Moving to the area mid-July. Househunting trip in June. Advice please! (Tampa: houses, neighborhood)

[Matrips]

Hi,
We will be moving to the Tampa/St Pete area in mid-July, but will take our househunting trip in just a few weeks. I would love some feedback and ideas that might fit for us. I put as much info below as I could.

Thank you so much! We're looking forward to our trip next month though right now I'm going nuts trying to get our house decluttered and fixed up to sell.


Background - DH will be working at MacDill (DoD employee so we are staying for the long haul)
Housing Budget - preferably under 500K, though we could be flexible for the perfect home (we're moving from Arlington, VA)
Schools - yes to good schools, we have 3 elementary aged children.
Commute time - preferably under 45 minutes
Other-
1. really want a friendly and nice neighborhood with elementary aged children- one where neighbors know each other and get together, the kids play outside, etc. This is

2. we are used to being able to walk to shopping, schools, parks, bike trails etc. and being within a 5 minute drive of pretty much every store and all the activities for the kids. I know it won't be the same, but might be nice to find something a little similar.

3. would like a minimum of 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bath, enclosed pool/lanai, and ideally a bonus room and 3 car garage. A newer home would be nice (we have a 1935 one here). Dh does like a little bit of a yard (we have almost 1/4 acre here and that's fine, but we have a small house on it). Not sure how yards/lots compare down there.

4. the kids are involved in baseball, softball, swim team, ballet, AWANAS, cub scouts, brownies etc. We do currently homeschool, but I still like being in a top school district as a backup plan.

We were considering: Safety Harbor, Seminole, Westchase, and Oldsmar (based solely on what we've read, I haven't been to the area at all).

Would anyone be able to explain how these areas fit (or don't fit) our requirements/desires?

[BucFan]

I'd also look at FishHawk or River Hills in the Valrico/Brandon areas - might also look at Cheval up near Lutz (Steinbrenner High Schools).

[rnedd]

I would say that you should probably eliminate Seminole just due to driving distance. Safety Harbor and Oldsmar would probably be near the upper range of the driving limit but Westchase would definitely be the closest. Oldsmar and Westchase would probably be best for being closer to stores but in all 3 areas it will just depend on where in the city you're home is. You should be able to get a home like you want within your price range in any of those 3 areas and all 3 have newer subdivisions (80s or 90s and later).

There are several very nice communities in Westchase and a few newer subdivisions in Oldsmar. Also in Oldsmar is the EastLake Woodlands community which also is located partly in the EastLake area of Palm Harbor that has some of the best rated schools around and is a gated golf course community with numerous different subdivisions including some very nice ones with newer homes.

Before you come, I would recommend looking over the info other people have posted here and on sites like greatschools.org to make sure you know which schools you want to check out in these areas. Then you might want to look over listings for houses in these 3 areas to find some possibilities you like, compare them to their respective school districts to line up some places to start with when you come here. Then when you're here you'll have a starting point and can start checking out the areas in person and narrowing it down further.

I'm sure you'll find exactly what you want and welcome to the area.

Sincerely,
Ron

[Matrips]

Wow. Now see I would have thought that Seminole was one of the closest, followed by Safety Harbor and then Westchase based on looking at the maps. Interesting.

So how far is that East Lakes community from MacDill?- I had ruled that out because it looked so far.

Definitely not interested in the Fishhawk/Valrico side- dh seemed to prefer the Pinellas County side based on being closer to the beaches. but north of Tampa was fine too.

[algia]

Check out Carrollwood too. It is somewhat walkable...but not VA style. There are several dance places etc. He can go straight down Dale Mabry to McDill. Seminole is too far. You have to keep in mind that if your're in Pinellas (Westchase is not Pinellas btw) that you will be reduced to the bridges traffic wise....if there's an accident...he can be stuck on those for a while...

I think the best thing you can do, is to drive these distances when you come down in June at rush hour. That way you'll get the best idea on how far you are "really" willing to live from work.

[Sunscape]

Eastlake is a very nice community with very good rated schools but I would say Westchase and surrounding areas are going to be closer to your working place than either Oldsmar or Safety Harbor.
And I agree with Algia on Carrolwood.

[tofu todd]

you need to live in Brandon, its directly east of MacDill AFB and on the highspeed highway, called the Crosstown, or the Leroy Selmon Expressway( named after a Buc's Football player) it goes directly from Brandon(Mac Dill East) to the base, even the tolls are automatic, no stopping!!Moderator cut: not allowed

[Matrips]

I know we're not interested in Brandon or being East of Tampa, but thank you for your input. We are really interested in staying west or north of Tampa.

[gulfer]

As mentioned, Westchase, Eastlake, and if you are going to look up around the Carrollwood area that puts you close to the Southern end of Lutz as well.
A 45 minute commute down here goes more distance than around the D.C. area. Dale Mabry is main road North out of MacDill. But in 45 minutes, you can be all the way up to Lutz and Odessa.
With your budget for a home, you will find some fantastic places with everything you want.

[Stewabby]

Why not South Tampa? The base is right there and the area has excellent schools.