I've moved to Land O Lakes and wanted to give a follow up (Bayonet Point: rental)

[tights24]

Howdy folks,

I know that there aren't many threads talking about how folks like the areas they have moved to, only "what area is best" type threads. Having said that, I found a house to rent in LOL and my wife and son have finally moved down. We like it very much up here, and when I say "up here", I mean it. We are up close to Bayonet Point actually even though it's a LOL address. Lots of stuff close to us on 52 and 19. Nice neighbors. So far so good. It's a bit far north, but we are not concerned with travel to the beaches and such anyway. previously we were more than an hour away from Mass beaches and they're nothing spectacular anyway.

Regardless, just wanted to give a report that the area is a nice place for families and it seems a good fit for us. Thanks for everyone's posts and help over the last few months while i was searching and asking the typical questions.

[gulfer]

GREAT POST. Could you please provide some comments on the following:

Your expectations moving down and what you have seen?
Your ability to find something you like vs the areas that were recommended that you didn't necessarily care for?
If you have kids, how have they faired at school (meeting people, things to do, etc...)
Can you comment about the people you meet? (some on here bash Land O Lakes [I live here] as rednecks, drugs, etc...)

Anything else would be great. Very happy that you found something you liked and it worked out. Thanks for taking the time to post and keep everyone informed. Threads like this are GREAT!!

[tights24]

Your expectations moving down and what you have seen?
Your ability to find something you like vs the areas that were recommended that you didn't necessarily care for?
If you have kids, how have they faired at school (meeting people, things to do, etc...)
Can you comment about the people you meet? (some on here bash Land O Lakes [I live here] as rednecks, drugs, etc...)

Let me see.

Expectations: I have been traveling down here all summer for work so my expectations were different than others. I kind of knew what I was getting into. However, my wife and son(3 years old) were pretty much new to the area and they like it a lot. Of course we picked a pretty good time weather wise to make the move so that helped.

Area: I was only limited by my ludicrous research. hahahaha. In a way, I'm glad I ended up in a HOA community. However, I did get lucky in that this place is very relaxed. No crazy rules. Folks have Christmas lights out, they have american flags flying, etc. No parking on the street overnight, but that's mainly because the streets aren't that wide. There's a community watch and numerous folks have walked up and introduced themselves since we've moved in. Seems like a pretty good group of people. Only time will tell of course and I'm not naive to the worl and the potential weirdos.

One child: Looking at daycares/Pre-k's now and all places visited so far have been really nice. It will take a while for the local kids to warm up to a new person, but they all seem nice. Kids of all ages here so it's good. they're out and about after dark which also tells me it's relatively safe here.

People: yeah, there are some areas near the city limits like where we are that are a bit "hillbilly". But you have that in every smaller town on the outskirts. I've lived in a lot of different states in my life and this is no different. Haven't had any "cause problems" per se yet. Again, I've only been here for 2 weeks or so, but bottom line, people are people. If you start the conversation or "walk by" with your own hello, they are typically nice. There are a lot of folks that just aren't people person's, and they are typically the ones that have problems with people considered rednecks. There is quite a lack of respect in the younger generations these days.

Oh, and everything is within 10 miles of my house. From Home depot on 19 to three different grocery stores.

Again, thanks for all of the help folks.

[gulfer]

PERFECT. Thank You!

[Native2UT]

Sounds like you're pretty close to where I am (near 52 and the Suncoast). We've been here for 4 months now and feel like we're finally settling in a bit. But, I gotta say, I really don't care for living "up here". Too far away from good schools and too close to those Hillbillies you mentioned in your post. Pretty sure we'll be moving further South as soon as our lease is up next Summer. Hoping it proves to be a little easier to find the place that's just right for us this time around now that we live here.

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by Native2UT

Sounds like you're pretty close to where I am (near 52 and the Suncoast). We've been here for 4 months now and feel like we're finally settling in a bit. But, I gotta say, I really don't care for living "up here". Too far away from good schools and too close to those Hillbillies you mentioned in your post. Pretty sure we'll be moving further South as soon as our lease is up next Summer. Hoping it proves to be a little easier to find the place that's just right for us this time around now that we live here.

^^^^ This is exactly why I always tell people to rent before buying. This is also why I try to tell people that those new beautiful homes in LOL are so inexpensive. When we house shopped we looked at a couple LOL homes and really considered on buying one. The area is ok, the school's are decent and you can buy a ton of house for your money. We were looking at Bellantrae (hysi) and their CCD taxes were very high, essentially making that cheap house... not any cheaper when it comes to monthly payments.

LOL is pretty far up there and I am glad we chose the Carrollwood area instead. Sure, my house is older. But instead of having everything within 10 miles, I literally have everything I could ever need within 2 - 3 miles.

If you like a more rural feel and work relatively close to LOL, I think it's a great area. Glad to hear you guys are enjoying it.

[Native2UT]

I don't dislike Land O Lakes at all. In fact, I think the communities along 54 are quite nice. But, I'm 10 miles North of those even! My kids go to school down there and I can't tell you how sick of making the drive I am already. And let's not even talk about the tolls! Having said that, LOL is a pretty good location for hubby's work. Anyway, we had a serious handicap trying to find a rental home from 2000 miles away when we moved here. I think being local will really make a big difference for us finding a great fit next time.