St. Petersburg for families? (Miami, Tampa: appointed, houses, safe neighborhood)

[summers19]

My husband, two boys, and I would like to move to FL, specifically a town on the Gulf. Sarasota and Bonita Springs are our first choices, but job opportunities are not plentiful in the financial industry in those towns. St. Petersburg/Tampa seems to be the area where he would most likely receive a job offer.

Both of us have lived in Florida (me for 8 years...Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando; and my husband grew up in Orlando). We now live in the mid-Atlantic area. We visited St. Petersburg in June to see if we liked the area. We liked the town of St. Petersburg, specifically Old Northeast (?) and downtown and the park on the Bay. I was pleasantly surprised. However, the surrounding areas were what I had imagined...old, outdated, run down. We visited several towns such as Dunedin, Safety Harbor, St. Pete Beach, etc. We really liked Dunedin. St. Pete Beach left much to be desired. I felt like I was caught in a 1970's time warp. We are avid beachgoers and were disappointed in the beaches in the Clearwater/St. Pete Beach areas. We traveled down to Longboat Key and Anna Maria beaches and we prefer those beaches (yes, we've seen De Soto's ranking).

Anyway, do you think St. Petersburg is family-friendly? Is it relatively safe for kids to ride their bikes, walk to the stores, hang out at the parks? I have tween and teen boys. They love tennis, swimming, and soccer. They would like to join a swim team, junior tennis team, and soccer team. Can they walk or ride their bikes to the pools? Courts? We would probably look at private schools for them.

[Irishiis49]

I would wait to see where your husband actually lands a job...we made a mistake bought a home thinking my husband would be working one place and turned out his best offer was from a company that was 35 miles away! He spent two hours a day in the car...also without knowing your budget it his difficult to give suggestions...my son bought a home in Historic Kenwood but he is getting married in December and kids are a few years off...I would not feel comfortable with my grandkids biking around there without a grown up with them...but if you have a big enough budget there are places in Old North East that would afford you a safer lifesyle.

[summers19]

Thanks, Irishiis49. No, we would never move down to FL without one of us having a secure job offer. We think his best bet is to get an offer in St. Petersburg (versus one in Sarasota or Bonita Springs), so we are feeling out the area first before we go any further. I would hate for him to focus on Tampa/St. Petersburg, get an offer, then we have to decide quickly without much information on how to proceed. We're in the information-gathering stage. Old North East is in our budget. I'm just wondering if it's safe enough for kids to ride bikes without adult supervision, walk to each others' houses, walk down to the park on the Bay, the swimming pool, tennis courts, downtown, etc.

We live in a very safe neighborhood right now and it's difficult to see giving this up for something less safe. It feels like a crap shoot.

[JayGatsby]

Old NE seems safe to me. You could have the occasional transient that wonders in from downtown, but I think it is fine. Snell isle and areas along the bay to the north might be a little safer, but personally I wouldn't be concerned in Old NE.

[CaritoD]

If anyone has any info in this matter as well, Im interested. I am 37 y/o with a 14 y/o teen. Looking for cheerleading programs in the area and other activities for teens. Im wondering if this area is good for a teen or not?

[alaskan adventurer]

Answer to org post. NO!