Tourist "Restaurant Row" Area in Tampa Bay Area? (Sarasota: how much, house)

[maryhm]

Hello,

My son currently lives in Los Angeles and works at a restaurant in an upscale touristy part of Southern California called Manhattan Beach. I'm looking at investment properties and he's looking to move out of this expensive $*&^hole. So we've been researching the things we're both looking for, and Tampa Bay area is at the top of the list with the most "checks". What would be a good area for us to look for a home that would be a really quick commute to a touristy restaurant area and a safe place to live for him, and a good long term investment for me? House budget around $300k.

[lavender]

Certain parts of Tampa are excellent for dining, you are best researching the areas, because in tampa its pretty split up.
For St Petersburg, downtown is the hot spot for dining there is a huge and varied amount of restaurants, from cafe style/vegan/GF etc to upscale fine dining. Its also a buzzing and booming area with regard to property, (which is prob amongst the highest prices in the region). With your budget for $300K there are options not too far out of St Pete, depending on what you want, in areas like Kenwood, N St Pete, or closer to the beaches on west side of county, which would put you about 30 mins from downtown.

[sinatras]

Manhattan Beach upscale? It's a toilet compared to Santa Monica and Malibu!

Anyway not sure what you mean by "restaurant row". If you mean lots of chain restaurants, those are found all over Tampa Bay, as this is where a lot of American chains were born.

[maryhm]

Lavender and Chaing: Thank you so much for your input! We're kinda of leaning toward St. Pete, so it's nice to see that both of you suggested that. Also, thank you for the individual neighborhood suggestions! I'll be looking into them.

Sinatras: In no way is the Strand area of Manhattan Beach a "toilet" compared to Santa Monica or Malibu. Also, I wasn't asking for anyone's opinion on city comparisons within Los Angeles. I've lived here for over 20 years. I'm aware of what is here. I'm asking about the Tampa Bay area. In addition, Malibu doesn't even have a concentrated area of restaurants for tourists. I should know. I lived there. And that leads into your question about not even knowing what a "restaurant row" area is. To educate you, it's an area of concentrated restaurants that cater not only to locals, but tourists as well. Not really chain restaurants (although those may be present), but individually owned, eclectic type restaurants. The kind you find on the strand in Manhattan Beach where my son works, the kind you find along Ocean Ave and 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica, and the kind that is not even available at all in Malibu. If you don't even know what someone is asking about, maybe instead of injecting your uneducated opinion, you should just scroll along.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by maryhm

Lavender and Chaing: Thank you so much for your input! We're kinda of leaning toward St. Pete, so it's nice to see that both of you suggested that. Also, thank you for the individual neighborhood suggestions! I'll be looking into them.

Sinatras: In no way is the Strand area of Manhattan Beach a "toilet" compared to Santa Monica or Malibu. Also, I wasn't asking for anyone's opinion on city comparisons within Los Angeles. I've lived here for over 20 years. I'm aware of what is here. I'm asking about the Tampa Bay area. In addition, Malibu doesn't even have a concentrated area of restaurants for tourists. I should know. I lived there. And that leads into your question about not even knowing what a "restaurant row" area is. To educate you, it's an area of concentrated restaurants that cater not only to locals, but tourists as well. Not really chain restaurants (although those may be present), but individually owned, eclectic type restaurants. The kind you find on the strand in Manhattan Beach where my son works, the kind you find along Ocean Ave and 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica, and the kind that is not even available at all in Malibu. If you don't even know what someone is asking about, maybe instead of injecting your uneducated opinion, you should just scroll along.

If you want to check a bit further south, look to Sarasota. There is St. Armand's Circle (prime tourist spot for decades) and right by Lido Beach, and St. Armand's is also just over the bridge to downtown which has become a hot spot in the last several years. Housing here is expensive, as it also is in St. Pete, but I think it's worth your while to have a look. Good luck!

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by maryhm

Lavender and Chaing: Thank you so much for your input! We're kinda of leaning toward St. Pete, so it's nice to see that both of you suggested that. Also, thank you for the individual neighborhood suggestions! I'll be looking into them.

Sinatras: In no way is the Strand area of Manhattan Beach a "toilet" compared to Santa Monica or Malibu. Also, I wasn't asking for anyone's opinion on city comparisons within Los Angeles. I've lived here for over 20 years. I'm aware of what is here. I'm asking about the Tampa Bay area. In addition, Malibu doesn't even have a concentrated area of restaurants for tourists. I should know. I lived there. And that leads into your question about not even knowing what a "restaurant row" area is. To educate you, it's an area of concentrated restaurants that cater not only to locals, but tourists as well. Not really chain restaurants (although those may be present), but individually owned, eclectic type restaurants. The kind you find on the strand in Manhattan Beach where my son works, the kind you find along Ocean Ave and 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica, and the kind that is not even available at all in Malibu. If you don't even know what someone is asking about, maybe instead of injecting your uneducated opinion, you should just scroll along.

Hmmm. A bit defensive, are we? How very SoCal of you! Maybe you should stay in California! Or better yet. You can just move to St. Pete and discover all of this for yourself. Good luck!

You don't have to "educate" me about SoCal or restaurants. I'm in SoCal every month. There's plenty of rows of "individually owned, eclectic type restaurants" in Malibu. All you have to do is go to the Malibu Country Mart. I go there often. And more are being developed. The new Whole Foods Market looks to be grand.

Obviously there's more in SM. And Venice. The boardwalk is ok, but my fave stroll is Abbott Kinney. Wish we had something like that here.

If you are looking for the Strand in Tampa Bay, it does not exist. You might find something similar more in South Florida than in Tampa Bay. Like gypsychic said, St. Armand's Circle in Sarasota is what you are (likely) looking for (although every city's version of a "restaurant row" is different, and in Florida that goes double), and it really does not exist in Tampa or St. Pete (maybe Beach Drive in St. Pete, but it's tiny and underwhelming).

[maryhm]

gypsychic: I'll definitely look into the St. Armands Circle area! Thank you. I lived a little south of Sarasota eons ago (1989). Hadn't really thought to look that far south. Do you think it's an interesting enough place for a 24 year old to want to live?

sinatras: As clearly stated in my original post, I'm not moving to Florida. My son is.

[FLKitties]

Originally Posted by maryhm

My son currently lives in Los Angeles and works at a restaurant in an upscale touristy part of Southern California called Manhattan Beach. I'm looking at investment properties and he's looking to move out of this expensive $*&^hole.

I agree with what sinatras said. When I first read the above comments, I was puzzled as I've lived in both Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach and would never refer to Manhattan Beach as "upscale touristy" nor an "expensive $*&^hole". The upscale and expensive, yes. Not especially touristy nor a $*&^hole. Besides, restaurants are not actually on "The Strand", they're on streets a few blocks back from the beach in most cases. The Strand is full of multi-million dollar beachfront properties. Most tourists don't know Manhattan Beach even exists. No need to attack me in response, I'm just trying to set the record straight on MB.

Originally Posted by maryhm

House budget around $300k.

Depends on how much house you're looking for to get in at that price range and be so close to the kind of shopping/dining mecca you're seeking for him to be living near. Sure, it's cheaper to live here than in MB but it's not inland Florida pricing here, either. As others mentioned, downtown St. Pete is a good option for lots of restaurants. Not sure what kind of restaurant your son works in now, but there's also the International Plaza and Bay Street in Tampa (near the airport) which is like a self-contained shopping/dining area with plenty of higher-end restaurants for the area. In downtown Tampa there's Hyde Park Village (which actually reminds of us some shopping centers in CA, maybe because there's a Sprinkles) and nearby there's the Tampa Riverwalk area in which a number of notable restaurants have been popping up over the past few years.

[maryhm]

I seriously do not understand why this has turned into a discussion about Southern California. I'm not going to bother clarifying or defending my original post, because I wasn't asking about So Cal- I'm asking about the Tampa Bay area.

From the responses I've read here and my own research, we'll be focusing on the downtown St. Pete area. Thank you to everyone.

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by maryhm

Hello,

quick commute to a touristy restaurant area and a safe place to live for him, and a good long term investment for me? House budget around $300k.

The largest collection of touristy restaurants you can find, more then downtown st pete, will be gulf blvd.
It stretches from pass-a-grill to clearwater beach. Lots and lots of mom and pop types not the chains you find elsewhere.