2 relocating RN's need help

[Songbird42]

Can't comment on the schools in or near Tampa, I've been to Brandon
and its a nice town, Riverview I'd say so so, but I'm sure that there is someone who can comment better than me.

Good Luck on your search

[JSnFla]

some subdivisions in riverview are very nice but some areas along 301 are not so nice

[SynMelRN2007]

Thanks for the information but if anyone has any information on schools let me know. I have been to greatschools.net but I trust information from ppl who live there. Please feel free to give me any links that might be helpful also.

[tonynorie]

I'd like to be able to recommend a school to you, but it's difficult because I'm personally not a fan of government schools.......in this current educational climate in our society, with our schools having been hijacked by the NEA, I would spend whatever it took to send my child to a private school (fortunately, my only child is way past the age of schooling).

I wish you luck.

And, I almost forgot - there is a neighborhood in the north central Tampa area called Forest Hills. The homes are modest and mostly nicely cared for and it appears to be safe, although I haven't researched the crime stats. It's central to almost ANYwhere and I-275 is accessable in a few minutes.

Once again, good luck.

Tony

[ntfeldman]

I have twins and a teen ager. You'll be fine, there are tons of things to do here for both. My twins are 4, I also have a 7 year old.

Florida is full of every kind of "folk". You're not going to have a big problem with diversity here. We have our intolerant types of course as all areas do but if you stay urban in your choices you're not going to run into any issues.

Having said that, this isn't Dallas/Houston/Austin/ATL/SanFran/Chitown/DC where your alternative lifestyles are concentrated in fun, colorful and eclectic areas of the city. Everyone seems to be sprinkled about. Once you've met a few kindred souls here they can fill you in. There's a wonderful alternative dance bar in downtown Dunedin and some wonderful places on Central Ave. in St. Pete.

Unfortunately we're kind of the poster child for intolerance right now with our transgender City Manager in Largo getting "outed" then "ousted" and in my opinion it's an absolute discrace. We'll start another rant about that later!

Alternative hang outs are largely in South Tampa and Channelside, Ybor City (north of downtown tampa) and down around downtown St. Pete. Also pockets on the beaches (which will be popular with the teenager - mine spends a lot of time there.) There are some locally published papers to get you a flavor for what to do and how to meet. Creative Loafing Creative Loafing Tampa used to be the Weekly Planet. Also Tampa Area - Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco County (http://eisnerfeldman.com/About-The-Tampa-Area/ - broken link) has an About the Tampa Area section with a map of the three counties and a discription with links of to information about the different areas of town. And a resource section that contains info about services around the counties Eisner, Feldman & Grant (http://eisnerfeldman.com/Florida/ - broken link)

Sports and entertainment are pretty much centrally located in downtown Tampa. There are of course other wonderful venues around town but most big name performers / concerts are either at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the St. Pete Times Forum (which is where the hockey team plays) or the Ford Ampitheater (which is on the East side of town a little out of the way - it's an outdoor venu where most musical acts perform

Ok, the hospitals that you've mentioned... do you already have jobs there? There are LOTS of other hospitals here and medical professionals are in high demand. I don't nknow anything about what you do specifically but there's a nice concentration of hospitals in downtown St. Pete too. Just a thought. I'll go with what you've already written.

A good general website about the area is TBO Tampa Bay Online. Breaking News, weather, sports and things to do

Tampa Memorial Hosp. is located in the S. Tampa area and isn't that far away from Town N Country hospital but the S. Tampa area is far more expensive. You won't find any trouble renting in either location and the spaces will be nicer in S. Tampa and it's a walking community. Even the Old Hyde Park shopping center is being rennovated with a new book store soon! The teenager will be happy in either place probably but will be closer to night life in S. Tampa.

Hillsborough has a school choice plan. Here's their website
Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS)

And the site of the state's school evaluator site so you can compare schools. Florida School Indicators Report enter "Schools" then when it gives you a pick list you can choose all highschools and get a rating. You need to speak with the district about your choice issues. You can't enroll until you have a verifyable address (lease or utility bill in your name)

Ok, Brandon and Riverview - unless you want to spend all your time in the car I would say you wouldn't be real interested in those areas. The crosstown expressway will get you to TMH pretty quick but your companion will have it much rougher getting to Town and Country (45 min on a good day each way). Plus you'll drive to get everywhere else you might want to go. Housing is newer and affordable there but it's pretty sub-urban. It does have a nice mall and there's lots of new construction there so I won't talk you totally out of it but it's sort of de-void of style and personality.

The Town and Country area has some crime spots and most of the housing is smaller/older so you might be happier going a little north to the Citrus Park area or a little East to Carrollwood.

A good site to check before you rent/buy is the Sexual Preditors list FDLE Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators

Crime stats are here: Florida Statistical Analysis Center (FSAC)

A great site to check out any zip code you'd like more details on is FreeDemographics

And, to get an idea of how far your dollars will go here compared to where you are is a cost of living calculator Moderator cut: link removed
just enter your salary and then choose the two cities to compare various expense categories.

My teenager spends time at the beach, Mall (the two best of which are close to S. Tampa as well) Busch Gardens and going to the movies with friends. Your twins depending on their age and gender will enjoy the zoo, aquarium and the children's programming that comes to town at the performing arts center (we don't have a Children's Museum yet but it's planned - just needs some funding!)

I wouldn't recommend areas of Pasco County for the same reasons I don't think you'll like Brandon or Riverview - far away - you'll give up too much of your time in the car. The veteran's expressway or I 75 are jammed in morning commute. There is newer, larger housing there and the schools are good so you might still find it's worth the commute to you.

I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck in your move!

[SynMelRN2007]

thank you all for this information....this is what we were looking for

[SynMelRN2007]

and no we aren't into the whole redneck scene!!!

[DecoDiva]

Originally Posted by Songbird42

that hurricane season starts today and goes to Nov. 1st. Any area can get hurricane damage......carrollwood is a nice area, there's lots to do in the Tampa area, clubs, Yabor City has lots of nightlife, but crime is in the area too. Schools are OK, not great but OK. Housing is plentiful, as taxes and HOI is pushing people out of here, I'm sure that there are plenty of places to rent. Salary wise, I'd say you probably make more in Ohio and things are not that much cheaper down here.

Good luck on your search

I'm not sure what nurses make in Ohio but starting salaries for RN's in the Tampa area run around 50k. I find things MUCH cheaper in Florida, but I'm from NY so I guess anything is cheaper to me.

[DecoDiva]

Originally Posted by SynMelRN2007

We can handle wind and rain but I don't nec want to evacuating at every threat of a hurricane. So how bad is the bug and alligator problem in Tampa??? Are Lutz or Wesley Chapel far from downtown Tampa? also where are all the culturally diverse safe middle class neighborhoods?

I've been in the "Tampa Bay" area for over a year...saw ONE Palmetto bug (looks like a giant roach) and the only gators I've seen are baby ones in a pit at my favorite Tiki Bar. For a buck you can feed 'em.

[floridagrl]

The schools differ alot here. The principal makes a huge impact on what is done and how communications are handled and how welcome parents are in the classroom. And some of the good schools may not have the most tolerant parents. West tampa elementary schools (Westchase, Deerpark-my favorite, & Mary Bryant) are GREAT- huge parent involment, very suburbia though. Sickles is a good highschool. Hillsborough County is good old boy mentality in the school board- hard to work with at times.
Florida is different than some other states- there is a hospital on every corner it seems. If you work for Baycare Health System in the mobile pool, they have many hospitals and they function as their own staffing agency for their hospitals. Typical politics, but the pay is better than others. They have St. Joe's in Tampa, St. Anthony's, Morton Plant Mease & Mease Dunedin to name a few.
From what I hear from other parents, Pinnellas county school have much improved over the last few years and Polk and Pasco county have not.
You would do best to come down and check it out- schedule to visit some of the schools- ask about parent involvement- that's a big indicator of how good the school is. "Tampa" is a big place & people use the word to discribe everything in Hillsborough and Pinellas county. Other places like St. Pete, Clearwater, Seminole may be what you are looking for. Hospitals in St. Pete are Northside, Bayfront & St Anthony. If you do hearts- Bayfront, Northside, Tampa General or St. Joes. Northside is the smaller of the 4 and in St. Pete- good heart program and great surg.'s. Same doc's at Bayfront. Tampa General is the largest and has the transplant center. Like I said before St. Joes is good and you can do the 13 week contracts with baycare.

Anyway- how is the pay in Ohio anyway?

Good luck- I love tampa and so do my kids!