Is Land O Lakes safe and does it have good schools? (Tampa: foreclosed, rentals)

[GatorMan1986]

Looking at rentals in the Land O Lakes area.
I looked at the crime information and it seems to have some crime in pockets of areas in the town.
Are there any safe neighborhoods I should be looking that also has good schools?
I have read so many here said to stay away from Land O Lakes, could anyone please explain why?
Thank you.

[bentlebee]

I have no clue why people would say that...I never believ when people talk about an entire area unless you talk about a certain area like in Tampa where very old homes are and where the crime is very high and documented on the sheriff's website.

LOL has many newer communities which are nice and the one of the HS has an IB program if that is what you like.

You never know if your neighbor moves what will move in next door and every one hopes for the best...we had in our community some really bad kids and after 5 yr finally the parents were foreclosed on so they had to move and that changed a lot for the better....to say that the entire area is bad is over reacting although it was very annoying...

You can check on the Pasco sheriff's website the street or community and see how many calls to the police have been recorded, but you have to remember some calls might not be what you think.

[ferret111]

I certainly have never associated LOL with crime...

[Keeper]

The folks who say 'Don't move to LOL' usually follow with there are nothing but 'rednecks' there. That is not true and I have to agree with the others, there are a few areas that I would not recommend but unless you plan to live out in the sticks then you will be fine. There are a lot of new nabes and even the older areas are fine especially the ones around Lake Padget

[FloridaKash]

Land O Lakes is a fine community. It has many newer subdivisions and according to Great Schools some pretty good schools as well. It definitely is not crime ridden.

Here are the reasons why people say not to move to LOL (remember, different people have different wants and needs).

1. It is suburbia. -Some people hate suburbia, others like it. Suburbia is a great place to raise kids IMO.
2. There's not much around LOL, you have to drive 15 minutes to get to just about anything.
3. Your best route to Tampa is on the Veteran's Express way (toll-road).
4. LOL has a lot of sinkholes. Likely you will need to carry sinkhole insurance.
5. Proximity to the beaches - it's not close to the beaches, with that said, it is closer than other areas in the Tampa Bay region

We almost rented a place in LOL until we found a place in a great community with good schools and near the beaches.

You do get a lot of home for your money in LOL and they are often newer construction. This is a good thing.

Before you settle on a place/neighborhood, be sure to rack a couple hundred of miles and long days driving around the region. I have said it many times on this forum and I'll say it again.

It is a very real possibility that you may have an area picked out from doing research online and may end up in a whole different area once you start exploring. This happened to us, I thought I had everything figured out. But once we explored almost every nook and cranny we found an area we absolutely love and have no desire to leave even though it will mean an older, smaller house with less features than I could find elsewhere for the same amount of money. Location, location, location.

Good Luck!

[Stringfeld]

Land O Lakes is an unincorporated area of Pasco County. There is no town core, or anything that could be described as downtown. Of the many lakes, few can be seen from the roads. There are no gorgeous drives around the lakes. Many beautiful undeveloped areas exist, but they are rapidly vanishing as unbridled development seems to be the norm. Restaurants are mostly limited to chains, and you must drive some distance to reach amenities. Attractive residential areas show some imagination and planning, which is more than one can say for the political powers of Pasco. There seems to be an attitude that permits most anything to be constructed, making for some pretty ugly commercial strips. Pasco libraries permit some attractive buildings, but fail to stock them with anything beyond the most popular fare. If you are a sophisticated, demanding reader they will not serve your needs. Road sign control is practically non existent. Major highways are ladened with ugliness. On a more positive note, the area is to shortly get a Costco, and can already boast of a large Publix and Super Target. Trader Joe's is about a 25 mile drive. Parks are not too plentiful. In general, people are nice, although there seems to be a predominance of far right wingers who worship their guns, and oversized, overtired vehicles.

[LKJ1988]

It is much better than west Pasco.

[Tim Tim Tim]

I live in LOL and love it, we haven't had any issues with crime and all of our neighbors are pretty awesome. We really like it out here, its a bit "out" from stuff compared to the city but we like that.

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by Stringfeld

Land O Lakes is an unincorporated area of Pasco County. There is no town core, or anything that could be described as downtown. Of the many lakes, few can be seen from the roads. There are no gorgeous drives around the lakes. Many beautiful undeveloped areas exist, but they are rapidly vanishing as unbridled development seems to be the norm. Restaurants are mostly limited to chains, and you must drive some distance to reach amenities. Attractive residential areas show some imagination and planning, which is more than one can say for the political powers of Pasco. There seems to be an attitude that permits most anything to be constructed, making for some pretty ugly commercial strips. Pasco libraries permit some attractive buildings, but fail to stock them with anything beyond the most popular fare. If you are a sophisticated, demanding reader they will not serve your needs. Road sign control is practically non existent. Major highways are ladened with ugliness. On a more positive note, the area is to shortly get a Costco, and can already boast of a large Publix and Super Target. Trader Joe's is about a 25 mile drive. Parks are not too plentiful. In general, people are nice, although there seems to be a predominance of far right wingers who worship their guns, and oversized, overtired vehicles.

Five years later, I'm sure they figured that out.