May be moving to the Tampa area - with large family (Dunedin: to rent, crime)

[babypodof4]

Well - it looks like Tampa area may be a move for us. My husband's job will hopefully be at Tampa General Hospital

Our big concern is safety and schools. We have four children - ranging from 4 to 10 - with the 10 year old having high functioning autism - but in a regular school and regular class- so we are looking for a good school district.

Plus - we are coming from a major hick town in northern Michigan - so we would prefer more country life - hick like - with a drive of one hour or less for my husband to get to work. We looked at Plant City - but the crime looks terrible - worse than Tampa according to the calculator we used (our current town only has 500 people in it so there is no crime here)

Initially we would like to rent a four bedroom house - hoping for $1500 or less per month - and eventually we would like to purchase an old home with lots of character for $150-200k. We love homes in historic districts and aren't afraid of putting a little work into a home.

Are there any smaller towns around Tampa that fit this? Thanks in advance!

[algia]

Florida is horrible for Autistic children...unless you can fork over $15,000+ a year for private schools! which you won't find in small towns.

I suggest reading through this threads...
//www.city-data.com/forum/special-needs-children/

[Maggi07]

The programing for children with Autism in Pinellas county is fabulous, imo. I also have a high-functioning son with Autism. However, you will not find anything in Pinellas as far as tiny towns. You might like Dunedin or Oldsmar, but that's going to be quite a commute for your husband.

I don't know anything about the schools in other areas. I do know that most every state subsection on this website has people saying that the schools are horrible for special needs children, so that's something you'll have to look at and decide for yourself.

[kyle19125]

[quote=Maggi07;16583539]The programing for children with Autism in Pinellas county is fabulous, imo. I also have a high-functioning son with Autism. However, you will not find anything in Pinellas as far as tiny towns. You might like Dunedin or Oldsmar, but that's going to be quite a commute for your husband. /QUOTE]

I agree with Maggi.

Oldsmar has the feeling of a smaller town. City of Oldsmar, FL - About Oldsmar

Oldsmar residents (a vast majority) attend East Lake High School which overall is the best high school in the metro area. East Lake High School

Oldsmar wouldn't be so bad of a commute (relative to most in the area). It's 21 miles and in "normal" traffic around 40 minutes, and in dead-on rush hour around an hour. I know many hospital positions are on shifts (7-3, 3-11, etc.) so perhaps your husband wouldn't be stuck in the usual morning/evening rush hour traffic. Bear in mind any smaller town is going to be of a similar (or longer) distance from the hospital.

Good luck!


**** (EDIT) Unfortunately, in terms of finding older historic homes to renovate in that price range (as well as being in a small town) you'd be looking at interior areas of the state quite far (2 hours or so) from the hospital, and completely lacking in quality educational opportunities.

[Kevin from Tampa]

Plant City is safe...not sure why stats would say otherwise, but that area is fine as far as crime.

[babypodof4]

Hmmm - I know Sperlings best places rated plant city close to Detroit as far as safety - looked like a cute city so I was kind of shocked - may it wasn't accurate. Thanks for all your comments - some of those northern communities look nice - plus the photos of Tampa make it look beautiful! And the thought of not having to drive in blizzards sounds wonderful!

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Kevin from Tampa

Plant City is safe...not sure why stats would say otherwise, but that area is fine as far as crime.

I agree with this ^^^. It's just a little country town for the most part. Every place has some crime, you can't go by some dry statistics you read. Take a look, anyway, there are definitely nice, safe parts.

[kimwick]

Trinity area would be good. I think the Autistic program for Pasco is great. He can jump on the express to work.