Settle down in Florida. (Tampa, Orlando: best neighborhood, apartment, lease)

[magnumek]

Hello everybody.
I am 25 years old. I moved to Florida with my wife few weeks ago. We were planning a move from NY for some time and we finally decided to do it. We were reading a lot about the coasts and we chose the Gulf Coast even though we like the East better (more to do, better nightlife, newer building, more palms, nicer areas, more luxurious feeling) we went with west mostly because of economic reasons, better culture, less crime. But we are still not 100% sure if we made a good choice. We leased an apartment in New Port Richey, the south-east area, to get a better idea of the areas before buying a property. Our lease ends in April so we are starting to look for a house or condo to buy, but its very hard to choose a region to settle down as each has its pros and cons. We are working from home so we don't need to be in the city but you never know what will the future bring so its nice to be near the city just in case. The areas that we are considering the most are:
- North Port (great houses for +/- $200k, newer buildings, low crime, great schools, lower insurance costs, constantly growing but it lacks a downtown, pretty far from everywhere, we are afraid to get bored there)
- Trinity (okay house pricing, low crime, nice area, not to far from Tampa airport, good schools but I don't know if we would feel good living in here)
- Lakewood Ranch (close to Sarasota, decent houses)


Could you please give some advises about the areas, the pros and cons of living there? I would also appreciate other ones with nice housing <$250k. I like to be close to the beach but the last hurricane reminded me to keep little off the water, so around half hour drive to the beach is totally fine. Still not sure if Sarasota or Tampa area would be better for us.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

I think Tampa is better for a 25 yr old - much more which will appeal to your age group. Sarasota is mostly retirees.

[magnumek]

Thank you for your opinion.
To be honest I dont like Tampa too much. I like the feeling of safety and I just dont have it in Tampa city at night. I like to go out and spend some time in a nice bar, restaurant, movies, park without having to look after my wifes safety, so low crime is very important.
I think I kind of like Trinity, I have a suburb feel and I am close to everywhere, however the housing is worse than in North Port, its more pricey, the properties are older and the building structure is often more delicate. Its also nice that some parks are nearby as well as close to Orlando but the driving distance is not that important as I save a lot of driving during the week being able to work from home.

Btw, do you think I can double this post in Tampa subforum or will it be considered spam?

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Dont get me wrong - you will find younger people in Sarasota - its just not that exciting - it is more expensive but nicer and safer then Tampa -

Before we moved to Nokomis we lived in North Port - North Port is a safe, nice and up and coming town - it is only about 20 minutes to Englewood Beach - there are more young people and families there but it still has a nice semi-rural feel - the homes are new and inexpensive - I enjoyed living there - the only reason I moved to Nokomis was to be near my sons gifted school in Osprey.

I love it here because I am older and love the low key living - there are clubs and festivals but not any really exciting night life for people in their 20s

[Sunshine Rules]

Lakewood Ranch and it's various neighborhoods are clean, well maintained and the community areas are landscaped and meticulously kept. Some of the neighborhoods are gated, others are not. All have deed restrictions, including those pertaining to the maintenance of the exterior of homes & landscaping requirements.

Lakewood Ranch has consistently been voted as the "Best Neighborhood" by Sarasota Magazine and has won a number of national building awards.

The median age of Lakewood Ranch is running around 47 years of age. For Sarasota, the median age is around 54.


As to the potential negatives of LWR:

Lakewood Ranch does have a community development district, and the CDD fee is added each year to the homeowners' tax bills in most (not all) of the LWR neighborhoods. A Community Development District or CDD is a special tax district that has been established to create a community with a higher level of amenities within an area/district and to maintain them to a level or standard of a specific developer had established. It help pays for the operation and/or to maintain facilities and systems such road improvements, management of wetlands areas, water and sewers, common areas and parks & recreational areas.

Some people consider these annual CDD fees to be a negative. Others consider them a small price to pay for having a well maintained, well run and manicured community. The CDD fees are paid on the annual property tax bill.



Most single family home listings (resale) in Lakewood Ranch are now starting in the upper $200's, with homes in the $300k - $400k price range much more common, but home prices can run more than a million dollars in some of the more exclusive LWR neighborhoods. You would have more options for homes in your targeted price range west of Lakewood Ranch, there are a number of residential neighborhoods in that south Manatee county area just north of University Parkway.

As your lease is not up for awhile, I would definitely suggest taking your time to scope out the various locations in person, spend time going to open houses, visit the neighborhoods in the evenings and weekends when residents are more likely to be out and about. You may find that you gravitate to something totally different than what you are now considering, it often happens.

[nivekerotavlas]

I actually made a very general post on a review of Sarasota-Manatee from the viewpoint of someone in their mid twenties a few months back. My miss and I moved here from NY also and we love Sarasota. You will find that there is a lot of retirees and it can get expensive but if you have a decent paying job and have a decent amount of hobbies you will be very happy here. Especially if you like to go boating, hit the beach or go fishing etc etc(Florida activities). We find that there are more young people here than people like to admit and there is a upward climbing trend of people in the 25-40 age range moving into the Sarasota-Manatee area regardless of what the retirees think and you will have no problems making friends if you are social, normal people. As for nightlife there are plenty of restaurants, bars, high end lounges and breweries around to visit. However there is no club/rave scene or major concerts. If you want that you can always drive to St.Pete or Tampa for the night which isn't that far. As for housing you may get more for your money in Northport but I know many people our age who have moved there and ended up bored out of their minds. Hope this helps.

[kiggy]

It seems that you want "excitement" without crime. Please name a city that offers both, and I'll move there.

[cjairo191]

What part of New York did you move from? Sarasota is not a big city and you may get bored. Tampa and St.Pete hands down is better for 25 year olds, but if you are okay hanging out with an older crowd and very laid back, Sarasota is perfect. Your opinion on safety of Tampa is not completely valid, but everyone has an opinion. I would just rent in Sarasota area first before buying. Not to cut Sarasota, but most of the young out of college crowd from Sarasota run to Tampa for work and when I visit Sarasota, I hear people complain about lack of jobs. But you work from home, so not an issue I guess. Sarasota is smaller, prettier, more expensive, and has less jobs.

[nivekerotavlas]

Originally Posted by cjairo191

Not to cut Sarasota, but most of the young out of college crowd from Sarasota run to Tampa for work and when I visit Sarasota, I hear people complain about lack of jobs. But you work from home, so not an issue I guess. Sarasota is smaller, prettier, more expensive, and has less jobs.

I find this to be true to some extent depending on the field you work in and or the degree you have, I know people with masters degrees and dual majors who are working for $10 an hour or can't even find a job due to the fact that their degree(s) is not marketable here. If you have a marketable degree, are skilled in a trade or just happen to land in good job(I managed too) you will be fine here. Though Sarasota is a cruel place to be an unskilled laborer or have a paperweight degree.

[tonyoptimist]

I'm retired and living in Sarasota which we love. We paid considerably more than what your willing and the ages are older. I think Tampa would be better for you.