Working in St. Pete. Best suburb for family? (Bradenton, East Lake: for rent, houses)

[Cape_fan]

Thanks for looking!

Our family will be transferring to the area this Summer for three years. My job will be in downtown St. Pete and my wife is an RN looking to work at an area hospital. We’re trying to narrow our home search to a few potential areas and any input/advice would be welcomed. We have four small children, only one of which will be in elementary school while there. Ideally we’re hoping to find a newer 4/5 bedroom home and decent public school options. We’re moving down from the Boston metro area so we’re ok with a bit of a commute (hopefully under an hour).

Based on an initial search so far we’re looking at East Lake, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, and Bradenton. Are there any other suggested areas? Ideally given our time frame we’re hoping to rent but given our search criteria and potential lack of homes for rent in this price range we may end up buying (trying to stay in the $475 to $525k range if so)

Thank you in advance for any advice!

[lavender]

East Lake is a good location, good schools, probable you would find a home in this range that would work for you, rents would be high in a good school zone for 4/5 bed home, if you are staying for more than 3 yrs, I would say buy, or know that you will end up paying out of pocket with no return $72,000 minimum

[FLKitties]

If you're looking at Bradenton, I'd suggest GreyHawk Landing (good elementary school close by) and a lot of things for families to do within the community (pools, playgrounds, sports courts, etc.) with newer 4+ bedrooms within your budget. Just north of SR-64 and convenient to I-75/275 to downtown St. Pete. There are a few houses for rent in the community, too. I saw a few on Zillow starting at $2.4k/mo. Lakewood Ranch is also very nice, just might be a longer commute than you're looking for.