Is Safety Harbor the place for us to move?? (Tampa: real estate, 2015)

[LainieVee]

Thanks Florida Girl. I failed to mention we are a very liberal minded family. Curious what the political and social feel is in Safety Harbor and the other areas you mentioned? My guess is Westchase may be the most liberal minded. Seems to be the area where most families transplant to.... especially from up north.

Are there a lot of activities for kids? I love the community feel we have here in NJ. Weekends everyone is out at the kids' soccer games, parades, etc.

thanks again!!! your feedback is invaluable!

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by LainieVee

Thanks Florida Girl. I failed to mention we are a very liberal minded family. Curious what the political and social feel is in Safety Harbor and the other areas you mentioned? My guess is Westchase may be the most liberal minded. Seems to be the area where most families transplant to.... especially from up north.

Are there a lot of activities for kids? I love the community feel we have here in NJ. Weekends everyone is out at the kids' soccer games, parades, etc.

thanks again!!! your feedback is invaluable!

Not sure what the political and social feel is here. During the election, I saw signs for both candidates everywhere.

Yes, there are tons of activities for kids. The rec center here is wonderful! Safety Harbor is known for catering to children and families.

[LainieVee]

FG777 your feedback is really great.

We will of course be heading down there soon to explore these areas in person.

When you say areas are very expensive.... we are looking to spend around $350k. I've seen a few things in that range. On the average, what gets you a 4 Bed, 3 Bath with a pool? Any ideas?

I understand certain subdivisions have addition HOA and CDD fees that get added to your taxes. I only just heard this and not sure what that translates to.

Thanks again!

[treehugr]

Hi, I'm curious if you ended up moving to Safety Harbor or Dunedin. My husband is being transferred to Tampa and we were looking at those two towns as well, for exactly the same reason you stated (small town feel/sense of community). We have a 5 year old son, so good schools and family activities are also important to us.

I'd love to know if you moved to one of the two and if it has lived up to expectations Thanks.

[mb1966]

Originally Posted by treehugr

Hi, I'm curious if you ended up moving to Safety Harbor or Dunedin. My husband is being transferred to Tampa and we were looking at those two towns as well, for exactly the same reason you stated (small town feel/sense of community). We have a 5 year old son, so good schools and family activities are also important to us.

I'd love to know if you moved to one of the two and if it has lived up to expectations Thanks.

Treehugger- Late to the party but Safety Harbor and Dunedin are both pretty good. Dunedin has a more active downtown (Safety Harbor seems to be trying to catch up). However, the folks that state Dunedin is only 10 or 15 minutes further from Tampa are primarily driving during non-peak times. East-West travel in northern Pinellas, especially during high season, requires great patience- I would double their estimate. Safety Harbor Schools are rated better (although Countryside High may be a bit too sports obsessed). I prefer Safety Harbor for convenience to Tampa and the airport (although I no longer travel regularly and try to avoid Tampa for the most part). Both communities have nice, and not so nice areas, but none seem too dangerous, merely poor. Good luck.

[PhotoProIP]

Originally Posted by hanrahanfamily

Thanks, I will definitely check out Dunedin as well!! How far would it be from Dunedin to the Tampa airport? That is where my husband's office will be...thx!

That won't be a pretty commute. He can take Tampa Rd which turns into Hillsborough straight to the airport but it is A VERY slow drive with a million stop lights. There is no direct hwy, UNLESS you go down US19 and then take 60 which is murder at rush hour.

Stick to Westchase. Are you going to be by the water more? or at work/school more?

Also, please don't move here with the expectation that will be the same as where you are now. It won't be.

[thefishes540]

Originally Posted by treehugr

Hi, I'm curious if you ended up moving to Safety Harbor or Dunedin. My husband is being transferred to Tampa and we were looking at those two towns as well, for exactly the same reason you stated (small town feel/sense of community). We have a 5 year old son, so good schools and family activities are also important to us.

I'd love to know if you moved to one of the two and if it has lived up to expectations Thanks.

We moved to Safety Harbor from Indiana and absolutely love it. It has a great small town feel and active downtown. It has a great park and very nice pier that we frequent often. My wife works close to the airport and her commute in the morning is around 30 minutes and 35 after work (7:00 AM and 4:30 PM is when she leaves) unless there is a wreck on the causeway and then all bets are off. I wouldn't want to have to drive much farther past Safety Harbor on 60 at rush hour. As mentioned above, the stop lights and added traffic at rush hour could really add some significant time to the commute.

[Dittims]

We live in Safety Harbor (moved from NY) and love it. It convenient to many areas and about 25 minutes to Tampa Airport. Oldsmar is also nice, as is East Lake Woodlands, but they do not have the small-town/downtown that Safety Harbor has. It is very family friendly around here and lots to do. Beaches (Honeymoon Island) about 20 minutes to the west. Not a big deal we just get on Curlew and keep going til we hit the sand. We considered Dunedin initially but found it a bit too congested, especially on the weekends, and got a better value, housewise in Safety Harbor. I do not have children in school so I can't really give an opinion on that, but my grandson will be starting kindergarten soon and I have heard many good things about the district. Hope this helps.

[steve dunedin]

Both Safety Harbor and Dunedin are nice little working towns. Safety Harbor is a lot closer to the airport by far. My wife and I moved here in 2013 and looked around a lot for a nice town atmosphere. Being from south jersey we lived in Ocean City. A friend there told us about Dunedin and just fell in love with everything. It is way ahead of Safety Harbor in re-inventing there selves, but they still have a ways to go to catch up with us. Now, Dunedin has so much more to offer, a town with many restaurants, Pinellas bike trail, community center, art center, community pool, kids play park pool, lots of ballparks, parks, close to beaches, Halloween festival in town, Christmas festival in town, parades, craft shows, highlands festival, farmers market in town in late fall-winter-early spring months, we have our own spring training here, and I can go on and on. The schools students are from k-12, yes we have our own high school. So please check us out. When you get a chance you can check our town out on youtube funedin.lipdub

[Gypsy-Moth]

Steve, how does Dunedin compare to Tarpon Springs? I'm considering both as a place to retire in a few years.