," said Clarence Ford.

Ford was invited by the Mayor. Ford was a part of the civil rights movement in Tampa. In the late 1960s, he and others staged a sit-in at the Woolworth counter in Downtown Tampa so African Americans could eat at the lunch counter.

"It was a terrible situation, but it paid off," Ford said.

The Woolworth counter was right next door to where the State of the City address was held Tuesday.

"He has a great vision for the city," said city councilman Frank Reddick.

"Always inspiring," said city councilwoman Lisa Montelione.

Light rail

"I was especially happy to hear him call out mobility options," said City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione. "We really do need to get the bus system and light rail is definitely an option."