Relocating from London to Tampa, I would like some advice on areas to consider living in (Brandon: for rent, homes)

[Danoz]

Hi,

We are an Australian married couple in our early to mid thirties and moving from London to Tampa. This relocation is for a new job, so we don't know anyone and have never been to Tampa before, so hoping to get some advice on areas to consider living in. I will try and provide as much clarity as possible and hopefully people can suggest areas for us to do further research into.

I will be working at the Citigroup centre on the east side of Tampa. To start with I don't want a big communicate in terms of time. I am guessing that 30 mins drive each way would be ideal (or less), but so many posts talk about bad traffic, so I don't know what that really means.

We like to be able to walk to things like restaurants, cafes, bars, or maybe a short bus ride to get to an area that has them. We are not into night clubs, so dont need to be close to any noisy establishmemts. We like to do things outdoors like walking, running, and both love to play golf. We also want to get some sort of place where we can eat outside as well (BBQ / Grill I believe you call them) and relax over a meal. So I am not sure whether that limits our accommodation type or not?

We are looking to pay upto 2k a month in rent. Reading some posts this sounds like a lot, and others it doesn't so, this is a number that should work within our budget.

We will most likely end up with two cars at some stage, so need to be able to park them. Guessing this isn't an issue like bigger cities where parking is a huge expense.

We don't need to be near the water, as it sounds like you can drive to many good beaches on the weekend in an hour.

Ideally we wouldn't need to travel a long way to get to a grocery store to do the weekly shopping.

We would want to live In a relatively safe area, but again from reading many posts, I am not sure what is meant by safe and not safe in Tampa standards? Ultimately I want a low risk of theft, robbery and assault etc (probably the same as most other people really).

Hopefully that is enough information to give people an idea as to what we want.

I do like the look of Hyde park, and done a fair of research on it, but where else should I consider for the first 12 months of us arriving?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dan.

[gulfer]

If you require walking to places to eat and drink that will severely limit some suggestions that I would have.

If those requirements can be met with a short drive, I would suggest the 33647 Zip Code. It is considered the New Tampa area and has a lot of nice homes in multiple subdivisions, is in a safe area, and the traffic to Citi would not be that bad.

The Intersection of HWY 4 and I-75 (check mapquest) is where it is congested during peak travel periods. With the construction going on now on I-75 North of the intersection of 4/75, it gets really congested during peak periods. All lanes stop kind of slow. But Bruce B Downs (which leads to New Tampa) isn't very far at all.

I have been to London a few times and the ability to walk in the area from your place to cafes, resturants, and bars is very limited here. You can always live in the City down by Davis Island and your commute should be against the traffic patterns, so that may be an option.

[Lamber]

In addition to the Hyde Park (and/or S Howard) area, you might want to look into Davis Island and Harbour Island. An 'out of the box' idea might be to try to find something in Saint - Petersburg. This will be a longer commute to your work, but St Pete has a city feel you might enjoy. As gulfer said, if you really want to walk to restaurants etc., then your choice is a little limited. There is also a West Park Village in Westchase (if you rent in or around the village, there are a few places you can walk to; also close to golf courses and lot of places for jogging etc.; the commute might be long though).

You might wish to avoid bus rides! Just IMHO.

Best of luck. Hope you will settle in nicely and avoid a cultural shock

[MortonR]

Fishhawk.

You're within the 30 minute commute easily, you won't have to deal with the nightmare that is I-75 to the north heading towards New Tampa which will be under construction for several years to come, and living in South Tampa/Hyde Park would stretch you close to the 30 minute commute and also subject you to traffic and inordinately high rents for a place that you describe.

You have a village center, many miles of jogging trails, a community center and pool, groceries and other stores close by, and an easy drive into Tampa or to Brandon for big box/shopping mall retail if you want it.

For what it's worth, I used to do business in Australia, primarily in Brisbane and Sydney. Beautiful place, I look forward to visiting again some time in the future for leisure. I have friends who live in Melbourne as well as in wine country in the southeastern part of the country.

Good luck with the move.

RM

[thethinktank]

Welcome to Tampa, Dan! Hyde Park and Palma Ceia in South Tampa are an ideal fit for the lifestyle you're looking for. It's safe, clean and walkable, with locally-owned restaurants and bars in a few concentrated areas. For the amount you'd be capable to pay for rent, you can live very well here.

I live in a home not far from Hyde Park Village and the South Howard strip, within walking distance of grocery stores, restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. Typically anywhere between MacDill and South Boulevard, Platt and Gandy will give you the lifestyle you're looking for, but be sure to do some on-the-ground research to make sure you're not too far separated from walkable amenities. There are pockets that get pretty quiet and you might rely on your car more than you'd wish.

I can't think of many other areas that are within 30 minutes of your job that will fit what you're looking for. Others have mentioned some areas that are a bit too suburban and car-reliant than South Tampa.

Good luck on the move and the research, feel free to PM me if you need some details.

[Danoz]

All,

Thankyou for your input so far, it is much appreciated. We have about three months before we land in Tampa, as that is my notice period in the UK. So plenty of time to do more research on all of the above and hopefully land with a plan of attack!

[makos]

There are some nice suburbs around Tampa also. I would check those out too.

[Scout0417]

Hyde Park has everything!!

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Scout0417

Hyde Park has everything!!

Notice that this was a 3 year old thread?

RM

[AhHah]

Ha ha ... how do folks find these things .... OP has probably finished the assignment and returned to OZ.