[ChrisA70]

LOL!!!!!!! That's funny. Nothing worse that one of us white boys making gang signs wearing our hats sideways, that is incredibly retarded. Like George Carlin said... "White guys stop trying to be black, you will never be as cool as a black guy".....

Originally Posted by TNRyan23

Are they ATLEAST real gangs or a bunch of these guys...

[ChrisA70]

Believe me I wasn't biting at you. I was just saying it's all over, and Orlando is a night and day difference from when I was there 14 years ago. No way would I go there. Tampa is one nasty looking place. I remember going to Busch Gardens and all the streets around it were Ghetto to the fullest. Miami I just hear about, no reason to go there, but I have been to Weston and Kendall, very nice towns. Not really Miami. Lehigh is a dump now.

It's all in the spot you are, crime is everywhere.

Originally Posted by TNRyan23

I haven't been down there in a decade, Cut me a break.

Traditionally, Tampa and Miami were the two big fish when it came to crime. I can still remember ( not too long ago ) When Orlando was still just a little sleepy town known only for the Magic and Disney. I guess ALOT has changed.

Just because Orlando has now topped Miami and Tampa in crime, doesn't make Miami and Tampa less dangerous. There are still some very bad neighborhoods in both cities. I recall a few years ago when Tampa lead Miami in every crime category with the exception to capital murder.

I used to live in LeHigh Acres as well as Ft. Myers and LaBelle, Cape Coral was known then ( 2002/2003/2004 time frame ) as the place where Ft. Myers wealthy lived. I'm not sure if that's still true, however I too never felt threatend in Ft. Myers.

I'll give you Orlando, However... You can't honestly say that living in North Tampa is equally or more safe then living in.. lets say... Winter Haven.

You can't honestly say that living in Opa-Locka is equally or more safe then living in.. lets say... Immokalee. ( I know Immokalee is almost 2 hours West of Opa-Locka but still, Miami is VERY coastal city. )

Do I have a point or am I insane ?

[gypsychic]

BacktoMa4good - you are so right about Busch gardens - here is this beautiful popular attraction, but Busch Blvd. has got to be just about THE "ghettoiest" commercial road in Tampa! A couple years ago a friend of ours visited Tampa from Wisconsin, and stayed in a motel near there. He told us when he got up that a.m. he walked outside his motel room and saw shattered whiskey bottles lying around and he said "Yep, I'm in Tampa, now!" lol

[ChrisA70]

When we went there we stayed in Brandon, no way was I going to get a hotel in Tampa. I remembered what I saw on my way to the park and immediately booked a hotel AWAY from there...

I did go to a management meeting in Tampa and we had to stay at the Ramada on the bay, REALLY NICE. But we never left the hotel for 3 days with all the meetings. That was fine with me. We all took a bus to Ybor City to the bars one night, that's all.

Originally Posted by gypsychic

BacktoMa4good - you are so right about Busch gardens - here is this beautiful popular attraction, but Busch Blvd. has got to be just about THE "ghettoiest" commercial road in Tampa! A couple years ago a friend of ours visited Tampa from Wisconsin, and stayed in a motel near there. He told us when he got up that a.m. he walked outside his motel room and saw shattered whiskey bottles lying around and he said "Yep, I'm in Tampa, now!" lol

[TNRyan23]

My wife and I were staying in Kissimmee at some nice resort hotel for about a week and were driving to St. Pete Beach almost daily ( I know it's a long way, but before we came we didn't know we'd be going to the beach that much ) Anyways, We decided to stay an extra day and was trying to find a hotel in Tampa and there was some kind of stupid convention in town...

Anyways... We ended up looking at a few hotels on Busch Blvd. and a few I believe on Sligh. Biggest dumps we've ever seen.. urine stained sheets, floors, holes in the pillows and blankets, air smelled of urine and stale air, air conditioner was sputtering and leaking water into the room, tub was dirty with a ring around it and it had hair in the tub and on the sink.

We ended up not staying there and the only other hotel we could find was a Motel 6 off Columbus in Tampa near Brandon. I grew up in Brandon so I was a little more willing to stay there vs. the dumps on Sligh and Busch...

The Motel 6 was just as bad if not worse then the other two we looked at. it turned out that the hotel was used as an extended stay hotel for illegal workers as the buses were unloading as we were checking in. Later that night, we tried to order pizza and when they asked for the hotel number so they would know where to deliever, I looked at the phone and it had a 305, Miami phone number!

The receptionist at the front desk said it was common that they get spare room parts from diffrent motel 6's all over the country.

That was a bizzare trip and so far, I've only made one trip back, We stayed at the Beachcomber on St. Pete beach, It however, was an Excellent hotel !

[Alphaman]

I agree those streets around Busch Blvd are ghetto like Nebraska ave Florida ave etc are horrible.

[TNRyan23]

I can remember growing up that Temple Terrace wasn't that great of a neighborhood, esp. around Nebraska.

I remember coming back to Tampa for the first time after I moved and said " holy crap, they put a huge porn shop at the corner of Nebraska and Fletcher "

Where would Temple Terrace be without Todd Adult ?

[Suncoast Guy]

WOW!! A lot to respond too here, well let's get started!

Originally Posted by PBCboy

On the contrary, I know someone who lives in Clearwater and they think it's wonderful. They say that it's far safer than in West Palm Beach even. It sounds to me that you're overreacting a teeny, tiny bit.

I'd rather move to Clearwater than South Carolina, too.

I agree, Clearwater (like most of Pinellas County) has problems, but my brother lives in Clearwater and has lived in Clearwater for over 25 years and loves it as much today as he did 25 years ago. In fact, he wants me to live there, although there's no way I'm moving there! I like the Suncoast too much, but I digress.

Originally Posted by mquintana

There's more crime in Tampa itself than the 'burbs. If you want no crime at all, you have to live in the boonies-let's say North Florida in LIVE OAK. And not in town either, in the woods. Any area that is city or larger town will have crime.

Originally Posted by BacktoMA4good

Believe me I wasn't biting at you. I was just saying it's all over, and Orlando is a night and day difference from when I was there 14 years ago. No way would I go there. Tampa is one nasty looking place. I remember going to Busch Gardens and all the streets around it were Ghetto to the fullest. Miami I just hear about, no reason to go there, but I have been to Weston and Kendall, very nice towns. Not really Miami. Lehigh is a dump now.

It's all in the spot you are, crime is everywhere.

Let me just say now that I think Tampa is the dumpiest looking place I've ever has the displeasure of being in. Every street is dumpy, and the people are not friendly at all. Crime is everywhere in Tampa, and all you here on the news EVERY day. You have Adventure Island and Busch Gardens in Tampa, and they are nice, but that is about the only thing nice in Tampa. Just look at the areas around both, they are dumpy. It's a dumpy, crappy, crime-ridden, sorry excuse for a city. I wouldn't live there, I don't even like driving through it.

Originally Posted by mquintana

And maybe St. Pete is worse.

St. Petersburg is not my favorite city because I think it is too busy. Too many businesses, but there are a few nice places in St. Pete. Crime in St. Pete isn't great, pretty lousy if you ask me, but better than Tampa, and it is more attractive than Tampa. I wouldn't live here, but I would rather live here than Tampa.

Originally Posted by TNRyan23

I would say inland areas would be " safer " then coastal areas in my experiences in Florida...

Not necessarily, for example look at Immokalee. Immokalee is inland and the crime there is horridness. It's just the people I think that make the crime what it is. Sarasota and Naples have decent people, therefore the crime in both places in decent. Tampa and St. Petersburg have crappy, dumpy people, and the crime there is awful.

[TNRyan23]

Originally Posted by Suncoast Guy

Not necessarily, for example look at Immokalee. Immokalee is inland and the crime there is horridness. It's just the people I think that make the crime what it is.

That's a shame. Immokalee is a nice place. Atleast it was 10 years ago, IMO.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by TNRyan23

That's a shame. Immokalee is a nice place. Atleast it was 10 years ago, IMO.

Are you sure you aren't confusing it with somewhere else?