Does anyone knows anything about sun city center??? (Tampa, Brandon: apartment, house)

[farhadB]

Me and wife were there back in september looking at this gated area property to compare with other few hundreds we have looked at all over florida and everything was great and to out satisfactory, very reasonbly priced and liked everything...well except the sun city center...It's kinda little town and looks boring and beaches are seems to be 20 mintes away and someone said little harbor is nice, I am not too crazy about tampa and driving there back and forth. So does anyone knows anything about sun city center like safety, things to do, how beaches are and anything else please educate us. Thanks

[BucFan]

Sun City Center is a community of about 10,000. There's a sub-community called Kings Point that is also at Sun City Center, but Kings Point is gated. There are 100's of social groups at these two communities - along with a lot of amenities. Anyone retiring in the area would make a big mistake if they didn't consider the area (and visit). Valencia Lakes is also an over 55 community nearby SCC (3-4 miles) with similar amenities, but smaller community (no golf). You don't have to be a golfer to enjoy any of the communities. A google search of Sun City Center or Valencia Lakes will bring you a lot of information.

[ems2158]

I had a house in Sun City Center for 5 years and sold it last year.
I moved back to Pennsylvania because I wanted to be closer to family.
Sun City Center is a decent place to live. Home prices are reasonable.
It is safer than most neighborhoods.
My biggest problem with the area is the shortage of decent restaurants/diners. I found myself driving up to Brandon pretty often because there is so little to do around Sun City Center.

As far as the beaches go, my favorite was Siesta Key and Fort Desoto but it takes over an hour to get to those beaches. There is really nothing close to Sun City Center that is very attractive. Although, watching the sunset over Tampa Bay from Apollo Beach was nice.

[farhadB]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Sun City Center is a community of about 10,000. There's a sub-community called Kings Point that is also at Sun City Center, but Kings Point is gated. There are 100's of social groups at these two communities - along with a lot of amenities. Anyone retiring in the area would make a big mistake if they didn't consider the area (and visit). Valencia Lakes is also an over 55 community nearby SCC (3-4 miles) with similar amenities, but smaller community (no golf). You don't have to be a golfer to enjoy any of the communities. A google search of Sun City Center or Valencia Lakes will bring you a lot of information.

Yes, we actually did stayed at valencia lakes and we liked it alot, prices are very reasonable and residents were very friendly, we made several friends just being there for 2 days. Amenities are great also but we did not get a chance to visit nearby beaches and beaches are going to be a big thing for me, if I don't like the beaches we might as well forget about it. We might just plan to go back there to check out beaches nearby. Thanks for your feedback.

[farhadB]

Originally Posted by ems2158

I had a house in Sun City Center for 5 years and sold it last year.
I moved back to Pennsylvania because I wanted to be closer to family.
Sun City Center is a decent place to live. Home prices are reasonable.
It is safer than most neighborhoods.
My biggest problem with the area is the shortage of decent restaurants/diners. I found myself driving up to Brandon pretty often because there is so little to do around Sun City Center.

As far as the beaches go, my favorite was Siesta Key and Fort Desoto but it takes over an hour to get to those beaches. There is really nothing close to Sun City Center that is very attractive. Although, watching the sunset over Tampa Bay from Apollo Beach was nice.

Tha'ts exactly how I felt...Nothing much to do and not many restaurants around. Driving to tampa is a pain and yes I have been in siesta key and it is beautiful but like you mentioned it is a long drive. Those are some of the drawbacks. I don't think beaches there are anything to rave about with what I have seen around there. Thanks for your feedback.

[BucFan]

Bradenton Beach is a little closer - probably 40-45 mins away. Beautiful beach, in my opinion. Very well maintained by the city. Lots of security, too.

I can get to downtown Tampa from SCC in about 25-30 mins. That's not too bad if you consider other urban areas where traveling takes much long. SCC is midway between Sarasota and Tampa and equallyl to St Pete via the Skyway. Like I said, the commute to these areas isn't that bad compared to living in and around cities unless you own an apartment in the heart of a city. The Tampa Airport is also ideal - and convenient for travel to most of the USA and internationally -