Moving to Tampa for USF -- good neighborhoods?

[CravingMountains]

Yeah. It took me 40 minutes tonight to get up to the campus for my 6:20 class. About 25 to get back.

[Keeper]

In Tampa you have to figure traffic by the time of day, 5 minutes can add 10-20 minutes to a trip.
You can find a nice apt in New Tampa for less than 1K. My son lives in a rented condo with a dog for $800 a month. He did have to pay a pet deposit. I think it is a 1/1 with a den. There is a hospital nearby.

Personally I would stay away from Brandon because of the traffic and how far away it is. You might also find some place in Lutz or Carrollwood. Both nice areas. You can find a really nice place in either area. There are even some nice areas around USF but you do have to know the area before you select a place. There are some places near the river that are just fine and there are some older areas such as Forrest Hills that are safe.

As with every place everyone has an opinion or a different experience.

[jnichols2]

Originally Posted by InsaneTraveler

I don't know how fast your going, but I have been driving from Hyde Park to USF for almost 4 years now. Factoring in the traffic that you hit EVERY day without fail, I have to budget at LEAST 45 minutes of travel time to get from Hyde Park to USF. Several times, do to road closings or bad accidents, that commute has increased to an hour and a half. I am actually about to head up there right now for a class.

wtf are you talking about? I drive every day at 8:30am from Palma Ceia (basically where Datz is) to USF (Moffitt parking lot) in 20-25 minutes max. The drive back at 6 or 6:30pm is the same. There is almost zero traffic on 275 north in the AM. The worst part of the commute is Fowler between school and the freeway, which takes 12 minutes at most, even with major traffic. But on most days it's more like 5 minutes.

45 minutes??? 1.5 hours with road closings??? Are you driving a bicycle? Even when 275 is totally shut down due to a crash I can use city streets (Florida Ave., Armenia, etc.) and still make it home in less than 40 min.

What traffic do you hit "EVERY day without fail"? There is absolutely no traffic going north in the morning, and very little going south to downtown at 6:30pm. It is a reverse commute! It's the main reason I bought my house where I did. Most mornings on 275N I watch the bumper-to-bumper mess on the Southbound side as I have all four lanes to myself going 65.

[jnichols2]

oh, and just to confirm.

timed tonight at 7pm on a friday. usf to palma ceia was 18 minutes.

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by jnichols2

oh, and just to confirm.

timed tonight at 7pm on a friday. usf to palma ceia was 18 minutes.

7pm maybe, try it between 7am and 10am, you eluded that you did it during rush hour

[CravingMountains]

Originally Posted by jnichols2

wtf are you talking about? I drive every day at 8:30am from Palma Ceia (basically where Datz is) to USF (Moffitt parking lot) in 20-25 minutes max. The drive back at 6 or 6:30pm is the same. There is almost zero traffic on 275 north in the AM. The worst part of the commute is Fowler between school and the freeway, which takes 12 minutes at most, even with major traffic. But on most days it's more like 5 minutes.

45 minutes??? 1.5 hours with road closings??? Are you driving a bicycle? Even when 275 is totally shut down due to a crash I can use city streets (Florida Ave., Armenia, etc.) and still make it home in less than 40 min.

What traffic do you hit "EVERY day without fail"? There is absolutely no traffic going north in the morning, and very little going south to downtown at 6:30pm. It is a reverse commute! It's the main reason I bought my house where I did. Most mornings on 275N I watch the bumper-to-bumper mess on the Southbound side as I have all four lanes to myself going 65.

I take classes in the late mornings-9 pm. So I don't get on the road before traffic hits. Obviously, due to the traffic, I am not the only one on this schedule. If the OP plans on taking classes in the early mornings like you do, then the traffic might be different. At any other times, he will most likely be hitting the traffic that happens, yes, every work day.

[jnichols2]

Originally Posted by InsaneTraveler

I take classes in the late mornings-9 pm. So I don't get on the road before traffic hits. Obviously, due to the traffic, I am not the only one on this schedule. If the OP plans on taking classes in the early mornings like you do, then the traffic might be different. At any other times, he will most likely be hitting the traffic that happens, yes, every work day.

You're response makes no sense. Late morning? 9 pm? You're not on the road before traffic hits?

If you meant to type 9am, then no dice. I arrive at USF every day at 9:10am. Which means I'm on 275N at ~8:50am. You're implying that if I would leave just 10 minutes later, like you do, then I would encounter near gridlock??? And correct me if I'm wrong, but rush hour is usually BEFORE 9am. Most people will tell you that if you wait until after 9am, traffic actually gets much better.

Anyway - If the original poster is willing to accept a 15-20 minute commute to USF, then there is no way that Hyde Park, Downtown, Channelside can be ruled out. The people telling him/her otherwise are talking out of the wrong hole. I used to live in Tampa Palms and it would often take me even longer to get home from USF.