Quiet Areas Not Far From Beaches/City Centers in Tampa/St Petersburg area For Under $1400/mo (Miami: apartment complexes)

[RotseCherut]

I was wondering if anyone can give suggestions of areas in or near St. Petersburg or Tampa that are quiet, have lower crime, but not too far to commute to the nightlife or entertainment areas of either St. Petersburg or Tampa. Also, the closer I could get to the water and water views (whether beach, bay, lake or whatever) the better. I've been looking at prices around the beach area of Clearwater and Tampa and I have seen a lot of apartments and condos around $1400-1500, but I have no clue of the areas and if these places aren't dumps, even if the pictures look pretty. It's pretty common in Seattle to make an apartment look like it has nice pictures, but then to have methheads as neighbors and then to see that they actually were showing a floor model and not the actual apartment or whatever. So, I cannot just go off of craigslist ads alone.

I will be working from home , so commuting and traffic will not be an issue. However, I am single 40 year old guy and would like to enjoy some social life which most suburban or farther out places don't offer. But, I grew up in the country and do enjoy peace and quiet. I had horrible experiencing living in Seattle with drug addict neighbors who played music and made tons of noise at all hours early and late. I actually went three days without sleep at one point and don't want to live in another situation like that. Also, places with lots of break-ins would not be desirable. Seattle having a good deal of both problems, especially with the rampant drug issues they have in that city. You cannot even escape the break-in issue in Seattle, but hoping to find as safe of a place as I can.

Ideally, I would like to rent a single family home, but I know Tampa is a pretty expensive area, so I am sure I cannot afford a single family home unless I live hour or more out of the city. I guess I would like to maybe get a place that is over 1000 sq ft (preferably more, but hopefully not less) and my budget would be $1100-$1400. I'd say $1400 would be the ultimate max, but really would prefer a place for $1200-$1300 range. Would it be possible to find a 1000 sq ft (or more) condo, duplex or an apartment that would be quiet for that money? Is waterfront views absolutely impossible? From looking at craigslist it seems like most waterfront beach apartments in the $1400 area are around 700 sq ft. Still pretty good deal if you consider how much waterfront goes for in Seattle or California, but not sure if those places I am seeing are for real or possibly dumps in sketchy apartment complexes.

There are a few other worries I have, such as sinkholes, flooding potential and other issues Floridan people may experience more often. Would there be areas to avoid that are prone to flooding and sinkholes? I'm assuming sinkholes may be impossible to detect, but I am not sure. How often and how serious is flooding a problem in the Tampa area? I have a friend in Miami who tells me he had to canoe back home one day and that his house was submerged in over couple feet of water. I guess Miami has some serious issues there.

Thanks for the help.