Hillsborough Help! (Tampa, Brandon, Bradenton: high crime, neighborhoods, gated)

[Covwolves]

Hi,

Does anybody know if any of these streets are associated with high crime...

Dream Oaks
Carrington Park
Waterside Island
High Hammock
Fiesta Ridge



Thank you.

Pete from England

[ferret111]

Okay, I looked up these streets and have noted certain things about their respective areas. It seems that most/all of these are in gated complexes. Hope this helps:

The only "Dream Oaks" I could find is located in Bradenton, way south of Tampa.

Carrington Park: Located in the New Tampa area. Most likely fairly new. All of that area is pretty safe. The biggest problem up there is traffic.

Waterside Island: Located in the "Fishbowl." Appears to be in a complex. I don't know about that particular area, but you'd be near Sligh/40th/56th Streets and the Temple Crest/Woodland Hills neighborhoods which historically have had some pretty high crime. Some might argue that that's one of the worst areas in Tampa.

High Hammock: Convenient location near the Crosstown, 60, and I-75, plus Brandon Mall. Seems like a new development. You'd be near the Clair-Mel area, which historically has had more crime. The Crosstown may act as a sort-of barrier and may keep out some of the crime.

Fiesta Ridge: A pretty dumpy area of town. Not unsafe, but there will be more crime there than other neighborhoods, but I think it's mostly petty.

[Covwolves]

That was a great response...I really appreciate it.

I'm coming into Tampa next week to take a look.

Thank you...

Originally Posted by ferret111

Okay, I looked up these streets and have noted certain things about their respective areas. It seems that most/all of these are in gated complexes. Hope this helps:

The only "Dream Oaks" I could find is located in Bradenton, way south of Tampa.

Carrington Park: Located in the New Tampa area. Most likely fairly new. All of that area is pretty safe. The biggest problem up there is traffic.

Waterside Island: Located in the "Fishbowl." Appears to be in a complex. I don't know about that particular area, but you'd be near Sligh/40th/56th Streets and the Temple Crest/Woodland Hills neighborhoods which historically have had some pretty high crime. Some might argue that that's one of the worst areas in Tampa.

High Hammock: Convenient location near the Crosstown, 60, and I-75, plus Brandon Mall. Seems like a new development. You'd be near the Clair-Mel area, which historically has had more crime. The Crosstown may act as a sort-of barrier and may keep out some of the crime.

Fiesta Ridge: A pretty dumpy area of town. Not unsafe, but there will be more crime there than other neighborhoods, but I think it's mostly petty.

[FloridaKash]

I keep hearing the New Tampa is a great place for families but ALWAYS hear that the traffic is bad. Does anyone know if there are plans to address the traffic in that area?

[ferret111]

Originally Posted by AlaskaKash

I keep hearing the New Tampa is a great place for families but ALWAYS hear that the traffic is bad. Does anyone know if there are plans to address the traffic in that area?

New Tampa is pure, unalterated suburbia and has all the things that makes a neighborhood (or neighborhoods) family-friendly.

Long-term plans? Maybe. Short-term plans? Not really.

The City of Tampa's M.O. has been to simply widen roads and FDOT created a better onramp from Bruce B. Downs (the major street by far) onto I-75. A connector road from 75 to 275 has been planned, but NIMBYs and environmental groups have thwarted that for years. Decades ago, they wanted to extend the Veterans Expressway from Dale Mabry through Lutz and probably out to New Tampa, but NIMBYs thwarted that, too.

Bruce B. Downs is one of just a handful of roads that actually take you south, so it will always be a bottleneck. Bus service exists, but it is only on the main road(s) and only goes so far into New Tampa. Light rail, if it ever happens, will be decades away.

[FloridaKash]

Sounds like Tampa needs to look into Car Pool lanes which city buses and motorcycles can use. The one thing about public transportation is that it will be used more if it is cheaper and as fast or faster than taking your own car to your job. I loved taking the commute bus to work everyday when I worked in Downtown Seattle. We passed all the cars sitting in traffic cuz we were in the carpool lane and I didn't have to pay for parking downtown ($20/day cheapest and $40/day in my building) all for a $4/day bus pass.

When you can make mass transit more affordable, convenient, faster and cheaper than driving... ridership increases. I miss my 45 minute naps on the bus on the way to work.

[CrowGirl]

Originally Posted by AlaskaKash

Sounds like Tampa needs to look into Car Pool lanes which city buses and motorcycles can use. The one thing about public transportation is that it will be used more if it is cheaper and as fast or faster than taking your own car to your job. I loved taking the commute bus to work everyday when I worked in Downtown Seattle. We passed all the cars sitting in traffic cuz we were in the carpool lane and I didn't have to pay for parking downtown ($20/day cheapest and $40/day in my building) all for a $4/day bus pass.

When you can make mass transit more affordable, convenient, faster and cheaper than driving... ridership increases. I miss my 45 minute naps on the bus on the way to work.

Before I moved to Florida I lived in Boston and before that San Francisco. I used public transportation for everything and never missed having a car. It's one of my biggest criticisms of Florida generally. The public transportation here, where there is any, is extremely limited. Florida completely missed the boat when they had the chance to put good public transportation infrastructure in place. I absolutely agree that it would be a welcome improvement, but I'm not holding my breath.