Looking for GREAT areas to buy (Tampa, St. Petersburg: sex offender, crime, how much)

[makennamomerin]

My family is moving due to a new job to St. Petersburg. The job is downtown St. Petersburg. We have a place to stay for a while so we can take our time looking for the right house, but we want to try and narrow down the areas. I did a search on Familywatchdog (sex offender website) to try and find some better areas for kids and what I came up with was either "Old Historic, Eden and Snell Isle" areas or Safe Harbor, Oldsmar and Westchase area. I want GREAT schools, safety and nice homes. I would also like to have an area that is easy to mesh with other families so we can make friends quickly with neighbors like us, etc. Am I right at the areas or did I miss any? I'm use to a long commute with tons of traffic now so as long as the commute time isn't over 45 minutes, we should be ok.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by makennamomerin

I want GREAT schools, safety and nice homes. .

I think you can take it as a given that the responses you;ll get arent going to suggest a place with the worst schools in a crime infested ghetto with endless run down trailers..
My brothers and sisters all did a major part of their schooling in Pinellas park (Northeast High)and we turned out ok and never had problems with the schools in the neighborhoods, but then again that was back in the late 60's things may have changed since then.

[lavender]

Yes quite a bit has changed since then. I think you have outlined a few good locations. North Pinellas is great, with East Lake and Palm Harbor area high schools. Northside is not really seen as a great school, but many of them are now launching inschool programs, some for law, some for vet services, some for education excellence etc etc, so if you had highschoolers aiming for that kind of field, then it's worth looking into them. Go to the Pinellas County School Board site for more info.

Seminole is a good all round school district, with choices (based on zoning) for elem, then there is one middle and one high school. The high has the center for excellence in education studies there.

St Pete high, Largo High (you dont really want to be in that zone except for the special program) and Palm Harbor all have the International Baccalaureate program. St Pete high has had it the longest, access is based on application and grades, but also on where you live in the county, so say you were in north county you would go to Palm Harbor, am not sure of boundaries for Largo as its new and I know it was not popular a school of choice for parents, but I think it's going well now.

Seminole is also close to the beaches, most of the area is within a 3 minute drive and parts are walkable. Most of it is not in flood zone, a lot of St Pete including Snell Isle and Shore Acres and quite a bit of North East St Pete is, but not all.

East Lake, Tarpon and Palm Harbor, Oldsmar (parts of) are not in flood/evac zones and have great family neighborhoods too. These are a bit of a commute to St Pete. Most family neighborhoods are family friendly and soon as your children are involved in any activity the friendships will form, I know from experience as we came here totally cold from overseas 12 years ago and all our friends just about came from the children's involvement in sport. I can speak highly of the schools my children attended, one was in regular the other in gifted/IB and both have come out of their alloted schools rounded, good kids and are now both in college.

Wish you good luck in your search for a new home.

No doubt others on here will offer their views of their own areas too, so you will have plenty to consider.

[BBI]

Originally Posted by makennamomerin

My family is moving due to a new job to St. Petersburg. The job is downtown St. Petersburg. We have a place to stay for a while so we can take our time looking for the right house, but we want to try and narrow down the areas. I did a search on Familywatchdog (sex offender website) to try and find some better areas for kids and what I came up with was either "Old Historic, Eden and Snell Isle" areas or Safe Harbor, Oldsmar and Westchase area. I want GREAT schools, safety and nice homes. I would also like to have an area that is easy to mesh with other families so we can make friends quickly with neighbors like us, etc. Am I right at the areas or did I miss any? I'm use to a long commute with tons of traffic now so as long as the commute time isn't over 45 minutes, we should be ok.

How much do you want houses to cost in the neighborhood? For example, another posted pointed out that Seminole has a bunch of A-rated schools. This is true. But we're talking about homes in the $150k range; different socio-economics than something like Westchase or the Historic Old Northeast, and maybe not what you mean by "nice homes."

Not knowing your budget, some thoughts:

1. You've got northeast St. Pete (north of Central and east of 1st Street, including the Historic Old Northeast, Snell Isle and points further north) on your list already, though I think the schools are more "good" than "GREAT." As another poster pointed out, St. Pete HS has a strong IB program, but the kids who aren't in the IB program seem much, much weaker academically. Full disclosure: I live in the Old Northeast.

2. Safety Harbor has very good elementary/middle schools, but I believe it's zoned for a rather pedestrian high school in Clearwater. Someone correct me if I'm wrong there. I'm not very familiar with Oldsmar. It seemed similar to Safety Harbor to me, only without the little downtown area.

3. Another poster mentioned some spots in north Pinellas (Palm Harbor, East Lake, Tarpon, etc.). These are well over an hour to downtown St. Pete at rush hour. Safety Harbor is going to really be pushing your range; don't look north of there. Continuing the you-don't-want-that-commute theme, Seminole near the beach is probably more than 45 minutes at rush hour. Westchase (and all the other communities up that way) is more than 45 minutes at rush hour, too.

4. You should add South Tampa (south of Kennedy and north of Gandy, or better north of Bay to Bay) to your list. My take is that South Tampa has the best public high schools in the area, it's within 45 mins of downtown St. Pete at rush hour, and it's a nice affluent area. We picked the Old Northeast, but South Tampa was #2 on our list.

[makennamomerin]

We can spend up to 300K on a house. I have a daughter in preschool and one is a baby so would like to settle in an area she can continue pre-school and on up, but obviously we have time till high school. We do want to be around other families. She is very smart - attended Montessori for a year and a half so I want to make sure she's challenged or she will get bored very easily. I think my husband would be willing to drive 45 minutes - he does that now - but I would hate for him to be in traffic for over an hour each way. So you think Safe Harbor up to Westchase is too far then? Considering budget and commute of 45 or less each way - what do you think?

[jambo101]

Any area around this neighborhood will suit your needs and be within walking distance to downtown St Pete.
Crescent Lake, Saint Petersburg, FL, United States - Google Maps

[algia]

I liked this area a LOT:
http://www.commercialphotoservices.com/bigbayou.jpg (broken link)

The commute is not that bad to DT.
http://www.commercialphotoservices.com/bb%20to%20dt.jpg (broken link)

The thing with this area is that while there are several million dollar properties, there are also a lot of fixers, can't change location, so....I think they'll be well worth it in the long run.

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by algia

I liked this area a LOT:


The commute is not that bad to DT.


The thing with this area is that while there are several million dollar properties, there are also a lot of fixers, can't change location, so....I think they'll be well worth it in the long run.

That area you highlighted is also mostly ghetto. Around the golf course is nice, but there around lake magorrie and down by pinellas point is hood

[Irishiis49]

I know to get to Coquina Key I drove through a really rough area...I think what the OP is looking for is a strong middle/upper middle class area...not million dollar homes(on water) and fixers.For schools,homes and safety Palm Harbor/Eastlake is your best bet.You maybe be able to cherry pick subdivisions closer to St Pete but you will still have a school issues!

[algia]

That's quite a commute though considering how busy 19 is. I'll post another map tomorrow more zommed in. The area i am referring too is not ghetto by any means!

Originally Posted by Irishiis49

I know to get to Coquina Key I drove through a really rough area...I think what the OP is looking for is a strong middle/upper middle class area...not million dollar homes(on water) and fixers.For schools,homes and safety Palm Harbor/Eastlake is your best bet.You maybe be able to cherry pick subdivisions closer to St Pete but you will still have a school issues!