What area of Tampa is good for under 30 year olds? What area to stay away from? (house, neighborhood)

[odman13]

Hello, I am interested in which areas it would be best to move to? Is it a good idea to live close to Ybor City? Is that the main socializing area?

[Keeper]

What is your budget? Why Ybor? Have you been to Ybor?

You don't want to live near Ybor or at least in most cases as the area around Ybor is pretty rundown. Tampa Heights, Riverside Heights are close to Ybor but you would not want to move there without checking the area out.

[LoganFL]

Channelside and Harbor Island are close and not at all rundown, but might be pricy. Anything north and east of Ybor is pretty much a ghetto.

[odman13]

Definitely don't want anything ghetto. What is the area south of Ybor but north of the Airforce Base like?

[LoganFL]

Originally Posted by odman13

Definitely don't want anything ghetto. What is the area south of Ybor but north of the Airforce Base like?

That's a pretty big area actually. You're probably thinking of South Tampa, which is mostly decent. The area around Hyde Park has mostly young professionals and some nightlife, which might be what you're looking for? The areas immediately south of Ybor which I mentioned in my previous post, as well as Davis Islands, are also pretty nice and have plenty of young people living there. What's your price range? What are you looking for in particular?

[odman13]

I really don't have a price range. Obviously the cheaper the better without sacrificing quality, but I'm not going to be living in the swanky rich area. I am basically looking for something decent, not ghetto, I don't want my stuff being stolen, and I would like a short drive to work and where ever I am going to go out and ybor city and channelside seems like it is the type of places that I would like to frequent at least for the first few months I am there. I'm not huge into dance clubs but I like more lounge type bars where you can actually talk to someone.

[yeahbuddy]

Ybor is nice to walk in the daytime, but at night time is a different story just dont go outside of ybor thats where the trouble starts esp at night.

[odman13]

Originally Posted by yeahbuddy

Ybor is nice to walk in the daytime, but at night time is a different story just dont go outside of ybor thats where the trouble starts esp at night.

Very good to know, thanks, what do you guys consider "south tampa"

[cgadams]

As a 21 year old, I can tell you that the best place to live in Tampa if you are under 30 is Hyde Park near South Howard Avenue (nicknamed SoHo Ave). I have lived in that area for about 1 year now and don't plan on moving out of it until im done with college. There are about 20 bars and clubs within walking distance from all the homes in the area. These are not trashy bars either, but extremely welled kept and clean establishments that get a great young professional crowd. Not too mention South Howard has some of the best resturants Tampa can offer; Ceviches is ranked as one of the best Spanish tapas resturants in Florida and Burns Steakhouse (right next door to me) has hosted countless celebrities and President Bush. Those are just two examples but there are COUNTLESS nice places to eat. Every type of cuisine or bar/club you can think of is right within walking distance to every house in the neighborhood. The area also has 2 grocery stores, a gym, a 24/7 Starbucks, and more and more... I could go on and on about how great this neighborhood is.

Channelside is another big socializing spot (though it is not as big as SoHo), but there isn't much housing near to it. The housing that is near Channelside is extremely expensive, where as SoHo is much more affordable.

Ybor City.....I worked as a bartender down there for a year or so, and I would never want to live down there. Don't get me wrong, its a very, very fun place (40+ bars and several resturants on a small strip) and an integral part of Tampa's culture, but as a poster said earlier, it does get extremely dangerous there in the depths of night. The area surrounding Ybor is extremely bad and poor. The city has been trying to gentrify it over the past 5 years, and some areas have improved, but it still has a long way to go before it starts to attract a middle class.

Those are the 3 big socializing spots in Tampa. Soho wins over the other two easily, and this is coming from someone who goes to all three areas quite frequently.

The only thing about SoHo that you might not like is that the area has a very large gay community (though no gay bars, interestingly enough). However, I would imagine that it is their presence here which makes the area so desireable to live in.

Ask me more questions if you have any!

[cgadams]

Btw, South Tampa is a very broad term that encompasses all three of the areas I just described. All three areas are 5-10 minutes away from downtown (where the skyline is), which is in the heart of South Tampa.