Clearwater/Drew Street (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Largo: real estate, apartments, condos)

[I'mLeaving]

Hello,

Can anyone tell me about the 1300 block of Drew street, specifically the area across from the Clearwater Country Club and golf course.

I have contacted the Clearwater police station and checked their website. It seems like an ok area. I just feel like the more opinions I have, the better.

Basically, would you feel safe living in an apartment or home in that area?

I live in the Midwest and am looking to relocate. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[tinytrump]

pull up www.crimestop. I like it during the day, but at night?? so close to downtown and betty lane,, not sure.

[vaughanwilliams]

The biggest crime in Clearwater is boredom, but you could find a better apartment than where you're looking-the area seems to be fairly transient.

[I'mLeaving]

Originally Posted by vaughanwilliams

The biggest crime in Clearwater is boredom, but you could find a better apartment than where you're looking-the area seems to be fairly transient.

Such as...?

[vaughanwilliams]

Maybe I was jumping to conclusions-it's not a bad area. Before the economy went south, those smaller apartments along Drew Street were filled with immigrant construction workers (nothing wrong with that)-that's what I meant by transient. A lot has changed in Clearwater since the building boom is over. What I can see as I drive by at 40mph, they seem to be all right. Drew Street has a lot of traffic, though. The closer you get to Cleveland Street, the nicer it gets, and the neighborhood directly east of the C.C.C. is pretty cool.

[tinytrump]

I'm off Belcher and Bellaire towards Largo- quiet and safe for the most part- but yea boredom-- I am amazed such a big name in the tourist magazines and besides the beach nothing is here!!

[romes591]

Originally Posted by tinytrump

I'm off Belcher and Bellaire towards Largo- quiet and safe for the most part- but yea boredom-- I am amazed such a big name in the tourist magazines and besides the beach nothing is here!!

I am coming over.

[gulfbreeze]

I've lived in the Clearwater area for 5 years, but I've been coming here for decades to visit my parents. I wasn't very familiar with the residential areas of that section of Drew, though, so I took some time today and drove through all of the neighborhood surrounding 1300 Drew St.

Drew St. proper is dominated by various apartment buildings/complexes, and that section of Drew is particularly busy during the day, but the volume drops dramatically in the evenings. If you're looking at apartments, I'd try to get a unit on the back side of any buildings, because road noise could be substantial.

There is what looks like a brand new development (townhomes or condos, I can't tell) on the south side of the street that looks nice, a sign said units from ~$125k and up.

I was surprised how nice everything north of Drew St. is. From the 1300 block to the northeast you've got the huge Clearwater Country Club. Then to the northwest (that would be the streets going north on Drew, but west of the country club) you've got a small, very quiet neighborhood of very well kept small homes likely built from the 30s to the 60s, mostly bungalows and cottages. In that small neighborhood I'd be glad to live there.

On the flip side, the streets going south off Drew to the west (between Drew and Cleveland), the homes there are pretty rough to very rough, and don't look like homes that will get revitalized, either...at least not for years. Right now it might be safe, but I still wouldn't live there.

As an aside though, Clearwater is investing a huge amount of money revitalizing the Cleveland Street District which is a few blocks over from Drew St. Cleveland Street used to be the main thoroughfare that anyone going to the beach drove through to cross the bridge/causeway to Clearwater Beach. Traffic would be horrible due to the fact it was driving right down a busy commercial district with stop signs every block. When the built a new bridge was built they rerouted everything to the south and turned what used to be a bustling commercial/retail/restaurant district into a ghost town. It never recovered on its own.

Enter the city which is dropping millions into new grass medians, trees, sidewalks through Cleveland Street for miles. It looks really nice, but unfortunately, due to the economy, there's little interest in occupying commercial/retail or even residential on Cleveland Street going east from downtown. And there are two massive highrise condos down there that have filled up a bit since the real estate crash...still not busy enough, though. And while one might think that such condo developments would bring lots of people, Clearwater and many surrounding communities attract folks that buy them for second homes with plans for retiring here. So it's going to take time...and perhaps a long time.


That said, the Cleveland Street District right downtown if finally taking hold. They've refurbished the cool old Capitol Theater and made it into a venue featuring pretty good concerts (from a very wide variety of genres) and old films.

Bands/films are listed here:
rutheckerdhall.com/tickets-and-events/venues/capitol-theatre/


For a 2-3 blocks around it, it actually looks like it might turn around. The Clearwater Aquarium has occupied the former convention center (I think that's what it was) and during vacation months those few blocks are starting to fill with tourists. That has brought some restaurants back, and that's always good. And on the last Friday from Sept-May they block off the streets, have food and beer vendors and bring in some open air music concerts (often bands that were notable in the '70s....tonight it's Atlanta Rhythm Section, and Little River Band is next month).

Here's the Cleveland Street District website:
clevelandstreetdistrict.com


As much as downtown Clearwater has struggled to get cranked up, Drew St. going east has been and is still a bustling hub of activity, dominated by the Latino (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia) community around it. And that's a very good thing. While Drew there is very commercial, it's filled with the highest concentration of very authentic Mexican food/taquerias in the entire Tampa area, as well as cool grocery/produce markets and businesses serving that community and the surrounding area. I'm down there every week eating at my favorite places, in fact, I was there today which is why I drove on down the the blocks around 1300. Some folks may not think much of that type of ethnic area, but having lived in bustling large cities that had so many of those neighborhoods I loved, it's a welcome respite from the miles of white-bread suburbia that dominates most every city around Clearwater.

As others have said, Clearwater is a fairly sleepy town.
But so is virtually every other city on the gulf side of Tampa Bay.

Which is why when I want to do something different, I'll head to St. Petersburg (with its revitalizing downtown), or one of the many neighborhoods (with great restaurants) in Tampa (South Howard, Ybor City, Armenia & North Howard, etc).


The most notable exception to sleepy towns around Clearwater is the town of Dunedin, which is hands down my favorite small town in the Tampa area. Fairly small, but a very strong sense of community centered around a downtown neighborhood filled with shops and excellent restaurants & pubs, perfect for walking around at night....with the bonus being it's just a very short drive to the great state park beaches of Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island. If you're looking for a busy vacationers beach, Clearwater Beach is fine. If you want miles of endless quiet beaches, Honeymoon and Caladesi are fantastic. Even if you don't end up living in Dunedin, I encourage you to check it out.

Let me know if I can help in any way...direct message here is good or via a message through Yelp.com below (see my link). I have absolutely no connection to real estate in any way nor am I selling anything, I'm just a guy who retired here (to a town not far north of Clearwater), and have become a cheerleader for the community. And if you ever get here and need help, let me know and I can point you towards any types of things you're interested in. And if you're looking for good restaurants, check out my Yelp site with 200+ local reviews:

gulfbreeze.yelp.com

as well as my exhaustive list of 30+ Mexican restaurants just in north Pinellas County (where Clearwater is located):

yelp.com/list/most-authentic-mexican-restaurants-in-pinellas-clearwater

Edit:
Don't know why the links I've provided don't appear (to me at least) as being highlighted. You'll have to cut and past them.

[Sunscape]

Gulfbreeze, that is a very informative review of the area. You hit it right on!

Most authentic Mexican food on Drew st.:http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-cabana-del-tio-clearwater