Possible move to St. Pete - Advice on where to "visit" during the weekend (Tampa: appointed, apartment) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

lmw36 · 09-03-2013, 06:05 PM

Hello Tampa Bay forum!

I will be visiting St. Petersburg this weekend for a brief stint (24 hours or so) to scope the area out due to an upcoming career move. I'm coming from the northeast.

Yes, my pay will be much better. About 25% better, to be exact. I'm young (early 20's), without children, and without pets. I'm looking to gain a few things from my (short) visit. This will not be my last visit, as after my initial "scope", I'll be back down to actually visit apartment homes/rental properties. This is a preliminary visit to investigate the different areas or neighborhoods that are available.

-Where to live, first and foremost. I don't mind driving to work, but being able to ride the Pinellas trail in would also be nice. The max I would like to pay in rent including utilities is 800-900. I could go a little bit higher if I absolutely had to, but I don't think it's necessary in this area from what I've seen. The reason I'm not willing to go all out is because I have other savings goals and would like to buy my own property in the next 5 years or so. I have no debt besides a 0% car payment, so I'm not too worried about the money. If anyone has any complexes or properties they could recommend to me at this point, that would already be fabulous.

-The night spots where younger people might hang out

-Places to avoid. I have searched the forum for a map, and have not found one. If anyone could please link me up with one, I would really like that.

-I know FL is hot. Like really hot. If you are going to just post and tell me about how hot FL is, I already understand this. I know it is different than the northeast. I'm OK with this.

Basically, I'm looking for a short and sweet itinerary. I will have a rental vehicle and plan on using most of my time driving around/walking (I'm an avid runner as well, so if I'm lucky I could squeeze a few in), and checking out some of the restaurants.

tjax1000 · 09-06-2013, 07:48 PM

I would recommend you check out downtown St. Pete and the waterfront parks. Check out areas near downtown and slightly north (not south!)

jambo101 · 09-07-2013, 02:53 AM

You might take a drive down the beaches area just to get an idea..

mateo384 · 09-07-2013, 09:09 AM

start at Clearwater Beach and drive down the coast and check out the beaches and pretty scenery. Then head over to downtown St. Pete, park the car, and walk around. After that, drive thru some adjacent neighborhoods. You can do that in a day. That's what I plan on doing.

Tamatem · 09-07-2013, 09:10 AM

Are you still looking to move here mateo?

jambo101 · 09-07-2013, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mateo384

start at Clearwater Beach and drive down the coast and check out the beaches and pretty scenery. Then head over to downtown St. Pete, park the car, and walk around. After that, drive thru some adjacent neighborhoods. You can do that in a day. That's what I plan on doing.

You will be disappointed with that drive if you are looking for scenery as from Clearwater to Passagrille the Gulf view is obstructed by a never ending wall of highrise hotel/condo bunkers. I posted the suggestion for the Gulf drive to show that there are more affordable places on the non water side of the street, scenery? sparse... Driving north on gulf blvd this pic gives an idea of the scenery. the gulf and its beaches are just on the other side of those high rises.

mateo384 · 09-07-2013, 11:09 AM

yea that's very true. It is a never-ending wall, and it pissed me off the last time I was there. The beach access was very slim pickins unless you stayed at a resort or condo.

yes, I am still looking to move. I'm planning on a trip over there next week, so i'm kinda in the same boat. And yes, I do like Daytona very much. It's 50/50 right now on leaving or staying. There is no traffic here (don't have to deal with those light issues you guys are moaning about, lol) and I've got a good job. But I need to make a decision by Dec 1st.

gonna check out Tampa Bay next week, and then Fort Lauderdale in Oct. some time. Key West is also an option.

jambo101 · 09-07-2013, 01:44 PM

My favorite place in Fla for many reasons , is a small town about 20 miles north of Daytona called Flagler Beach.

https://www.google.ca/search?safe=ac...39.0jJQI52dfeI

north__to__south · 09-07-2013, 08:14 PM

We just moved from the Northeast to St Pete and so far, so good. Before we came, we checked out downtown St Pete along the waterfront, 3 beaches (Fort DeSoto, St Pete Beach and Treasure Island which are all very different), the restaurants and stores along Central Ave, and a few neighborhoods we researched (all on the "North" streets, although we rented a house on the South side before knowing it was...sketchy). That was really good enough for us to get a nice feel for the area. We came back again to house hunt after even more research.

BBI · 09-09-2013, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmw36

I will be visiting St. Petersburg this weekend for a brief stint (24 hours or so) to scope the area out due to an upcoming career move. I'm coming from the northeast. ... I'm young (early 20's), without children, and without pets. I'm looking to gain a few things from my (short) visit. This will not be my last visit, as after my initial "scope", I'll be back down to actually visit apartment homes/rental properties. This is a preliminary visit to investigate the different areas or neighborhoods that are available. ... I don't mind driving to work, but being able to ride the Pinellas trail in would also be nice. The max I would like to pay in rent including utilities is 800-900. ... The night spots where younger people might hang out ... Places to avoid. I have searched the forum for a map, and have not found one. If anyone could please link me up with one, I would really like that. ...

The only two consistently fun nightlife spots in the bay area are downtown St. Pete and South Tampa in/around South Howard Ave (aka SoHo). There are lots of posts here comparing the two. If you only have 24 hours, do not waste your time going to a beach. Tourists can make them fun during summer months, but there are no young professional beach communities here; it's a day trip, not someplace to ilve.

I live in St. Pete. Someone else will have to help you with South Tampa. Downtown St. Pete is the south end of the Pinellas trail, so check that box. There are bike paths along the bay, but that's mostly us non-serious bikers out on beach cruisers with solo cups. For nightlife, start with Beach Dr from 5th Ave NE down to Central. Lined with bars/restaurants, upscale feel by St. Pete standards. (All of St. Pete is flip-flop appropriate, so it's not that upscale...) Then walk over to Central between 2nd and 3rd St. The whole block is bars/restaurants, more of a local feel, not as upscale. Everything is within a block or so of those two stretches. (I'm not sure where you're moving from in the northeast, but St. Pete is not a big city; does not have a big city feel at all.)

The bad neighborhood in St. Pete is called Midtown. There's no reason for you to go there. I don't have a map, but just draw a box around the area bordered by 4th St S, 10th Ave S, 275 and 54th Ave S. If you end up apartment hunting downtown, stay north of 175 (5th Ave S). In your price range, I don't think you're going to find an super-upgraded place downtown, but you should be able to find something OK for your age. A lot of younger folks also rent just north of downtown in the Old NE neighborhood (within a block or two of the Old NE Tavern, 2nd St at 7th Ave N). Mostly small apartment buildings.

FYI it's 15 minutes at rush hour from downtown to the Gateway/Carillon area where I assume you'll be working.