Apartment Complexes in St. Pete (Tampa, Clearwater: for rent, crime, homes)

[Jroad]

Hi! My goal is to move to the St. Pete area in November or December. I have been researching, to start, affordability of apartments/ housing and it seems that St. Pete is within my range. I searched Ft. Myers, Clearwater, South Tampa, Dunedin NPR and PR as well. I am certain I can afford PR but I feel that it may be too quiet and rural for me. I have landed on St. Pete because I hear nothing but good things about the beaches, downtown and the prospect of getting a job (to start) as a bartender- I have 10 years of restaurant exp. Any advice on the above would be wonderful!!!

Mostly now I am narrowing down apartments to look at when I make my trip down. I have on the list:
Flagler Pointe
Alta Mar at Broadwater
Osprey Pointe
The Meadows
Brandywine Apts
Enclave at Sabal Pointe

I have called and received info from each one but of course I need the real nit and grit on safety and the area as far as commute to beaches and downtown.

Any help is welcomed with open arms. Please be objective and don't post "it sucks" without a reason I can go off of. Thank you!!!!

[girlsunshine]

Avoid Flagler Point, The Enclave and the Meadows.
Flagler Point and the Enclave are high in crime and also have rats bedbugs (have a friend living in one and has to throw out her belongs because of the bedbugs
The Meadows is Horrible look it up on Apartmentratings.com- the apartments are spacious but they are very old and have numerous problems. Rats, ants, holes in the interior, garbage on the property and a Horrible smell. People let their animals go EVERYWHERE and they don't clean up behind them.....I can't speak for the other locations, hope this helps and good luck!

[stevendrew12]

The apartments in both areas are safe. USF? Go to New Tampa or Temple Terrace. You definitely want to live where you work. It can take a long time to go 7-8 miles during rush hour.

[jmb999]

I also am moving to St Pete and need recommendation on apartments in the downtown area. Can I get a 1 bedroom for around $1000/mo? Specific apartment names are helpful. I will be working in Bradenton. Thanks!

[sportsterjohn]

DTSP is a bit different from other areas. You generally don't see many apts in DTSP on the large apartment hunting sites. Many of them do not advertise or just have a for rent sign near the building. You may want to focus on local sources to find them.

[Jroad]

Originally Posted by stevendrew12

The apartments in both areas are safe. USF? Go to New Tampa or Temple Terrace. You definitely want to live where you work. It can take a long time to go 7-8 miles during rush hour.

I am looking to definitely be near the water. I don't need to be on the beach but I need a) some breeze for heat relief and b) more importantly, I want to work on the water some way, some how, it is a goal. So I am thinking USF and New Tampa are far from the water and I know for sure Temple Terrace are way too far inland. Any other near water suggestions? Thanks!

Also, I'm sorry, I am from out of state, you said the apartments in "both" areas are safe... What areas/ neighborhoods are they considered to be in? A map can only tell me so much lol!

[jmb999]

Well I spoke to someone who lives in St. Pete who gave me the following information. Thought I would share for al who are interested.

From the OP's initial list of apartments which was narrowed down by girlsunshine, my resource said that between Alta Mar, Osprey Pointe, and Brandywine, Alta Mar is the best of the three. Osprey Point is in kind-of a borderline neighborhood. Brandywine is far from the interstate-probably at least 15 minutes, although it is near the mall.

She also said that South St. Pete is a little rough. Gulfport is nice with some local-type places. Alta Mar is in Gulfport.

My resource lives in the northeast part of St. Pete on MLK street which she said is a "yuppier" area. She lives at Inlet Bay at Gateway, right by the bridge to Tampa. She likes it there. She says it is not "luxury" but has all the amenities and is nice and quiet.

In South St Pete (where I need to live for work) she recommended St. Charles Row (super close to the bridge to Bradenton), Waterside at Coquina Key (nice and secure), and Fusion apartments downtown. She said the Fusion apartments go for about $1000/mo for 1br/1ba plus parking, but they are gorgeous.

Finally, she added that anything with "Gandy, 4th St N, MLK st N" are in NE St. Pete and there are a lot of apartment complexes there.

[lmw36]

Skyline Fifth.

[idsrvt2]

Thanks for the tips. I am planning on moving to the area as well. St charles row looks like an option, based on their websit and the discussion I had with their staff they said million dollar homes were across the street.. I visited that area in March and it seemed to be a nice area...close to beaches, and downtown. The 2bd look spacious...so I may lok for a roomate.. Hope to visit again in the next few months.

[quote=jmb999;36152546

In South St Pete (where I need to live for work) she recommended St. Charles Row (super close to the bridge to Bradenton), Waterside at Coquina Key (nice and secure), and Fusion apartments downtown. She said the Fusion apartments go for about $1000/mo for 1br/1ba plus parking, but they are gorgeous.

Finally, she added that anything with "Gandy, 4th St N, MLK st N" are in NE St. Pete and there are a lot of apartment complexes there.[/QUOTE]

[lmw36]

I've heard mixed reviews about Fusion. I have several friends who live(d) there and 3 of the 4 moved out within the first year because they couldn't stand how thin the walls are, amongst other complaints. My other friend lives on the top floor/end unit and is a hard partying bachelor, so I'm not sure he'd notice anything short of an anvil falling on his head.

You can't really walk downtown from Fusion either, especially in the evening I wouldn't. However, there are a few nice restaurants in the immediate area (I love Green Bench and Flying Pig Taphouse!).

I'm OK with having to drive downtown, which is why I live in Kenwood. I get a better building for the price of Fusion and a short drive to downtown. Depends what you want.