Young Professional moving to Tampa (Miami, Clearwater: cliquey, apartments, condos)

[Dp404]

Hi I am currently 21 years old living in Boston and I recently accepted a job in Tampa. I am not scheduled to start until next September but I am trying to learn as much as I can about Tampa now. I am hoping I can get some good suggestions for areas to live. I am looking for a young area that is good for meeting people, with good nightlife but not a college area, near the beach and a short drive from downtown Tampa because that is where I will be working. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Ladywithafan]

...Baynews9.com might be helpful!

[Dp404]

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[tonytampa]

Hi and glad to hear you'll be moving to Tampa. I'm a third-generation native of Tampa, alot older than you but I'll be glad to share my insight on the city.

First of all, abandon all pre-conceptions you may have about Florida...few, if any, apply to Tampa. Unlike most Florida cities, Tampa is an older city based on industry, not on tourism or theme parks. It is a multi-ethnic city, whose immigrant roots were Spanish, Cuban and Sicilian (going back about 100 years ago) and more recently immigrants from Latin America and Mexico. About 20% of the city is Spanish-speaking or of Spanish-speaking heritage, but unlike Miami, it is not necessary to speak Spanish to live or work in Tampa. There are many good "mom-and-pop" neighborhood ethnic restaurants to enjoy. Think of Tampa as a Baltimore or Pittsburgh with palm trees!! (Believe me, this is a good thing). It's a city with a deeply-rooted sense of "place"...of all the large cities in Florida, Tampa has probably the highest percentage of native-born residents, it it much less transient than other cities in the state.

Now for the fun stuff...as a young single you would probably want to live in South Tampa, around Hyde Park or "SoHo"..which stands for "South Howard", referring to Howard avenue..ask around, everybody knows about it..lots of restaurants, cafes etc. It is an upscale area, so rents and purchase prices are higher than most other areas. Also, Channelside is up-and-coming..near the port with many new condos available...also Ybor City, our historic district with lots of clubs and cafes (noisy at night though). If you intend to buy a house and consider yourself an "urban pioneer" strongly consider either West Tampa, Tampa Heights or Ybor City. These are inner-city neighborhoods that had declined but are rapidly being gentrified and are all close to downtown. Also consider Riverside Heights, also near downtoen. Unfortunately, the beaches are not close to downtown Tampa...they are about a 40 minute drive to the Gulf of Mexico. Tampa itself is on the bay, but not the open gulf.

Hope you enjoy your move...Tampa is a great city. It does not fit most people's perception of Florida, but the people are very nice and less superficial than in many other areas of Florida.

[aek1983]

I am 23, single and going to be moving to Tampa area in May/June. I am also looking at where would be a good place to live for me. Someone told me to look at the Post Rocky Point Apartments, and said a lot of younger people live there too. I will let you know if I hear of anything else.

[UF_john]

Dont listen to these older folks trying to talk Tampa up, it is a DUMP. Believe me when I say this. This place is loaded with older/retiree types. The jobs don't pay anything over 12 bucks here and are mostly service type jobs. Traffic is horrible. It's starting to see a large influx of Spanish-speaking people (probably moving northward from South Florida). It's a "Keep Up With The Jones" type area. The area is also VERY uneducated. They have a third-tier school called University of South Florida (which is a big joke, ask any prof at UF), and is basically a school that houses all the dumb people that come out of FLorida's school system that weren't smart enough to go to UF. Tons of people are living check to check in Tampa and are losers that move from other areas (especially the northeast) and bring their baggage and problems down. The drivers are amongst the worst in the country. The beaches are now being overbuilt with highrise condos. I have friends that live in Tampa, and I stayed there for 2 months and that was plenty enough for me. There are a bunch of people that look forward to going to these "upscale" clubs where everyone just fights, the guys are very cliquey and the girls are not very open to meeting people. It's a very edgy, boring, keep to yourself area. You will also be surprised at all the weirdos and child molesters that live there too. Minus a few upscale areas, and gated communities, Tampa is one big dump full of uneducated people or few people with educations from third-tier schools. You will find yourself having to dust off your brain from not using it and feel yourself becoming dumber if you live there. Trust me, it's garbage.

[UF_john]

Also, if you are a guy trying to take random good looking girls home, Tampa is a horrible place (unless you want to lower yourself to a prostitute haha). So is Clearwater for that matter. People are standoffish and almost fearful if you approach a stranger. Especially Ybor City clubs, that is a ghetto area and I can understand girls not wanting a stranger to approach them but that's the whole point for a guy to go out is to meet women so might as well not even go out. I am from Northern Florida and I have taken home 23 girls from houseparties and clubs, I lived in Tampa for 2 months and most girls want you to spend a bunch of money on them and buy them a bunch of stuff just for a conversation. The girls are very standoffish "Do I Know you?" NY types.

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by Dp404

Hi I am currently 21 years old living in Boston and I recently accepted a job in Tampa. I am not scheduled to start until next September but I am trying to learn as much as I can about Tampa now. I am hoping I can get some good suggestions for areas to live. I am looking for a young area that is good for meeting people, with good nightlife but not a college area, near the beach and a short drive from downtown Tampa because that is where I will be working. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Davis Island or Harbor Island...Do it or be sorry...(You'll be kicking yourself if you don't) lol

[classicanne]

Originally Posted by UF_john

Also, if you are a guy trying to take random good looking girls home, Tampa is a horrible place (unless you want to lower yourself to a prostitute haha). So is Clearwater for that matter. People are standoffish and almost fearful if you approach a stranger. Especially Ybor City clubs, that is a ghetto area and I can understand girls not wanting a stranger to approach them but that's the whole point for a guy to go out is to meet women so might as well not even go out. I am from Northern Florida and I have taken home 23 girls from houseparties and clubs, I lived in Tampa for 2 months and most girls want you to spend a bunch of money on them and buy them a bunch of stuff just for a conversation. The girls are very standoffish "Do I Know you?" NY types.

Judging from this post and your other post above, I'm glad you lived here (if you did at all) only 2 months. Sounds to me like Tampa is much better off without you!

[clearwaterlargodude]

The Tampa Area is best fitted for living for retirees and the upper class if you are lower class or middle class this place isnt for you. The jobs pay nothing here and the commutes are terrible, its great if u dont have to drive to work or dont have to work and just sit on the beach. The night life is ok but a lot of stuck up people and fakes that move here from up north who have criminal records or unsavory pasts. Telemarketing is huge in this area and there is a lot of **** jobs and artists here especially on the pinellas county side in Largo and Clearwater. Crime isnt really too bad considering the 2.6 million people in the area its nothing like say a LA Philly or Detroit. However, like i said before **** artists are big down here thats the big crime. so watch out for **** jobs and people who are fakes here. The best area I like and the nicest is the beach area indian rocks, indian shores, reddington beach, very nice areas and some affordable places and not a lot of traffic for being a beach area. places to stay away from are central tampa ( i 4 i75 junction), terrible construction and traffic us 19 area in clearwater and palm harbor tons of construction and accident prone area and south saint pete high crime area