Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay
 [Register]
Tampa Bay Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-13-2015, 01:47 AM
 
2 posts, read 2,704 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hello everybody,
We are in our early 40s with a young son, relocating to Tampa from Denver, CO for both my husband's job and my job. We have always loved FL and the ocean (got married on Sanibel Island 6 years ago), usually visiting at least once a year. We are an active family, love the outdoors....biking, hiking(we know it'll be a different kind of hiking in FL !), water activities, etc.. and we're looking for an area to settle with a strong community feel, friendly neighbors and a walkable/bikeable, family-friendly neighborhood. We're looking forward to our new adventure and big move across the country and would really love to hear some insider's info on a few areas of Tampa.

From what we've learned and seen so far, we really like the Safety Harbor area the best, followed by Palm Harbor and South Tampa. We've also seen a few homes in Westchase as well. We would love to be close to the water as we'd like to invest in a small sailboat soon. Schools are very important too since we have a 4 year old. Can anyone share some more insight into those areas and what the schools are like? Does South Tampa have any neighborhoods that you could walk/bike to the water?

Thank you so much, we appreciate any info you could provide!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-16-2015, 06:07 AM
 
Location: Florida & Arizona
5,978 posts, read 7,377,898 times
Reputation: 7604
Have you considered Fishhawk Ranch? It's not as close to the Gulf but has all of the community amenities that you're looking for. It is close to Tampa Bay, which would be a lot more enjoyable as far as sailing, and there are plenty of places to moor/store a boat in the area which would only be maybe 20-30 minutes away at the most. You're also closer to Anna Maria Island and other really nice and less populated beaches, too.

Just a thought.

RM
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 07:58 AM
 
4,586 posts, read 5,610,794 times
Reputation: 4369
Based on the OPs wants Palm Harbor/Dunedin could fit the bill.
South Tampa is congested as hell & doesn't have access to the water unless they only look to bike along Bayshore.

If your work is in DT Tampa, then Westchase would work best, otherwise Pinellas fits the bill much better.

Fishhawk is far away from everything...wouldn't live there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 08:20 AM
 
Location: Temple Terrace, fla
184 posts, read 244,728 times
Reputation: 155
I am a native Tampan and lived in Colorado. Love both for different reasons. I would discourage South Tampa for the other posters reasons and it floods when the rains are high, like recently. Davis Island is nice, it is right next to Downtown, not sure you want the price range though, and it's pretty densely populated, suburbia. But quaint, too. I like the Safety Harbor area, too. Use some of the real estate sites with the sattilite feature and you will see a lot of viewable info on area. Good luck !!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 08:24 AM
 
290 posts, read 339,533 times
Reputation: 172
You picked some of my favorite areas so you're on the right track! Based on the criteria you mentioned, Safety Harbor sounds perfect as I think it hits on every single point.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 04:35 PM
 
Location: Florida & Arizona
5,978 posts, read 7,377,898 times
Reputation: 7604
You need to identify where you and your spouse will be working, if it's outside the home. That will have some bearing on the best place as far as commute is concerned.

RM
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 06:23 PM
 
Location: Tampa, Fl
4,091 posts, read 6,014,333 times
Reputation: 3415
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhotoProIP View Post
South Tampa is congested as hell & doesn't have access to the water unless they only look to bike along Bayshore.

If your work is in DT Tampa, then Westchase would work best, otherwise Pinellas fits the bill much better.


In South Tampa: https://youtu.be/qDlguw_LO6M
Downtown, not far from South Tampa: https://youtu.be/eFKBzm4CdsE
Ballast Point Park, South Tampa: https://youtu.be/yj85cxS-HMU

But yeah... No access to the water.

Also, Westchase isn't exactly where I'd chose to live to commute to Downtown. Especially if South Tampa were on the list.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 07:49 PM
 
4,586 posts, read 5,610,794 times
Reputation: 4369
Quote:
Originally Posted by MAniacTHW View Post


In South Tampa: https://youtu.be/qDlguw_LO6M
Downtown, not far from South Tampa: https://youtu.be/eFKBzm4CdsE
Ballast Point Park, South Tampa: https://youtu.be/yj85cxS-HMU

But yeah... No access to the water.

Also, Westchase isn't exactly where I'd chose to live to commute to Downtown. Especially if South Tampa were on the list.
Those videos make no sense, and are the most boring I've ever seen. Definitely Not what OP meant by doing water activities.
I'm not sure you're supposed to advertise your YouTube channel here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Tampa, Fl
4,091 posts, read 6,014,333 times
Reputation: 3415
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhotoProIP View Post
Definitely Not what OP meant by doing water activities.
A beach, a fishing pier, and biking on water have nothing to do with water activities? Interesting.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2015, 08:35 PM
 
Location: USA
105 posts, read 107,718 times
Reputation: 132
I Have been in Florida for 35 years and it is pathetic. I am in Jax know which at least has a fall season.
The heat and humidity starts in April and doesn't let up till minimum October-November-December.
That means mold, roaches,mosquitoes, fire ants,bad tempers,torrential rain and lightning. The government is corrupt run by developers, which pillage the land and defraud the homeowners.
Highways are undersized which causes continuous traffic problem.
The landscape is a soul killer. Jobs are low paying. Alot of deranged people here seeking paradise.
No sense of community.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top