What do you like (or not like) about living in St Pete (Tampa: fit in, transplants)

[xbillyx]

Originally Posted by matt_sfl

Hell the blacks dress better than them.

Wow. I'm stunned. I can't believe you'd say something like that...and in the 21st century.

[jp01358]

OP,

I like St. Pete. I agree with the one poster that it has a lot going on for a city its size. I go out downtown fairly often, and it's always a good crowd. There are plenty of places for the younger crowd, but I've been to bars down there where somebody your age wouldn't feel out of place. That said, sometimes the crowd downtown is trashy. Bunch of Jersey Shore types were down there last Friday, trying to pick fights and whatnot.

Overall, I think St. Pete has a lot to offer if you have the money to live in a nice area. I do wish that south St. Pete was nicer, but it's not too hard to avoid going there for most people. Even though it's the "ghetto" side of St. Pete, I've never been afraid while driving around at night. I do think I saw a drug deal go down in broad daylight once.

[emh]

Thanks for all the great replies! Here's a question I have: does St. Pete have any walkable neighborhoods? The kind with coffee shops, restaurants, little shops, etc.

[BBI]

Originally Posted by emh

Thanks for all the great replies! Here's a question I have: does St. Pete have any walkable neighborhoods? The kind with coffee shops, restaurants, little shops, etc.

The neighborhood you want is downtown. The best restaurants/coffee shops/little shops in St. Pete are within a block or two of: Beach Dr. between 5th Ave NE and Central, and then Central from Beach Dr. to about 5th or 6th St. (Downtown also includes the southern end of a very, very nice park system along bay that runs from downtown all the way up to 22nd Ave NE. I'm not sure if being close to that is important to you or not, but it's a nice perk.)

Outside of downtown, St. Pete is mostly suburban. There's a store or restaurant mixed into residential neighborhoods here and there. And there are a bunch of (mostly chain) stores on heavily trafficked roads like 4th St and 9th St. There are also stores on and near Central Ave as you go west of downtown. But, even though I don't know you, I'm confident saying that you will want to be in/near the area I outlined in the last paragraph.

If I were single, I'd rent an apartment or buy a condo downtown, so that's what I'd recommend you do. If you don't want to live downtown (e.g., if you want to live in a house) but do want to walk to downtown, go north of downtown, not west and definitely not south. Three neighborhoods north of downtown are within walking distance. In order of nice-ness, they are: the Old Northeast, Crescent Lake, and Historic Uptown. You can find neighborhood boundaries (and, of course, real estate info) on zillow. Lots of information on all three if you search on this board, or feel free to ask questions.

[craigm1841]

Originally Posted by xbillyx

Wow. I'm stunned. I can't believe you'd say something like that...and in the 21st century.

I think the statement as a whole was kind of silly, because in context, matt_sfl made it seem as if blacks are supposed to be dressed worse than whites. In poor communities, there is a vast difference between cultures, which plays into how a certian culture dresses, whites are no exception to displaying poor taste in any aspect of life.

I dont think I would come out and make a general statement like that, but if you are what would you call a black person, just out of curiousity? I ask, because you highlighted "the blacks". Is there a better term? I dont think the highlighted text is the problem with the statement, rather the statement put into the context the poster intended it to be in.

Tampa and St Pete are no stranger to tacky people, regardless of culture and ethnicity. And yes, every culture has their own type of tackiness, and it is completely subjective as to which is worse.

[emh]

Originally Posted by BBI

The neighborhood you want is downtown. The best restaurants/coffee shops/little shops in St. Pete are within a block or two of: Beach Dr. between 5th Ave NE and Central, and then Central from Beach Dr. to about 5th or 6th St. (Downtown also includes the southern end of a very, very nice park system along bay that runs from downtown all the way up to 22nd Ave NE. I'm not sure if being close to that is important to you or not, but it's a nice perk.)

Outside of downtown, St. Pete is mostly suburban. There's a store or restaurant mixed into residential neighborhoods here and there. And there are a bunch of (mostly chain) stores on heavily trafficked roads like 4th St and 9th St. There are also stores on and near Central Ave as you go west of downtown. But, even though I don't know you, I'm confident saying that you will want to be in/near the area I outlined in the last paragraph.

If I were single, I'd rent an apartment or buy a condo downtown, so that's what I'd recommend you do. If you don't want to live downtown (e.g., if you want to live in a house) but do want to walk to downtown, go north of downtown, not west and definitely not south. Three neighborhoods north of downtown are within walking distance. In order of nice-ness, they are: the Old Northeast, Crescent Lake, and Historic Uptown. You can find neighborhood boundaries (and, of course, real estate info) on zillow. Lots of information on all three if you search on this board, or feel free to ask questions.

Thanks, great information!!!

[matt_sfl]

Originally Posted by xbillyx

Wow. I'm stunned. I can't believe you'd say something like that...and in the 21st century.

If it makes you feel any better, I actually like Nascar jackets. And the brighter the better. Sponge Bob, Skittles...it's all good. I figured it would give me a youthful look as I creep into my late 30's. Plus I could upstage these little punks at USF and woo their women. But apparently you have to find people selling them on the the street, and for days I drove all over south St. Pete trying to find one, which I never did. I walked into a few hip hop stores on 34th street and they looked at me as though I was lost.

[KCGator]

We're in our Mid 20s. In St pete for a year and looking for a house here.

The Good:
Lots to do
Tasty, Cheap Restaurants
super close to the beach
can commute to almost anywhere in the bay area in an hour
Tampa bay club sports
more laid back than tampa

The Bad:
Shopping is weak, you pretty much have to drive to Westshore
There are areas where crime is a huge problem
I've had to call the cops 2x on vagrants who wouldn't get off my property (I live around 5th Ave N and 4th St)

I love it here. We're moving because of the hobos/crime in our neighborhood (and yard!) but the new neighborhood has almost no crime and we're very excited to be able to enjoy everything we love about St Pete without having to call the cops to chase people off our property.

[xbillyx]

Originally Posted by KCGator

We're in our Mid 20s. In St pete for a year and looking for a house here.

The Good:
Lots to do
Tasty, Cheap Restaurants
super close to the beach
can commute to almost anywhere in the bay area in an hour
Tampa bay club sports
more laid back than tampa

The Bad:
Shopping is weak, you pretty much have to drive to Westshore
There are areas where crime is a huge problem
I've had to call the cops 2x on vagrants who wouldn't get off my property (I live around 5th Ave N and 4th St)

I love it here. We're moving because of the hobos/crime in our neighborhood (and yard!) but the new neighborhood has almost no crime and we're very excited to be able to enjoy everything we love about St Pete without having to call the cops to chase people off our property.

That doesn't surprise me about the current area you live in, as the crime incidents appear to be fairly high in North Downtown and Historic Uptown.

If you don't mind me asking, what neighborhood are you moving to where the crime is very low? There seem to be a number of nice neighborhoods in North St Pete.

[KCGator]

Originally Posted by xbillyx

That doesn't surprise me about the current area you live in, as the crime incidents appear to be fairly high in North Downtown and Historic Uptown.

If you don't mind me asking, what neighborhood are you moving to where the crime is very low? There seem to be a number of nice neighborhoods in North St Pete.

Yeah, the crime situation is unfortunate. We actually initially thought we might buy in old NE. After living where we're at now, which is kind of on the outskirts of old NE, we're concerned that if the city of St Pete can't get the vagrant problem under control, there will be creep into old NE. In talking with our local police enforcement, they're just overwhelmed. 1/16 people who live in my zip code are homeless and the crimes they commit are so petty there's nothing the cops can do except arrest them, toss them in the drunk tank and then let them out again. It makes the neighborhood an unpleasant, but not necessarily dangerous place to live.

We're looking in the Woodlawn area now. We had initially decided we liked Snell Isle and Shore Acres, but its in an AE8 Flood zone and insurance is costly.