Should I move to South Tampa? (St. Petersburg, Brandon: apartment, foreclosure, leasing)

[FLGator18]

I work from home so I can live wherever I want, and am thinking of moving to South Tampa.

I have been reading some of the posts here about St. Petersburg vs. South Tampa. From what I read, both are great towns to hang out in, but people on here say living in South Tampa is safer. As in you wont get your car stolen or home broken into much, does this sound correct?

I will be visiting Tampa within 2 months and am currently researching places that I want to check out. The apt rent in South Tampa does seem rather high though. Anyone have anything to say about any of the 3 Camden Apts in South Tampa? Camden Bay, Camden Westshore, and Camden Preserve? I plan on checking all 3 out in person, but if anyone here has anything to say about them whether positive or negative please do.

Any thoughts on Riverview FL? There is an apt there I want to check out too, but I don't know much about Riverview itself.

If I lived in South Tampa, lets say 33616 zip code, how far away drive are the nice beaches?

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by FLGator18

I work from home so I can live wherever I want, and am thinking of moving to South Tampa.

I have been reading some of the posts here about St. Petersburg vs. South Tampa. From what I read, both are great towns to hang out in, but people on here say living in South Tampa is safer. As in you wont get your car stolen or home broken into much, does this sound correct?

I will be visiting Tampa within 2 months and am currently researching places that I want to check out. The apt rent in South Tampa does seem rather high though. Anyone have anything to say about any of the 3 Camden Apts in South Tampa? Camden Bay, Camden Westshore, and Camden Preserve? I plan on checking all 3 out in person, but if anyone here has anything to say about them whether positive or negative please do.

Any thoughts on Riverview FL? There is an apt there I want to check out too, but I don't know much about Riverview itself.

If I lived in South Tampa, lets say 33616 zip code, how far away drive are the nice beaches?

A trip over the Gandy bridge from 33616 to the beach is about 20miles.

[Austin0280]

There are tons of difference between St. Pete and South Tampa - but I don't think safety is one assuming you are looking at the nicer areas to begin with. The safe areas of South Tampa aren't any safer than the nice areas of St. Pete. I've lived in both areas and never had any problems in my neighborhoods.

Wish I could help about Riverview. I love both St. Pete and South Tampa for different reasons, but I don't think crime separates the two.

[Keeper]

If you are a young single professional I would not recommend Riverview. If you like to party and hang out with other young professional then S. Tampa is where you want to live. I think all the camden places are all nice places.

What is your budget?
What else is important to you?

You can find private apts all over S. Tampa many behind many expensive homes off of
Bayshore. Check out Davis Island too.

[crazynip]

Riverview is a long way to drive home drunk. South Tampa is a hop, skip and a jump.

[chapter119]

Before everyone jumps in and starts talking about why South Tampa is worse/better/whatever than St. Pete, let's remember that the OP is talking about "safety" and ONLY "safety." So what I would say to the OP is that he/she shud review the crime stats for both South Tampa and St. Pete VERY closely. You want to zero in on the streets/zip codes/neighborhoods where crime is nonexistent. If you do a thorough review, and talk to the respective police departments, you will see that South Tampa wins hands down.

By the way, the stats I speak of pertain to South Tampa in 33609, 33629 and 33606, not 33616.

[FLGator18]

Originally Posted by Keeper

If you are a young single professional I would not recommend Riverview. If you like to party and hang out with other young professional then S. Tampa is where you want to live. I think all the camden places are all nice places.

What is your budget?
What else is important to you?

A lot of people have said the same thing about South Tampa being a better place to hang out than Riverview.

I was hoping to pay no more than $800 to $900 for a 1 bedroom, maybe even 1 bedroom w/ Den if possible. I am leaning toward Camden Bayside out of the 3 Camdens in South Tampa. Since I dont live near there I want to make sure its worth visiting when I fly out there, and it sounds like it is. I will probably scratch off Brandon and Riverview from my visiting list.

[tewas]

My friend lives in Camden Bay. It's not bad, place is clean and he does not complain much about life there. You will find a lot of military people living there since MacDill base is so close. 1BD place isn't small, and it does look like typical apartment. Some of the units have private W/D.
Camden Bay is about 5-6 miles away from nightlife area, SOHO, but much closer to the beaches since you don't have to cross S. Tampa, but rather just jump on Gandy bridge which is right there. If you are more interested in proximity of the beaches look for a place on west side of the peninsula, if nightlife is more important to you, see if you can find something east of MacDill street north of Gandy. Check out private condos that are for rent, usually you can get better price and more of a "home" feeling. 800-900 is fairly normal price for the area, although you should be able to find it a little cheaper from private renters.

[FLGator18]

Originally Posted by tewas

My friend lives in Camden Bay. It's not bad, place is clean and he does not complain much about life there. You will find a lot of military people living there since MacDill base is so close. 1BD place isn't small, and it does look like typical apartment. Some of the units have private W/D.
Camden Bay is about 5-6 miles away from nightlife area, SOHO, but much closer to the beaches since you don't have to cross S. Tampa, but rather just jump on Gandy bridge which is right there. If you are more interested in proximity of the beaches look for a place on west side of the peninsula, if nightlife is more important to you, see if you can find something east of MacDill street north of Gandy. Check out private condos that are for rent, usually you can get better price and more of a "home" feeling. 800-900 is fairly normal price for the area, although you should be able to find it a little cheaper from private renters.

Wow thanks, I didn't know condos were renting that cheap. I will look into that too. Do you suggest Craiglist, or somewhere else for leasing condos?

[Keeper]

Just beware when renting from private owner that the place is not in foreclosure. If you decide to rent from private owner there is a way to check IIRC. It is better to check than be sorry later. We will help you if you ask