St. Pete Good for Families with Young Kids? (Miami, Tampa: 2014, attorneys)

[wallyb2013]

My husband has a job offer in St. Pete, and we have a few weeks to decide whether to relocate. We are in our mid-30's and are both attorneys, although I now work in recruiting, and we have a 2 year old boy with another on the way. We're targeting Northeast St. Pete and some of the older historic neighborhoods there. We do not want to live in Tampa or the burbs.

Is this a good area for young kids? I know the schools aren't highly rated, but they're better than the ones in our current district in NC. We want to live in a walkable neighborhood where we are within a miles walk of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and parks. Is Northeast St.Pete family friendly? We hope to live in an area where our sons will have friends there age. Are there any non-suburban areas of St. Pete that are more family friendly?

[Jamiehgrl]

Really hoping to see some responses for this post.We are also moving from NC to Florida come March relocating due to my husband getting a job in Gulfport and currently in the process of looking for homes,good area,schools in St Petersburg or with thin a 20 minute drive of Gulfport.

[LKJ1988]

I am sure there are some high end areas that will be fine if you have the money.

[Irishiis49]

My son is an attorney and he and his wife currently live in a cute bungalow in St.Pete in Historic Kenwood. They love it but they do not have children(got married last week). Funny enough they bought from a couple that the wife was also an attorney and had a young child(pre-school)...she had a job transfer to Miami but they were happy living in St.Pete too. I think the only un-known here is the schools...which will be an issue for you right away...I hope some one on here that currently has young children in a zoned St.Pete school will be able to help you out.

[dothetwist]

If you can afford it, I would vote for living in Old NE and sending your kids to private schools if the public ones are not acceptable to you.

The people we bought our Gulfport home from in 2014 were both doctors and they moved to Old NE; they have kids and their intention was to try the public schools, but were prepared to send them to private schools if the public schools didn't work out.

I have relatives and friends in Sarasota and Manatee County and they both had high hopes and expectations for public schools there, but in the end they moved their kids to private schools. They both lived in what I would consider upscale suburban neighborhoods.

[roadtrip75]

Originally Posted by wallyb2013

Are there any non-suburban areas of St. Pete that are more family friendly?

The only non-suburban area in Pinellas County is downtown St Pete. Even the "Old Northeast" neighborhood is suburban.

[CubsFan20]

Most of the schools in St. Pete are absolutely HORRIBLE... In fact, pretty much all of them. There are parts that are nice to live, like Jungle / Park Street area and Old NE, but schools pretty much suck everywhere in the city

[GiovanniTheGreat]

Originally Posted by CubsFan20

Most of the schools in St. Pete are absolutely HORRIBLE... In fact, pretty much all of them. There are parts that are nice to live, like Jungle / Park Street area and Old NE, but schools pretty much suck everywhere in the city

People are nuts if they want to send their kids to school in St Pete.. and the integration lead to bad schools also. Even in the north side now too, I am sure all across the board, St Pete schools are rated pretty bad even If north side schools are better than south side ones. St Pete is a very patchy place. Not as dangerous as parts of Tampa but still.. the idea just doesn't thrill me anymore to live in St Pete.

[Beach Sportsfan]

Integration doesn't necessarily lead to bad schools.Wether you like it or not this country is becoming more diverse and its future will depend on how well we ALL learn to live and treat each other fairly.

[Irishiis49]

Integration doesn't lead to poor quality education...transient population and little to no parental involvement causes schools to go/stay bad. If Pinellas County school board had its feet held to the fire by St.Pete parents the way parents of Palm Harbor students do believe me the schools would improve...