Clearwater vs St Petersburg -- Tampa Fl (St. Petersburg, Largo: apartments, rentals)
Tampa BayTampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater
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We r thinking of moving to tampa Fl from North Nj. We r in are early 30ies, active, self employed, working from home (atleast most of the time) and no kids.
We want a SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD plz
we r looking for looking for a place that has events every weekend(music, art, flee markets, farmers markets, musumes).
Close to national parks, hiking, kayaking etc (nature-outdoorsy things)
walkable area close to shops, libraries, parks
What would be better for us Clearwater or St Petersburg? why? what is the cost of living like?
We r thinking of moving to tampa Fl from North Nj. We r in are early 30ies, active, self employed, working from home (atleast most of the time) and no kids.
We want a SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD plz
we r looking for looking for a place that has events every weekend(music, art, flee markets, farmers markets, musumes).
Close to national parks, hiking, kayaking etc (nature-outdoorsy things)
walkable area close to shops, libraries, parks
What would be better for us Clearwater or St Petersburg? why? what is the cost of living like?
You have so many options in both cities, from your post I'd say you are looking for a mix between the two. The good news is, they are very close to each other and the drive is easy.
There are bad sections of Clearwater (Greenwood) and bad sections of St. Pete (South St. Pete) but very nice areas of both.
In Clearwater you want to stay close to downtown or the beach if you want live music and fun events on the weekends. Clearwater has so much going on, so many beaches, beach bars, top notch restaurants, parks, etc. Downtown has many shops and sidewalk cafes, lots of foot traffic. You can catch cultural events and concerts at Ruth Eckerd Hall or sporting events at Bright House Field - The Phillies have spring training and a single A team that plays there if you like baseball. The culture in Clearwater is a little bit older crowd (the old oldies seem to stay in their own area of Clearwater up towards Countryside). It's a very laid back beach city, lots of people walk around shorts, sandles, bathing suits.
St. Petersburg has first Fridays downtown, where the first Friday of every month is one big block party with live music, sounds like you would enjoy that. Also, St. Pete has some great bars along Central Ave, and Beach Ave. is one of the most beautiful streets in America to drive on. The pier is a good place to shop, you have Tropicana Field for the Rays games. St. Pete beach isn't quite as nice as Clearwater beach but it does have some cool beach bars. Some real gems you can find of local places to eat downtown. I also like the Tyrone area of St. Pete, and Old Northeast. The culture/crowd in St. Pete is a little younger (again you have your oldies but you will know what areas they are in.) definitely an alternative/artsy scene. And you mentioned parks, Fort De Soto national park is on an island right off the coast of St. Pete in the Gulf.... Beautiful beaches, great view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
You could always move to Largo, a nice little suburb right inbetween the two cities.
Thanks Romes.
Both Clearwater and St petersburg seem like fun place to live. Yeah, we love our live music and weekend events.
I am more of a downtown kinda girl... currently we pay $1300 for a 1 b 1b, is that do able in clearwater or st petes downtown. Where would I get a bigger bang for my buck?
Downtown St Pete would work, so would downtown Dunedin. Clearwater doesn't really have what you're looking for.
I don't really like the...uh...diversity...of St Petersburg, so I prefer Dunedin (although I moved to SoHo this year to be closer to work).
Dunedin has a great little downtown area, the Pinellas trail for biking/running, and kayaking at Honeymoon Island. There are events downtown all the time!
St Pete has more of a city feel since it is much larger than Dunedin. Crime is worse, but there are more BIG events going on there. Vinoy Park has a lot of concerts.
$1000 can get you a decent apartment in either. $1400 will get you a really nice 2 bdrm if you want the space.
Downtown St Pete would work, so would downtown Dunedin. Clearwater doesn't really have what you're looking for.
I don't really like the...uh...diversity...of St Petersburg, so I prefer Dunedin (although I moved to SoHo this year to be closer to work).
Dunedin has a great little downtown area, the Pinellas trail for biking/running, and kayaking at Honeymoon Island. There are events downtown all the time!
St Pete has more of a city feel since it is much larger than Dunedin. Crime is worse, but there are more BIG events going on there. Vinoy Park has a lot of concerts.
$1000 can get you a decent apartment in either. $1400 will get you a really nice 2 bdrm if you want the space.
That ^ was a "nice" way of saying "I'm racist". St. Pete is great, it is definitely bigger than Clearwater, Dunedin is kind of for retirees. Only problem with St. Pete is that its cut off from the rest of Tampa Bay.
We r thinking of moving to tampa Fl from North Nj. We r in are early 30ies, active, self employed, working from home (atleast most of the time) and no kids.
We want a SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD plz
we r looking for looking for a place that has events every weekend(music, art, flee markets, farmers markets, musumes).
Close to national parks, hiking, kayaking etc (nature-outdoorsy things)
walkable area close to shops, libraries, parks
What would be better for us Clearwater or St Petersburg? why? what is the cost of living like?
St. Pete would be much better than Clearwater. FYI I'm also early 30s, married no kids. Downtown St. Pete has a festival or event just about every weekend (other than when it's too hot in the summer), a Saturday morning farmer's market, and tons of museums, galleries, restaurants, bars, etc. Great park system along the bay along with a little beach and plenty of kayakers, paddleboarders, kite-surfers, fisherpersons, etc. out there every day. There are a lot of old people -- this is Pinellas County after all -- but there are also a lot of people our age and younger so things stay fun. Plenty of safe neighborhoods within city limits, including downtown. I'd recommend mine, though -- the Old Northeast neighborhood (lots of posts here about it if you're interested -- mostly single-family homes, walkable to downtown, and definitely 'walking the dog with a solo cup' territory.) You need to drive somewhere else to hike, though. Pinellas is among the most densely populated counties in the country; 99% developed. Also, for the most part pedestrian public schools within city limits, so something to think about long-term.
You should also look at South Tampa. More people our age live/play there than anywhere else in the bay area. Lots of posts here about South Tampa (search for "Hyde Park" or "SoHo"). Hyde Park was the runner-up for us. Just didn't feel beachy or laid back, is further from my work, and is more than twice as long to the beach. It's also much more expensive, and I didn't feel worth the price difference since we liked St. Pete more regardless of price. I would note here that's probably in part because we don't have kids -- much better schools in South Tampa than in St. Pete. Again, something to think about long-term.
I wouldn't recommend Clearwater. Compared to downtown St. Pete or South Tampa, downtown Clearwater has nothing going on. Clearwater Beach is fun during beach season, but most of the people you'll meet will not list there, and all of the beach communities are slow/boring/old the other half of the year. Also, I wouldn't recommend Dunedin. There is a downtown area with some stuff going on, but it's much smaller and much, much older than downtown St. Pete and Hyde Park.
Thanks guy for responding to the thread, I really appreciate your help.
@BBI --I am very interested in renting in the old NE, but i am really not sure how safe it is or if there are apartments/ houses available that fit my budget($1300 max). If you don't mind me asking how did you find your place coz i cant find a lot online I have tried the usual apartment.com, forrent.com, rent.com but i am coming back empty.
What is the best way to find rentals(houses/apartments) in St Petersburg area?
Thanks guy for responding to the thread, I really appreciate your help.
@BBI --I am very interested in renting in the old NE, but i am really not sure how safe it is or if there are apartments/ houses available that fit my budget($1300 max). If you don't mind me asking how did you find your place coz i cant find a lot online I have tried the usual apartment.com, forrent.com, rent.com but i am coming back empty.
What is the best way to find rentals(houses/apartments) in St Petersburg area?
How is Gulfport for all the stuff that we need?
I havent looked into south Tampa yet, I should!
We started out renting in a beach community and then bought in the Old NE, so I've never rented in the neighborhood. But websites like forrent mostly advertise large complexes, and the Old NE doesn't have any -- it's mostly single family homes, and there are some very small apartment buildings and for-rent-by-owner places sprinkled in. So you'll be much more successful walking around the neighborhood and calling numbers on for-rent signs than trying to find a place on a site like forrent.
If you go on google maps and satellite view, pretty much anything in the neighborhood that looks bigger than a house is probably an apartment/condo building. I know there's a company called Terrier Properties that owns several small apartment buildings, but I couldn't tell you about quality and I remember at least one poster here saying they weren't good. There are a bunch of condos/apartments near the park at Beach Dr and 12th Ave NE. There are also a lot of apartments/condos near the Old Northeast Tavern (2nd Street N and 7th Ave N). Again, I'm not too helpful on quality, but $1,300 should not be a problem for an apartment (depending on what you're looking for, of course).
The Old NE feels very safe to me, just normal city stuff. You'll see a homeless person walking around now and then (moreso if you live on the south end of the neighborhood), there are some really cheap rentals that draw some poor folks into the neighborhood, and you need to lock your car/home doors when you're not there. But it's really just that sort of dumb petty crime stuff. No concern with my wife walking around by herself at any hour.
If you're looking to rent, you should also look in downtown St. Pete. Generally, I'd aim for north of 5th Ave S and east of 4th St, with further west OK if it were right on Central Ave. Downtown feels very safe to me. Friends lived in the Madison (4th Ave S and 3rd St S), which isn't the highest end place in the world, but nice enough and a great location for taking advantage of downtown. I assume it's in your price range. Definitely a better place to start out than where we were at the beach.
Gulfport is not nearly as nice as St. Pete, is very small, and has very, very few young professionals. That said, prices are low, there's good water access, and it's very close to the beach. The restaurant and art scene are actually good when you consider how small the place is, but it's a really small place. Some Stetson Law students hang out there, which livens things up a little bit. We looked at it and figured we'd be bored there and commuting to downtown St. Pete to make friends.
Mrs. 2007, I too will be moving from NJ (Piscataway) to FL, Its my dream and finally I will do it. I want Clearwater as I know the area from my girlfriend who recently passed away but her boyfriend is still there. I am not a party person and want a QUIET ZONE. I too have to work as in 2 years I can collect my pension but until then...I want a job in the medical area (secretary). I too will be checking out housing but right now, I can stay with friends. Good luck w/your move and all..Where in NJ were you from? I cant stand NJ.
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