What are the Good/Bad/Unknown points about Oldsmar? (Tampa: apartments, city hall)

[matchpoint]

I did a search on Oldsmar in this thread and not much came up.

I think its location seems ideal in terms of being a good first place to live in the Tampa area.

What are peoples' overall impressions of Oldsmar? I would be apartment renting for 1-2 years before I step up to the plate and buy something.

Thanks for the info

[Loren.]

Oldsmar is a decent place. I live near there. LOTS of rush hour traffic because the main drag (Hillsborough Ave from Tampa, splits into "Tampa Road" and "CR580" in Oldsmar) is also a major artery for N. Pinellas folks who work in Tampa (or Lakeland, or Orlando, etc.). Otherwise, it's a fairly quiet place. The area over on the bay side of 580 is beautiful, has an "old Florida" feel to it, and is probably still somewhat affordable.

It's a great "central location". Easy access to Tampa, Clearwater, and even St. Pete/S. Pinellas.

Close to beaches, really close to the bay, plenty of shopping, good movie theater.

In general, all of the reasons I chose to move to Safety Harbor apply to Oldsmar. Not all of Oldsmar, but at least parts of it are quaint pockets of Gulf Coast awesomeness right in the center of the whole Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater triangle. Not at all a bad place to be.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask. I live very near Oldsmar, wife works there, and we do most of our shopping and a lot of eating out in the area.

[Keeper]

I agree.. the worst part of living in Oldsmar is rush hour traffic. No real downtown to speak of but also a very quiet little area. I like Safety Harbor because it does have a downtown and is quaint, but then probably if you live there you don't go downtown for most things.

We also have Oldsmar Annie.. she can help you too

[ferret111]

I think people have the impression that Oldsmar still looks like it did in the 1990s and earlier: somewhat isolated and dumpy and no real reason to go there other than the flea market.

The area went through a building boom and now has all the amenities you'd find in a suburban location. It was never really lacking them to begin with, you just had to drive a little farther.

[Loren.]

Yeah, Oldsmar has definitely boomed... for better or worse. I hate the stupid "modern" strip malls that they've put in everywhere. But, it's nice to have a Lowe's essentially around the corner and such as that.

Take a trip down St. Pete Drive and Shore Drive and then get back to me on how "not quaint" downtown Oldsmar is. Seriously, "downtown Oldsmar" isn't on Tampa Road, isn't where the post office is. Downtown is over between 580 and the bay where the courthouse and the library are located. Not as many shops as downtown Safety Harbor, but definitely a cool "old small town" kinda place. (YoYo Sushi on State St. serves some awesome sushi, too)

If you just drive through Oldsmar on Tampa Road, all you're going to see is the typical Florida suburban 4-lane highway sprawl of businesses. If you turn into any of the subdivisions off of Tampa Road or nearby, they look just like every other "modern" subdivision. To see the "real" Oldsmar, you need to get South of 580. There you will find tree-lined streets with a full canopy, several parks overlooking the bay, waterfront homes, rustic old homes, etc.

[matchpoint]

Good stuff everyone. Thank you. I have no problem driving to things and would opt for something that is quieter sounds good. I will drive to the "excitement."

I'm looking at Brandon --which I assume is more of a Tampa suburb/family place and Oldsmar which seems like it has old-school character.

My Tampa knowledge consists of many trips/visits to Dunedin, Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, and nearby places.

Rush hour traffic doesn't intimidate me.

[Loren.]

I was in Brandon yesterday. Ugh. Yeah, there are some nice quiet places out in that area, but it's SUCH an overblown burb! Traffic seems to almost always be crappy throughout Brandon. We looked there and gave it due consideration when we were planning our move to the area 8 years ago, but ultimately decided that it was simply too far from the beach. To get to the Gulf from Brandon is about a 90-minute drive... through Tampa. Not fun.

Depending on your circumstances, Brandon can make sense for some people, though. If being near the beach is less important to you and you want the flexibility to work in Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Bradenton, etc... it's not bad.

[gypsychic]

If you love traffic gridlock, endless strip malls, and hundreds of cuttie-cutter developments you will love Brandon!

Personally, you could not pay me to live there. We have friends who live there and like it, but it's not for me. Lots of chain restaurants and at EVERY ONE of them there is an hour wait or more. uh-uh I like slower living in places with character myself.

Haven't been to Oldsmar recently, but I would take that in a heartbeat over Brandon, for a multitude of reasons.

As always, just my .02 cents!

[Loren.]

> High five to Gypsychic!

Hate to trash the place, but that's exactly how I feel about Brandon in general.

[Sunscape]

No comparison possible between Brandon and Oldsmar. It is two different worlds...
Like somebody else points out here, drive down Shore Drive to the Mobbley park area and go swimming , right here in Oldsmar!!
The area around Oldsmar City Hall is quaint, very Old Florida lifestyle.
The area is rapidly becoming Restaurants Mecca, lots of very nice restaurants with upscale clientele.
The location is perfect, 15 mins to the Airport, 15 mins to the big beach (Honeymoon and Caladesi Park),15 mins to Clearwater. What more can you want?
You can find apartments here, in front of the bay, as well as SFH from several millions to 100,00.
I'm very happy in Oldsmar!!