Considering move areas: Dunedin, Safety/Palm Harbor, Oldsmar, Tarpon Springs??? (Tampa: sale, rentals)

[overit2]

Hello all, the move we are planning is still a couple years away. Need time to fix my house for rent or sale (currently live in Georgia)-save money for move costs, to find jobs, etc.

NO idea where the jobs will be located by my spouse work in AC industry-I work for an airline and could transfer to the airport/res center there or possibly another similar job (currently I'm a product manager).

I'm used to commuting about 30mins a day and want to keep it around that. The main idea is getting into a nice school area, the schools here in Douglas county are awful.

SO, by the time we get there my sons will likely be just about starting High School. I've been researching a lot and found these areas sound promising:
Safety Harbor, Dunedin, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Tarpon Springs. Are they similar to eachother?

Which area would be better suited for a home with teens, that eventually will fly the nest so it would be just us left and we would be in our early 40's.

We would be looking for a 3-4 bedroom house with a pool-and more specifically prefere older established well maintained neighborhoods, but not necessarily needed to have HOA's/rules. DH likes to work on motor sports jet ski's, motorcycles, etc and even though he would use the garage and (we wouldn't pile vehicles redneck style ha)! we still want the freedom to do so. I prefer more 'property' then boxed homes back to back.

What are the pro's con's of these areas? Proximity to "tampa" if jobs are there, sense of safety, community, with some nice shops/pubs/restaurants around (instead of strip malls).

Another big factor, many people have recommended perhaps renting when first moving to get established with jobs before searching for your perfect home, which takes time, lots of visiting houses, etc...the stress enough of moving and changing your lives entirely and jobs is daunting enough. Do many people do that when they first arrive? Is there a big difference in rental prices for a home vs purchasing? We would ideally like to rent if we have to in the same school/area that we plan to purchase. Purchase price would be between 150-250k. ANY help would be appreciated.

I keep hearing about South Tampa (Plant High School) but it strikes me as the homes would be a lot more expensive there?

[overit2]

One other question, are there any technical schools there for motor sports/boats, etc?

[callow2]

I am looking into the same areas. We want to rent first as we are coming from Wisconsin and want to get to explore the area before we decide on where to buy. I've really liked Safety Harbor but it seems like there aren't a lot of rentals for the size and price range I am looking at. I would love to hear the pros and cons for the cities in this area. Maybe even Palm Harbor.

[gulfer]

To me they all have a little different feel. A lot of the same looks, but some of the places just appear a little older. The Safety and Palm Harbor areas are nice, the Oldsman area is nice (but this one looks a little older) for the most part. Tarpon Springs starts to get you into the more rural areas around Tampa and Dunedin is nice as well.
I would also recommend Westchase and Odessa, even up a little to the Carrollwood area. They pretty much match your distance.

Devry has a technical school close to HWY 4/HWY 75. I believe they are predominantly tech.