Which area around St. Pete is great for a family? (Tampa: to rent, insurance)

[kkbzr]

Hello all,

We are in Michigan but may be moving to St. Pete. I have lived in north Tampa, but my husband is going to be working at 94 Ave N and 4th street N., and I know how long of a commute that can be. What good family areas not horribly far from that area would you recommend? I know parts of St. Pete are more crime ridden and I would really like to avoid that.
Thank you!
Lynn

[BBI]

Originally Posted by kkbzr

We are in Michigan but may be moving to St. Pete. I have lived in north Tampa, but my husband is going to be working at 94 Ave N and 4th street N., and I know how long of a commute that can be. What good family areas not horribly far from that area would you recommend? I know parts of St. Pete are more crime ridden and I would really like to avoid that.

What's your budget? Are you thinking public or private schools? When you say "family areas" are you thinking planned-community/subdivision sort of feel, like a "you wouldn't be here unless you were supposed to be here" sort of feel, or just somewhere that's kid-friendly/safe?

[kkbzr]

Hi,
We homeschool, so the school system isn't as issue. We would want to rent at first, but overall budget would be about $300,000. We are mostly concerned with safety. It would also be great to not be on a super low elevation.
Thank you!

[BBI]

Originally Posted by kkbzr

Hi,
We homeschool, so the school system isn't as issue. We would want to rent at first, but overall budget would be about $300,000. We are mostly concerned with safety. It would also be great to not be on a super low elevation.
Thank you!

Pretty much anything within a short commute of 4th/94th is going to be at a low elevation. And homes tend to get nicer as you get nearer to the water around here... FYI, you can plug an address into floodsmart.org to see if it's in a "high risk" or "med/low risk" flood zone. High risk means flood insurance is mandatory and relatively expensive. You can be pretty darn near the water and not in a high risk flood zone. If Katrina comes, the whole county's underwater...

Re safety, I'm not sure what you're used to. My super-duper safe recommendations: (1) Feather Sound is very close to the office. (2) I believe there's some gated at Bardmoor/Bayou Club. (3) Safety Harbor, and particularly some of the subdivisions north side of town, feel a lot like north Tampa suburbs. But that's a good half hour commute, maybe more, I'm not sure what's OK. (4) Way up north, Palm Harbor or East Lake is probably also a good fit, but you get the same commute time as the north of Tampa communities, which I know you're trying to avoid. (5) Western part of Seminole and just north in Belleair/Bluffs is a good fit, but that's as much commute as north Tampa.

If you're OK with city living, from a safety perspective, in St. Pete, look at northeast, Crescent Lake, Crescent Heights, Five Points. West side of town, Jungle, Azalea, Pasadena; thinking 300k gets you very near the Pasadena Yacht/Country club. Anywhere in town, there's normal city petty crime, so you need to lock your car doors at night, lock your house when you're not there, etc.. But it's not dangerous. Would also recommend South Tampa, but not confident you'll find something in your price range.