Neighbor Friendly City?? (Tampa, Brandon, Citrus Park: daycares, houses, neighborhoods)

[ShanMan72]

So....we currently live in Phoenix, AZ. We've lived here for about 5 years and hate it. We moved from an area where kids played with other neighborhood kids, neighbors had get togethers and actually made an effort to know who you are. We were spoiled. We even used to house an annual neighborhood Chili Dump in which we'd gather a lot of our neighbors together for food, drink and good times. In Phoenix you don't see that...people keep to themselves. Kids stay indoors (even in the cooler months). We barely know our neighbors despite making an effort to get to know them. We're debating a relocation to Tampa to be closer to family and wanted some feedback from the natives about the neighborly culture and, moreso, if there is one. We're looking at the Brandon area as a possible place to relocate to...but are open to any other areas with descent schools (we have young children, one of which is autistic). I appreciate any feedback you have. Thanks.

Shannon

[FloridaKash]

Like any city, Tampa Metro will have some neighborhoods where the neighbors are friendly and some not so much. As in Phoenix, a lot of people will stay indoors during the summer. My street has quite a few people come out and hang out... but not until it starts cooling down. I can't speak to Brandon.

[rezfreak]

I got lucky with a neighborhood like that here in Brandon. I dont know if others are like it, and its not the entire neighborhood, just a patch of about 5 houses here that we get together for cookouts, help eachother out ,etc. Id trust any of them to watch my son in case of an emergency.

[ShanMan72]

Thanks for the feedback.

[algia]

Phoenix & Tampa are not all that different except for the landscape. We don't have the Grand Canyon a stone throw away...the neighborhood you're looking for is so rare here that it will take years to find it. Same happens here with the heat and the kids playing outside... Moderator cut: not about Tampa

We almost moved to Chandler last year...BTW

Back to your question...I am not saying they don't exist, but they are VERY hard to find; we also have hot weather, and humidity which makes it feel hotter than it really is, and usually kids are either in daycares, or in schools...I work part time/odd hours, so I stay home during the day with my 2 3/4 year old, and we have trouble finding other kids for him to play with...we drive 20 miles to go to Pinellas county where we may find other small kids for him to play with....around where we live there is nobody out Monday through Friday. Parents are working business hours and anyone under 5 is in some daycare.

These patches are formed by people who moved in when the place was built in most cases and still live there, and had their kids grow up together pretty much. But when you're "new" to any neighborhood here you will notice people keeping to themselves most of the time and not rush to make you part of their groups. Kind of like high school! Pathetic if you ask me. I believe that KNOWING your neighbors and being friendly to them makes your life much better and more fun....obviously I am wrong considering that most people around here love to lock themselves in their homes and never say "Hi"!

[user8]

I moved here from DC and one of the first things I noticed is that people here are quick to say hello, smile, be generally polite in public but after the casual everyday stuff, they put up a wall and generally have little desire to know their neighbors. Obviously this is just based off my personal experience but even in what I consider to be one of Tampa Bay's more desirable areas (Citrus Park) people generally keep to themselves.

[Sunnydee]

My street has monthly get togethers, birthday celebrations, joint dog walking, kids playing outside, lemonade stands, etc.

[algia]

Consider yourself VERY LUCKY!

That's one street out of how many?

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

My street has monthly get togethers, birthday celebrations, joint dog walking, kids playing outside, lemonade stands, etc.

[rezfreak]

Ours does too, minus the lemonade stands.

[Sunnydee]

Originally Posted by algia

Consider yourself VERY LUCKY!

That's one street out of how many?

I do consider myself very lucky because you never truly know a neighborhood until you live there. We researched for years and took numerous exploratory trips before buying our home and relocating from Ohio. We also were very clear about what we wanted - a small, safe, treed neighborhood with sidewalks, and a community pool, within walking distance of a library, grocery, restaurants, etc., but there's just no way to determine friendliness and welcoming neighbors from afar, so we lucked out.

Our neighborhood only has four streets.