First two weeks in St. Pete: The good, the bad, and the ugly

[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by Irishiis49

I guess he thinks it too "skid row"...like San Francisco's Tenderloin district...? The OP sure formed a lot of opinions in two weeks...

That is exactly what I was thinking.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

Maybe they serve tenderloin steaks on the bus?

I guess we country bumpkins only know of it as a cut of meat.....lol. I get irritated having to hear the loud cell phone conversations. Inconsiderate. No one wants to hear that stuff. Go somewhere private. Always tempted to turn around and nod as if I'm part of the phone conversation. I guess it's the Larry David in me.

[BucFan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtdpJlZ07u4

[071402]

Two weeks? Pretty long list for just two weeks.


?

Originally Posted by smarino

We've been in our new town 2 weeks now, and here's some first impressions (which are probably as accurate as anything else, judging from my past travel experiences).

The good: Great bus system. Some buses are ghetto, but others are fun, and the drivers are fine. Many run late too. The #4 and #52 are the ones we like so far. The Williams Park bus meet up is way too S.F. Tenderloin though.

The people. Met some very friendly people already, and quite a few liberal types, which is why we moved here.

Good, cheap eats. The Lucky Dill and The Dome are dirt cheap if you order right, and conveniently located downtown. Burrito Boarder has great food too at good prices. Quite a few nice coffee shops, especially in the Grand Central district.

The weather. This is the time to appreciate Florida.

The neighborhoods. St. Pete is truly a town that is about neighborhoods within neighborhoods, and they can change on you in a block or two. This is not a town that you learn in a short while.

The Saturday Market. Great food (a wee bit pricey), excellent music, at least when we went. Plenty of bathrooms. Crawfish pie! Not sure that is normally there. It was tasty too.

The bad: the drivers! Homicidal maniacs doesn't even begin to describe them. Today there were 2 pedestrian fatalities and one motorcycle death. If you walk and bike as we do, be very, very careful. Easily the most dangerous city I have ever rode a bike in, and just walking across the street is hair raising.

The people. While we've met some nice ones, many are stinkers from up North. Way too much attitude, and there's a plastic sort of person I have not seen since I lived in L.A. years ago. Walking through a Publix will get you quite a few of these types talking at full volume on their cell phones about how someone is cutting them out of their deals! We don't care, and we don't want to hear about it. Get in your Lexus and go shop at Walmart or something.

The ghettos areas. Yes, they are indeed bad, as others have mentioned. I have seen far worse, but there's a lot of them here. Not as bad as L. A. or New York. Not that dangerous and crazy, but you don't want to get caught out in them either.

The folks from Ohio, Michigan, etc. Most are retirees, but not always. I just don't get them. Not as pushy and rude as the East Coast people, but not my cup of tea either. Manners is something they read about in a book apparently. They're not necessarily bad mannered. It's hard for me to articulate. It's almost impossible to get them to listen to you because they're so determined to tell you their story. Some will even talk over you, which is not OK, but I'm sure they have no idea they're even doing it. They just bother me.

Yuppie Hell types. Theses folks are so shallow it's amazing. It's all about their car, their kids, their family, their job. Me, me, me! They're buying up large chunks of real estate downtown and drastically changing the feel of things. Big Money. The Edge District is one place they've staked out for their $8 espressos, and the upscale waterfront area has to be seen to be believed. You are required to jog w/ a child in a $500 stroller, w/ cup holders for your StarSucks coffee cup, whilst blathering on your cell phone and wearing a baseball cap of your favorite baseball team from anywhere but Florida it seems. I have seen more people here on their smart phones than I have ever seen in my life previous to this.

The ugly: Just one entry here. Besides the very friendly types and the rude jerks, there is something going on w/ the speed of talk and activity here. St. Pete moves like New York. I was not prepared for this, even though I visited briefly before we moved here. The speech pattern is crazy fast, which I can get up to speed on and don't mind, but it's the other part of it that is ugly. People don't think things out, they just react. No contemplation, just do it! This explains a lot of the crazy driving too. There's an aggressiveness that spooks me. I think that's why there's so many hit and run accidents here. They just flat don't care or something. I'm still figuring this one out, and if they don't kill me while they're driving and texting it will be a miracle.

So we're pretty happy so far. Just need to carve out our niche and find our circle of friends. A very interesting place, but the pace is really an adjustment. St. Pete is NOT a laid back place no matter what people say. I always heard that about the west coast side of Florida, but we moved here from the east coast side, and this is much, much faster paced. Doesn't feel like Florida in many ways, which is not necessarily good or bad.

[PDF]

Great post! Nice to hear some objective thoughts for once.

[GoodBeer]

It seems that people, when either raving about how cool Downtown St. Pete is or defending the place like it's London, forget that just a FEW SHORT years ago it was a ghost town after 6pm. This new revival of downtown happened very quickly and very recently. The gentrification was swift, the COL increases steep. I liken it to SoDoSopa and CtPaTown. Those who get this, get this. Yes, downtown is historic, but was not always wonderful. Until this recent revitalization, there were very few bars, fewer clubs, and no condescending hipsters because no one cared about it. Now that it's vibrant and popular, everyone is suddenly proud to be from this magical place, even if they are not.

[kbrkr]

Typical West Coast stereotype attitude of the North East. I'm sure he/she's never even set foot in a Northeastern state, but they are experts.

[CubsFan20]

He lost me at "St. Pete has a great bus system"... lol

I think a lot of his observations are pretty spot on, especially the parts about the ghetto, yuppies, drivers and shallow people though

Just remember though, all the ****ty drivers we have all came from somewhere else

[Lavs]

Originally Posted by kbrkr

Typical West Coast stereotype attitude of the North East. I'm sure he/she's never even set foot in a Northeastern state, but they are experts.

+1.

If I had just moved somewhere, I might take a bit longer to get to know my new neighbors since I'm, effectively, the interloper before casting judgement in a very wide net.

[CubsFan20]

Originally Posted by Lavs

+1.

If I had just moved somewhere, I might take a bit longer to get to know my new neighbors since I'm, effectively, the interloper before casting judgement in a very wide net.

It doesnt take months of reflection to figure out that parts of St. Pete suck and are to be avoided at all cost... and that certain venues are havens for hipster d-bags

just my 2 cents