Where to live in St. Pete? (home, neighborhoods, buying)

[ablueg35]

Thanks for the thoughts. Honestly, I've been thinking Fusion would be a good fit for me and what I'm looking for (from an apartment standpoint). I know it's a little farther from downtown then I would like, but doesn't that trolley have a stop right by them? I figure if I'm going for a night on the town I could at least take the trolley down to the the main area and maybe a taxi back if I didn't want to walk the 20 mins or so. How often are taxis available on Central at 1-2AM?

[ferret111]

Originally Posted by ablueg35

Thanks for the thoughts. Honestly, I've been thinking Fusion would be a good fit for me and what I'm looking for (from an apartment standpoint). I know it's a little farther from downtown then I would like, but doesn't that trolley have a stop right by them? I figure if I'm going for a night on the town I could at least take the trolley down to the the main area and maybe a taxi back if I didn't want to walk the 20 mins or so. How often are taxis available on Central at 1-2AM?

I think there's a trolley stop there. If not, quite a few city buses run along Central and the 1st Avenues. I don't know easy it is to find taxis there, but I'd imagine the dispatch time would be pretty short.

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by ablueg35

How often are taxis available on Central at 1-2AM?

1. the buses don't run that late.

2. cabs are hard to get after midnight. I usually take a cab home (about 5 miles) and it often takes me 10-30 minutes to find one. I sometimes have to resort to walking over to a hotel and having them call one.

3. I've been flat-out refused by cabs when asking to go 10-15 blocks. This isn't NYC or Chicago.

4. There is no way I would be walking that route at 2 am unless I was carrying. It's not that it's a "bad area", per se, it's that it is COMPLETELY VACANT. No open businesses, no pedestrians, nothing.

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by ferret111

People say that you should avoid everything south of Central until you hit Pinellas Point, but in my opinion, the few blocks between Central and 175 are pretty safe. Maybe a little rundown, but the streets are fairly quiet at night. So, in short, the only "bad"/shaky area south of Central is, in my opinion, the box bordered by 4th Street, 54th Avenue South, 49th Street, and Interstate 175.

A uniformed police officer was murdered between Central and 175 less than three months ago. Have we already forgotten?

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by FloridaDerby

In my opinion (also supported by crime statistics) the box bordered by 4th Street South, 54th Avenue South, Boyd Hill Nature Park and 34th St South is one the least shaky areas of St Pete. Those who state otherwise, in my opinion, are very wrong. Don't discount South St Pete because it really is a great place to live. Hundreds of us have chosen this area to live for a reason.

I'd be defensive, too, if I lived there. I'd also own high caliber weaponry.

Here's the info that proves you wrong. I'd love to see your "stats".

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[ferret111]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

A uniformed police officer was murdered between Central and 175 less than three months ago. Have we already forgotten?

Okay, and? Is that entire area a no-gone zone for the foreseeable future? He was also one of the first cops killed in St. Pete since 1980, so it's not like it's a normal occurrence.

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by ferret111

Okay, and? Is that entire area a no-gone zone for the foreseeable future? He was also one of the first cops killed in St. Pete since 1980, so it's not like it's a normal occurrence.

No, it's not a normal occurrence, and it could have happened anywhere.

However, since there are so many better areas to live in St Pete, the question becomes: WHY live there? Five years ago you could use the argument that real estate was much cheaper there so the cost/safety issue was a tradeoff.

But now, when waterfront homes in Shore Acres (incidentally, the safest neighborhood statisticwise) can be had for as low as $200k and decent properties can be had in ANY neighborhood in Pinellas for $100k or less, why bother?

When I was house shopping, I looked at some huge, gorgeous waterfront homes in Coquina Key that were cheap. However, driving through the neighborhood to get to the waterfront was quite an eye-opener. To me, Coquina Key is going to be a no-go zone for decades. But then, everyone has their own comfort level. I just don't want to wear kevlar when I take the dog for a walk.

[Maggi07]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

I'd be defensive, too, if I lived there. I'd also own high caliber weaponry.

Here's the info that proves you wrong. I'd love to see your "stats".

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

I don't think these are correct. Where do they get their statistics? They don't seem to jive with what the St. Pete PD reports directly to Community Policing & Neighborhood Crime Statistics | CrimeReports.com

The Real Estate site has some very safe areas rated extremely low.

Also, I swear I'm going to start a campaign to call "bad" South St. Pete Midtown, which is what it is.

[chi_tino]

Mybe I'm not using the tool correctly, but if you take out property crimes and focus on robbery/sex crimes/assault/murder/etc, there have been NO incidents north of 38th Ave and east of 4th St in the past 14 days.

The neighborhoods southwest of downtown have about an incident every block or two in that same timeframe, so I'm not sure what I'm missing.

[Maggi07]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

Mybe I'm not using the tool correctly, but if you take out property crimes and focus on robbery/sex crimes/assault/murder/etc, there have been NO incidents north of 38th Ave and east of 4th St in the past 14 days.

The neighborhoods southwest of downtown have about an incident every block or two in that same timeframe, so I'm not sure what I'm missing.

I was in a hurry and just focused on the areas further south that I know to be very safe. Some of them were rated so low it was ludicrous. That leads me to believe that the neighborhood scout tool is not using correct information.

I think, also, that I have a different expectation of what "safe" means when we are talking about a fairly heavily populated area. I've spent most of my life in cities, and I figure crime is par for the course. So when people say you shouldn't walk alone at night I just think~ "of course not! Why would you do that?"

I do live in an extremely safe neighborhood. I have kids and that's important to me. If I were still single and childless, I wouldn't hesitate to live close to downtown. I would worry a lot more about midtown. Stay away from gang activity, don't get involved in what you shouldn't be involved in (drug scene, etc), learn the neighborhoods. I dunno. Isn't that just how it goes? I understand the desire to live in a safe area, of course, but 100% safe just isn't going to be found with so many people living close together.

IMO, OP, you should go with Fusion if that's what you like better.