Any Advise is most appreciated! :) (Tampa, Brandon: real estate, condo, day care)

[andrbenn26]

So, I am a very small town girl....I mean like 15,000 for the population small town. And I work for an airline call center (surprising they have one here). I am thinking about relocating to Tampa Florida because they have a call center there. I have a very young son (7 months to be exact). And it would be just him and I moving there. I visited Tampa once, and fell in love with the beauty and the heat! I am actually from Minnesota so the difference is vast... I am looking for ANY advice of where would be the best area to move. The call center is located at Bridgeport Center, 5201 W. Kennedy Blvd in Tampa. I am most interested in a "smaller" city to live in. I am willing to commute every day to work. But I am very particular in good neighborhoods since I do have a very young son and want him to be safe and brought up in a good environment. Any help on the subject is much appreciated!!

[BucFan]

for where you're working, finding a "small city" might be tough - maybe you mean small town since Tampa is considered by many to be a "small city"....anyway, I'd focus on areas around Tarpon Springs, Dunedin (use Courtney Campbell Causeway), Odessa, Lutz (use Veterans Expressway). - but maybe others here can comment on the commute to downtown the call center -seems like almost any town outside of Tampa will be a somewhat lengthy commute. Another option would be some of the suburbs of Brandon/Riverview w/ a commute via the Selmon Expressway. Good luck - moves can be stressful with finding a home, finding your way around, finding friends, etc etc.

[gulfer]

Good Stuff BucFan.

Using the Selmon for crosstown would be great and open up Apollo Beach, Riverview, and if driving really isn't an issue Sefner. To the North, Trinity and Land O Lakes come to mind and are very close to the Veterans Expressway which gets you down rather quickly. If you have to commute in rush hour traffic, I would look down fairly close to work. Most people on here say if you stay North of Gandy you'll be fine. There is a lot of homes, businesses and it is pretty congested so the small town feel would be gone. But I think you would have just about everything you need at this point in your life.

GOOD LUCK!!!

[gulfporter]

Gulfport is a city with a population of around 12,000. It has a small town charm, sits on the water, easy walking, little traffic once you get below 22nd Street. It takes us exactly 25 minutes to get to Tampa Airport.

We don't have kids, so I can't comment on schools.

[DUNNDFRNT]

The one thing to think about, not making any assumptions, but being a single mother with a baby, with limited support system (no family in the area) you wouldn't want to be in a place where it would take you hour to get to your child care center in case of an emergency, or two hours during a rain storm, I would try to stay rather close if I were you, the Brandon river view area would be a shorter commute the only thing to consider is that you are looking at $5 a day in tolls that quickly add up.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by gulfporter

Gulfport is a city with a population of around 12,000. It has a small town charm, sits on the water, easy walking, little traffic once you get below 22nd Street. It takes us exactly 25 minutes to get to Tampa Airport.

We don't have kids, so I can't comment on schools.

Off peak hours I assume, because you are not crossing either bridge into Tampa in the afternoon in less than 30 min, much less cut across Pinellas.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT

The one thing to think about, not making any assumptions, but being a single mother with a baby, with limited support system (no family in the area) you wouldn't want to be in a place where it would take you hour to get to your child care center in case of an emergency, or two hours during a rain storm, I would try to stay rather close.

This is an excellent point.

[Beacher23]

Originally Posted by andrbenn26

So, I am a very small town girl....I mean like 15,000 for the population small town. And I work for an airline call center (surprising they have one here). I am thinking about relocating to Tampa Florida because they have a call center there. I have a very young son (7 months to be exact). And it would be just him and I moving there. I visited Tampa once, and fell in love with the beauty and the heat! I am actually from Minnesota so the difference is vast... I am looking for ANY advice of where would be the best area to move. The call center is located at Bridgeport Center, 5201 W. Kennedy Blvd in Tampa. I am most interested in a "smaller" city to live in. I am willing to commute every day to work. But I am very particular in good neighborhoods since I do have a very young son and want him to be safe and brought up in a good environment. Any help on the subject is much appreciated!!

I actually work at the Bridgeport Center building and i will tell you traffic during rush hour from the Veteran's going south is not bad at all unless your hopping on 275, at least near the airport that is. But as far as anything north of that i really can't speak of since i commute from Rocky Point, so i'm a pretty close drive. However, the drive back home during rush hour on the Veteran's varies, but for the most part i see it backed up near the airport.
If your thinking about living in St. Pete and commuting across the Howard Franklin, then prepared to be stuck on it every morning. I have a clear plain site of the bridge from the top floor of my office and i can see how backed up it is till about 9am everyday, and if there's an accident on 275, forget about it!
If your looking for somewhere nice and a decent commute to work, you might want to check into Safety Harbor. Not sure about the schooling but the community looks really nice and its a quick drive over the Courtney Campbell to get to work.
Either way, this particular area of Tampa is beautiful and if you do end up landing the job here, you'll be able to see a full 360 view of it all from your office, just make sure you get a window view
Good Luck!!

[BucFan]

I think the current state of traffic in and around the Interchange I4/275 to the airport area and along Vet Expressway are is in a state of flux w/ all the construction. I hope that it will get better quickly, but it looks like the projects are enormous and will take awhile. Looks like a BIG DIG at Dale Mabry exit - but it was much needed widening.

If I had a toddler, I'd definitely be close to her/him from work in case of emergency at daycare as well as the added commute time. You may very well find a smaller place in and around South Tampa, Hyde - small condo type places are along Bayshore/Bayonette Point - pass them all the time to MacDill. They look quaint and that area seems like a very nice environment - people running, walking dogs, using the park, etc. Real estate agents might be able to discuss what kind of prices the folks there are paying (rent).

[clairegoad]

You might contact people currently working at that call center, hopefully even people in similar circumstances. Where do the working mothers live? What day care do they use? You'll get a variety of answers.

Write out why you want to move. You'll want to read that when you get discouraged.

Tampa is not a small town.. but it is amazingly diverse and full of life. There are activities every day...Museums for your child, Art for your soul, Music to make life interesting.

When I was moving down here, I made a list of the supports that I had in Indiana. My Kiwanis group, my knitting group, my church, my social groups. Then I worked to duplicate them in Florida. Some worked. Some didn't. Even if you are seeing/doing something only once a month, list it... Look for an equivalent in Tampa.

Many of the people who move "back North" don't sink roots here, they spend too much time missing their old home. This is how I avoided that... And I know that the new knitting group, and the old knitting group were very different. And I ended up finding many other activities that I never did at home...

You will too.