Living in Riverview-Work in Westshore?? (Tampa, Brandon: HOA, new home, neighborhoods)

[lauriemsr]

Hi!

We are actively looking at purchasing a home. For now, it seems that we could enjoy the market and buy a new home but it would need to be in either Riverview or Gibsonton since our budget is from $150k-$180k. We would love to live in a suburban neighborhood in Tampa but there is none for our budget. The houses that are available for our budget are either too old or in a shady area.

Based on the posts about Gibsonton, and what I saw this past weekend when we drove by it, we are definitely crossing out Gibsonton.

On the other hand, Riverview seemed very nice. It deft. looks like it is still developing but the neighborhoods seem good, clean and orderly. I like the fact that we are close to Brandon.

However, my husband and I will be working in Tampa. He is working near the airport and I will be working in the Westshore area (next year). Is that an OK commute? Mapquest says that Riverview to Westshore is 25 minutes, is that correct? Would 25 minutes be with traffic? How about when there is an accident, is it hell?

Any opinions/suggestions/tips are greatly appreciated!

[NALEXAND]

I make the commute every day and I take the Crosstown expressway which would get me to WestShore in about 30 -35 minutes. Its not that bad of a commute. The airport commute will be the most aggravating because traffic backs up on 275 and around the bend to the airport, so with traffic, that commute could be up to 45-60 minutes. You can take alternate routes and still make it out ok to Westshore. Many people commute everyday all over the Bay between 30-60 minutes daily from Riverview.

[Stewabby]

It's not a horrible commute. I think it took me about 45 minutes when I did it via the Crosstown. The problem was the tolls you have to pay. Those really start to add up.

[Tampa Homes]

Originally Posted by lauriemsr

Hi!

We are actively looking at purchasing a home. For now, it seems that we could enjoy the market and buy a new home but it would need to be in either Riverview or Gibsonton since our budget is from $150k-$180k. We would love to live in a suburban neighborhood in Tampa but there is none for our budget. The houses that are available for our budget are either too old or in a shady area.

Based on the posts about Gibsonton, and what I saw this past weekend when we drove by it, we are definitely crossing out Gibsonton.

On the other hand, Riverview seemed very nice. It deft. looks like it is still developing but the neighborhoods seem good, clean and orderly. I like the fact that we are close to Brandon.

However, my husband and I will be working in Tampa. He is working near the airport and I will be working in the Westshore area (next year). Is that an OK commute? Mapquest says that Riverview to Westshore is 25 minutes, is that correct? Would 25 minutes be with traffic? How about when there is an accident, is it hell?

Any opinions/suggestions/tips are greatly appreciated!

I have been showing homes to a client who is in your same shoes. We are looking at homes in Riverview along the cusp of Brandon (33578 zip). To me the location is fantastic because she can drive down 301 for about 5-10 minutes and have access to I75 and the crosstown. We're seeing some really nice homes from 149-170k. (3/2/2 with pool, HOA and no HOA, built from 1997.) Others may argue this with me, but the location is much better in terms of getting to downtown, south Tampa, Westshore etc when compared to New Tampa.

Here is my recommended route from that area to Westshore: Crosstown to Willow exit. Take Cleveland to Armenia and then go north one block to Kennedy. Kennedy to Westshore. You can always cut over to Cypress once you get to MacDill and run parallel to Kennedy too. This is my trusted personal route I've done for years now. =)

I think the time quoted is correct. There are many "outs" if you have traffic issues. For instance if crosstown gets backed up you can get off on the Ybor exit and take 60 in. If Kennedy is jammed up, then take Cypress as an alternative.

[NJerseyBorn]

The sub Divisions in Riverview suck!!!!

The way the houses are disigned in some of the subdivisions is retarded...so close together and the windows are lined up so you can see into each other houses....keep the blinds shut or have no privacy...only two options LoL..