Moving to Tampa!

hobbzz

hobbzz

How do I change this?
Unfortunately it won't be for a while until we can (wife and I) . Probably early 2016, Jan-Mar or so. I've been doing a lot of reading on city-data.com about good areas to live. I'd just like to get some of your opinions since we'll be meeting a lot of you.

What are some nice areas right now in the metro area? I realize a lot can change in 1.5 years, but any feedback would be appreciated. Or if areas to avoid is a shorter list that would be good too. We don't really care about being close to anything in particular.

We can't wait to meet everyone and be a part of a club that's actually active! Thanks in advance for any help.
 
I'm always happy to see people doing their research before picking a place to live and Tampa is a great area to live. Your choice of location will be greatly driven by your interests. If you like the beach and water sports, I would recommend Clearwater or st Pete. If you are more of a downtown, city life and such person, I would recommend north Tampa, Carollwood or maybe Temple Terrace.

Regardless, you will love it here. The people are great and there is so much to do, without the pain of living somewhere like Orlando. In my opinion and I've been living here for 11 years now.

Welcome. Well... soon. LOL
 
oh man! it's going to depend on schools and where your going to work. There are so many options it's crazy (close to water, close to work, schools an issue, prefer newer house to older house, etc!). I ended up in Largo, but I don't have kids and it is close to work and close to Indian Rocks Beach. Traffic stinks no matter where you will live!
 
We've been to the area 5 times in the last few years. Staying for a couple days twice, most recently last week. Finally convinced her to move lol. Been trying for a couple years. Finally made it to faedos on the go too. Maybe that had something to do with it lol. I agree that the people are great. One reason we're moving out of Jax.

I'm not concerned with commuting. But since we won't know where we'll be working until shortly before we move anyway, I'm just looking for generalities. We're the type of people that won't let our hobbies and interests dictate where we live, so being close to the water or downtown for example, would not be a concern. We don't have kids so not concerned about schools. We just want something safe/clean. Crime here is high, but we realize Tampa metro is a big area so we're not expecting Oklahoma crime rates haha. We own two properties and will have to rent for a year or two before we can sell and save for down payment on a house, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. Any neighborhoods/areas to avoid?

Thanks for the warm early welcome!
 
We actually stopped at Culvers in Largo last week. Looked like a nice area. Didn't really see any bad areas but I'm not sure how far east Largo goes. I'm from Wisconsin where Culvers is from so that was a good taste of home. We were shocked to see them down here.
 
We were driving around the tampa area in rush hour last week and I was surprised at how mild it was considering the size of the city. Traffic in Jax is worse. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
 
LOL Webmanny - and yes, everything is relative relating to traffic!! :). I do like Largo with respect to access to everything. Just like everywhere, there is good and bad areas. There are so many great areas it is hard to point in the right direction. Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, New Tampa, St. Pete, Largo, Seminole, CW, NP Richy, on and on! We moved down from Michigan 18 months ago and don't regret one second of it!!
 
I just researched and bought a house in Pinellas myself.

that area around culvers is good and bad - to the south are a fair amount of trailer parks - and for some reason - trailer parks seem to breed crime.

Largo is pretty much covered by the Pinellas County Sheriff's office Crime Map:
http://gis.pinellascounty.org/crimeviewer/disclaimer.aspx?ReturnUrl=/crimeviewer/Default.aspx

Clearwater police have their own crime map as well:
http://arcgis.myclearwater.com/police/callsforservice/

Largo extends from the coast to coast (east/west) and from Clearwater to Seminole (north/south)

Your best bet in determining a good neighborhood would be to get a reputable real estate agent and let them know your requirements. I can't praise my real estate agent enough. If you'd like his contact information - PM me.

Pinellas has some undesirable areas next to railroad tracks and high tension power lines and a lot of flood zones (and a lot of areas outside of flood zones) - the mls website the realtor will give you access to can identify a lot of this for you.
 
Thanks for the maps Ted. Jacksonville sheriffs office has one as well and I was looking for one for the Tampa area but couldn't find it. Definitely pm me your agents contact info when you get a second.

I definitely see what you're saying about trailer parks, a lot of those here.
 
+1 on culvers, I'm from your neighbor Minnesota where it's also popular. Be careful with areas of Largo, Clearwater, and especially St. Pete. Seminole and really anywhere around the beaches are great.
 
Nice! Always nice to have another local member onboard. I think you'll like living here. Some parts are absolutely terrible (traffic wise) i.e Ulmerton between Belcher and Lake ave is an absolute $hit storm, US19 around Gulf to bay. I feel the good definitely outweighs the bad though. We have some really amazing stores around us and are probably a little spoiled. Looking forward to meeting you at some point hopefully.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome and info reefpilot and crazyeyes.

Reefpilot11 - You just can't find good frozen custard down here and ice cream doesn't compare. Their food is pretty good too. Definitely brought me back home a little. Seems like a lot of northern transplants in Tampa just in this club.

Crazyeyes - I actually got my current tank in my sig from a former TBRC member, justiceprevails (Bob). Stores in Tampa are much nicer than here for the most part. We do have four good ones, but the prices in Tampa are much lower. Although I haven't gotten anything from them, Coral Corral has been my favorite store to visit when I'm in the area just to window shop (don't mean to start a favorite lfs war). I'll probably start posting in the forum, maybe even join considering moving to the area is definite and only a matter of when in 2016. I can't wait to be in an active local club, and the fact you guys spend most of your time in the RC TBRC forum is a plus. Might even be able to convince the wife to make a weekend trip around a meeting.
 
I've had quite a few hobbies in my younger years i.e car scene, paintball and I have to say that this hobby and the Tampa area in particular has been nothing but great. Almost everyone I've met in this area has been super cool and more than willing to lend a help hand when needed.
 
Do any of the lfs offer discounts to TBRC members? There is a link on the TBRC site that says "Follow this link for details and benefits of becoming a TBRC member!" but it just takes you to the page to join.
 
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