Moving to SP in 7 months, little help pls! (Tampa, Clearwater: best neighborhoods, apartments)

[jtgoffe]

First, thank you to all for the info i've collected so far about moving. I've been able to make a lot of decisions based on that. A few questions though...

Moving from Iowa, sick of the snow. My employer allows for a transfer to our SP office. Wife and I have narrowed our search area to #1 Largo, #2 Clearwater and #3 basically everywhere else. We're not sure yet if we want to rent a house or an apt (for a year or 2 to learn the area). We're kind of a loud family of 6 so preferably a house. We can probably get more for our money w/ a house too, correct? There just does not seem to be very much available in the way of homes for rent, or are we just not looking in the right places?

We've found some decent 3BR for under $1,200/mo which is probably our high price-point. Any suggestions on where to look? Is $1,200 too low/too high? We've been to zillow, trulia, rent.com, apartmentfinder.com, the SP/Tampa newspaper, etc. We even resorted to checking out property management websites. Wife and I will be going down in May for a week to find a place to live, move a month later.

The apartments we've found don't say much about utilities that are paid for by the property (water, electric, gas, etc), is this the norm?

I've done the research on schools through greatschools.org, so i am aware of the better ones down there. The real issue is putting all of this data together to find a decent location. How bad is the southern end of the peninsula, below Central Ave, where is the "line in the sand" from good area to bad area?

I will be working near Feather Sound (NE part of Pinellas Cty) and don't want a commute more than 30 minutes. My shift will be late morning, so traffic won't be an issue, or will it?

[travelbuggy]

The line in the sand was at Central Avenue in SP for years and years. That line seems to have shifted somewhat north. I lived in SP as a teen and my mother lived there for many years afterward. I still have friends who never left SP and still live there.. most of them have moved further to the north. Areas that have been built up in the NE corner, and then up towards the Clearwater/Largo area. I have also heard that the areas closer to the beaches (Gulfport) and some of the neighborhoods like that are still very nice. I have also heard the Tanglewood area is very nice. I lived more in the central area of the city... near 34th Street and not too far from Central Avenue.. I would no longer live in that area, though I understand that SPHS is one of the better high schools now. I do not know how the very southern tip of SP is these days... I believe the farther south you go, the better. Depending on where your office is located, you might consider Sarasota too, right over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I don't believe that bridge gets too much commuter traffic, but I could be wrong. Commuting from Tampa into SP is also quite a hassle.. just not enought bridges to cross over Tampa Bay and if there is an accident on them.. always a hassle.

A commute for work to/from Clearwater would be bad.. it's been bad forever, since long ago.

[travelbuggy]

And BTW, traffic is always an issue.. after re-reading your post, I'd look at the area around NE High School, and further north that way. Those areas are all still pretty nice.

[BBI]

Originally Posted by travelbuggy

Commuting from Tampa into SP is also quite a hassle.. just not enought bridges to cross over Tampa Bay and if there is an accident on them.. always a hassle. A commute for work to/from Clearwater would be bad.. it's been bad forever, since long ago.

This is way overblown. If the OP's commute starts after peak rush hour (e.g., 10am to work; 7pm to home), he can trust (and will probably beat) google maps drive times. 30 minutes from Feather Sound gives a LOT of viable options, and I would not rule out Tampa or anywhere else that the driving directions sites rule in. Also, Clearwater borders Feather Sound, so I'm not sure why that's necessarily a bad commute....

To the OP, I posted the St. Pete socio-economic "line[s] in the sand" in this thread: Relocating from Massachusetts - totally confused where to live

[stpeteguy]

Originally Posted by jtgoffe

First, thank you to all for the info i've collected so far about moving. I've been able to make a lot of decisions based on that. A few questions though...

Moving from Iowa, sick of the snow. My employer allows for a transfer to our SP office. Wife and I have narrowed our search area to #1 Largo, #2 Clearwater and #3 basically everywhere else. We're not sure yet if we want to rent a house or an apt (for a year or 2 to learn the area). We're kind of a loud family of 6 so preferably a house. We can probably get more for our money w/ a house too, correct? There just does not seem to be very much available in the way of homes for rent, or are we just not looking in the right places?

We've found some decent 3BR for under $1,200/mo which is probably our high price-point. Any suggestions on where to look? Is $1,200 too low/too high? We've been to zillow, trulia, rent.com, apartmentfinder.com, the SP/Tampa newspaper, etc. We even resorted to checking out property management websites. Wife and I will be going down in May for a week to find a place to live, move a month later.

The apartments we've found don't say much about utilities that are paid for by the property (water, electric, gas, etc), is this the norm?

I've done the research on schools through greatschools.org, so i am aware of the better ones down there. The real issue is putting all of this data together to find a decent location. How bad is the southern end of the peninsula, below Central Ave, where is the "line in the sand" from good area to bad area?

I will be working near Feather Sound (NE part of Pinellas Cty) and don't want a commute more than 30 minutes. My shift will be late morning, so traffic won't be an issue, or will it?

The "southern end of the peninsula" is not where you want to be living, unless you can afford to be on the beach(pasadena, gulfport, treasure island, Tierra Verde). Some say Central ave. is the cut off point, but I would say more like 22nd ave. north.

Clearwater and Largo both have some really nice upscale and really bad run down areas. Downtown clearwater is a dump. I wouldn't live there, but some of the surrounding communtiies like Bellaire, Safety Harbor and parts of suburban Clearwater are really nice.

Largo is much the same. Parts of it are called Larghetto for a reason.

For $1200, you should be able to rent a pretty nice place in a reasonably safe area. Check the paper or craigslist.

[gen44]

Seriously consider Safety Harbor, quaint downtown, great schools and a fast commute to Feather Sound!

[Tobinn]

All the suggestions I've read so far seem pretty good.

I would add that Dunedin may fit the bill, too. Cute downtown, not a bad commute...

For the best commute I think I'd narrow it down to Clearwater, Largo and maybe Pinellas Park. I live in Clearwater so I'm a bit biased towards Clearwater.

Regardless of where you choose to rent (and I'd rent first and spend a year getting the lay of the land) you may want to visit the local planning/building department and see what levels of Code violations are in the neighborhood. A high level of code violations could mean either neighborhood feuds or indicate other problems. Avoid neighborhoods with signs along the street which say "No Stopping or Standing". The only reason for signs like that in a a residential neighborhood, IMHO, is a preponderance of drug activity and it allows the police to stop vehicles violating that rule.

Also, you probably do not want to be in a flood zone (even if you're renting) or living next to a registered sex offender. Check out the County's GIS web site (runs through Internet Explorer not Firefox - as I've found out - Pinellas County Geographic Information System

[BBI]

Originally Posted by stpeteguy

Some say Central ave. is the cut off point, but I would say more like 22nd ave. north.

Strongly disagree with this. In northeast St. Pete, 22nd Ave N is north of (most of and the best parts of) the Old Northeast and parts of Snell Isle, which are the two best neighborhoods in the city in my opinion. More generally, 22nd Ave N is not a significant socio-economic dividing line. For example, Crescent Heights (north of 22nd) is similar to Crescent Lake (south of 22nd); Woodlawn (north of 22nd) is similar to Euclid/St. Paul (south of 22nd); and Jungle (north of 22nd) is similar to Azalea (south of 22nd). If anything, I think that the neighborhoods between Central Ave and 22nd Ave N are nicer than the neighborhoods immediately north of 22nd Ave N. There may be some exceptions to this, though; 22nd Ave N is just not a significant line.

[Angler]

Originally Posted by BBI

Strongly disagree with this. In northeast St. Pete, 22nd Ave N is north of (most of and the best parts of) the Old Northeast and parts of Snell Isle, which are the two best neighborhoods in the city in my opinion. More generally, 22nd Ave N is not a significant socio-economic dividing line. For example, Crescent Heights (north of 22nd) is similar to Crescent Lake (south of 22nd); Woodlawn (north of 22nd) is similar to Euclid/St. Paul (south of 22nd); and Jungle (north of 22nd) is similar to Azalea (south of 22nd). If anything, I think that the neighborhoods between Central Ave and 22nd Ave N are nicer than the neighborhoods immediately north of 22nd Ave N. There may be some exceptions to this, though; 22nd Ave N is just not a significant line.

I concur: stpete guy is way off the mark. The entire west side has great neighborhoods between central and 22nd ave n. I know, I live in one. Safe, great homes, great family neighborhood.