Moving to Tampa area (Clearwater, Temple Terrace: spring break, apartment, rental)

[REM001]

My husband and I are in our 30's, we are thinking of moving to the Tampa area from Massachusetts, my husband can transfer to Temple Terrace but we don't know the right towns to look into to live. I want to be close to the coast and he doesn't want an awful commute(been there done that). We have a 2 year old daughter and want good schools and neighborhood. We want to rent for awhile, can anyone recommend some good areas?

[Lior Arel]

Rents are still reasonable around here. Temple Terrace is fairly far from the water, though. I would suggest looking looking in South Tampa as this will put you on the Bay, close to the bridges to get you over the gulf beaches, and minimize commute strains (though it would still be a bit of a pain). Carrollwood might be a nice compromise. It's a quick commute to temple terrace and not too far away from the water. I've got friends that live there and there are some nice neighborhoods. Here's a link to a map (temple terrace is on the right side of the map near I-75.

http://pro.suncoastbr.com/images/map.gif (broken link)

[mom2boys37]

Originally Posted by REM001

My husband and I are in our 30's, we are thinking of moving to the Tampa area from Massachusetts, my husband can transfer to Temple Terrace but we don't know the right towns to look into to live. I want to be close to the coast and he doesn't want an awful commute(been there done that). We have a 2 year old daughter and want good schools and neighborhood. We want to rent for awhile, can anyone recommend some good areas?

U might want to put this in the Tampa Florida forum. People might be able to help better there

[jessiesma]

check out Safety Harbor and Oldsmar. They are at the top of the Bay with water access and not too far from Pinellas beaches a little further to TT but not too bad. You have to go thru Carrollwood from there but taht part is easy. Carrollwood is not far in miles from TT but it's all city driving, no expressways.

Originally Posted by Lior Arel

Rents are still reasonable around here. Temple Terrace is fairly far from the water, though. I would suggest looking looking in South Tampa as this will put you on the Bay, close to the bridges to get you over the gulf beaches, and minimize commute strains (though it would still be a bit of a pain). Carrollwood might be a nice compromise. It's a quick commute to temple terrace and not too far away from the water. I've got friends that live there and there are some nice neighborhoods. Here's a link to a map (temple terrace is on the right side of the map near I-75.

http://pro.suncoastbr.com/images/map.gif (broken link)

[florida_sassy]

I agree to check out Oldsmar, FL

Great town and close enough to the water. No to Temple Terrace... ugggh. Not great schools and just so ugggh.


Oldsmar is good.

[annesg]

I would not go as far as Oldsmar from TT. That seems like too much of a haul, esp. in rush hour--esp. if you are on Fletcher--that could take 45 minutes, easy!!!!

I would say Carrollwood--I live a bit north of Carrollwood, between Carrollwood and Oldsmar really. I like it, the schools are rated well, and there's lots of family-friendly neighborhoods. Oldsmar just seems so far to me...plus I don't know about the schools.

[Mary, Mary]

We live in Tampa and love it, but don't plan on living by the beach unless you are bazillionaires...it ain't gonna happen. Carrollwood is zip code 33618 and Tampa Palms is 33647. They are both excellent areas to live. Temple Terrace is too close to USF and the crime rate is pretty high...breaking and entering, burglury, etc. If your husband is being transferred, look for the same zip code as the place he works. Otherwise, if you are looking for a rental apartment, Palencia looks like a nice place, (north off Dale Mabry and Bearss) but the people that run the place are pretty snooty. Westchase is another nice area, but whenever there is a hurricane alert, Westchase is one of the areas that is warned about high water. They are reasonably close to the bay, but expensive. Forget about Clearwater beach or even on the bay side across from Tampa because I know people who have quite a few $$ and wouldn't rent there because of the cost. There are some new places being built in south Tampa...look on the map.google and it will be right south of Gandy Blvd. by Gandy bridge. They probably run about $1500 or so and are brand new with boat docks. Good luck!

[t-town]

Don't exclude Temple Terrace...just look on the east side of 56th st between fowler and busch/bullard/tt highway. It's very pretty in there, with the gold course running through. Alot of nice homes as well, and decent pricing.

[TampaKaren]

Carrollwood west of Dale Mabry Highway is Zip Code 33624, and Carrollwood east of Dale Mabry Highway is Zip Code 33618. I've lived here a long time. It's about 30 minutes to Clearwater Beach, except during commuter hours and spring break! And I would suggest that you also include Odessa and Lutz in your search areas.

[annesg]

Yes...I'm 33625 (that nebulous space between Carrollwood, Odessa, and Lutz); Odessa is 33625 but can be hard to get to TT from there; Lutz can be more accessible via I-275 or Dale Mabry.

There are some nice places in TT, to be sure, but watch out for the schools, which are spotty.