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Thanks for the ideas! My wife says Sarasota is too quiet! lol. Are Clearwater / Bellair much different than Dunedin? I like the access to Tampa better from there than further south (my inlaws live in Seminole, which is nice but takes a while to cross the peninsula)..
Clearwater Beach is a pretty active area with tons of tourists. It’s fun to visit, but the traffic on 60 going to the beach often times gets backed up for miles. That’s a significant downside to living there.
I haven’t spent much time in Bellair and find it somewhat unremarkable to be honest. Bellair Beach has a reputation of being unfriendly and I don’t believe there’s any public beach access. It’s not bad, but there’s nothing really special about it above what you get in any one of the beach communities.
Dunedin is a quiet old Florida type of town. You could get a nice home on on the water there with east access to the gulf... Safety Harbor is similar and I’d venture to say it has a better downtown, but it’s on Tampa Bay instead.
Knowing you’re looking for somewhere more active I’d suggest looking at the Old Northeast or Snell Isle neighborhoods in St. Pete. The neighborhoods are great, the waterfront parks there are great, and you’re within very close proximity of downtown St. Pete. Tierra Verde and Pass-a-grille are good spots if you prefer to be on the gulf.
The main downside about southern Pinellas County is the schools generally aren’t very good. If you wind up moving to St. Pete you might consider putting your kids in Shorecrest Prep. Public schools are generally pretty good in northern Pinellas County (Dunedin, Safety Harbor, etc.) so that’s something to weigh in your decision.
Knowing you’re looking for somewhere more active I’d suggest looking at the Old Northeast or Snell Isle neighborhoods in St. Pete. The neighborhoods are great, the waterfront parks there are great, and you’re within very close proximity of downtown St. Pete. Tierra Verde and Pass-a-grille are good spots if you prefer to be on the gulf.
The main downside about southern Pinellas County is the schools generally aren’t very good. If you wind up moving to St. Pete you might consider putting your kids in Shorecrest Prep. Public schools are generally pretty good in northern Pinellas County (Dunedin, Safety Harbor, etc.) so that’s something to weigh in your decision.
Thanks! That's an area I thought could be the best location. Glad to hear it's a nice spot.
My wife and I are looking to move from the crazy expensive SF Bay Area to somewhere else where we can get a little more bang for our buck.
My wife especially wants to live in a warm place and close to a large body of water (large lake, ocean, etc...).
I can generally work remotely, but for my wife's work and children, living near a larger metro would make sense (say within 1.5 hrs).
In California, we can probably afford up to $2million. I think at minimum we would be fine with 3 bedrooms, 2000 sq ft with some backyard.
We could probably live close to the ocean near
Santa Cruz
Santa Barbara
Southern OC
San Diego
Of those San Diego is the most appealing. Great weather, bigger city, many coastal cities we might be able to afford (e.g. Encinitas, Del Mar maybe).
Other places we'd probably want to spend closer to 1 million but could see living right by the water. For instance in St. Petersburg Fl, we could get a waterfront property on the bay (could put boat in backyard) for under 1 million. My wife is from there so that is another option.
Are there other places that might fit the bill? I don't know much about Gulf cities. In Austin there is Lake Travis but don't know if you can live right by it.
These are all quite different.
- Santa Cruz is a hippie surfing town with a nice downtown and a classic beach boardwalk. It has some sandy beaches as well as a lot of rockier beaches. A stunningly beautiful place. The college plays a significant role in the town but it doesn't dominate it. It's close to the Redwood forest and Big Sur and the Bay Area is nearby. Capitola, Carmel, and Monterey are all nice places in the same metro area.
- Santa Barbara is a classic SoCal beach town. It's less hippie than Santa Cruz but still very laid back with amazing beaches and an awesome downtown with distinctive spanish and mediterranean-style architecture. The college there is a party school but activity is mostly confined to nearby Isla Vista. In SB you get a little of the LA glamour vibe and a little of the crunchy Central Coast vibe.
- Southern OC - Personally, this is the last place in coastal CA that I'd want to live. There are some nice beaches but it's mostly decentralized sprawl and this is the one place all of the superficial CA stereotypes actually apply. It has none of the charm or character that the other places on this list have.
- San Diego is the only "big city" on this list, so if you want big city amenities it really is your only option. Great beaches, fun downtown, nice neighborhoods, relatively laid back for a big city. Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara have great restaurants for cities their size, but San Diego has much more variety in terms of restaurants and bars. You also get a world-class zoo and very nice urban park, plus a decent (by US standards) light rail system.
I absolutely love Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara so those would probably be my top choices. They are small/mid-sized cities but both are close enough to major metropolitan areas .
If I could afford it, I would choose San Diego over any other waterfront location in the US. Sure, it's cheaper elsewhere, but you cannot beat the weather there which is priceless to me. It's harder to enjoy your waterfront property in FL when the bugs are eating you alive and you are pouring sweat.
Hello
I am not sure if this is the right thread for this question, but I would like to ask you some advice about San Diego too.
I am half Italian and half American but I lived in Italy since I was a child and now it's time for me to move to California.
Any insight about San Diego?
Thanks
- Santa Cruz is a hippie surfing town with a nice downtown and a classic beach boardwalk. It has some sandy beaches as well as a lot of rockier beaches. A stunningly beautiful place. The college plays a significant role in the town but it doesn't dominate it. It's close to the Redwood forest and Big Sur and the Bay Area is nearby. Capitola, Carmel, and Monterey are all nice places in the same metro area.
- Santa Barbara is a classic SoCal beach town. It's less hippie than Santa Cruz but still very laid back with amazing beaches and an awesome downtown with distinctive spanish and mediterranean-style architecture. The college there is a party school but activity is mostly confined to nearby Isla Vista. In SB you get a little of the LA glamour vibe and a little of the crunchy Central Coast vibe.
- Southern OC - Personally, this is the last place in coastal CA that I'd want to live. There are some nice beaches but it's mostly decentralized sprawl and this is the one place all of the superficial CA stereotypes actually apply. It has none of the charm or character that the other places on this list have.
- San Diego is the only "big city" on this list, so if you want big city amenities it really is your only option. Great beaches, fun downtown, nice neighborhoods, relatively laid back for a big city. Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara have great restaurants for cities their size, but San Diego has much more variety in terms of restaurants and bars. You also get a world-class zoo and very nice urban park, plus a decent (by US standards) light rail system.
I absolutely love Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara so those would probably be my top choices. They are small/mid-sized cities but both are close enough to major metropolitan areas .
Thanks that is good info and mostly reinforces what I know about those places! The benefit of Santa Cruz area is still being quite close to San Jose / tech jobs. We have friends in Aptos, buying a house there walking distance from the beach would be pretty nice in my view. My wife would probably prefer warmer ideally.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wherewhatwho
If I could afford it, I would choose San Diego over any other waterfront location in the US. Sure, it's cheaper elsewhere, but you cannot beat the weather there which is priceless to me. It's harder to enjoy your waterfront property in FL when the bugs are eating you alive and you are pouring sweat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadedWest2020
Tampa Bay
Yeah I think living near the water in San Diego beats living on the water in Tampa. Outside of the humidity and bugs, I think my main concern is the sea-level rise and flooding risks with a property right on the water.
Like these properties in the isles NE of downtown St Pete look great, but the actually house is about 1-2 meters above sea level (from what I gather). That seems to be high enough to handle sea level rise of the next decades, but also seems like flooding is guaranteed at some point. It is hard for me to process how to handle that fact.
Another area that could work is the western burbs of Austin. There are a bunch of waterfront properties along Lake Travis / Colorado River. You can get a nice house with water / boat access around 1 million.
Any other places in South / southwest metro areas with larger lake / river waterfront properties?
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