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I commute to downtown daily. My shift determines travel time. If I have to be at work by 8am traffic is the worst and it's 55-60mins door to door. I work a 930am shift and its 35mins door to door. I also have an 1130am shift and I fly in- 25mins.
25/35min would be great, but an hour isn't terrible either. Thank you for all of your help! I've seen several hoes in Wesley Chapel that look like they fit my budget. I was also getting Land O'Lakes and Zephyrhills results. I thik I read that Zephryhills wasn't necessarily a great neighborhood, but the middle and high school ratings are 8-10's, so I can't believe it's THAT bad...
Wesley Chapel looks great! The schools are very well rated; I can deal with an hour drive to the beach if it means my daughter will be getting a better education. Looks like it's about 40min from downtown Tampa (based on Google) - is that accurate?
Thanks for the feedback!
Have you been to Honeymoon Island State Park and/or Caladesi Island? BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Those are 45-1hr from Wesley Chapel. They are quiet beaches with great shelling and Caladesi was rated one of the TOP beaches in the US for its beauty and fine white sand. There is not a lot of "action" there (no commerce, shops, restaurants near the beaches); although we'd often hit Dunedin for dinner after the beach. Dunedin is a cute town and looks like a cute place to live, but I'm not sure about the schools or commute from there...and watch for sinkholes. Actually anywhere in FL, check the sinkhole map. I don't think there has been much of a problem in Wesley Chapel area.
Last edited by snuffybear; 05-21-2015 at 07:41 AM..
Wesley Chapel is much nicer than Zephyrhills. Z is a little run down with not much there (and many mobile home parks for snowbirds! it is known for that and many of the restaurants cater to sr citizens). WC is really the newest part of "new Tampa" and has brand new stores (every big box and smaller too, and a beautiful new mall), and tons of restaurants (this is all on Bruce B Downs) and nice newer housing communities. There's a brand new hospital also.
I would DEFINITELY pick WC. Also, you will find more transplants from NE there....you would not find many in Z, except the Sr. Citizens in their mobile homes for the winter, and they're mostly from midwest.
Also look at the map...not sure Z is commutable to much of Tampa...you are way out there...and now 1:20 to the beach.
Get some commuting advice also...traffic is VERY bad in Tampa. Of course you are used to this in LI, but you want to be strategic. Traffic is very heavy, fast and dangerous during commuting hours on 75 and 4.
Have you been to Honeymoon Island State Park and/or Caladesi Island? BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Those are 45-1hr from Wesley Chapel. They are quiet beaches with great shelling and Caladesi was rated one of the TOP beaches in the US for its beauty and fine white sand. There is not a lot of "action" there (no commerce, shops, restaurants near the beaches); although we'd often hit Dunedin for dinner after the beach. Dunedin is a cute town and looks like a cute place to live, but I'm not sure about the schools or commute from there...and watch for sinkholes. Actually anywhere in FL, check the sinkhole map. I don't think there has been much of a problem in Wesley Chapel area.
I've never been to either; the only "beach" we went to when we initially prospected was in Treasure Island! I did Trip Advisor both Honeymoon and Caladesi, and I could absolutely see is heading there on weekends or late weekday afternoons. We are ALL ABOUT eating on the water, so we would probably follow your lead on Dunedin.
Yes; WC is definitely turning out to be a contender. I had asked about Z because I'd search Wesley Chapel on Zillow, and results would be peppered with 3 or so "Z" homes... I though maybe there was a "nice" and a "bad" part of town. (We have really great neighborhoods - Garden City - that are abutting really nasty neighborhoods - Hempstead, here on LI)...
I have lived on both sides of the bay, including two of the beach communities. First, it has been my experience that there is very little sense of community, one of your requirements, in Tampa and Clearwater. Coming originally from the north, that was always a desire of mine as well, and I’ve I haven’t found anything like *community* in those places. I personally think Westchase is expensive, overrated and you won’t find any community there, but of course, you might come and look for yourself, as I’ll freely admit, what’s unsuitable for me might work for someone else. (I just re-read your topic, and your short term budget won’t work in Westchase but it would in Citrus Park or Carollwood.) Citrus Park and the Carrollwood area are better, and within the Tampa/Clearwater area, I think it’s as close as you’ll get to a community feel, but I’m guessing it still won’t approach what you’re looking for (as I think it has a better sense of community but still not a real community feel).
Wesley Chapel, that was mentioned, is nice and I would agree that the schools are good there. It is a little ways from the beaches, but there are ways to get there. And I’ll also caution that technically, it’s straight across to the coast, but that doesn't get you to the best places for doing the usual things you’d go to the beach for. (Dunedin and Tarpon Springs are nice communities for other activities, but aren’t really your beach places.) So your trip to the beach would be at least an hour and a half, on a good day, and much longer during congested times – when the roads are clogged with snowbirds and/or spring breakers. The community feel of Wesley Chapel is certainly better than some areas of Tampa Bay, but you’d still probably have to compromise a bit on that, as it’s only better by comparison.
I currently live in Zephyrhills, which doesn’t have a bad sense of community BUT…it’s rather remote (although not much further than Wesley Chapel) and there are a lot of seniors…the population doubles in the winter. But on the other hand, for your husband, who likes theme parks, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills would be about half-way to the beaches and half-way to the Orlando theme parks.
I’ve lived in a couple of the beach communities, themselves (Indian Rocks Beach & Madeira Beach), which can be rather pricey and congested, and I’ve liked it there—the kind of tacky freeform lifestyle of the beach, but there is zero sense of community, and they seem to be becoming more pricey and congested all the time. If you want to be closer to Spring Hill, the two places I mentioned, Dunedin and Tarpon Springs might be worth looking at—which I don’t know how it would work for your husband’s future job, but Dunedin always seems like it has a nice community feel to it, and it’s right on the water (although not the beaches, but they’re not far—in fact Honeymoon and Caladesi Island are nearby, some of the nicest beaches in the area).
So anyway: You might want to look at the Carollwood and Citrus Park areas of Tampa, evaluate if the distance works from Wesley Chapel (which also would be right on the edge of your budget—but you probably could find some places there) and if it would work for you, you might want to check out Dunedin and Tarpon Springs. Hope that helps.
Hi All! I've been reading threads for HOURS, and finally decided to just create my own!
My husband and I have decided we'd like to move to the Tampa Bay area. We do have some extended family down there (in the Spring Hill area), but no-one with a similar lifestyle to ours.
Our family is myself (34y, loves movie theaters, the beach, and the outdoors in general), my husband (33y, loves theme parks, sports, and trying out new restaurants), and our daughter (10y, loves riding her bike and playing in the pool).
We are looking for a nice area, with low crime, good schools, and a real sense of community (people who care about their property, their neighbors, etc.). We would prefer to be about 30min from the beach (we are only 20min away her on Long Island), and we would love access to parks and recreational areas as well. I work from home, but my husband would need to be <1hour from a "business hub" (e.g. industrial park, business center), as he would be commuting to a yet-to-be-identified workplace (I will be the primary breadwinner initially).
Until we've wrapped our heads around the area at-large, we're going to rent, and the rental budget would be between $1200 and $1800 a month for a 3-Bedroom/2-Bath home.
Any insight you all might be able to provide would be AMAZING! Thank you all so much - in advance!
I wouldn't move anywhere without your husband having a job lined up. What's your plan if he doesn't find one for months? Can you live on one salary? Please don't think FL is cheap, it isn't. Lower COL than Long Island, yes, lower salaries as well.
And you can't assume your work from home job will always be there. You need to look in an area where you can both find employment in your fields.
When you have a child to take care of you don't move on a whim and make being near the beach a priority.
Some of the cities you are interested in are in different school systems. There is Pinellas County, which includes Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Oldsmar. Then there is Hillsborough County which includes Zephyrhills, Carrollwood, Westchase. I'm not sure, I have to look it up, but I think Wesley Chapel is in Pasco County. The school boards are all a little different. My opinion is that Hillsborough is the best. During the recent recession, they still kept hiring more staff and teachers, whereas Pinellas had to put moat positions on a hiring freeze. I don't know much about Pasco school system.
Pasco County is known for having the most sinkhole trouble. Pinellas traffic is terrible and we have a large population of retirees and snowbirds during the winter months, but it has beautiful parks not far from the beaches, and a wonderful library system.
I also as agree with Seain Dublin, it's best to have a job first.
As others have stated, I would recommend the new tampa area: Wesley chapel, lol, lutz.
I recommend consulting with a local realtor who is experienced in the area. We have used our agent when we moved here and I can recommend him. Inbox me if you are interested and I can send you the information.
Westchase is a great area! I would be happy to connect you with a real estate professional who can help you find exactly what you are looking for - both for rental and for purchase! Feel free to visit my website and contact me.
Welcome to Florida! You are going to love living here!
Hi All! I've been reading threads for HOURS, and finally decided to just create my own!
My husband and I have decided we'd like to move to the Tampa Bay area. We do have some extended family down there (in the Spring Hill area), but no-one with a similar lifestyle to ours.
Our family is myself (34y, loves movie theaters, the beach, and the outdoors in general), my husband (33y, loves theme parks, sports, and trying out new restaurants), and our daughter (10y, loves riding her bike and playing in the pool).
We are looking for a nice area, with low crime, good schools, and a real sense of community (people who care about their property, their neighbors, etc.). We would prefer to be about 30min from the beach (we are only 20min away her on Long Island), and we would love access to parks and recreational areas as well. I work from home, but my husband would need to be <1hour from a "business hub" (e.g. industrial park, business center), as he would be commuting to a yet-to-be-identified workplace (I will be the primary breadwinner initially).
Until we've wrapped our heads around the area at-large, we're going to rent, and the rental budget would be between $1200 and $1800 a month for a 3-Bedroom/2-Bath home.
Any insight you all might be able to provide would be AMAZING! Thank you all so much - in advance!
Rental budget seems right in the market range for a nice 3bed/2bath house. Try Dunedin, close to everywhere. Busch gardens close by, Disney a couple of hours, beaches and malls within 10 minutes. Nice friendly town and about a hour n a half to Spring Hill in traffic. Lots to do for the kids and we have what most don't a nice friendly working town.
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