Moving to Tampa area - Your best advice? (Dunedin, Gandy: rentals, condos)

[quickbfox]

Hi - thanks already for the loads of info on this site. I'm considering a move to the Tampa Bay area from Indiana. I work from home as a writer and am looking to rent for a year before I buy to make sure I really like it there and to learn where exactly I'd like to live.

This is a major life-changing move for me, but I'm excited about it too. What part of the Tampa area would you recommend for me to rent considering,

I'm a 38-year old divorced male
I need a moderately quiet space to work from home
I want to be able to walk to a variety of good restaurants, movies, shops from my rental (I don't like to drive and have lived in suburbia for years)
I'd like an area with some character, but not loads of drunk college kids, frat boys, and pukers (those days are, I'm afraid, long behind me)
I'd like to keep me rent in the $1300 range

Thanks! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

[tampaguy03]

For all that you mentione and rental around $1300, you may want to look at Harbour Island and Channelside areas of downtown Tampa; or Hyde Park for more character(they are re-opening the movie theaters at the Village next year!). Check a local realtor speacializing in rentals...lots of privately owned condos and townhomes for rent, and of course tbo.com, craigslist.com.

[honu1]

tampaguy03 is right on target as usual!

[On-da-Beach]

Old Hyde Park is so cool during the holidays...but then Channelside has the Lightning games! Decisions, decisions...

[Aconite]

Do you want beachside or city? There are a wide variety of options, from Hyde Park to Channelside to SoHo or Davis Island in Tampa, and all the beaches, plus Dunedin, and parts of St. Pete near downtown (Old Southeast, Kenwood, Euclid-St. Paul, Crescent Lake).

[bhjester]

I too am from Indiana and looking to move to the tampa area. I have about the same needs as far as living space and erntal range. I will be working in the north tampa area (Northdale Blvd, Tampa) and what to live as close as possible to the beaches. Any advice would be appreciated.

[quickbfox]

Thanks for the responses already... I'm open to waterside or in the city - I basically want to be in the hub of activity without being too touristy, too drunk frat-boy, and not too soccer mom-ish... (No offense to soccer moms!) That may be a tall order, but I'm asking anyway. Tampa and St. Pete are wonderful places for this Midwestern boy and I can't wait to try life in your sunny city.

It looks like a fellow Hoosier is leaving Indiana, high taxes, income taxes, cold, gray days, and snow.

Thanks again - enjoying the comments and research. Best,

Joe

[Michelle004]

I say stay away from the beach if you want to be near in the city. The beach is not in Tampa. (A lot of people not from FL don't know that.) Everyone's mentioned all the possibilities already. Hyde Park, Channelside, Davis Island. You can walk to restaurants within each of these areas, but they are not huge areas so you will get tired of the restaurants at some point and you will have to get in your car and drive somewhere else. Tampa is not a town where you can get around without a car. My recommendation is Hyde Park and here's why. It's walking distance to Bayshore which is a road along the bay. People walk, run, bike, skate along the road. There are a decent number of restaurants and of course bars. While Friday night happy hour at MacDinton's has some UT kids, it's mostly hung professionals and some not-so-young professionals. You are 10 minutes from Channelside if you want a change of scenery. If you live in Channelside, you will get tired of it quickly. It's a fun courtyard area with restaurants and bars, but by the end of the week you will have eated at every place. There are clubs there too so it might be too "young" for you. Also, anytime there is a Lightning game, a concert or any big event, traffic is horrific. Even Friday and Saturday nights can be a pain from people coming to party. Davis Island has restaurants and all, but is quiter and you still have to leave the island to get to the rest of the city. Hope I helped! Good luck!

[kuyaariel]

I moved to Tampa 2 years ago after spending my entire life in Indiana (just moved from Indianapolis) The weird thing that was hard to get used to is looking forward to winters because of the weather! In Indiana, it's just the opposite.

[honu1]

If you're open to St. Pete then I'd encourage you to check it out more. SP was a little too far for me to commute to work every day but I end up there more weekends than not. South Tampa is a nice compromise for since I just hop on the Gandy bridge. It takes me about 40 min to get from my place to Ft. Desoto which has a really nice beach.