Considering a home in Tampa Heights-would appreciate feedback (Jacksonville, Seminole: section 8, short sale)

[Jiia9466]

My husband & I are considering renting a home in Tampa Heights and if we like it, may even buy. We have an 8yr old son & a 6yr old daughter. Before having kids, I wouldn't think twice as i've always been a bit of an "adventurer" ...or maybe just crazy. I LOVE old homes, historic neighborhoods & Tampa in general (But I DON'T love Hyde Park prices OR the pretensious vibe, sorry to offend if I did). I have mixed feelings about gentrification and I understand the ongoing effort by the community to revitalize this area. I am not a well-off white moving in on opportune prices in an up & coming area. I genuinely just love the neighborhood, the diversity, location.. All of it, but that is from the outside looking in. I grew up in neighborhoods like this and have always told my husband I want our kids to be part of making their community better. I feel like being there will put them at a greater advantage with exposure to the REAL world. We'd be closer to downtown and all that has to offer as opposed to mini-van land where every family with their 2.5 kids & golden retreiver are basically the same.

With all that feel good, do good mumbo-jumbo being said, I also don't want to be STUPID. My kids come before my grand ideals and if they will not be happy due to not being able to go near a window, etc it won't work for us. Crime in Tampa is every where. I've done the sex offender search for the area we want to move to in TH and it's not much worse than the burbs where we currently live. I think my main concern is hostility. I would LOVE any feedback from people who currently live (or previously) in Tampa Heights. What has your experience been like? Would you recommended it for a family with small children?

There is a new community garden at the end of the street we would be living on. I'm already picturing the kids there, playing with the other neighborhood kids.

Oh & we have a HUGE pitbull/american bulldog mix.

My husbands just reminded me i'm nuts. I just reminded him he already said yes!

Thanks in advance for any input!

[crazynip]

I am a homeowner in Tampa Heights. I lived there from ~2000-2005, I currently rent the place out because I cant sell it. You can buy homes in the area for under $40,000, that should tell you something.

I would not recommend you live there, especially with kids. It is a dangerous area wrought with crime, drugs, lowlives.

The whole area is ghetto. Pittbull or not, you would be foolish to move there.

[Jiia9466]

Crazynip, have you seen any improvement at all since you lived there? My husband spoke with a friend whos brother is a real estate investor. He said his brother bought, rehabbed & sold several homes in TH and he now lives in the neighborhood. They have 2 small boys.

Just wondering how much progress is REALLY being made.

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by Jiia9466

Crazynip, have you seen any improvement at all since you lived there? My husband spoke with a friend whos brother is a real estate investor. He said his brother bought, rehabbed & sold several homes in TH and he now lives in the neighborhood. They have 2 small boys.

Just wondering how much progress is REALLY being made.

It's gotten worse. That's why I got the **** out of there. I wish I could offload my house before it depreciates to zero.

In the time I lived there, I was burglarized 3 times, my shed was burglarized a few more times than that, my car was broken into twice.

Since I have rented it out, I have only been able to keep a tenant more than 1 year exactly once. They dont like getting robbed/burglarized either.

Only a complete loon would attempt to raise a child there.

Oh, and since you have not asked, I will tell you anyway. The schools in the area are the absolute worst in the county.

Good luck with that...

Oh, and your brothers real estate friend is right. It's a great place to buy homes for like $35,000 and rent them out to section 8. But it's not a place to live.

I would be interested in where he actually lives. Post an approximate address and I will give you an idea of my thoughts on his street.

There is absolutely zero safe zone in Tampa Heights. Even if you find a street or 2 that are actually non-combat zones, you are never more than a few hundred feet from a third world country, crack house, gangland warzone, etc

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by Jiia9466

Crazynip, have you seen any improvement at all since you lived there? My husband spoke with a friend whos brother is a real estate investor. He said his brother bought, rehabbed & sold several homes in TH and he now lives in the neighborhood. They have 2 small boys.

Just wondering how much progress is REALLY being made.

To tell you a little more, when I moved back to Tampa from the Jacksonville area circa 2000, I bought into the "Tampa Heights is the next up and coming area" gentrification bull****. At the time, Seminole Heights was making some progress from a "third world" to "eastern europe" type of country. IE: going from complete ghetto warzone to "postwar reconstruction". Not great, but getting better. Tampa Heights never "turned the corner", and in fact has regressed back into the ghetto warzone it had been since the mid 1960's.

I worked downtown, and being close to work was a very nice thing, but my safety and the safety of my belongings was more important.

Several of my friends who also tried it out in the 2003-2008 timeframe also gave up and left. A couple of them walked away, a few short saled, at least 1 was able to rent out the house like me.

The only hope for the area is a cat5 hurricane or massive fire sweeping across the whole area.

[Jiia9466]

I know all about the schools in the area, I am a teacher in Hillborough County, but thanks for being rude. I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience. I was only asking for feedback, NOT insults. Thanks for the info.

[user8]

I think you would be nuts to bring a child into that area, or any area of Tampa with the word "Heights" in its name.

[maggiekate]

the new tampa area would have better schools and be safer however the comute may not be great.

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by Jiia9466

I know all about the schools in the area, I am a teacher in Hillborough County, but thanks for being rude. I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience. I was only asking for feedback, NOT insults. Thanks for the info.

Then take my advice and move you and your family into a habitable area, not the ghetto...

If you are a teacher, you know how "good" schools like Lee, Sligh, Adams, Blake, etc are...

I'm not insulting you, I am trying to save you from making a really bad mistake. Not understanding how anyone would live in a neighborhood where their kids cant even play outside. Sorry if the answers to the questions you asked are not to your liking, but it's the truth.

[crazynip]

Here is a ready made map for you, take our advice...

This should be a sticky: Maps of the good/bad parts of Hillsborough County