Possible Relocation In A Few Months (Tampa, Clearwater: apartment, for rent, condos)

[GimmeTheBeach]

There is a chance that I may be able to relocate with my company (SunTrust Mortgage) to Tampa so I'm trying to get opinions on areas I can look for renting an apartment (A house would be nice, but not necessary). Here are a few details:

Job Location: Not 100% positive but I believe right downtown Tampa just north of the tip of Hillsborough Bay (SunTrust Financial Center or SunTrust Service Center is what I believe it's called, if anyone is familiar with where it is)

Hours: More than likely 8am - 5pm but not 100% positive

Salary Range: Between 32-36k/yr (No major monthly bills other than student loan payments monthly which are roughly a car payment; however, these may be deferred as I may be going back for a second degree)

Family: It will be just me, no wife or children so schools aren't a concern for me at this time.


I am a single male 34yrs old who isn't really into the bar and club scene at all. I'm more interested in being close enough to go to the beach whenever I want to as I am a total beach bum. I'm looking for an area that is more residential but close to shopping and other things to do (It'd be nice to go out and do things and meet people once in a while). I also don't want to be too too far from work. I know that traffic is going to be bad (I've heard it's really bad around Tampa and downtown it is HORRIBLE, which is to be expected with any major metropolitan. I currently live in Richmond, VA and am pretty used to horrible traffic jams during the morning/evening).

A friend of mine who lives down there in the Port Richey area suggested Dunedin or Palm Harbor. That way I could go down to Clearwater and take SR60 straight into the city. He also mentioned that they were pretty decent areas with less crime than a lot of places.


Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

[Lior Arel]

Commuting from Pinellas County to Tampa sucks. Best live in Westshore area of Tampa. Easy commute to work, short drive to the beach. I always lived in Hyde Park when I worked at Sun Trust Down town. You can find some good deals. I lived at Zee Management on Lorenzo. It was modest, but nice for the price.

[jambo101]

You got a choice to make either live next to the beach and commute 25 miles to work every day in Tampa or live near work in Tampa and commute 25 miles to the beach.
E Davis Blvd to Causeway Blvd/Clearwater Memorial Causeway - Google Maps

[BBI]

Originally Posted by GimmeTheBeach

There is a chance that I may be able to relocate with my company (SunTrust Mortgage) to Tampa so I'm trying to get opinions on areas I can look for renting an apartment (A house would be nice, but not necessary). Here are a few details:

Job Location: Not 100% positive but I believe right downtown Tampa just north of the tip of Hillsborough Bay (SunTrust Financial Center or SunTrust Service Center is what I believe it's called, if anyone is familiar with where it is)

Hours: More than likely 8am - 5pm but not 100% positive

Salary Range: Between 32-36k/yr (No major monthly bills other than student loan payments monthly which are roughly a car payment; however, these may be deferred as I may be going back for a second degree)

Family: It will be just me, no wife or children so schools aren't a concern for me at this time.

I am a single male 34yrs old who isn't really into the bar and club scene at all. I'm more interested in being close enough to go to the beach whenever I want to as I am a total beach bum. I'm looking for an area that is more residential but close to shopping and other things to do (It'd be nice to go out and do things and meet people once in a while). I also don't want to be too too far from work. I know that traffic is going to be bad (I've heard it's really bad around Tampa and downtown it is HORRIBLE, which is to be expected with any major metropolitan. I currently live in Richmond, VA and am pretty used to horrible traffic jams during the morning/evening).

A friend of mine who lives down there in the Port Richey area suggested Dunedin or Palm Harbor. That way I could go down to Clearwater and take SR60 straight into the city. He also mentioned that they were pretty decent areas with less crime than a lot of places.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

On commute time and travel time to the beach, we can help you more if you give us numbers: how long a commute is OK? How long a drive to the beach is OK?

The general advice I can give:

Tampa traffic is worse than Richmond traffic. (Like Richmond, rush hour is short here, so if you can work off-hours, you can trust google maps times; not sure if that's possible for you.)

In Pinellas and north of St. Pete proper, there are only 4 roads that cross the county, and all of them are very congested at rush hour. 60 is the shortest distance from the gulf to the bay, but the slowest in my experience. I would assume at least an hour commute Clearwater Beach to/from Tampa.

The closest beach to your office at rush hour is St. Pete Beach. At rush hour, 275 is usually slow through Tampa and to around the Gandy Blvd exit in St. Pete, but then it opens up. Probably double google-maps drive times. 8am arrival downtown, on 275, you could drive as fast as you wanted to until at least halfway over the bridge, until the Kennedy/airport exit on a good day, so maybe add another 15 minutes to google times.

The beach communities here are mostly old folks. Some (Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach, etc.) can be a lot of fun during beach season, but the people your age will leave when the vacation's over, and the other half of the year it's you and the snowbirds. Wouldn't recommend single and 34 person live there.

The Dunedin and Palm Harbor recommendations seem strange to me. 34 and single, I would not choose either. Dunedin has a neat little downtown, but it's a much older community, similar to the beach communities. Palm Harbor is all suburbs; much more family-oriented. Not sure if that's what you want when you say you want "more residential." Best Richmond analogy is Far West End.

What's your favorite neighborhood in Richmond? Could be helpful to giving you advice, at least for those of us who know Richmond.

[lavender]

If you are at the downtown office on Jackson, then you are looking at a 40-50 min commute (using Howard Frankland I-275) from say Indian Rocks/Indian Shores Beaches. Clearwater Bch would be a horrible commute for you. Depending on your hours could be less, I can make TPA in 30 mins easily when the traffic is flowing and I live in that area.
Rental rates - you are looking at a min of $900 for a onebed and that will be pretty ordinary. There are some decent condos near to Indian Shores that run around that price, actually on the beach, could be tricky to get much for that but there are some old little efficiency type places. I dont know how much you will have each month to play with you might want to figure that out and let someone know. You may have to share a condo to get a lower price. Wish you good luck, if you like the beaches, you will like Indian Rocks, its still pretty quaint.