Tampa of Ft. Lauderdale? (Miami, St. Petersburg: fit in, real estate, crime rate)

[Josh2020]

I am confused as to which city is better...When I mean better I mean cheaper in cost of living (real estate, etc.), more jobs (is it easy to find a job in both places [I am a soon to be CT Tech], and do they both have the same wages?), funner (more city feel, more things to do), better beaches (which one has nicer beaches?), safer (lower crime), weather (do they both have the same weather year round?), etc.

I will apprecitate any information. Thanks.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by Josh2020

I am confused as to which city is better...When I mean better I mean cheaper in cost of living (real estate, etc.), more jobs (is it easy to find a job in both places [I am a soon to be CT Tech], and do they both have the same wages?), funner (more city feel, more things to do), better beaches (which one has nicer beaches?), safer (lower crime), weather (do they both have the same weather year round?), etc.

I will apprecitate any information. Thanks.

It all depends, Cost of living would HAVE to be lower in comparison, Tampa/St. Pete would likley have more jobs as it's got a metro population of like close to 4M. From what I understand, Ft. Lauderdale has a horrible crime problem, beaches ? St. Pete Beach is VERY nice but I would think the " sun coast " would have better beaches...

I would say probably the same weather.

[compelled to reply]

Cost of living- Tampa
Job Market- Both mediocre. Ft. Lauderdale is better but still sucky. It's part of a 5 million metro versus 2-3 million.
Wages- Higher down south in many fields,but not by far.
Funner- Definitely Ft. Lauderdale
Better Beaches- Ft. Lauderdale (Tampa doesn't have any beaches), but an hour south of Tampa you have Siesta Key, Anna Maria Island which are VERY beautiful.
Safer- Ft. Lauderdale (yeah, it's true, shut up drama queens, crime in Broward is near the national average, "Safe" (lol) Tampa is much more dangerous)
Weather- Ft Lauderdale gets a breeze in the summer which makes the disgusting humidity just a tad less disgusting, while Tampa has a cooler, drier winter. I would probably pick Tampa here for the winters but it's actually subjective since some prefer the warmer winters.

The cost of living weighs in very heavily though. They can both be either great or horrific places, very much depending on what area you pick, how much you make, and who you associate with. In Tampa if you want the suburban experience I would pick north Pinellas County and if you want more action I would pick South Tampa or downtown St. Petersburg. in Ft. Lauderdale if you want the suburban thing you should look into Coral Springs (consistently one of the safest cities in the country), Davie, Weston, Plantation, Cooper City etc (communities west of University Dr), and if you want more activity look around Las Olas, Downtown Hollywood or anywhere near the beach. Boca Raton also strikes a cross between suburban and active in the Mizner Park area.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Safer- Ft. Lauderdale (yeah, it's true, shut up drama queens, crime in Broward is near the national average, "Safe" (lol) Tampa is much more dangerous)

We've been over that... lol.. I still say that it's pretty sad that Ft. Lauderdale with a population of around 200k, has the same crime rate of a city the size of Nashville, TN with a population of around 600k.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by FutureTexan

We've been over that... lol.. I still say that it's pretty sad that Ft. Lauderdale with a population of around 200k, has the same crime rate of a city the size of Nashville, TN with a population of around 600k.

It's pretty amazing how Coral Springs, a city with 120 thousand people, has a lower crime rate than all but 16 cities and only 5 within it's size range. Nashville is consolidated so that's actually rubbing way worse on Nashville which usually ranks as one of the 25 most dangerous metros while Ft. Lauderdale is the 129th most dangerous. The City of Ft. Lauderdale is half ghetto, all of the good areas are their own cities.

Also, that's way higher

Crime in Nashville-Davidson (using Nashville) by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Murders 68 72 64 61 74 58 95 80
per 100,000 13.0 13.5 11.5 10.9 13.3 10.4 17.1 14.3
Rapes 460 395 427 403 335 391 336 320
per 100,000 88.0 74.0 76.9 71.9 60.4 70.4 60.3 57.1
Robberies 1,960 2,201 2,521 2,081 2,197 2,125 2,440 2,425
per 100,000 374.8 412.6 454.2 371.2 395.9 382.8 438.0 432.4
Assaults 5,917 6,233 6,063 6,138 5,725 6,032 6,103 5,740
per 100,000 1131.5 1168.4 1092.3 1094.9 1031.7 1086.6 1095.6 1023.5
Burglaries 6,962 7,634 7,842 7,468 7,369 6,829 6,448 6,370
per 100,000 1331.3 1431.0 1412.8 1332.2 1328.0 1230.2 1157.6 1135.9
Thefts 26,100 26,732 27,837 25,082 26,630 25,134 25,900 23,234
per 100,000 4991.1 5010.8 5015.1 4474.2 4799.2 4527.6 4649.6 4142.9
Auto thefts 4,989 5,323 5,401 4,785 4,649 4,123 3,448 3,021
per 100,000 954.0 997.8 973.0 853.6 837.8 742.7 619.0 538.7
Arson 4,989 195 228 162 127 115 135 125
per 100,000 954.0 36.6 41.1 28.9 22.9 20.7 24.2 22.3
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2) 804.3 824.1 816.7 750.1 752.1 736.0 749.4 696.9

Crime in Tampa by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Murders 31 38 34 37 41 30 20 25
per 100,000 10.6 12.3 10.9 11.7 12.8 9.2 6.1 7.5
Rapes 233 235 212 204 222 181 210 133
per 100,000 79.5 76.4 68.1 64.3 69.2 55.7 63.8 40.1
Robberies 2,321 2,183 2,359 2,334 1,769 1,413 1,160 1,211
per 100,000 792.3 709.3 757.8 735.5 551.2 435.2 352.5 365.3
Assaults 4,018 3,925 4,011 3,714 3,701 3,554 3,317 2,470
per 100,000 1371.6 1275.4 1288.4 1170.4 1153.3 1094.5 1008.1 745.1
Burglaries 6,024 6,177 6,096 6,283 6,390 6,077 4,914 4,451
per 100,000 2056.4 2007.2 1958.2 1980.0 1991.2 1871.6 1493.5 1342.7
Thefts 13,649 15,336 15,586 16,088 16,715 14,821 12,564 11,251
per 100,000 4659.3 4983.3 5006.6 5069.9 5208.7 4564.5 3818.4 3394.1
Auto thefts 5,740 5,772 6,550 6,720 5,344 3,937 2,793 3,087
per 100,000 1959.4 1875.6 2104.0 2117.7 1665.3 1212.5 848.8 931.3
Arson 214 218 197 134 146 94 49 45
per 100,000 73.1 70.8 63.3 42.2 45.5 28.9 14.9 13.6
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2) 1083.9 1043.5 1067.0 1040.3 957.9 823.1 695.8 610.1

Crime in Fort Lauderdale by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Murders 22 13 29 12 18 15 15 21
per 100,000 14.1 8.0 18.5 7.5 11.2 9.0 8.9 12.3
Rapes 60 66 48 39 49 54 67 83
per 100,000 38.5 40.5 30.7 24.5 30.4 32.4 39.8 48.8
Robberies 713 760 837 669 640 755 741 832
per 100,000 457.8 466.5 535.4 419.8 397.3 453.4 440.3 488.8
Assaults 776 923 767 687 645 597 680 747
per 100,000 498.3 566.6 490.6 431.1 400.4 358.5 404.1 438.9
Burglaries 3,014 2,259 2,439 2,482 2,320 2,612 2,555 2,239
per 100,000 1935.3 1386.7 1560.0 1557.4 1440.2 1568.4 1518.2 1315.5
Thefts 7,935 7,363 7,049 6,418 6,281 6,493 7,564 6,678
per 100,000 5095.0 4520.0 4508.6 4027.2 3899.1 3898.9 4494.5 3923.6
Auto thefts 1,789 1,398 1,412 1,374 1,135 1,004 1,097 1,020
per 100,000 1148.7 858.2 903.1 862.2 704.6 602.9 651.8 599.3
Arson 57 59 48 54 38 43 48 49
per 100,000 36.6 36.2 30.7 33.9 23.6 25.8 28.5 28.8
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2) 727.2 648.2 682.2 585.9 559.1 565.6 600.8 595.1

That being said, Tampa has really been cleaning up it's crime problem excellent policing methods, although it helps the economy is also coming out of the depressed state it was in during the 90s. Tampa used to always be on the 25 most dangerous list and over the past few years it keeps on falling lower and lower on that list. However cities on the surrounds of Ft. Lauderdale get ranked some of the safest in the country, and Broward County has a per 100k crime rate that is significantly lower than Hillsborough, Pinellas, and the state average. That being said, Tampa has plenty of safe areas. Westchase, Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, Valrico, and a few more.

Total Index Crime by County, 2006

[TXRyan23]

According to Morgan-Quittno, The only city in Tennessee to make the top-25 most dangerous was Memphis and the only city in Florida to make the top-25 was Orlando.

No offense, and if i'm wrong i'm wrong, but I'm not trying to read all those numbers...

[Lior Arel]

If I could move from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale I would

Our beaches are better though

[JSnFla]

ive lived in both places and now in tampa:
cost of living: Tampa, hands down no question here, by far cheaper to live in tampa
Job Market: Both r pretty bad but south florida somewhat better and pays more
Funner- both, south florida is more fake and shady people everywhere, tampa has nicer people and plenty to do
Beaches- lauderdale hands down, no question
Weather-lauderdale no question, summer in tampa is like hell, way hotter in tampa, winters about the same
crime-south florida worse but tampa is pretty bad

in general south florida is like a fantasy world for the very rich, otherwise u dont really fit in and become a shady poser like most others and its way way way latin/hispanic. tampa is kinda rugged, a bit rundown and depressed but more of an everyday kind of place with normal people.

[chisoxfan]

If all else is equal, here's one other thing the original poster might consider: Which area's atmosphere is a better fit for you? Tampa-St. Pete, to me, still has a bit of a southern feel to it (a good thing, in my opinion). Fort Lauderdale/Broward is an in-your-face melting pot with heavy northeastern and Latin American presences. Visit both places, if you haven't already, and try to get a sense of where you'll be most comfortable.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

and its way way way latin/hispanic.

Hillsborough County, Florida - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder
Broward County, Florida - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder


Same crap. 22.8% Hispanic versus 22.1%. Broward actually tends to be more Jamaican/West Indian oriented but it's still dominated by northeastern influences. The Hispanic influence is more like third place. Of course you go down to Miami though and it is way Hispanic. Tampa doesn't' have that so I guess it "feels" less Hispanic. And the crime is NOT worse, although you will hear about more of those above and beyond barbaric incidents down here...

Didn't you live in Bayview? If you did I could see how you feel about the sleazy, shady "posers"...they are in abundance over there for sure, but there are almost no Hispanic people around there except for some illegals in Oakland Park...and I don't see the problem with living amongst people that happen to be different from myself as long as they are clean, respectful, etc and I haven't had problems with that where I am...