Tampa, Orlando, or Jacksonville? Mid twenties young professional (Miami, Port St. Lucie: real estate market, 2014) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

Justin1232 · 02-17-2017, 10:22 AM

Hi everybody! I'm a 24 year old (single) young professional man! Planning to move to either Tampa, Orlando, or Jacksonville. I live in a smallerish town in Florida (Port St Lucie) and am sick of it as there is nothing to do for someone my age. I don't like Miami because with my job (real estate), I would have to learn Spanish to succeed at the level I currently produce down there! My questions for anyone who's lived in these cities:
1. How's the nightlife? I'm mostly into nice bars and restaurants, but I do enjoy clubs too.
2. Good for singles (my age)? As I said, I'm 24 and single! I've heard Tampa's SOHO area is great for people my age, is that true? Also am very curious about Orlando and Jacksonville. I've heard Orlando is mostly people older than me, as in their thirties (not that there is anything wrong with that). Is that true?
3. I love a nice downtown area where you can walk to everything! How is that scene?
4. Is this an area where a lot of new college graduates move to? I've heard Tampa gets a lot of the people who attended FSU which is really cool. Is this true? Does Orlando retain a lot of its college graduates from UCF?

So basically what I'm looking for is advice on anyone who lives or has lived in any of these cities and how well they meet the criteria I'm looking for! Thanks in advance for any of your advice!

cjairo191 · 02-17-2017, 03:27 PM

I would suggest Orlando or St.Pete which is near Tampa. The vibe should be younger than Port St. Lucie in any of the cities you mentioned. Orlando has a nice downtown where you can walk to bars, clubs, restaurants, parks, etc... Same with St. Pete but maybe more of a hippie laid back vibe. I currently live in Tampa, which unfortunately just has a mostly working downtown, but has districts where people hang out and party. The real estate market should be the same in either.

Jacksonville, I have no knowledge of. I never stop there when driving North on 95. lol

RamenAddict · 02-17-2017, 03:46 PM

I'm in the Jax area now but am from Tampa originally.

South Tampa is a nice area for people your age and has been for a while. I remember when I was your age I had friends who lived there (I did not) and lots of us would be in that part of town regularly to hang out. There are decent walkable areas, but downtown is still fairly mediocre. It has improved dramatically in the past 10 years, but it still isn't there yet. St. Pete has a more vibrant downtown area and Orlando is also pretty good.

I don't think of Orlando as being for thirtysomethings at all. I have friends who went to UCF who ended up staying there after graduation. It definitely has a youthful vibe. The downtown is also more vibrant than Tampa. St. Pete has a better downtown than Tampa as well in terms of being walkable and having places to live. There's also a beach downtown which is a perk.

Jax has a totally different vibe- there are a few pockets for twentysomethings, but it tends to be more conservative and military-oriented than the other two cities. In Jax you can probably meet younger people in the beaches or Riverside/Brooklyn areas, which tend to have more of the bars and nightlife. The city is so spread out that it's more like there are micro areas. For example, you could do a lot with a bike in the Jacksonville Beach/Neptune Beach/Atlantic beach area, but the driving distance to other things is pretty far. The downtown in Jax is the absolute worst of the three (or four, if you count St. Pete). Many people simply don't feel safe going down there at all after some recent shootings.

OSUbrew · 02-18-2017, 08:41 AM

I'd highly recommend downtown St. Pete. It's very walkable and has stuff for all age groups. There is always something going on and they have a lot of events in Vinoy park. Plus the beach is only about a 15 minute drive if you want a completely different vibe.

John Alecci · 02-18-2017, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSUbrew

I'd highly recommend downtown St. Pete. It's very walkable and has stuff for all age groups. There is always something going on and they have a lot of events in Vinoy park. Plus the beach is only about a 15 minute drive if you want a completely different vibe.

Agree with this.

EngGuy · 02-18-2017, 06:37 PM

Having lived in Tampa and Orlando in my 20's and 30's (1995-2011, 2014-now), I think the scene for younger professionals is much better in Orlando. You have many more younger people living/working downtown, many that work in the service industries (non-professional) and in the professional arts from Disney/Universal/Sea World and you get a very diverse crowd of younger people in Orlando and 7 nights of active nightlife scene in Orlando. Tampa is much more laid back.

Tamika929 · 02-18-2017, 06:42 PM

I didn't know Port Saint Lucie was boring. Check out Sarasota. Some lady on the news said everyone she met there was polite.

rvais · 02-18-2017, 06:50 PM

If you wanna sell real estate in tampa guess what learn Spanish

LFitz381 · 02-25-2017, 12:12 PM

I would not recommend Jacksonville. My husband and I lived there from age 22-27 and it's really not that nice in most parts. The downtown area, as some above me said, is actually a little dangerous at night. The south side and beach area are OK. We lived in the south side area(near Mandarin) for the 5 years we were there and actually bought a home. Our next door neighbor was broken into TWICE while we lived there. My husband caught the second person, it happened at 10:00 am while our neighbor was at work. There was an attempted break in at my home very late one evening 2 nights before Christmas. Luckily when I yelled(my 2 dogs went bizerk, one of them was a great dane thank God) it was enough to scare off the intruder.

A client of mine who was a young female, was bar hopping downtown one evening, stepped out to make a phone call and someone clubbed her in the head with a HAMMER and stole her purse. She was lucky she did not die as being hit in the head with a hammer could definitely cause such a fate. During our time there, another incident included a man actually getting his throat slashed at one of the bars near the Landing - which is kind of like a small river walk.

People would actually be so bold as to knock on your doors and ask for money - not kidding - and it got to the point I would not even do yard work when my husband was not home. Mind you, we were not in a super upscale gated neighborhood but we were in a decent section and certainly not in the slums.

There are nice areas in Jacksonville, but due to the above events(and many more) while we lived there we knew we did not want to raise a family in Jacksonville. Now, just south of Jacksonville(St. John's County) is VERY nice with low crime - but it was definitely families that lived there and not young singles.

Hopefully I don't peeve off any Jacksonville residents - just giving my opinion of my time spent there.

My husband and I are currently considering relocating to Tampa. The few times we visited while being Jacksonville residents we always said we were interested in moving there.

Good luck!![CENTER]SaveSave[/CENTER]

Justin1232 · 02-25-2017, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tamika929

I didn't know Port Saint Lucie was boring. Check out Sarasota. Some lady on the news said everyone she met there was polite.

I guess it depends what you're looking for in a city. It's a great city, for sure. It's just boring considering what I'm looking for: lots of people my age, great nightlife, big city, etc. Definitely a good, safe city though and I would recommend it to people looking for that kind of quiet, safe environment.