Asian / Indians in Tampa & St. Pete (Largo, Palm Harbor: condo, homes)

[ALSS]

We are a professional couple born and raised in the US but of Indian decent. We are considering a move to the Tampa Bay area.

We would like to get some feedback on:

1) Diversity/Racisim (against Indians) in the Tampa Bay area
2) Best place(s) to live ($550K) - gated community + magnet schools + 30 minutes drive to St. Pete and downtown Tampa.
3) We love the beach and tennis

any thoughts and honest feedback would be much appreciated.

[Keeper]

I would check out S. Tampa if you don't mind older homes or Westchase for newer homes.. either would fit your requirements although it might be a little longer to Downtown from Westchase depending on when you leave for work. S. Tampa the commute time would be 15 min or less.

I don't think you will have any problems in Tampa. I worked with a large group of Indians who live in different areas all over Tampa. We went out to lunch together many times and I never saw or heard of any problems.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Keeper

I would check out S. Tampa if you don't mind older homes or Westchase for newer homes.. either would fit your requirements although it might be a little longer to Downtown from Westchase depending on when you leave for work. S. Tampa the commute time would be 15 min or less.

I don't think you will have any problems in Tampa. I worked with a large group of Indians who live in different areas all over Tampa. We went out to lunch together many times and I never saw or heard of any problems.

There are many Indians all over the area, including smaller rural areas. My husband's boss is Indian. You won't have any problems here at all.

[lavender]

Not so many gated communities in Pinellas,but really little need for them anyway. Plenty of magnet schools, my dtr just graduated from St Pete High IB, lot of asian families in that programme. That serves middle to south county. Palm Harbor Univ High Sch does north county IB. There are various magnet programmes for arts/sciences/tech/law and so on placed in schools around the county. check out the Pinellas county schools website for details.
Most areas are close to the beaches. Plenty of tennis all over the place, many free and open courts. Also stores that supply asian foods are in plentiful supply around the county, and finally (!) new Indian restaurants opening locally, been a long time coming

[ALSS]

Thanks for the reply. Our work hours will be 8:30 - 5:00, dropping off and picking up kids (ages 6-9) and travelling to job sites close to Downtown St. Pete and Tampa. Considering this what would be an average commute from Westchase? which areas of St. Pete would be better?

btw we are not so much into asian resturants or stores as much as we want to be in a community where we and our kids are not considered to be 'exotic' or treated any different because of our non-Christian upbringing.

[lavender]

I'm also of foreign descent but enjoy things from my own culture, hence the comment on the food/stores etc. I think you will be welcome wherever you live, you need to find the right community for yourselves that you like the look and feel of. I think Floridians are exotic (and rare I might add) Most of the areas mentioned so far are good, if you are going with state schools you are going to need to find the right ones and then live within their zones. If you are going private, not such a problem where you live.
If you are commuting to St Pete, then I'd stay this side of the bridge, it might be marginally easier to get to downtown tampa from St Pete, then Westchase to St Pete in the rush hour. If you live in N Pinellas both drives might be a pain after a while. I think you need to visit first before making such a major decision, but it sounds like you have jobs already?

[ALSS]

Lavender - I agree about Floridians being exotic. At least the ones that are true Floridians. However, most seem to be from every where else and of late going some where else.

We have visited the Tampa Bay and St. Pete area once. We liked the St. Pete beach area but found it to be touristy and mostly Condo blds .Also not sure if a daily commute from there to tampa is doable.

We are interested in magnet (public) schools. Some people mentioned Seminole and Largo area but also warned us that our non-Christian and asian looks may not be welcome in that area.

We drove through a blittle bit of South Tamps area which had a more urban feel like Bethesda, MD. and did not find any tennis courts around.

[lavender]

I didn't mean live in St Pete Beach, I meant old North East area of St Pete or Snell Island. Many of my friends commute to Tampa from there daily. Its a pretty straight hop on 275 and over, or you can take Gandy to south Tampa, a route my husband used to take from Indian Shores to Davis Island and TGH.
I think you will find Seminole friendly. My daughter was at school in a magnet in St Pete and many of her friends in IB were Indian, Vietnamese and other eastern nationals, and they lived in Seminole/Redington beach areas. I think you can find unwelcoming people anywhere, I find people who are rude to me because of my accent, not my skin colour! If you are taking the magnet option, it doesn't really matter where you live, so long as you are in the county. If you want IB and Palm Harbor you need to be north of East Bay, if you want St Pete High, then you need to be south of Ulmerton. In between these two east/west roads, I think you can choose either. But inbetween these two roads are really not any places I'd recommend for you to live. So the way it is right now, I'd suggest you look at Seminole and North East St Pete (not the beach) That's called St Petersburg BEach, a completely different city.

There is one really nice community in Seminole/Pinellas park, gated, called Bayou Club, prices could be in your range, I haven't looked lately for any of my buyers, but there were v expensive at one time, however, I think they will be more competitively priced now. I have a couple of friends who live there, it's nice. They have tennis and club on site. About 10 minutes to the beach at Indian Shores or Indian Rocks, maybe 15.

[jcoltrane]

Originally Posted by ALSS

Thanks for the reply. Our work hours will be 8:30 - 5:00, dropping off and picking up kids (ages 6-9) and travelling to job sites close to Downtown St. Pete and Tampa. Considering this what would be an average commute from Westchase? which areas of St. Pete would be better?

btw we are not so much into asian resturants or stores as much as we want to be in a community where we and our kids are not considered to be 'exotic' or treated any different because of our non-Christian upbringing.

Sorry, I'm going to tell you the truth. You will be considered "exotic". Especially you're children. Indians/south asians are a super minority. Kids being kids, you're kids will be different. As adults you probably won't feel any overt racism; but most of the whites won't have your educational background nor income (550K is quite a sum for Tampa area housing; far above the average). So, presuming a certain social and work level, as a adults, your lifestyle will probably limit contact with the stereotypical southern style redneck. Though, you're children, for example, if attending local public schools, will probably come into contact with the children of less tolerant or resentful types---or, simply less worldly/sophisticated types. Therein lies the potential for issues. You asked the question, so I presume you comprehend the issue. Given you have the income, you'll likely send your children to 'private schools', in which case they'll have less contact with the atypical stereotype; BUT, they'll then be surround by a southern elite. Again, using a stereotype for emphasis---that means 'blond-haired and blue-eyed'; your kids will stick out like a bug in a bowl of white rice! with the commensurate issues, I'm sure you're aware of. Unfortunately, that's life in America. Not much to do, except stick to the more cosmopolitan areas of the country---of which, Tampa is not. Luck!

[lavender]

I disagree with previous.

As I said before, my daughter was in a magnet (IB) program - something that the OP mentioned was a criteria - therefore public school - and she was surrounded by Indian, Viet, Hispanic, Eastern European kids, and in a school that is probably 30% to 40% non white. It was one of the best experiences she has had and enjoyed to the full her 4 years there. She just graduated last week.

These kids have their own community and many are from high income families and families that are first generation so like many before, put all out there for their children. There are a ton of racists here in Florida, the south is worse than the north for sure, but there is a huge population of welcoming white residents. Don't be put off by the above poster, I don't have blond blue eyed kids, and we are extremely happy here. And have been for more than 10 years.