Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-13-2011, 12:35 PM
 
1,105 posts, read 2,294,272 times
Reputation: 1074

Advertisements

I plan on a tour of Florida soon and would appreciate advice on areas that are crime ridden, Detroitish type areas. I assume Miami is one town to stay away from. What about Tampa and other areas?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-13-2011, 02:24 PM
 
Location: Tampa
1,246 posts, read 4,633,833 times
Reputation: 957
I would not disregard Miami. I had a friend come visit me in Tampa and drove down for a few days to Miami. She went there specifically to see the art deco style buildings. She really enjoyed sitting outside in one of the many cafe's, people watch and look at the art deco. Not all of Miami is bad, not all areas are nice in Tampa.

For beaches, the gulf side the water is warmer, sand is nicer (soft and not hot) than the Atlantic side. The Atlantic side has much bigger waves than the gulf, which is pretty calm unless a storm is close by. If you like kayaking, nature stuff, Fort DeSoto Beach (near St. Petersburg) is nice place to go.

Tell us more of what you are looking for in your vacation. Beach, quiet, nature, Disney, nightlife, etc. It is kind of hard to recommend an area without knowing what you are looking for. The more inland areas tend to be boring, more farm and country. Do you have an area in mind?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-13-2011, 02:29 PM
 
Location: Tampa
2,602 posts, read 8,261,001 times
Reputation: 1565
In almost all situations, the bad parts of cities aren't areas you'd normally find yourself in anyway.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-13-2011, 02:47 PM
 
1,468 posts, read 4,726,625 times
Reputation: 1087
Quote:
Originally Posted by Angorlee View Post
I plan on a tour of Florida soon and would appreciate advice on areas that are crime ridden, Detroitish type areas. I assume Miami is one town to stay away from. What about Tampa and other areas?
When you say tour what exactly do you mean? You want to see tourist stuff, experience local culture, see the Everglades etc? Florida is almost 500 miles long with 1200 miles of coast line. Unless you are going to spend months you will be hard pressed to see much more then a few select spots. It is just too big to go running around. I know people who say they have seen the Grand Canyon. They were there for a day and took a few pictures. When I first visited the Grand Canyon we stayed 4 weeks. Hiked the Canyon saw it from all sides, camped and so on. It takes time to see and appreciate something.

In Florida there are good parts and not so good parts but even the bad parts are worth seeing if you are to experience the state. Even Overtown that is just a name to most in a news article may even be worth seeing to have a real perspective. It depends what kind of traveler you are and what your want to experience. My wife and I once stayed in a room upstairs over a gambling place outside Venice run by mafia. We were there a few days and it was interesting to say the least. Guys were gambling with briefcases full of money.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2011, 11:35 AM
 
1,609 posts, read 4,667,575 times
Reputation: 722
I once stopped and ask directions in Miami and was warned never to do that again.Nuf said
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2011, 11:50 AM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
3,237 posts, read 6,278,223 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by Angorlee View Post
I plan on a tour of Florida soon and would appreciate advice on areas that are crime ridden, Detroitish type areas. I assume Miami is one town to stay away from. What about Tampa and other areas?
There are not many "Detroitish" parts of Florida.

That said, there are some parts of Miami that are absolutely no mans land. Mainly the Liberty City, Overtown, Opa-Locka, Florida City, Kendall.

Not much else in Florida qualifies as "Detroitish". You wont find many gutted old buildings, streets with nothing but burned out homes and cars.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2011, 02:25 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
3,237 posts, read 6,278,223 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocalared View Post
Stay out of the west side of Tampa. Do not sleep in your car at any rest area on the interstate, even if it has night security. We love all the money in your fat little wallet, so travel safe. Y'all come see us again, real soon!
For the most part, West Tampa is not bad. It's the North side of Tampa and just East of downtown. Inside the city limits. Outside of the city limits, NW Hillsborough, Carrolwood is one of the nicer areas of the metro area.

At any rate, the Tampa metro area has NOWHERE that can compare to Liberty City or Overtown... even the worst areas of College Hill and South St. Pete do not compare to some of the war zones in Metro Miami
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2011, 02:58 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
1,388 posts, read 2,371,284 times
Reputation: 993
east tampa
st. pete west of 4th and south of central
pretty much all of pinellas park
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2011, 09:17 PM
 
Location: Niceville, FL
13,255 posts, read 22,650,364 times
Reputation: 16392
US 19 between Tallahassee and about Crystal Springs is actually kind of interesting during the day- it's like the case study of what Florida looks like when there isn't much post-WW2 development in all its Brigadoon-like 1952 glory. But it's kind of a scary road after dark because there are long stretches of nothing but road through swamp, the towns and gas stops are few, and the small city of Perry is best avoided under all circumstances.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2011, 09:58 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
3,237 posts, read 6,278,223 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by beachmouse View Post
the small city of Perry is best avoided under all circumstances.
Perry is kind of a unique town in Florida. It was once a MAJOR place of industry up through the 70's. It had major lumber mills, Paper Mills, chemicals. It was served by 3 railroads, including the Seaboard Coast Line which paralleled US 19 from Tallahassee to Crystal River before heading inland toward Dunellon. It's all gone now. It was one of the few non-farming industries in that part of the state. When the industry pulled out, they left behind poverty, strife, and environmental disasters.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top