Big Move to Tampa/Largo - Location suggestions? (Clearwater, Safety Harbor: apartment, to rent)

[nevermoved]

Hi, we are moving from NY state to Florida. The move will occur in July/August, most likely. Myself and 2 daughters, age 14 and 17.

We have been vacationing to the Clearwater/Largo area for the past 4 years, and like it very much. Living near the beaches would be wonderful. However, we are not familiar with other areas like St. Pete, around Tampa Bay like Safety Harbor, Oldsmar, and the other side of the bay like Apollo Beach.

Looking to rent a 3 BDR apartment/condo in a reasonably safe neighborhood. Say $1200/month range. Note we live just outside of Niagara Falls, NY now, plenty of crime in the city of NF, but we still feel safe in our neighborhood. So something similar would be fine.

I don't want to live in Clearwater due to the high amount of traffic going in/out. Largo or something like it is fine.

Employment is not an issue, I work from home. Looking for an area with a good high school, one of the better ones in the state. My kids are good students. My oldest daughter will be going to USF, so the commute for her is a consideration.

As far as transferring my youngest daughter to a high school down here, any information would be helpful. I don't even know when school begins for sure, I was told late August, but I thought it was early August.

That's all I can think of for now. Any help is much appreciated.

[Occifer]

If your daughter is going to be commuting to the Tampa campus of USF and not the St. Pete campus, the commute from Pinellas County is going to be a long one. This is especially true during peak times. It's not out of the realm of possibilities to spend over an hour in the car going from USF to Largo during busy times of the day.

[nevermoved]

Thank you for the feedback Occifer. Not sure at this point what campus she would go to, but most likely Tampa.