Please share" "10 things to know about moving to Tampa" (Clearwater: sale, insurance) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

CONTACTROXY · 04-25-2009, 03:50 PM

My fiance and I are both moving to FL. I am 29 and he is 33 years old. I have
mortgage and banking experience and he is in the pharmaceutical sale field.
We are looking for a nice area to move that is close to shopping malls and dinners and 20-25 from the water at the most. We will like to eventually buy a boat and start a family soon.

I will like to know about

Employment opportunities, Life style, how safe is the area? If you are from the area any feedback would help. Pros and Cons of moving to TAMPA. PLEASE HELP. THANKS !

annaegel · 04-25-2009, 06:05 PM

20 - 25 minutes to the water. You probably want to look into Pinellas county. I live in New Tampa, and it takes me 45 minutes to get to Clearwater beach marina, which is the closest for me.

Job market is extremely bleak. My neighbor was into the mortage, banking industry and has been let go twice. He is now moving back to Michigan because he cannot find work and his wife has been layed off for over a year.

My husband was just layed off 2 months ago. He is a programmer for a financial industry and cannot find work. People are laying off or having a hiring freeze. I suggest you find a job first and then move down. There is no telling how long it will take for either of you to find work. A friend of mine is also out of work and has gone to job fairs where companies are on a hiring freeze, and they weren't collecting resumes. She wondered why they were even at the job fair???

Does your fiance work for a pharm company now? Can he transfer his area to Tampa?

Pros: so much fun stuff to do, winter is wonderful! Don't have to deal with snow, ice anymore (yeehaa).
Cons: summer is hot as hell! It takes your breath away. Driving is a nightmare. People can be rude (and I grew up in NYC!), maybe it is the area I live, but I find the people superficial. Neighbors say "hello", but that is it. It is hard to make friendships.

Traderx · 04-25-2009, 06:41 PM

Been here since 1992 from Chicago.

Crime is high. I never knew anyone who had been in jail before let alone prison til I moved to Florida. If you've never been arrested you're unqiue here. We also have a massive problem in this area with sex offenders. You can google a website that lists registered sex offenders in Florda by zip code. You'll be shocked.

Most of the schools are pretty crappy too. Some downright dangerous. Unless you can afford to live in one of the few neighborhoods that have decent schools I wouldn't recommend this area for starting a family.

As for jobs. I'd make sure I knew what I was getting into before I moved here. Mortgage brokers are a dime a dozen and so are Pharm reps.

It pays to remember that when you come to Florida you're literally competing with the whole world for everything you want...job, house, etc. Everyone wants to live here. For most it doesn't work out well. For some it's great. Fortunately it's worked for me but things are a lot different here than they were in 1992.

It sounds like you havent been here before or spent much time here anyway. I think it's a bad idea to move here without more firsthand knowledge. Florida is no longer an inexpensive place to live and yet wages are very low compared to most other states.

BJS1981 · 04-25-2009, 08:17 PM

Tampa crime is not high compared to other similarly sized cities in the U.S. The evening news however is particularly zany. If you live on the western edge of Hillsborough near one of the bridges you can get to the beach in 25 minutes. My only hesitation is employment opportunities. Like with everywhere else it's slim pickings job-wise here in Tampa.
BJS

maggiekate · 04-25-2009, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by annaegel

20 - 25 minutes to the water. You probably want to look into Pinellas county. I live in New Tampa, and it takes me 45 minutes to get to Clearwater beach marina, which is the closest for me.

Job market is extremely bleak. My neighbor was into the mortage, banking industry and has been let go twice. He is now moving back to Michigan because he cannot find work and his wife has been layed off for over a year.

My husband was just layed off 2 months ago. He is a programmer for a financial industry and cannot find work. People are laying off or having a hiring freeze. I suggest you find a job first and then move down. There is no telling how long it will take for either of you to find work. A friend of mine is also out of work and has gone to job fairs where companies are on a hiring freeze, and they weren't collecting resumes. She wondered why they were even at the job fair???

Does your fiance work for a pharm company now? so much fun stuff to do, winter is wonderful! Don't have to deal with snow, ice anymore (yeehaa).
Cons: summer is hot as hell! It takes your breath away. Driving is a nightmare. People can be rude (and I grew up in NYC!), maybe it is the area I live, but I find the people superficial. Neighbors say "hello", but that is it. It is hard to make friendships.

You did say it all! Traffic on Bruce B Downs, is still bad, yes bad! Many malls, that have opened! Only that
does take dollars! Jobs, are real hard to come by. To buy now is a real
good time, insurance still on a home is hard to get. Some good, in January,
no snow, and, to go out, no winter coat! Even today, in the North, cold,
here my type of sunshine! New Tampa, is nice, and not so bad! Now we even
have a great baseball team! To be near the water is wonderfull, however, it is way to hot to stay too long. Also if you both will be working, the beach
time is not that much now. Also to start a family, for now, that also does give you not much boating time. New Tampa is nice, Lutz, land o lakes
wesley chapel. Week-ends you may always go to the beach.

pianoman09 · 04-25-2009, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traderx

Been here since 1992 from Chicago.

Crime is high. I never knew anyone who had been in jail before let alone prison til I moved to Florida. If you've never been arrested you're unqiue here. We also have a massive problem in this area with sex offenders. You can google a website that lists registered sex offenders in Florda by zip code. You'll be shocked.

Most of the schools are pretty crappy too. Some downright dangerous. Unless you can afford to live in one of the few neighborhoods that have decent schools I wouldn't recommend this area for starting a family.

You're more than welcome to head back to wonderful Chicago. You must've moved here when you were like 5 years old if you never knew anyone who had been in jail before. Either that, or you live in an extremely small bubble. Please don't pretend like Chicago is the picture of safety when it comes to crime. The Southside is one of the worst places in the country. NOTHING in Tampa even compares.

Traderx · 04-26-2009, 10:33 AM

There's no need to get nasty.

Actually I would disagree with you about the south side of chicago vs Tampa/St Pete.

I don't think my observations are unique either with respect to the criminal element of the population here. I used to run background checks on prospective employees and I can tell you that it was rare to get a hit in Chicago and here it's not.

And no I wasn't five or sheltered. Sure people get DUIs and such everywhere those aren't the types of things I'm talking about. Let's face it there's a reason Jerry Springer and those types have offices here. Watch the national news, how often is there a Florida connection?

That doesn't make this a bad place to live so long as you can afford to live in the right areas. Even still, I live in a great area and there are 112 registered sex offendors within 5 mi and 72 unaccounted for. You think that's normal?

CONTACTROXY · 04-26-2009, 11:06 AM

Annaegel, Traderx, Bjs1981 and maggiekate - Thanks for your comments

wow I was not aware of the amount of sex offenders in the area. I guess if I eventually buy a home in a nice neighboorhood I may be able to find a good school and better "quality " of neighboors?.....

annaegel · 04-26-2009, 12:44 PM

Sex offenders was a big concern for my young kids when I first moved here 4 years ago. We came down after the murder of a young 9 year old. I came down here only to find that we had over 100 registered sex offenders within a 5 mile radius. Sheesh. We never had that in NJ! I worry less now, but it is still in the back of my mind. It does not matter if you live in a nice neighborhood, like mine. They have cars too. A young boy was outside playing with his friends in Meadow Point. A man drove up to him and tried to pull him into his car. Luckily he was not successful.

pianoman09, what is your problem??? No need to get nasty is right!

pianoman09 · 04-26-2009, 07:55 PM

I wasn't being nasty and I don't have a "problem". I just didnt want the thread starter to get a false sense of what it must be like to live here based on what you said. Its really not that bad. Every city has its good and bad qualities but you speak as if its the worse city in the world.