Next upcoming neighborhood (Tampa, Seminole, Cleveland: apartment complex, foreclosure, condos)

[Hstern19]

Westchase is looking more and more like the winner. Carrolwood seems to have no charecter and Dale Mabry is a huge pain.

[Keeper]

I personally like Seminole Heights and it is not all bad. MY DD lived there for several years and I have a friend who has lived there for 20 years. I also have a friend who has lived in Tampa Heights for 10 years and loves it. You do have to be careful as to the area but that is true in most places. A block or 2 can make a big difference in the type of ppl who live near you.

What about Land O Lakes? I love the area around lake Padgette. Large lots and great neighborhood. Westchase is nice but the lots are small and houses very close together.

We all have different opinions on where we would like to live for difference reasons.

[gypsychic]

Do you mean the "next south Tampa" in the sense that it is historic, yet walkable? The only two that fit that bill are Seminole Heights and Tampa heights, but IMO, neither one of these will ever be the same as south Tampa due to the patchiness of the neighborhoods (being too near sketchy areas that haven't changed for decades)

If you want to be closer to nightlife, check around Westshore, or Channelside. There is a reason south Tampa is so expensive - it's where a lot of people want to live. If you really love it, just try to find something in your price range would be my advice.

[jdvalle]

I would agree with the above. Seminole Heights has long been the "next South Tampa". Needless to say, everyone's still waiting. Don't hold your breath. Don't get me wrong, I'd probably still prefer Seminole Heights to many other (more sterile) neighborhoods, but I would not view it as a good investment - even less so if you purchased between '98 and '05. The patchy nature of the entire area along with the dismal schools all but ensure that property values will fail to make a 'breakthrough' the way So tampa did 30 years ago.

I'm not really sure that this city will have a "next So. Tampa". I don't say that because I'm snobby about the area, I just believe that the local economy and culture would not support the additional critical mass of people who would nucleate that sort of area again. Maybe if we had a massive hiring boom that was attracting a highly-skilled/eductaed labor force, I could see it. But unfortunately Tampa is the sort of city that will always have very few option in terms of SoTampa-type areas. Most major urban centers have tons of these types of neighborhoods.

[user8]

neighboring southeast seminole heights is riverside heights. when i was looking at rentals (from afar, mind you) i came across a few in riverside that looked pretty nice so i started doing some research and asking questions about the neighborhood. the location is pretty central to everything and doing a sight-unseen rental, we went with convenience (although our house is gorgeous, too). however, bottom line is that like most areas around here it's hit or miss from an aesthetic standpoint. our street is mostly nice, the next street over looks mostly like detroit, so on and so forth until you get to the southern end of the neighborhood near columbus (which flat out sucks). however the crime seems to be mostly to the east of the area and we never feel unsafe walking around. most of the time we come across friendly folks walking their dogs or families pushing strollers who are always quick to say hello. the houses near the river in the neighborhood are stunning. my immediate neighbors are all very friendly and chatty. all in all if you're ok with trading sterile, planned suburbs lacking character for one with tons of charm and originality (along with some distressed properties here and there) riverside heights is about the best in terms of total package... cost, location, lower crime, non-cookie-cutter homes.

i totally agree that the property market around tampa bay is frustrating, at least for those of us who commute into downtown or the macdill areas. so far that is my #1 complaint about life here. personally, i *hate* driving down from my neighborhood to columbus even though it's the most direct way to work. i just hate it down there. ugh. it's so horribly ugly and a waste of space that i can barely stand to look at it. it angers me how the city/county waste so much (what would in most markets be) PRIME real estate bordering downtown and the highway. ><

since my wife works in st. pete and i'm at macdill, our options are limited. personally i'd like to move to sarasota or dunedin, but i don't see that happening. NE st. pete will probably work out best.

[Hstern19]

Anyone have any experience or opinions on the condos located at 700 S Harbour Island Blvd?

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by jdvalle

I would agree with the above. Seminole Heights has long been the "next South Tampa". Needless to say, everyone's still waiting. Don't hold your breath. Don't get me wrong, I'd probably still prefer Seminole Heights to many other (more sterile) neighborhoods, but I would not view it as a good investment - even less so if you purchased between '98 and '05. The patchy nature of the entire area along with the dismal schools all but ensure that property values will fail to make a 'breakthrough' the way So tampa did 30 years ago.

I'm not really sure that this city will have a "next So. Tampa". I don't say that because I'm snobby about the area, I just believe that the local economy and culture would not support the additional critical mass of people who would nucleate that sort of area again. Maybe if we had a massive hiring boom that was attracting a highly-skilled/eductaed labor force, I could see it. But unfortunately Tampa is the sort of city that will always have very few option in terms of SoTampa-type areas. Most major urban centers have tons of these types of neighborhoods.

Seminole Heights will never be the next South Tampa because it's surrounded by ghetto on all sides. Something South Tampa really does not have to deal with.

By the way, I have lived here most of my life and South Tampa in the 1980's and 90's was not very desirable except right near Bayshore and a couple other pockets. That said, it never degraded to the point Seminole Heights had during that time.

[thethinktank]

I spent eight years in Chicago, right as Wicker Park / Bucktown was hitting its peak. The art community had adopted it for its beauty and cheap rent / home prices and turned it into the next desirable neighborhood. Then the developers got in, MTV dropped The Real World there, franchises got involved and it became just as expensive as Lincoln Park, where the frat/sorority crowd hung out.

Then when that became passe', the art community needed a place that was beautiful and dirt cheap, so they moved to the Pilsen neighborhood. You could rent a loft for pennies and turn it into a beautiful home. After years of this, the developers dug in and ultimately, it now shares the same fate as Wicker Park. You want to live there now, you pay double what you would have a decade ago.

Here in the Tampa Bay, pretty much every opportunity for the art community is maxed. NE St. Pete, South Tampa-- past their prime. Seminole Heights, too fractured and unwalkable for a real community. If I was a wealthy developer and I had money to toss at the Next Big Thing in Tampa, a decade or two down the road, I would buy cheap property now in West Tampa.

I drive through West Tampa for fun. It is strikingly beautiful. The area from Fremont to Habana, and within a few blocks north and south of Main have the architecture, municipal aesthetics (brick streets, old library, etc) and walkable nature of what an art community desires. Many times, I have thought that I should take it upon myself to help spark such a turn-around for West Tampa that I would buy a home there.

Drive through today, you'll see that the area is beset by poverty on most sides, and that housing projects dot its landscape. Crime is a problem. Drugs are a problem. There are drunks passed out on the sidewalks on many of the main thoroughfares. This would terrify most any tenant, home owner or otherwise.

These threats have always been the terrors that art communities ignore and endure, and slow change turns a place of beauty into a land of opportunity. It's what has happened in cities like Chicago once a decade or two. It has happened here in Tampa, with Hyde Park going from a place of danger to one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the entire bay area.

For me? West Tampa, that's it. Drive through Cabrini Green in Chicago today, you'll see modern midrises, hip bars and restaurants and a friendly neighborhood around it. Walk around there a decade ago, you might just trip over a crime scene. What part of the Tampa Bay has the potential to attract the art community that could transform an area into the next big thing? West Tampa.

[Obamanation]

Originally Posted by thethinktank

I spent eight years in Chicago, right as Wicker Park / Bucktown was hitting its peak. The art community had adopted it for its beauty and cheap rent / home prices and turned it into the next desirable neighborhood. Then the developers got in, MTV dropped The Real World there, franchises got involved and it became just as expensive as Lincoln Park, where the frat/sorority crowd hung out.

Then when that became passe', the art community needed a place that was beautiful and dirt cheap, so they moved to the Pilsen neighborhood. You could rent a loft for pennies and turn it into a beautiful home. After years of this, the developers dug in and ultimately, it now shares the same fate as Wicker Park. You want to live there now, you pay double what you would have a decade ago.

Here in the Tampa Bay, pretty much every opportunity for the art community is maxed. NE St. Pete, South Tampa-- past their prime. Seminole Heights, too fractured and unwalkable for a real community. If I was a wealthy developer and I had money to toss at the Next Big Thing in Tampa, a decade or two down the road, I would buy cheap property now in West Tampa.

Agreed except I'd say all three Heights fit this criteria as well. Seminole is probably the closest present day.

I drive through West Tampa for fun. It is strikingly beautiful. The area from Fremont to Habana, and within a few blocks north and south of Main have the architecture, municipal aesthetics (brick streets, old library, etc) and walkable nature of what an art community desires. Many times, I have thought that I should take it upon myself to help spark such a turn-around for West Tampa that I would buy a home there.

Drive through today, you'll see that the area is beset by poverty on most sides, and that housing projects dot its landscape. Crime is a problem. Drugs are a problem. There are drunks passed out on the sidewalks on many of the main thoroughfares. This would terrify most any tenant, home owner or otherwise.

These threats have always been the terrors that art communities ignore and endure, and slow change turns a place of beauty into a land of opportunity. It's what has happened in cities like Chicago once a decade or two. It has happened here in Tampa, with Hyde Park going from a place of danger to one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the entire bay area.

For me? West Tampa, that's it. Drive through Cabrini Green in Chicago today, you'll see modern midrises, hip bars and restaurants and a friendly neighborhood around it. Walk around there a decade ago, you might just trip over a crime scene. What part of the Tampa Bay has the potential to attract the art community that could transform an area into the next big thing? West Tampa.

Agreed except all three Heights neighborhoods fit these criteria as well. Seminole is closest at present day. It helps that many SH establishments are smoking even South Tampa, and it may be the closest thing to a 24-hr neighborhood around.

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by thethinktank

For me? West Tampa, that's it. Drive through Cabrini Green in Chicago today, you'll see modern midrises, hip bars and restaurants and a friendly neighborhood around it. Walk around there a decade ago, you might just trip over a crime scene. What part of the Tampa Bay has the potential to attract the art community that could transform an area into the next big thing? West Tampa.

The only reason Cabrini Green is even habitable by normal people is because the government leveled the projects and relocated the former inhabitants. Not because of any artsy people.