Knowledge of ruskin, fl? (Miami, Tampa: apartments, rental, house)

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Ruskin doesn't seem like much right now, but with the Amazon Center it is definitely going to come up a few notches. Plus, the location is great, easy to get to Tampa to the north, or Sarasota/Bradenton to the south. My husband works for Hillsborough County managing large projects and has done several down there including a new art center. To me, that is a positive. I definitely would not call Ruskin a "hole" but it does still have that agricultural feel to it. There are certainly worse places in Florida. It has potential, IMO.

That's what I always liked about the area, the location. Don't forget the Sunshine Skyway is not far if someone wants to get to St. Pete. Although it used to be so much easier to zip into Tampa when there was a lot less development and traffic in South Hillsborough county.

LOL, when we first considered moving here, we asked about crime at one of local diners. Guy laughed and said, "Well, once in a while they find a body in one of the orange groves, but it's usually a drug deal gone bad". I don't think there's much violent crime (well, yes, there was that guy from Riverview who got killed in Gibsonton and then they drove down here and dumped his body in a shallow grave on the shores of the Little Manatee River), but more petty crime like property theft.

What art center is that? That Firehouse place? I must be hiding under a rock, unless you mean the theater they're arguing about in Sun City Center. What really needs to be done is clean up the area along 41, it looks like such a dump.

Ruskin is a really interesting area, IMO. There's a lot more to it than people realize in terms of nature. The Little Manatee River basin is awesome.

But, there are those who say that Ruskin has potential, and always will.

[hush.bereel]

It's where tomatoes come from.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by hush.bereel

It's where tomatoes come from.

Yes, that used to be Ruskin's claim to fame. FYI, I think Amazon now sits on former tomato fields.

[mary54mi]

Heard the Gulf of Mexico sarts there too!
Know someone near Bahia Beach says watertable high there. She dug a hole in yard to plant a shrub and it filled with water. Just sayin'.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by mary54mi

Heard the Gulf of Mexico sarts there too!
Know someone near Bahia Beach says watertable high there. She dug a hole in yard to plant a shrub and it filled with water. Just sayin'.

West of 41, yes, the water table would be rather high in areas. Flooding has been a problem in some of the neighborhoods along Shell Point in the past, not sure how it's been the past couple of years.

[BucFan]

I stand by my statement that Ruskin is a hole. I've been in and around it since the early 1970s, and have lived about 5 miles away from it for the last 5 yrs. I go Ruskin weekly for odds and ends and without a doubt can say it's a hole. There are old, outdated strip malls filled with Mexican grocery stores, pawn shops, car repair, immigration services, second rate used furniture stores, and maybe a barber shop or two, most of the boarded up buildings along US 41 are dilapidated and beyond repair. Lil Harbor is the best thing going for Ruskin, and even that is run down compared to 5-10 yrs ago. Last time I took family there, two of them got sick from the restaurant food and the folks "hanging around" the outside deck area looked like people you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, fearing for your personal safety. The area lacks any sort of development and looks like it has been stuck in the 60s.....

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by BucFan

I stand by my statement that Ruskin is a hole. I've been in and around it since the early 1970s, and have lived about 5 miles away from it for the last 5 yrs. I go Ruskin weekly for odds and ends and without a doubt can say it's a hole. There are old, outdated strip malls filled with Mexican grocery stores, pawn shops, car repair, immigration services, second rate used furniture stores, and maybe a barber shop or two, most of the boarded up buildings along US 41 are dilapidated and beyond repair. Lil Harbor is the best thing going for Ruskin, and even that is run down compared to 5-10 yrs ago. Last time I took family there, two of them got sick from the restaurant food and the folks "hanging around" the outside deck area looked like people you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, fearing for your personal safety. The area lacks any sort of development and looks like it has been stuck in the 60s.....

Where the heck is that photo from? Looks like some other place. Sure don't recognize that Post Office.

Granted, there are boarded up buildings in Ruskin that look just as bad. It does need some serious gentrification along 41. And let's face it, seeing the motor coaches from Texico unload in the small plaza by the Dickman Realty office does not exactly inspire that "upscale" feeling.

Thanks for the heads up on Little Harbor, haven't eaten there in a couple of years. Popi's is good eatin', though.

[BucFan]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ru...48d2ba8ffdab19

this link, if it works, puts you smack in the heart of Ruskin....take a look around (if it works).

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by BucFan

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ru...48d2ba8ffdab19

this link, if it works, puts you smack in the heart of Ruskin....take a look around (if it works).

OK, the link works and I recognized all the photos in it, but that first one you posted must've come from some other rundown area.

We're headed over to Gulley's shortly. Sure, it's a rundown shack and you have to watch out for the feral cats that hang out in the back parking area, but they do have the best scratch and dent groceries around.

You do realize that during the housing boom the govmint relocated some subsidized housing folks from Tampa and St. Pete to Ruskin? I helped out one poor lady who got plopped down here with her kids miles and miles away from her job, with no car. She was trying to figure out the bus schedule to get into Tampa. My heart went out to her, I hope she's OK. Life really sucks for the working poor.

[Sunnydee]

Here's an article from today's paper:

SouthShore businesses begin to see change from Amazon center | Tampa Bay Times