Moving to Tampa Bay area from Boston, MA (Brandon, Spring Hill: insurance, construction)

[theurbanfiles]

Bradenton really doesn't have a recreational infrastructure in terms of bike paths compared to a lot of areas, honestly. Closest things are Robinson Preserve, Myakka River State Park and Legacy Trail, the former of which is a hike from East Bradenton, and the latter 2 are in South Sarasota and can be out of the way also.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by cavsfan137

Rereading your post... Old NE/Kenwood of St Pete, or bust. Absolutely. That's the best fit for you in the area, by a long shot. Close to the beach, the arts, vibrant downtown, baseball/soccer, Pinellas Trail, etc. etc.

And a lengthy commute to Bradenton, which would have been impossible earlier this week for at least two days as the Sunshine Skyway was closed due to the weather.

RM

[Concert D Major]

Old Northeast St. Pete would be a long commute to get down to Bradenton. Why do so many on here underestimate commute times?

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Concert D Major

Old Northeast St. Pete would be a long commute to get down to Bradenton. Why do so many on here underestimate commute times?

Not to mention the issue of dealing with the Skyway when there is inclement weather. If you're at work in Bradenton and the Skyway is closed, you're going to have a very lengthy commute back to St. Pete.

RM

[riogringa]

Thank you so much for the advice, all. We do love the beach, but it seems as though most of the activity in these places is further inland.

We have a car and no kids so transport and schools are not an issue for us. Sorry if I was not clear, we want to live in a "walkable" are not out of necessity, but out of preference. We love to walk and be within walking distance of "stuff" - beach, restaurants, mellow bars.

We would love to be around similar folks - 30 something professionals with no children. NE St. Pete definitely sounds like our type of place.

[riogringa]

Oh, my current commute is two hours. Nothing could possibly be worse.

[riogringa]

Thank you - yeah, "family style" is what we have up here. Trying to get away from that as we are childless and in our early 30s. We are both outdoors people and love to walk, run, boat, etc. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Some people seem a bit negative here.

[theurbanfiles]

Yeah it's definitely a decent commute from NE St Pete, (I'd say avg. 30-45 mins. to work places in the Bradenton area, with traffic moving smoothly which it generally does, even at rush hour). People are correct that it's really a bear commute when the bridge is closed to weather, but how often does that happen? I'd guess perhaps 2-3 times a year on avg., you could prob even use those as vaca days given that you likely have a few weeks of vacation days at those rare times. And yeah, culturally Sarasota punches above its weight for size, about even with St Pete, but based on so many other reasons I'd say it offers more excitement (but yet, not Boston crazy).

[riogringa]

Thanks. 30-45 minutes is a great commute by Northeast standards!

[Zambon]

Originally Posted by riogringa

Thanks. 30-45 minutes is a great commute by Northeast standards!

^^Exactly. I was once criticized rather strongly on this Tampa Bay forum for trying to compare a 50 minute commute across Tampa Bay to a 90 minute commute across Los Angeles.

My opinion was that in other parts of the country, people would LOVE a 50 minute commute, but here in Tampa people say that you are crazy to try to commute from A to B because it might take 45 minutes to an hour. The other poster said "that doesn't make sense". People here are spoiled for commute times.

A 45 minute commute is fine as long as you don't have get up before 6am to do it.