Moving to Florida - Tampa or Jacksonville? (Sarasota: 2015, crime)

[cbaltes86]

My husband and I are considering a move from chilly Pittsburgh to Florida. He drives a big rig for a living so we imagine a larger city will provide the most opportunities with the best wages. I work from home so location isn't as much of an issue for me. Tampa and Jacksonville are the two cities we are considering....any practical advice or opinions on these two cities? Thanks!

[dan7819]

I've read that Tampa is "better" overall (less crime, better jobs, etc), but also more expensive. On the other hand I've read that Jacksonville is very cheap cost-of-living wise, but has more crime and rough areas.

I'm thinking of moving to Florida myself, so i've been doing research too. I can't stand snow and crappy depressing "grey" weather, sick and tired of it. I'll save a ton on auto costs too, because it never snows in FL i can simply trade out my gas guzzler 4-wheel drive truck for an economical 2-wheel drive car. A win-win all around.

[projectmaximus]

^That's a very general but overall correct assessment imo. Tampa is a much larger metro, has more amenities, but comes with a higher price. Jax has a strong economy as well yet maintains a rather low COL. Crime in Jax isnt that bad though...as with most places it's mostly isolated to certain areas.

Any things in particular you'd want to compare?

[Hadfield43]

We had been considering both also but ruled out Tampa as it is horribly congested and took forever to get anywhere. St Johns county is a much less crowded and peaceful place IMO. We have been looking at Nocatee and Polencia as possible home locations.

It seems to me that house prices are slightly lower in St. John's county and schools are consistently better.

The water is prettier in Tampa and all the way down the coast but the beaches in Tampa until you get south of Sarasota are horribly built up and don't feel natural. So while you lose the water you gain more natural beaches in my opinion in jax.

One other area to consider is south of fort Meyers. It's got Sanabel island which reminded me a bit of being in Hawaii. It also is more family oriented but the city has a crime issue.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by cbaltes86

My husband and I are considering a move from chilly Pittsburgh to Florida. He drives a big rig for a living so we imagine a larger city will provide the most opportunities with the best wages. I work from home so location isn't as much of an issue for me. Tampa and Jacksonville are the two cities we are considering....any practical advice or opinions on these two cities? Thanks!

I guess a couple of issues relate to your husband's work. Like does he own any of his equipment? If so - where will he be able to park it? Also - what routes does he usually drive? Tampa is pretty much in the I-75 corridor. JAX is in the I-95 corridor. JAX is more convenient/closer to I-10. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by Hadfield43

We had been considering both also but ruled out Tampa as it is horribly congested and took forever to get anywhere. St Johns county is a much less crowded and peaceful place IMO. We have been looking at Nocatee and Polencia as possible home locations.

It seems to me that house prices are slightly lower in St. John's county and schools are consistently better.

The water is prettier in Tampa and all the way down the coast but the beaches in Tampa until you get south of Sarasota are horribly built up and don't feel natural. So while you lose the water you gain more natural beaches in my opinion in jax.

One other area to consider is south of fort Meyers. It's got Sanabel island which reminded me a bit of being in Hawaii. It also is more family oriented but the city has a crime issue.

Think again about the traffic here. It took us an hour to get home to PVB from Baptist South the other day. First - we had to stop for about 10 minutes for a train. Then there was an accident on US 1 near Nocatee that had traffic at a standstill. So we got on 9B to get to Butler Blvd. And there was bumper-to-bumper traffic - going at a crawl - from the time we got to 9A to when we got to Butler Blvd. This was not at rush hour.

Overall - I think the traffic here has gotten much worse in the last 2-3 years. And it is certainly a far cry from the way it was when we moved here 20+ years ago. And - the more the area is developed - the worse the traffic is going to get. Robyn

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Think again about the traffic here. It took us an hour to get home to PVB from Baptist South the other day. First - we had to stop for about 10 minutes for a train. Then there was an accident on US 1 near Nocatee that had traffic at a standstill. So we got on 9B to get to Butler Blvd. And there was bumper-to-bumper traffic - going at a crawl - from the time we got to 9A to when we got to Butler Blvd. This was not at rush hour.

Overall - I think the traffic here has gotten much worse in the last 2-3 years. And it is certainly a far cry from the way it was when we moved here 20+ years ago. And - the more the area is developed - the worse the traffic is going to get. Robyn

The traffic is much much much worse in the Tampa area. It's an absolute pleasure to drive in Jacksonville compared to the other major metro areas in Florida. Traffic really flows quickly here and even if there is an accident it really isn't as bad as it is elsewhere. Part of the issue in the Tampa area is the geography with the bay and even the Hillsborough river making it hard to have a lot of options. There are three bridges across the bay, one main main north/south road in Pinellas that has tons of streetlights. Hillsborough county has more options of highways, but two of the main ones are toll roads (also a plus here- no toll roads).

[URYwood]

Originally Posted by RamenAddict

The traffic is much much much worse in the Tampa area. It's an absolute pleasure to drive in Jacksonville compared to the other major metro areas in Florida. Traffic really flows quickly here and even if there is an accident it really isn't as bad as it is elsewhere. Part of the issue in the Tampa area is the geography with the bay and even the Hillsborough river making it hard to have a lot of options. There are three bridges across the bay, one main main north/south road in Pinellas that has tons of streetlights. Hillsborough county has more options of highways, but two of the main ones are toll roads (also a plus here- no toll roads).

This^^^

I just moved to Jax from Tampa. I was in Tampa for the last 15 years. Jax traffic is a breeze compared to getting around the Bay Area. It has a lot to do with the lay of the land.

I've been in Jax a year now and just bought a house on the Southside. Maybe I'm still on the Jax honeymoon but everything here is better.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by URYwood

This^^^

I just moved to Jax from Tampa. I was in Tampa for the last 15 years. Jax traffic is a breeze compared to getting around the Bay Area. It has a lot to do with the lay of the land.

I've been in Jax a year now and just bought a house on the Southside. Maybe I'm still on the Jax honeymoon but everything here is better.

There are pluses and minuses to both areas. Jacksonville is less expensive, particularly if you want to live near to the water. I think there is more to do in terms of outdoor activities and there is obviously better driving access to the major interstates, which may be of interest to the OP since her husband drives big rigs. You can go to the beach without having to pay to park (big plus) and even people far away aren't going to be driving 1-2 hours to get there like you would in the Tampa area. Jaxport is also much bigger than the Tampa port, which may also make a difference for the OP since there are just tons and tons of big rigs coming in here compared to FL with the trucks coming in from across the country and the Atlantic coast. I would imagine that in terms of opportunities in that career field, it would be more here than in Tampa.

Tampa does have more in terms of cultural opportunities. The downtown areas there (St. Pete/Tampa/Sarasota) are a lot more vibrant and varied than Jacksonville, which seems to continue to rely on the hope that the Jags will revitalize downtown without seeing all that much payoff. I think Tampa and St. Pete have seen progress although they've seen some down periods as well. Job opportunities and salaries in general also tend to be higher in the Tampa Bay area but I'm not sure whether the OP intends to switch jobs or if she's staying in her current job.

[projectmaximus]

^Just a couple corrections

Originally Posted by RamenAddict

There are pluses and minuses to both areas. Jacksonville is less expensive, particularly if you want to live near to the water. I think there is more to do in terms of outdoor activities and there is obviously better driving access to the major interstates, which may be of interest to the OP since her husband drives big rigs. You can go to the beach without having to pay to park (big plus) and even people far away aren't going to be driving 1-2 hours to get there like you would in the Tampa area. Jaxport is also much bigger than the Tampa port, which may also make a difference for the OP since there are just tons and tons of big rigs coming in here compared to FL with the trucks coming in from across the country and the Atlantic coast. I would imagine that in terms of opportunities in that career field, it would be more here than in Tampa.

Tampa does have more in terms of cultural opportunities. The downtown areas there (St. Pete/Tampa/Sarasota) are a lot more vibrant and varied than Jacksonville, which seems to continue to rely on the hope that the Jags will revitalize downtown without seeing all that much payoff. I think Tampa and St. Pete have seen progress although they've seen some down periods as well. Job opportunities and salaries in general also tend to be higher in the Tampa Bay area but I'm not sure whether the OP intends to switch jobs or if she's staying in her current job.

1) Port Tampa Bay is much larger than Jaxport actually. 2015 they did 14.5 million tons of cargo to Jaxport's 8 million. And cruise passenger numbers are more than five times larger in Tampa. The previous Jaxport CEO actually unexpectedly left Jax because he was offered the Tampa position and couldn't turn it down.

Cargo Statistics - The Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT)
https://www.tampaport.com/userfiles/...0vs%20FY14.pdf

2) I think Tampa is relying on Vinik just as much.