Young family relocating to Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petes Area (St. Petersburg: condo, chapel)

[jem5678]

We are a young professional couple with a one year old son. We are looking to relocate to the Tampa/St. Petes/Clearwater area in search of jobs. My husband works in healthcare and I work in Education. Finding a job is much better here than where we are now in the Northeast. We are looking for a SAFE, affordable, fairly new housing development to buy a home and raise our son. Highest we are able to afford is about $225,000 for a home. Please recommend some areas where we should look to in order to find a home. We have been looking at online housing websites and just do not know what areas are a nice, family suburb to raise a family. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank You!!!

[cariad]

Originally Posted by jem5678

We are a young professional couple with a one year old son. We are looking to relocate to the Tampa/St. Petes/Clearwater area in search of jobs. My husband works in healthcare and I work in Education. Finding a job is much better here than where we are now in the Northeast. We are looking for a SAFE, affordable, fairly new housing development to buy a home and raise our son. Highest we are able to afford is about $225,000 for a home. Please recommend some areas where we should look to in order to find a home. We have been looking at online housing websites and just do not know what areas are a nice, family suburb to raise a family. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank You!!!

Hi Jem,
On the basis of what you wrote it is almost impossible for any poster to give you any relevant information on specific areas.
If you aren't from here, or never been here you may not realize that the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Area, is about 2554square miles, and home to 2,783,730 people and there are probably thousands of neighborhoods that would fit your generic wants. You need to have some idea of where you will be working, acceptable commute times and what activities intererests you want nearby before anyone can give beneficial advice. We all live in different areas and will probably make suggestions based on our own neighborhoods.....that could end up being very good or very bad advice for your needs.

Almost everyone will say don't make the move without a job and if you don't have sufficients savings, or have any doubts this is where for sure you want to be, I agree with this.
However, my daughter had the savings, had been here, and knew exactly where she wanted to live that would allow for a commute to tampa or clearwater if necessary.....so it worked well for her!

If you plan on moving here before you have a job location, my advice is to look online/better yet come visit, select some neighborhoods or specific town and then ask us about them.

[andyho]

Depending on where you're going to work, it could be a commute. My hubby worked 9 miles away from where we lived in Largo (near Starkey and Bryan Dairy) and would drive to MLK either by way of Park Blvd. or Bryan Dairy and it would take approx. 25-40 minutes depending on traffic. You said medical field, but that could be rather broad.. if you're looking for a hospital he could work in, there's NUMEROUS ones of course! As well as retirement homes! Family wise though if you're looking for mid-Pinellas county, I'd say go for either Largo or Seminole. Although there are some questionable areas in Largo near Taylor Park. Pinellas Park has some nice areas as well, just be aware of where the reclaimed water plant is!!! LOL! Clearwater has some questionable areas, but they're somewhat scattered. We lived in FL for 5 years and just recently moved back up north 7 months ago and are already considering going back!!!

[Bgotti]

I have lived off and on in the Tampa area for about 8 yrs. now and believe me it has changed. The debate is whether the change has been for the better or worse, but irregardless there are desired places to live and less than desirable areas as well. I agree w/ nickbosy as far as South Tampa being superior so to speak and that anywhere near USF should be avoided if possible. I've lived in several cities since I moved down here from Suburban Detroit area. Believe me, there are some noticeable differences. for example, the Michigan school system is far more superior than Florida. This is mainly due to large teacher's Union's up North and blah blah blah. However, if you're like my wife and I and you love the beach, climate and overall atmosphere then you'll understand why we chose Florida as our primary residency. Whenever you move to another city or state though, there are going to be pros and cons to making that decision. With that being said, since I moved to the Tampa area, I lived in Town and Country (not a fan), Citrus Park (congested, but nice), Largo (congested and not so nice) and currently Apollo Beach (Very desirable). Overall, cities in Tampa Bay area that I'd recommend that are family friendly are: Apollo Beach (very good), Riverview (good), Valrico (decent), Safety Harbor (superior), Palm Harbor (great) and South Tampa - Bayshore & Hyde Park (Best). Of cities to avoid I'd recommend to stay out of South St. Pete area as well and I am not a big fan of Pinellas Park nor Largo for that matter. As far as finding a home in your price range goes, you can build new in Riverview, Wesley Chapel, Land O' Lakes and even New Tampa. All of those areas are nice and I would say that the schools are higher rated in Hillsborough county, which in the future may impact your final decision.

[Dallas Kitty]

If you move to Florida and have a cat or dog, be sure to check on the pet issues if you select a house or condo with HOA. I moved from Dallas to Lutz, FL (just north of Tampa with Wesley Chapel) a few months ago and I am stunned and dispirited to find so much hatred here for owning pets. Best of luck to you.

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by Bgotti

I have lived off and on in the Tampa area for about 8 yrs. now and believe me it has changed. The debate is whether the change has been for the better or worse, but irregardless there are desired places to live and less than desirable areas as well. I agree w/ nickbosy as far as South Tampa being superior so to speak and that anywhere near USF should be avoided if possible. I've lived in several cities since I moved down here from Suburban Detroit area. Believe me, there are some noticeable differences. for example, the Michigan school system is far more superior than Florida. This is mainly due to large teacher's Union's up North and blah blah blah. However, if you're like my wife and I and you love the beach, climate and overall atmosphere then you'll understand why we chose Florida as our primary residency. Whenever you move to another city or state though, there are going to be pros and cons to making that decision. With that being said, since I moved to the Tampa area, I lived in Town and Country (not a fan), Citrus Park (congested, but nice), Largo (congested and not so nice) and currently Apollo Beach (Very desirable). Overall, cities in Tampa Bay area that I'd recommend that are family friendly are: Apollo Beach (very good), Riverview (good), Valrico (decent), Safety Harbor (superior), Palm Harbor (great) and South Tampa - Bayshore & Hyde Park (Best). Of cities to avoid I'd recommend to stay out of South St. Pete area as well and I am not a big fan of Pinellas Park nor Largo for that matter. As far as finding a home in your price range goes, you can build new in Riverview, Wesley Chapel, Land O' Lakes and even New Tampa. All of those areas are nice and I would say that the schools are higher rated in Hillsborough county, which in the future may impact your final decision.

OP - I have to disagree.... sorry.

All of Largo is not bad. In fact the Southwest part of Largo is very desirable (N of Ulmerton : S of West to Bay : W of US-19 ALT). This area is also not very congested.

Apollo Beach is waaaaay out there and not much around it. Riverview is full of trailer parks that you must drive by to access many of the subdivisions. It feels pretty redneckish out there. Valrico is also way out East and you have to go down 60 to get into town... which is always congested.

Everything else is Spot On


OP - Write down some of the areas that sound good to you and be prepared to drive a lot when you get here. Check out all the different areas. Check ALL of them and you'll know when you find the community you want to be in. Do not pick an area based on information on the internet alone. Everyone has different tastes.

[newyorker24]

I have yet to hear of a subdivision in Wesley Chapel that does not allow pets. They might restrict the size of the pet, breed, and number of pets though. It varies a lot from one community to the next.

[chi_tino]

You can get an incredible amount of house and/or land for $225k. That will now get you waterfront in a number of communities.

I'm not sure why someone would suggest Seminole or Largo if you have a budget of $225k, unless you are looking to buy three homes in a row or an entire condo building.

[Pragmaticus]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

You can get an incredible amount of house and/or land for $225k. That will now get you waterfront in a number of communities.

I'm not sure why someone would suggest Seminole or Largo if you have a budget of $225k, unless you are looking to buy three homes in a row or an entire condo building.

. That was funny....

[lavender]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

You can get an incredible amount of house and/or land for $225k. That will now get you waterfront in a number of communities.

I'm not sure why someone would suggest Seminole or Largo if you have a budget of $225k, unless you are looking to buy three homes in a row or an entire condo building.

This is second comment is really unhelpful when someone is looking for some advice on where to move.
Seminole and Largo have lovely homes and $225,000 is probably the lower end of decent 3/2/2
This gives the impression that these areas are really run down, absolute nonsense. Seminole has a good school system, is very safe, has very friendly neighborhoods, is established, has good community facilities, is right by the beaches, and much of it is out of flood zones and evac zones, so the ins (although high everywhere here in FL) is not so scary.
I would recommend this area as good midway in the county spot, excellent for commuting around the county and has a base of good hospitals. As for teaching jobs, well that is alittle tough, see todays online st pete times, or yesterdays' not sure now, but lots of cuts to pinellas co school budgets, but I think that is going to be the case all over.

Good luck to you and I second the poster who said,come and look on vacation first, but don't look at it with vacationer's eyes.