St. Pete Area Question (Rio: crime, homes, neighborhood)

[NANGING]

My daughter lives in a great area in St Pete near 60th Av South. Bahama Shores, it's near the water.
If you go further south towards the Bay bridge it's an okay affordable area and not to far from the Don Cesar Hotel and the beach.

Originally Posted by KCNM

I'm looking to possibly move to downtown St. Pete area. There are some interesting listings in the area around 15th-17th Ave S, just north of Bartlett Park. But from reading the forums, many people say to stay away from south of downtown, which scares me some. Is this area south far enough to no longer qualify for that, or would it still be considered bad? (I read some people lauding the Lassing Park area, which is directly east. That's why I ask.)

I haven't gotten to look at the homes in person yet. Should hopefully be doing that later this week.

Also, anyone know anything about the Feather Sound area? There are a lot of condos for sale in my range there.

Thanks.

[stpeteguy]

Originally Posted by KCNM

I'm looking to possibly move to downtown St. Pete area. There are some interesting listings in the area around 15th-17th Ave S, just north of Bartlett Park. But from reading the forums, many people say to stay away from south of downtown, which scares me some. Is this area south far enough to no longer qualify for that, or would it still be considered bad? (I read some people lauding the Lassing Park area, which is directly east. That's why I ask.)

I haven't gotten to look at the homes in person yet. Should hopefully be doing that later this week.

Also, anyone know anything about the Feather Sound area? There are a lot of condos for sale in my range there.

Thanks.

I'm sure when you look at it person, you'll make the right decision.
The southside is a crime infested warzone. You'd be safer in iraq.

[Trabbz]

Originally Posted by stpeteguy

I'm sure when you look at it person, you'll make the right decision.
The southside is a crime infested warzone. You'd be safer in iraq.

In my opinion, this is an extremely untrue statement. There is higher crime in some parts, but not all of it is like that and it certainly cannot be compared to Iraq in any way. This is a very ignorant statement at its finest. Most likely these statements are being made because the area is predominately black. Go there for yourself and check it out. There are some undesirable locations and some that are fantastic. The whole area of south st. pete is not a terrible place, only certain pockets of it are rough. And again, it is not a warzone in any part of it. St. Pete has lower crime than many cities its size and most of the crime is a result of drugs or domestic. So stay away from the dope boys, and hang out with good people and you will be fine.

If you want a warzone, go to parts of Chicago, LA, Miami, or Philly.

[NeedAChangeFromFL]

Unsolved Homicides (http://www.stpete.org/police/unsolved_homicides.htm - broken link)

Do we notice a pattern here?

[tcb]

Originally Posted by NeedAChangeFromFL

Unsolved Homicides (http://www.stpete.org/police/unsolved_homicides.htm - broken link)

Do we notice a pattern here?

That's over a span of 8 years. Still some look random others do not.

[NeedAChangeFromFL]

Hhhmm...it has been a warzone before. You most likely didn't live here during the riots in '96.

Originally Posted by Trabbz

And again, it is not a warzone in any part of it. St.
Pete has lower crime than many cities its size and most of the crime is a result of drugs or domestic.
If you want a warzone, go to parts of Chicago, LA, Miami, or Philly.

[NeedAChangeFromFL]

I am not speaking of whether they are random or not. More than half occured on the south side and a lot occured during commissions of other crimes such as home invasions, etc.

To the OP - I would strongly suggest you go look at that area you had questions about and see it for yourself before you buy a place there.
Feathersound is still a better area, no matter which way you slice it.

Originally Posted by tcb

That's over a span of 8 years. Still some look random others do not.

[KCNM]

Right now I rent an apartment in South Tampa, by Howard south of Kennedy. It reminds me a lot of Gainesville; I'm guessing a lot of students from UT live in the area. But I work on the west side of St Pete, by the Tyrone Square mall. If I can cut the bridges out of my daily commute, I certainly wouldn't complain. And St Pete's downtown seems a lot more alive than Tampa's, which pretty much shuts down after the work day.

How is the area around Feather Sound? It seems like it's kind of separated from everything. I don't want to live in a sterile suburb with nothing around. I grew up in a place like that; it seemed like everything was a 15 minute drive away. I would love to live IN the city, but there are simply no listings in my price range there (looking at 200k max), so I'm trying to get as close as possible.

FloridaDerby, from your comments, you seemed to be pretty much all over the area way south, like from Maximo in the west to Coquina Key (sp?) in the east. Any particular portion of it you would or would not recommend?

EDIT:
Oh, and for crime... I'd rather trust the St Pete yearly crime report than these sites. It breaks it down by census tract, which seems to get a few neighborhoods.

[NeedAChangeFromFL]

Have you tried looking at the Jungle Terrace area of St. Pete? It's a decent area....near Azalea Elementary. If you work behind Tyrone Square you know where I am talking about. If you want closer to downtown Shore Acres might be good...either way I am not sure what, if anything, you would get for under 200k but it would be worth looking at.

The downtown area itself in Tampa sucks, it's a small downtown and more of a 9-5 downtown than a "happening" place...it also has a very high homeless population after the offices close....Channelside has a lot to offer in the way of nightlife though. Younger nightlife there and a lot safer (not to mention higher class) than Ybor.

St. Petersburg has the pier (which is not very exciting, IMO) and BayWalk which has Muvico, a few restaurants, and some shops. There are also some downtown bars there as well.

[FloridaDerby]

KCNM - I work in Carillon which is in the Feather Sound area. Feather Sound is really nice and it is about 15 minutes to downtown. There is not really much nightlife though. The only neighborhood I would not recommend is Midtown due to the amount of crime and noise (hope no one is offended). If I was looking for homes around 200k close to downtown and within walking or biking distance I would look in Old SE, Tropical Shores, Mirror Lake, Round Lake and Old NE. A lot of the other neighborhoods mentioned in this post are nice too... just further away from the downtown area.