Tell me about Wesley Chapel (Miami, Tampa: rental, crime, hotel) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

zealgirl7 · 11-02-2007, 09:04 AM

My husband and I have fallen in love with the homes and what seems to be "the feel" of Wesley Chapel. We are going to be moving to Tampa - and want that friendly suburb feel, with newer homes. Is Wesley Chapel safe? How far of a commute is it to downtown Tampa. My husband will be working off of 275 and Memorial Hwy. Is this is horrible commute? How is traffic?

Thanks for any of your comments!

Luliah · 11-02-2007, 10:16 AM

From a true Floridian in Northeast Tampa to a newbie. WELCOME!!!! I know many Floridians will not welcome you but I hope you like the Tampa area dispite all its shortcomings. I am very familiar with the Wesley Chapel area and I hope my opinions will help you.

Wesley Chapel is very new in developing. This comes with a huge price. There are few stores, few schools, and a very sad little thing they like to call a post office. The roads are not yet built out to handle the rapidly growing population so just getting down the one and only main road, SR54, will require excessive amounts of time and patience. Before you think I'm entirely negative please read the following sections which could pertain to you and your family.

Schools: Many of the children are sent to schools off SR54 which are getting very overcrowded although they are seeking to open new schools in the future which for you would be great if you can be patient. If, big if, you can get your kids sent to the schools in "New Tampa" which is just south of Wesley Chapel, they will be in awesome schools without the growing problems of the WC schools. There are also some very excellent private schools in New Tampa as well.

Family/Safety: Because of the good schools, this area in general has nicer more family oriented neighborhoods and the new developments are geared towards families. Some of Wesley Chapel is new, well secured, and well lit, and because of this, the crime is not high. This is also a more expensive area and is well patrolled.

Traffic: Your questions regarding travel time from Wesley Chapel to Memorial/275 and also to downtown Tampa cannot be defined by anyone with any degree of certainty. Please understand first that Tampa is a commuter city. It ranks in the top ten for most expensive and lengthy commutes in the country. This is due to a lack of an effective public transport system, undersized roads, lack of main roads, and poorly built merges on highways. To try to better estimate your travel times: Your husband's drive will vary greatly on his time of departure. SR54, I75 southbound, and 275 southbound are all nightmares between 6:45 and 9am and reversed from 4:30 to 5:30pm. If he can avoid these times he'll probably have an hour and a half commute, possibly a smidgin shorter or longer. If he drives during these times he will drive some of the most crowded roads in the entire area and I would count on a minimum of a 2 hour drive. Just to prove this point: I live in New Tampa and left a job very close to Memorial and I75 and took a job in Sarasota. My drive time is actually shorter now - 1.5 hours. There is really no alternate for his drive other than to change his time of departure and return. Your best option BEFORE buying a house in WC is to stay in a hotel in WC and have him drive to work as he would if you lived there. Keep in mind that no matter where you live, the commute will probably be long.

Work: There are few to no job opportunities in the Wesley Chapel area if he should ever leave his company. Keep this in mind. His drive will never really get shorter as he'd probably have to find another job in Tampa.

Options: Wesley chapel is cheaper than some of Tampa and is more family oriented. However, there are some other areas I think you should also consider which are closer and may prove equivalent if not better. Citrus Park, Town and Country, and the newer west part of Lutz are also great areas that are more established and would also give you the family feel you want.

So, enough of my book on Tampa. I really hope this helps you.

zealgirl7 · 11-02-2007, 01:37 PM

Thank you sooooo much!!! this is sooo good to know. Perhaps you can give me some direction on what would fit our lifestyle. My husband and I are newlyweds (only 4 mo.) and don't have children. We aren't probably going to start for at least 4 years. I am 25, he is 29. We like the suburb feel - but if there is a safer area that is close to where he will be working - please let me know. I We aren't too familiar with the are at all. Thanks soooo much!

M3 Enthusiast · 11-02-2007, 03:15 PM

Also look into Westchase area as well, if not then my second pick would be Citrus Park (both are "much" closer to downtown Tampa).

TampaKaren · 11-02-2007, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zealgirl7

My husband and I have fallen in love with the homes and what seems to be "the feel" of Wesley Chapel. We are going to be moving to Tampa - and want that friendly suburb feel, with newer homes. Is Wesley Chapel safe? How far of a commute is it to downtown Tampa. My husband will be working off of 275 and Memorial Hwy. Is this is horrible commute? How is traffic?

Thanks for any of your comments!

Hi Zealgirl7,

Ditto on the early welcome to Tampa! The entire metro area is filled with burbs. The city itself is quite small compared to similar cities.

Before we can help you geographically can you please tell us your minimum housing requirements and price range. Knowing these things will enable those of us who know the area to better serve you. It's also helpful to know if you prefer an active community or a smaller neighborhood.

Also, if you are settled on Wesley Chapel, your new hubby (congrats!) can drive west on Highway 54 to south on the Suncoast Parkway (aka Veterans' Expressway) to get to I-275 & Memorial (which is very conjested during peak drive times...sorry). This is a toll road, but it's cheap, IMO.

Just curious, which community in Wesley Chapel attracted you? You might get a similar to Wesley Chapel look & feel in one of the newer developments near the Parkway.

zealgirl7 · 11-06-2007, 08:34 AM

We were looking at Seven Oaks... but to be honest we have no clue where anything really is - we are just looking at rental houses online. We don't want to buy until we get there and get a feel for the area. We are pretty flexible with neighborhoods - but we are looking to have kids in like 4-5 years, so a safe place would be ideal. After hearing that the commute could be 2 hours - we are a bit nervous now!! Any other suggestions of places to live that is close to where he will be working? We live in Denver and have 10 min. commutes now... I am assuming that a 20-30 min. commute is practically impossible in Tampa?

zealgirl7 · 11-06-2007, 08:35 AM

oh, and we are looking at renting in the $1000 - $1400/mo range.

axeltr · 11-06-2007, 12:05 PM

I moved to Tampa 2 months ago from Miami and from so far I love it. We're renting at a rental community in Brandon. My wife commutes to the airport and it takes her about 30-40mins tops. We loved the WC area but it seemed too far considering that we just don't know 100% were we'll, hopefully, buy a house. What we liked about were we are is that we are close to everything: I-75, the Crosstown Expwy is 2 mins away, Brandon Mall the same. We don't have any kids and don't plan to until we buy a house. We did look at houses for rent but you'll need to spend some time looking because most of the good one go really quickly. Good luck with your move.

tnwannabe · 11-07-2007, 09:53 AM

I see that your posting was August but I only joined the forum a few days ago. I am 10 minutes from Wesley Chapel and I have watched if grow over the last 20 years. While it is a safe place to live with lots of new sub divisions, the roads have yet to catch up to the mass amounts of people who communte into Tampa everyday. The communte to memorial and 275 from Wesley Chapel will literally take him well over 1 1/2 hours on a good day! No kidding, that communte is AWFUL! If you are looking for a safe neighborhood with only a 30 to 45 minute communte, check in Odessa or Oldsmar. Both of these have quiet neighborhoods and good schools. P.S. Citrus Park is full of garbarge, I have been here in Tampa area for 20 years and watched it go downhill, Westchase is a subdivision in the heart of Citrus Park, while it is pricey, the surrounding neighborhood that developed, to me, is undesireable!

TampaKaren · 11-07-2007, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zealgirl7

We were looking at Seven Oaks... but to be honest we have no clue where anything really is - we are just looking at rental houses online. We don't want to buy until we get there and get a feel for the area. We are pretty flexible with neighborhoods - but we are looking to have kids in like 4-5 years, so a safe place would be ideal. After hearing that the commute could be 2 hours - we are a bit nervous now!! Any other suggestions of places to live that is close to where he will be working? We live in Denver and have 10 min. commutes now... I am assuming that a 20-30 min. commute is practically impossible in Tampa?

Hi Zealgirl,

I took the Seven Oaks Wesley Chapel criteria and applied it a little closer to the Suncoast Parkway (aka Veteran's Expressway). You might want to look at some of the newer communities in Land O Lakes as well, e.g., Oakstead, Suncoast Lakes, Suncoast Meadows, Ballantrae, and Tierra del Sol. These communities are well within your price range and the selection is plentiful. The commute won't be 10 minutes, but it will be quicker and easier than to/from Wesley Chapel.

Write back if you have more ??s

Good luck!