have thought about moving to Tampa (Jacksonville, Miami: transplants, spring break, rental)

[Raven1976]

What are people generally like in Tampa? What at the demographics? I'm a teacher so I don't know if I could find a job, but I guess I could also do something else.

My husband works in security.

Is it really as bad as some people say it is? Job wise? Is cost of living any less than the northeast? I live in NJ and it's so expensive

[BucFan]

White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic) 62.9%
(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian) 46.3%
Black or African-American 26.2% 1
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 23.1%
Asian 3.4%
Native American or Native Alaskan 0.4%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian 0.1%
Two or more races (Multiracial) 3.2%
Some Other Race 3.8%


Tampa, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

What are people generally like in Tampa? What at the demographics? I'm a teacher so I don't know if I could find a job, but I guess I could also do something else.

My husband works in security.

Is it really as bad as some people say it is? Job wise? Is cost of living any less than the northeast? I live in NJ and it's so expensive

Teaching is getting tougher every year. The workload is increasing and if you're going to teach in Hillsborough County (Tampa) you're going to be on an annual contract (no more tenure.)

Depending on the subject area, you'll probably be fine getting a teaching job. Can you tell us what area you teach?

As for getting hired, you won't be able to find a job, or for that matter, even interview until the beginning of the school year. The way it works here is as follows:

Towards the end of the school year, the number of teachers (units) for each school is determined based on enrollment. Once the units are established, there is a two week transfer period, where schools can advertise openings, both current and projected for the next school year, and teachers currently employed by the District can interview and commit to those openings.

At the end of the transfer period, all positions are frozen. No new hires or hires from outside the District are allowed.

Any teachers who don't have a position for the upcoming year go into the "pool", where they can be picked for openings by schools that have openings. Pool positions are determined by seniority, meaning that the person in that subject area with the most years in gets first dibs on positions in their subject area.

If by chance you are in the pool and don't get a position, well, you'll be out of a job, although that is rare these days. Worst case, you are forced to take a crappy position that may be out of area for you and physically far away. Refuse a pool position and you go to the back of the line.

Fast forward to August, the start of school:

Positions continue to be frozen until the 20th day of school, which is the day enrollments are considered stable and the numbers used for FTE, or "cheeks in the seats" as some like to say. Those are the numbers that are used to determine our funding from both State and Federal funding sources. It is also the numbers that are used to determine units for each school, and any schools that are over or under in their units will add or subtract teachers as required. Again, there is a pool where teachers who were "lost" as a part of the unit adjustment can find other positions.

So now we're almost into September, if not already. Once the freeze is lifted, you can be hired as an "outside" employee.

One caveat: Principals CAN hire from outside during the summer if they have openings for the upcoming year, however, this is not common and usually involves having a connection or relationship with a principal or other administrator who knows you and wants to hire you.

The other way they can hire during the summer is through the teacher job fair that takes place in June. But - you have to register for this in advance, and registration closed back in mid May, so that's not an option at this point.

I can't speak for the process in the surrounding counties, but this is how it works in Hillsborough.

OH - and last but not least, DON'T COME DOWN HERE WITHOUT A JOB!

Sorry for "shouting", but the job market still isn't good here, and I guarantee that if you come here without employment up front, you'll end up in far worse shape than you're presently in. Too many people have done this, and many of them are panhandling and living off social services.

RM

[the awesomee]

Cost of living is less but creeping up every year the more northerners come down here. People not freindly at all.

[gulfer]

LOL...rgt343...that is what you save for your very first post!! LOLOLOLOL

You're from New Jersey and you want to know if people are friendly? People are as friendly as you are.

Smile and you get one back
Say hello, you get a hello
Need to move over in traffic? Usually not a problem

A lot of people from Tampa started out somewhere else. I think that may be the case for a large part of Florida as I have seen it in Destin, Jacksonville, and down by the Keys.

Cost of living is nothing like the Northeast. But it really depends what you want and where you want to live. I can show you a 4 bedroom/3 bathroom brand new home in Pasco County for less than 250,000. I can show you one in Hillsborough County (which is Tampa) that is basically the same thing and the price is over 300,000 and taxes are close to double.
Food prices are about the same I would assume, auto insurance is probably more, gas today was 3.39 per gallon, and you will more than likely use more Air Conditioning (but you don't use it or heat in the winter the majority of the time).

Great breakdown by Morton on teaching. My neighbor is a teacher and Pasco County schools are looking at losing a lot of teachers as well. The district needs to make up something like 26 million dollars I believe I read somewhere.

I don't see any crime where I am at. I live North of Tampa in Land O Lakes. There are many nice areas around here, world class beaches, t-shirt and shorts weather just about year round, jobs are coming back - but that is taking time all over the country.

Last but not least, Northeasterns have been coming down here for the last 50 years. You're not going to the last person from New Jersey that comes to Florida. For all the negative people that continue posting on here about how bad it is, I wonder why they just don't go somewhere else. But then again, a change of scenery won't cure most of that misery. Some people are just happier complaining.

Take a trip down here for a few weeks. Get a reasonable place, take a look around, and enjoy the area. If you come down as a tourist, you end up spending too much money. If you come down on the cheap, you don't get out enough. See if you can't get a timeshare or a rental for a couple of weeks and see what this great city has to offer.

[Occifer]

The cost of living is lower but the wages are much lower too. Even if you do find a job teaching it will be for less than you're making in NJ, and while I'm sure your husband won't have a problem finding a job in security he will probably be making $10 an hour or less.

Before you seriously consider a move, look into the cost of living by researching housing costs, insurance, etc., and then compare that to realistic expectations of the money you expect to bring in. It's not hard to look through the classifieds to find security jobs and the starting pay, nor is the starting pay a secret at any of the school districts.

Moving is a big decision and you need to conduct lots of research before making such a change. You asked what the demographics are in the area, and that's information that can be found in about 30 seconds with a basic internet search. That just leads me to believe that you haven't done much research on the area and what it offers. Lots of people make a move without doing extensive research into the area, and they're normally the ones who end up miserable, unemployed, or end up leaving and moving back where they came from after spending thousands of dollars on a failed move.

[parisandgrey]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

What are people generally like in Tampa? What at the demographics? I'm a teacher so I don't know if I could find a job, but I guess I could also do something else.

My husband works in security.

Is it really as bad as some people say it is? Job wise? Is cost of living any less than the northeast? I live in NJ and it's so expensive

People in tampa are generally....laid back, quiet, don't care what others are doing or wearing-they mind their own business, somewhat southern but not enough that they would be accepted by other southern states as being southerners...some hillbillies/rednecks, definitely completely different from south florida so dont expect that kind of city if you move to tampa

heres a funny website link: I Hate Tampa

Cost of living is always higher in FL than most other states excluding CA, NY AND WA of course but tampa has been and always was very affordable because its one of the lesser developed "big" cities in FL, out of Miami, Orlando and Tampa-tampa is the least developed and that means less people = lower cost of living
Job wise the economy is still not great in the entire state of FL, theyre claiming things are improving but theyre not theyve just plateaued


to the OP I copied and posted this from another thread and I think youll find it useful:

__________________________


on paper that may be true but I have lived in both cities and miami is the fast paced, young, hip trendy cousin of tampa-the slow paced, cute, small country bumpkin

even in 2012 tampa is extremely slow paced, which is not a bad thing it all depends on what people like
on paper tampa's average population age may be lower than miami's but in REAL LIFE, you see SO many more q-tips in the tampa bay, clearwater, st. pete area than southeast florida aka miami
even most of tampa bay's tourists seem to all be 40years or older I asked someone why that is and this is the answer they gave me:
"It depends. Miami is a little much for older people who want to bask in the nice weather and just golf or check out Spring Training, and also a bit much for underage kids who do want to go to Orlando. Miami is more for single 20-30 somethings, and better if you are well off financially than not. Tampa is cheaper and has less crime, and is a less socially and racially stratified place than Miami.
Source(s):

been to both many times over three diff. decades"


Central Florida-Tampa and Orlando
Pros-
Great for families
Much less crime than south florida
Cheaper than S.FL
More places to rent than S.FL
More "Green" than s.FL such as pastures, "woods" cattle, pine trees and such
Drivers arent as crazy as south florida
People are friendlier than south florida
Schools are better in terms of size and less problems than the ones in miami
Everything a person "needs" is available without the crazy fast paced lifestyle
Definitely more jobs available than miami and you dont have to speak spanish
Clearwater beach is very clean and pretty but thats not in tampa obviously its about a 40 minute drive to get there from tampa
Weather is more mild than South Florida, it does get colder for longer in tampa/st.pete than south florida but if you have experienced northern winters the cold is absolutely nothing

Cons:
Dead nightlife compared to miami/south beach
If you are from somewhere like LA, SD OR NYC you will get tired of tampa/orlando very quickly
This is just my opinion but south florida native (miami, fort laud, boca raton, palm beach) women are the hottest in the state, and other than a few transplants you wont find a lot of them in central and north florida unless they are attending college
Beaches arent as pretty and tourist friendly as miami beach, fort laud beach, palm beach etc, the best beach in tampa isnt even in tampa its in clearwater-however the view from the bridge from clearwater to clearwater beach is gorgeous it looks like a postcard, the first time you see it, especially if you have never been to FL, it will take your breath away, I definitely recommend a drive from clearwater beach down to st.pete beach, if you look on a map it looks like a long skinny peninsula near the side of clearwater, it has a cute oahu/island type vibe to it, very pretty drive
More rednecks and hillbillies than south florida, think confederate flags, pickup trucks with huge tires, and lots of bumper stickers- this seems to be a common observation from people who are from big cities like miami, nyc, and la that visit places like tampa or even orlando
Lots of q tip tourists from places like north carolina, virginia, texas, south carolina ALL year round so instead of those hot, cute college girl tourists coming down from California for spring break you will have to deal with 40 year old+ tourists, and families from the north visiting all year round especially during the winter time, and they tend to stay closer to clearwater beach but it spills over to tampa and some people visit tampa for families and relatives so expect to see cars with northern state license plates all year
SINKHOLES
tampa is known as the lightning city- guess why? rain rain rain and lightning. Some people like that so it could be a pro but I think most people dont so I put it in con