Tampa or Atlanta? (Orlando, Lakeland, Palm Harbor: apartment, lease, crime)

[sinatras]

U are in Northern VA? I remember the incompetence of the DC Metro all too well....

[sportsterjohn]

If you are asking me; I lived in Herndon from 09-12. I then moved to St. Pete for a year, now I am in Woodstock Ga. I did live in Ga. from 88-09. I am already plotting my way to get back to St. Pete!!

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by usbbuilder

When i visited Tampa i drove on the 275 freeway in rush hour times and on Dale Mabrey Highway and that is zero traffic compared to Chicago. Sorry but it seems like a lot of you are spoiled and don't realize how bad the traffic is elsewhere in the US.
I am not interested in dealing with traffic again, so i am going to visit Atlanta one more time to see if the traffic is really bad. I am still worried that Tampa does not have enough to do. For instance I am shocked that Tampa is so "small town" that it doesn't even have a trader Joe's, which is where I shop exclusively in Chicago.
I just thank God i have learned a lesson in life early that your health and sanity are never worth buying a bigger or better house in the suburbs and then commuting to the city. That's what I did in Chicago and I will never do that again. If I move to Tampa I will buy in the city and have a reverse commute. If I move to Atlanta I will live and work in the same suburb.

You'll have no need for a Trader Joes in Tampa once you've visited Publix. However, Tampa is opening one in South Tampa anyway. I do find it funny that, of all things (lack of downtown, lack of college educated workforce, lack of public transit, the fact that there is nothing to do outside of bars by 10 pm) overpriced grocery stores are what get brought up the most.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

You'll have no need for a Trader Joes in Tampa once you've visited Publix. However, Tampa is opening one in South Tampa anyway. I do find it funny that, of all things (lack of downtown, lack of college educated workforce, lack of public transit, the fact that there is nothing to do outside of bars by 10 pm) overpriced grocery stores are what get brought up the most.

In a word.........BACON!

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by sinatras

I would rather be stuck in traffic in a tunnel in the comfort of my own car and space and media system than be stuck in a 115-degree (or 20 degree) train station surrounded by smelly, rude strangers. To each his own!

The advantage being, in other big cities, you have the choice! Don't want to use public transit, you don't have to!

[sinatras]

There is no "choice" actually if the public transit is unreliable and intolerable for commuters. My cousin in DC never takes Metro bc it's outrageously priced and unreliable. So he does in fact have no other choice than to drive.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by sinatras

This whole notion that people don't cross the bay for fun is archaic and no longer relevant. People cross the bay all the time. Some people in Carrollwood I know go to Mazzaros once a week, and they do tea at the art museum on Beach Drive. You can bet that when the South Tampa Trader Joes opens, all manner of St. Pete people will be making the trek over to Tampa. There are things you can't get in Tampa, and things you can't get in St. Pete. Thus the necessity to drive to both.

I live in South Tampa and I go out all the time in the evenings to Downtown St. Pete. Part of the reason for that is because there is no downtown entertainment district in Tampa. The other reason is because despite there being a 20 mile distance between the 2 cities, there is never any traffic. Takes me 20-25 min.

Try driving 20 miles in Atlanta and report back to me how long it takes you.

Of course, the "Tampa Bay Area" includes more than towns that are within a 10-15 minute drive of a bridge.

People in Eastern Hillsborough/Polk, ect, ect, don't drive to St. Pete.

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

Of course, the "Tampa Bay Area" includes more than towns that are within a 10-15 minute drive of a bridge.

Which is so stupid. I don't understand wanting to tell people you live in Tampa while living an hour + away (here's to you Lakeland!)

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

Which is so stupid. I don't understand wanting to tell people you live in Tampa while living an hour + away (here's to you Lakeland!)

Lakeland is still a part of the Tampa MSA...

Tampa, as a city, only accounts for 350,000 out of what? 4 million in the Metro?

[tonyff67]

I never understood moving to a city and having to drive. The whole idea of moving to a city is to be within walking distance of everything. I lived in SOHO, the Only place I would drive to was work and that was a 7 minute commute.
I never understood the appeal of the suburbs, other than the price. At least here in Tampa, your lots are as small, if not smaller in the suburbs than in the City, and every thing in the suburbs is a drive.
I guess I could see living in a community with amenities that was in the suburbs of a city. Something like Westchase, where you have a town center, so once your home you can walk to everything, or at least a very easy commute. Then your only dreaded drive is into Tampa for work.
Now, all that being said, I live in the suburbs now! LOL it's a beach community though. I can walk to a few things, one of them being the beach. Nothing is more than a 10 minute drive, other than My commute work which is 25 to 35 minutes, but I only work every third day.