From NYC to Tampa?

[FLBOUND?]

Originally Posted by Melissa&Jeff

Hi there, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and now reside in Tampa, FL. For one, a lot of my New York family and friends, hate this place. The one thing I've noticed with northerners, especially New Yorkers, is either you love this place or you absolutely hate it. Yes the cost of living is cheaper, but anything is cheaper then Manhattan...doesn't matter where you go. I've been in Tampa and the surrounding counties now for about 15 years off and on and I am ready to get out of dodge. For one, going Christmas shopping with people wearing Hawaiian shirts and flip flops is something you will never get used to! Second, I love to walk, everyone is saying oh yes you can walk downtown and Bayshore...yes that's great if you live in South Tampa but for someone who has to live in Wesley Chapel because you can’t afford a home in Tampa, you aren't walking anywhere, and the minute you try you’re going to get ran over... (Pinellas and Hillsborough have some of the worst pedestrian accidents and deaths in the country) that alone makes me not want to walk anywhere! Downtown Tampa is like a ghost town unless there is a hockey game or a concert...and its spread out...seriously, with no traffic it will take 45 minutes to get from Town & Country to Temple Terrace...the traffic here is horrible. Especially Pasco County...God forbid there is an accident it will take you two hours just to get to North Tampa. Tampa to me is also very transient, a lot of people seem to stay here for a year or two and then leave. Now I know some Tampa people are looking at me and shaking their heads but this is all true. In my opinion there are still some good things about Tampa but you really have to look hard for them.

Okay, I'm sold. I've heard and read so many nasty things about Tampa, that in my opinion the good outweighs the bad. However, I'm still going on that interview in Tampa with the view that if I relocate there from NYC, I will look to live in either St. Pete or Clearwater and commute to Tampa daily. How does that sound to y'all who have posted comments? Do you think that's a better idea than living in Tampa proper? Gracias!

[scorp200]

FLBound I think St. Pete is a great idea. I moved there from Manhattan in 2003 (and have since moved to NC but I don't like it) - I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in Tampa Bay.

I missed NYC for a long time and I admit for the first six months or so I thought I made a mistake...now I'd give anything to be back there. Downtown St. Pete is amazing, even though you don't have as much amazing as you have in NYC. I lived right downtown for a year and then just north of it the rest of the time.

Though your commute would be easier if you lived in northeast st. pete - it's very suburban. Instead check out OLD northeast, which is very different and walkable to downtown. Old Northeast ends around 34th Avenue North (in St. pete the streets run north and south, avenues east and west). So south of 34th, east of 4th street (though I lived just west of 4th street), north of 22nd avenue south.

Bunch of NYers live in Roser Park - google it - it's a crazily hilly neighborhood just south of downtown with a creek running through.

The commute to downtown tampa isn't bad in the morning - take 4th street to Gandy bridge and to the crosstown expressway. For some reason you have to tack on another 15 minutes (totaling around 45) on the way home. the express bus is awesome though.

Neighborhoods to check out: old northeast, uptown, crescent lake, crescent heights, old southeast, and right downtown.

Also: there is no good chinese food in Tampa Bay. I am firm on this. There's great Thai, though.

[INeedAChange]

Is your post meant to be a joke? Mapquest says 15 miles from TT to town n country. Does that really take 45 min. with no traffic?

Originally Posted by Melissa&Jeff

...seriously, with no traffic it will take 45 minutes to get from Town & Country to Temple Terrace....

[tampaguy03]

Originally Posted by scorp200

Also: there is no good chinese food in Tampa Bay. I am firm on this. There's great Thai, though.

Have you tried Yummy house on Waters Ave just east of Armenia, or China Yuan on Armenia Ave? The Oceanic Market in downtown Tampa is a huge Asian Market.

[tampaguy03]

Originally Posted by FLBOUND?

Okay, I'm sold. I've heard and read so many nasty things about Tampa, that in my opinion the good outweighs the bad. However, I'm still going on that interview in Tampa with the view that if I relocate there from NYC, I will look to live in either St. Pete or Clearwater and commute to Tampa daily. How does that sound to y'all who have posted comments? Do you think that's a better idea than living in Tampa proper? Gracias!

I love St. Pete, and have many friends in and around the downtown area, many festivals, great restairants, waterfront parks along downtown, closer to the beaches...BUT, I prefer to live in Tampa, as it is a little more happening, closer to Football, Hockey, Arena Football, Concerts, Tampa Airport, which I use and go to many times. The best thing is, St. Pete and Tampa are only separted by a Large Bay, so I can have the best of both worlds.

[Melissa&Jeff]

Originally Posted by INeedAChange

Is your post meant to be a joke? Mapquest says 15 miles from TT to town n country. Does that really take 45 min. with no traffic?

Don't knock it until you've had to do it...doesn't help that people down here do not know how to drive. Between the old folks driving 5 miles with their blinker on, and don't take this as a racist remark because it's not but immigrants can't drive worth a damn either...every car that has managed to hit mine has been driven by someone who doesn't speak English...and yes If I was coming from Town & Country and take it all the way out to Fort King Highway in TT it would take on a good day at the very least 30 minutes...no traffic, no joke.

[FLBOUND?]

Scorp200 and others, thanks for the advice! I actually did google Roser Park and it looks like a nice option indeed.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by FLBOUND?

Scorp200 and others, thanks for the advice! I actually did google Roser Park and it looks like a nice option indeed.

FLBOUND keep something in mind about St. Pete. I am a native Floridian, and I truly love St. Pete - it is beautiful and has reinvented itself over the last decade and continues to do so. And people on these forums know I have plugged it and said really nothing but positives about the area. B UT... the reason we have chosen not to live there ourselves is that it is on a peninsula off a peninsula - surrounded by water, with no easy way to evacuate under the threat of a major storm. This makes me very uneasy. True, historically, the region has escaped anything major so far, but you only have to experience it once to realize just how fragile it is. That is the only negative I have to say about it, because it does have beautiful neighborhoods, downtown, beaches, etc. If I were you, I would pick an area easiest to evacuate, and not prone to flooding. The residents here will have to fill you in on that.