Tampa Palms/ New Tampa for young professionals (Wesley Chapel: best neighborhood, apartment)

[austindavis1989]

My fiance and soon to be wife and I will be moving to Tampa this summer and are looking for a place to rent a town home. We will both be attending graduate school at USF, and I will be working near plant city or near downtown tampa. I have a friend that keeps telling me to check out the new tampa area. I am kind of familiar with the area, I know its very nice and safe. I am just wondering how well it would work out for a young couple like us that are only in our early/mid twenties (23 and 24). Can I get some opinions on this? My fiance and I both are fairly active people, we enjoy hiking and kayaking; we also enjoy things such as cafes, small festivals, farmers markets, small concerts, etc. How well would New Tampa/Tampa Palms work for us? Is it a convenient enough drive to things such as that ? Will there be things in the area that will make us fall in love with it?

[annaegel]

I live in Tampa Palms. There is a nice bike path (Flatwoods). People rollerblade and walk there as well. Not too far you can kayak in the Hillsborough River. There are other places to kayak within an hour or so. I see people biking, walking, rollerblading all the time.

As far as cafe's, I don't really know of any right in New Tampa area. Though we have Starbucks, The Beanery (coffee place), Panera Bread. A little further up is the Shops at Wiregrass (a small outdoor mall). They have events all the time there. They have a farmers market every other Saturday. They just had an arts event recently. There are some nice restaurants there as well as a nice Barnes and Noble. This area doesn't really have concerts. Though once a year, Tampa Palms will host a classical concert. If those things are important to you, St. Pete has many things like that and it isn't too far of a drive.

[austindavis1989]

Does the new Tampa area have anything in the way of small bars (not night clubs or anything like that) or comedy clubs? Or somewhere that you can go to listen to live music and enjoy a beer?

[annaegel]

There are a few places. Linkster's Tap Room Linksters Tap Room. Ciccio's Lodge (pronounced Chico's) Ciccio's Lodge. I haven't been there in a while and they have expanded the restaurant. They had a small bar, but now I think it is much bigger. It is within walking distance to my home. The food is California style. There are several more restaurants that have bars in them. When my husband worked nearby, people use to go after work Fridays to hang out at one particular bar. I found it loud and smokey, not my scene. Not too far away (ten minute drive) is a pretty popular place called Skipper's Smokehouse Welcome to Skipper's Smokehouse!. It's not in the best of neighborhoods.

I don't think there are any comedy clubs in New Tampa. I haven't heard of any. Ybor (pronounced Ebor) is a 20 minute drive. There are all kinds of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, etc. There are some places that you can order a drink and sit outside to people watch. I have only been there once myself, during the day time. I have heard it can be pretty wild and unsafe. Then I hear it isn't all that bad.

There is a pool hall, Peabody's Tampa, that many USF students hang out at. It is a bit smokey, but it looks like fun. Hope this all helps.

[Keeper]

Skippers is a fun place for young people even though it is not in the best neighborhood it is always busy on the weekend. They have good food too. Live music and dancing too.

I think it really depends on you. Normally young professionals prefer S. Tampa since New Tampa and Wesley Chapel are more family oriented.

[austindavis1989]

So we're fairly sure we are going to move into Tampa palms, it seems to make the most sense for us logistically. My only worry is that it's too take for a younger couple. What do you all think? Will we be terribly bored if we move out this way ?

[austindavis1989]

Also the reason for Tampa palms is it seems to be one of the nicer places that's is still close to USf. Im against temple terrace because my parents live there and think its going down hill.

[annaegel]

I think that you would be close enough to any place you may want to be. Like keeper said, S. Tampa would probably fit more of what you are looking for, but it is more expensive and farther away from USF. The drive to S. Tampa is not far and there are plenty of young people in the area. Yes, it is mostly families, but I think you will like it here. Are you going to rent an apartment or house or even buy?

[austindavis1989]

We are renting an apartment for a year first. We will probably buy in a year or two. My parents are willing to help us significantly to buy a house; they want us to get a house while the market is still down.

[annaegel]

Do you have any ideas yet where to rent or how much you can afford?