St Petersburg area: Family of 5 friendly? (Tampa, Clearwater: apartments, foreclosures, rental)

[EANLOVE]

My family will be relocating to the St Pete area from Colorado so my husband can attend USF St Pete campus for a couple of years before transferring to the Tampa campus.

I have two daughters 3.5 and 1.5, and another due this August. We're planning to rent, and are looking to spend about $1000-$1100 on rent. Any recommendations on areas to look and/or stay away from? My husband has been there, but didn't know we'd be moving there at the time and didn't scope it out. I have to find a place before we make the move.

Also, any recommendations on Christian schools in the area (and possibly churches)?

Thanks in advance!!

[jambo101]

Generally stay away from any place south of central avenue unless you dont mind living in the hood..However the cheapest rents in town are on the south side and while Hubby Goes to school and you stay home tending 3 kids where does the money come from to avoid living on the south side.?

[EANLOVE]

My husband is a veteran. Part time job at the university, GI Bill (w/ housing allowance) and student loans. We could probably spend more, but we need to save for med school.

[andyho]

Definitely stay north of Central Ave. if you can!! Though I do have some family living around 40th St. and 4th Ave. S and it's not TOO bad.. there's definitely some questionable individuals that hang out on the street corners though, but for the most part they don't bother you. $1000-$1100 might be a little tough to find a single family home at this point though since it seems rental prices are a little high because of all the foreclosures. 3 bedrooms are darn near non existent right now too, but they have been popping up sporadically. 2 bedrooms are a lot more common. It's really all in what you need for your family and what you're willing to compromise on. I'm not from the area originally but had been here for 5 years, moved back up to OH for 8 months and then we came back almost a year ago and have been "camping out" with my mother since we haven't found another rental yet. :/ We lived in the Denver/Parker/Aurora area too for 5 years so the expectations you have for houses down here are going to be a little shocking with what you might be used to! Craigslist is FULL of scams though so you might be better to check realtor.com or some of the property management companies for actual places that are available. Moving back up north definitely gave us a better appreciation for FL though and we'll probably be making it our permanent residence and we've criss crossed the US and we definitely feel more at home here.. though there is a possibility to move to HI at some point! Since you mentioned you have kids, I HIGHLY recommend All Star Pediatrics!! We started off with St. Pete Pediatrics and didn't have the best experience and have been with Dr. Karges at All Star for years now. I don't know what to tell you as far as schools go since we home school! We're an eclectically non/religious family, so can't really help you with the church situation either. If you don't mind an apartment or townhouse over a single family home though, there are PLENTY of places to pick from in your price range!

[mph101]

in fact a great many neighborhoods south of central are very nice and rate up every bit as nice as the old cinder block worn out areas in the northside west of MLK all the way to Tyone. Plenty of low life red necks in the Haines road corrider or around 9th Ave N.

Its just wrong and ignorant to say all south of Central is the hood. Just like saying all near Lealmen, Tyrone, Kenneth City, and Fossil Park is wasted burned out trash.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by mph101

in fact a great many neighborhoods south of central are very nice and rate up every bit as nice as the old cinder block worn out areas in the northside west of MLK all the way to Tyone. Plenty of low life red necks in the Haines road corrider or around 9th Ave N.

Its just wrong and ignorant to say all south of Central is the hood. Just like saying all near Lealmen, Tyrone, Kenneth City, and Fossil Park is wasted burned out trash.

We were talking generally but lets say the hood is south of central ave between 4st.to 49st and south to around 26ave S or Lake Maggoire

[gypsychic]

The south side area that is bad is know as "midtown." Neighborhoods that border it might have some spillover of crime. There are many nice neighborhoods as you get much further south (closer to the water) and west.

[bman2011]

I used Apartments for Rent - PadMapper Apartment Search for Oodle, Apartments.com, Rent.com, Kijiji, and Craigslist Apartments for my last APT search, found a great place and living there right now in Clearwater. Give it a try.