My take on Dunedin, Safety Harbor, Westchase, Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor (Miami: sales, real estate market)

[DC2Tampa]

Welcome to all of the newcomers and soon-to-be newcomers to Tampa Bay. As someone who's also moved from the NE, my advice is to forget what you miss about your former home, embrace the community whole-heartedly, get involved, get out and explore your new home and go out and support the local sports teams and most importantly, enjoy life and don't take what this area has to offer for granted.

Originally Posted by sail_cat22

Eastlake, btw, is not Oldsmar--it is Palm Harbor (currently unincorporated, but on the slate for possible Inc. status with the state). Oldsmar is very central, and does have some shops, but I hear from those who love there the traffic can be very bad during rush hours.

Actually East Lake Woodlands is in unincorporated Oldsmar(has an Oldsmar zipcode). The community votes on annexation by the City of Oldsmar on March 10th. I live in ELW and it's a GREAT community and definitely worth looking at for anyone moving to the Tampa Bay area. Great mix of affordable and upscale single family homes, townhomes and condos all in a gated 36 hole golf club community with a great mix of educated singles, young families and older folks. Close to lots of shopping, dining and other amenities and Tampa Rd. in Oldsmar is becoming quite a dining destination. Also close to parks, Lake Tarpon, borders Brooker Creek Preserve, athletic fields, AMC movie theater, shopping malls, 2 ice skating rinks, good hospitals, a few miles from Dunedin and Honeymoon & Caladesi Island, Safety Harbor, Palm Harbor, Clearwater Beach not far away and close to major arteries like McMullen-Booth Rd., US-19 and Tampa Rd. Also in a very good school district.

Great neighborhood for kids and young families.

[mhladik12]

Thank you, this is a great post and very informative!!

[isa]

i am curious of the people who moved to dunedin, and their 6 yr old who is probably older now, was going to go to the waldorf school, how are things going? my daughter goes to a waldorf school and i am interested in finding out,
thanks

[Krulik]

I posted a thread recently about the Suncoast Waldorf School but did not get any post. I am considering moving to Tampa and we are considering the Waldorf School. I visited the school recently and really liked it. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[isa]

i am thinking of visiting this school soon, any info you can gie me on the school? my daughter will enter pre-k september. i am trying to decide on dunedin or safety harbor, though i have never been there yet

[Krulik]

Originally Posted by isa

i am thinking of visiting this school soon, any info you can gie me on the school? my daughter will enter pre-k september. i am trying to decide on dunedin or safety harbor, though i have never been there yet

As I mentioned before, I visited the school while in Tampa last month. I gave them a call ahead of time and made an appointment for a tour. The person who showed me around was extremely nice. I got a 1-hour private tour, it was great. Since different people have different requirements/concerns, I would strongly encourage you to go, if not possible, to give a call and ask your own questions.
I enjoyed my visit very much and was very favorably impressed about the school.

[memberx23]

I currently live in the Oldsmar area, just off of Forest Lakes Blvd. and I really like it. We've been in Florida for just under 2 years and it only got better for me when we moved from Largo (awful) to Oldsmar. In Largo we felt isolated and it was not diverse there at all which was depressing. According to mapquest our Largo location (Vonn Rd) was approximately 17 miles from the area in which our jobs were. Well 17 miles equaled a 45 minute, one way drive to work everyday which turned out to be very stressful. So we moved to Oldsmar (10 minute commute to work) and it was such a breath of fresh air. There's just more life in Oldsmar (even though the name would suggest otherwise...LOL). Once we moved I could actually start to appreciate Florida a little more.

Anyway, we're still in an apartment but currently looking to buy a condo/townhouse and it's not looking like we'll be able to stay in the same area because Pinellas County is very expensive. We'll do everything we can to stay in this area but we've been researching lower priced areas in Hillsborough county...as close to Oldsmar as we can stay.

Your assessment of the other areas is pretty accurate & appreciated.

[kennedi]

We are possibly moving to Tampa this summer - I've been doing most of my research online trying to save our relo trips. Did you visit Fishhawk? We have heard great things about Westchase but "the" area seems to be South Tampa - we just can't afford as much house as we would hope. Have you moved yet???

[Keeper]

Westchase is really nice The yards are pretty small but there are all kinds of homes, even new ones that resemble the old homes with big front porch. It is convenient to shopping and dinning. You are close to the expressway and about 30 minutes to the gulf beaches. There is also CountryWay which is a little further away and the homes are a little older.

S. Tampa is good if you are a young professional looking for night life that is why you see it recommended here a lot. It is also an area where homes have always retained their value for years. It is close to downtown if you want a 10 min commute.

A lot of recommendations will depend on where you work, your desired commute time and other things important to you

[tjax1000]

Originally Posted by Keeper

Westchase is really nice The yards are pretty small but there are all kinds of homes, even new ones that resemble the old homes with big front porch.

That is interesting. After reading your post I took a look online and did find a few homes that have detached garages, bungalow style, etc. Do you happen to know which all neighborhoods feature this style home? Knowing that would make it easier to find the right place.

Also, what kind of baggage would a person get into with a home in an area like that in Westchase? Estimate of annual HOA, & development fees? e.g. are we talking hundreds, a thousand, or several thousand?

Thanks