Looking for walkable, family-friendly, and pet-friendly area (Tampa, Safety Harbor: hair salon, rental)

[IMissTheCity]

Originally Posted by neptunefix

downtown St. Pete or maybe South Tampa. St. Pete seems like your best match, from what I've seen. If you're in south Tampa, near bayshore blvd or really close to downtown, that's going to be your most urban area you can find, I'd imagine.

Do you know which streets in St. Pete have things other than art galleries? I walked down central ave because I assumed that's where everything would be, but it was about 90% art galleries.

[neptunefix]

Yelp the area. Meze 119 is my fav. I think most of the activity was north of Central Ave. I just walked around. ate at a few different places. took my dog to the park. it was bike friendly. theres some kinda new mall area at around 3rd st north. went to 3 bars, 2 gelato shops and 2 coffee places last time I spent 2 days in downtown st Pete. it's not a huge area, I certainly wish it were bigger.

theres a lot of places in south tampa and it's next to downtown Tampa which has bigger buildings and all that but it seems like it was closed down more at night. Tampa is more spread out IMO.

[IMissTheCity]

Originally Posted by neptunefix

Yelp the area. Meze 119 is my fav. I think most of the activity was north of Central Ave. I just walked around. ate at a few different places. took my dog to the park. it was bike friendly. theres some kinda new mall area at around 3rd st north. went to 3 bars, 2 gelato shops and 2 coffee places last time I spent 2 days in downtown st Pete. it's not a huge area, I certainly wish it were bigger.

theres a lot of places in south tampa and it's next to downtown Tampa which has bigger buildings and all that but it seems like it was closed down more at night. Tampa is more spread out IMO.

Thanks for the Yelp idea. I've been using Google Maps for everything, with searches like "shops near central ave. st petersburg". It shows a lot, but not everything.

[floridagirl777]

Check out Safety Harbor. Very walkable and pet-friendly. It reminds me a little of the quaint downtown areas of upstate New York.

[CrowGirl]

I echo the South Tampa possibility but as you have already gathered it won't be walkable in the sense the Northeast is (I moved here from Boston, not NYC, very different city but similar in this one small respect). I would also check out Dunedin and Safety Harbor. Not at all urban, but at least they have walkable downtowns.

[Emrak]

Originally Posted by IMissTheCity

I'm originally from NYC. My wife and I moved to Homosassa, FL over a year ago, to be closer to her family. However, I miss my city and want to move some where that's walkable. We're considering moving back, but for now, I'd like to know what my options are in the Tampa Bay area.

I checked out a lot of Central Ave, St. Pete and downtown Tampa. St. Pete seemed to be mostly art galleries and restaurants (maybe I was just in the wrong part), and downtown Tampa seemed to have a very high homeless population. I also explored Orlando, near Lake Eola, but it seems to be too focused on night-life. We'd prefer to be away from drunk college students :-P.

Requirements:

1. I want to be able to get around by walking or riding a bicycle. Grocery store, coffee shops, cafes, bookstores.
2. Must be safe and family-friendly. We have a baby on the way :-).
3. Must be pet-friendly. We have 2 dogs - A lab and a shepherd/pharaoh hound mix (75lbs and 38lbs, full grown).
4. 2-3 Bedrooms

Budget: $1000-$1400/month


Thanks!

You have some very specific requirements, the most notable (and restrictive) of which is the must be "in Tampa" part. There are other locations in FL that do adhere to your needs, but they lie far outside your search radius.

As a city boy myself, I don't know how you have endured country living so long. You must truly be in love! Lol.

My suggestion is to send your requirements to at least a half dozen different Tampa/St Pete realtors. Spam as many as you can via email. Have them all call you on the same day to knock it all out at once, tell them your preferred comm. method is EMAIL, then let them do their thing. They're the true experts and def motivated. You don't necessarily need to rent through them, but use them to find you the area you're looking for!

At this point though, ANY place will be refreshing to you over the boondocks. I don't think you can really go wrong anywhere in that regard.

[IMissTheCity]

I appreciate all of the replies. I found some interesting stuff in St. Pete with Yelp. I'm definitely going to contact some realtors and explore some more in-person. Thanks, everyone!

[anya3]

Originally Posted by IMissTheCity

I'm originally from NYC. My wife and I moved to Homosassa, FL over a year ago, to be closer to her family. However, I miss my city and want to move some where that's walkable. We're considering moving back, but for now, I'd like to know what my options are in the Tampa Bay area.

I checked out a lot of Central Ave, St. Pete and downtown Tampa. St. Pete seemed to be mostly art galleries and restaurants (maybe I was just in the wrong part), and downtown Tampa seemed to have a very high homeless population. I also explored Orlando, near Lake Eola, but it seems to be too focused on night-life. We'd prefer to be away from drunk college students :-P.

Requirements:

1. I want to be able to get around by walking or riding a bicycle. Grocery store, coffee shops, cafes, bookstores.
2. Must be safe and family-friendly. We have a baby on the way :-).
3. Must be pet-friendly. We have 2 dogs - A lab and a shepherd/pharaoh hound mix (75lbs and 38lbs, full grown).
4. 2-3 Bedrooms

Budget: $1000-$1400/month


Thanks!

I have to ask - where do you find a family friendly 3 bedroom in NYC for that budget?

[IMissTheCity]

Originally Posted by anya3

I have to ask - where do you find a family friendly 3 bedroom in NYC for that budget?

You can find a 2 bedroom in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn for that, but they usually don't allow dogs. I got my dogs after we moved to Florida. First my wife didn't want to move back, but now she's willing to, and unfortunately, having dogs is preventing it.

[Keeper]

You should check out Safety Harbor too. It is quaint and very walkable.

There is also Westchase in Tampa. It has its own grocery store, restaurants, coffee shop and other stores all within biking or walking distance.
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