Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay
 [Register]
Tampa Bay Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-03-2006, 11:07 AM
 
25 posts, read 84,468 times
Reputation: 22

Advertisements

New job starts in January. I need to find a home to rent (have dog) and move in the next 3 weeks from Atlanta! I will be working in the city (No. of d/t but So. of USF) and don't want to commute any more than 20 miles. I'm a single male (have GF) with no kids and am pretty laid back. I'd love to be on the beach (originally from CA) but from what I've read here, it's just too far of a commute. Ideally I'd like to find a SF home in a safe area that isn't too 'rural' but still not 'city living'. I could careless about bars and nightlife as I am pretty low key. So far it seems that Brandon, Waterchase/Westchase, Riverview, Safety Harbor are all 'good' places. The closer to the ocean or water, the better for me as when I have downtime I'd love to be able to walk/bike to it. Not too worried about $$$ as I am willing to pay xtra for something that gives me a better lifestyle.

Any areas that I should focus on or definitly avoid?

Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-03-2006, 11:20 AM
 
Location: NY to FL to ATL
612 posts, read 2,770,335 times
Reputation: 230
We just moved from Temple Terrace (hint: always look east of 56th Street) and that might be a nice area. Not too busy but very convenient to all areas of Tampa. Going too far south of the city might not be your best bet (ie Riverview).

Too bad I am finally selling my house or I would have rented it to you, my dogs loved the big backyard and swimming in the pool all day while I worked! LOL
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 11:21 AM
 
Location: NY to FL to ATL
612 posts, read 2,770,335 times
Reputation: 230
BTW, we just moved to the Atlanta area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 11:27 AM
 
25 posts, read 84,468 times
Reputation: 22
...and to think I had a home here in Atlanta that I needed to sell!?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 11:28 AM
 
Location: Orlando, FL - used to be nice, a dump now. Anyone speak English down here???
340 posts, read 428,660 times
Reputation: 77
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stitch01 View Post
New job starts in January. I need to find a home to rent (have dog) and move in the next 3 weeks from Atlanta! I will be working in the city (No. of d/t but So. of USF) and don't want to commute any more than 20 miles. I'm a single male (have GF) with no kids and am pretty laid back. I'd love to be on the beach (originally from CA) but from what I've read here, it's just too far of a commute. Ideally I'd like to find a SF home in a safe area that isn't too 'rural' but still not 'city living'. I could careless about bars and nightlife as I am pretty low key. So far it seems that Brandon, Waterchase/Westchase, Riverview, Safety Harbor are all 'good' places. The closer to the ocean or water, the better for me as when I have downtime I'd love to be able to walk/bike to it. Not too worried about $$$ as I am willing to pay xtra for something that gives me a better lifestyle.

Any areas that I should focus on or definitly avoid?

Thanks!
Yes, avoid "little Mexico" because of the crime and dirty area. In "Little Mexico", a lot of their chickens escape and walk the streets. Some are aggressive, so watch out. Overall the chickens running the streets of Tampa are FUNNY as heck.

If you got lots of ca$h, then you will be fine anywhere in FL. If you don't get ready for some miserable times.

Safety wise, use the same tricks to stay safe as you would in Atlanta (which is more dnagerous then Tampa, that is for sure). Tamps is no paradise, so watch your back, just as if you were in Atlanta. The ghetto and the nice neighborhoods are usually back to bed to each other, so expect proximity to "bad areas", even if you pay a lot for housing.

Watch out for the illegal alien women, as they call the cops to say they have been battered by you to get a Greencard without having to marry you. I worked in a law firm and we saw illegal aliens do that all the time. It is a law called VAWA, designed to protect women, but being severly abused now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 11:42 AM
 
Location: NY to FL to ATL
612 posts, read 2,770,335 times
Reputation: 230
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stitch01 View Post
...and to think I had a home here in Atlanta that I needed to sell!?

Well, we bought ours last July....but, we have two families that are moving here looking. What part is it in? We are in the northeast area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 01:40 PM
 
25 posts, read 84,468 times
Reputation: 22
So. East Alpharetta - by CCS.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 02:51 PM
 
Location: Florida & Arizona
5,902 posts, read 7,229,612 times
Reputation: 7459
You will probably find the portions of Temple Terrace that are affordable to be less than desirable. I would highly advise that you rent for a while and get the lay of the land before you buy. Believe it or not, if you live in Brandon vs. Tampa, you'll find a substantial difference in your car insurance costs, too.

I live in Valrico (southeast of Brandon) and commute to USF daily. It's an easy commute, as the traffic is all going the opposite way. Once I get on I-75, it's a straight shot up to Fowler and I'm at USF before I know it. Maybe 25-30 minutes on the average day, and probably half of that time is spent on Bloomingdale Ave. getting from Valrico to I-75.

And if you go east of 56th street, you'll find a lot of rental properties are geared towards the USF kids, so be careful. It's no fun having a bunch of coeds for neighbors, especially if you like keeping normal hours. . .

RM
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 03:17 PM
 
Location: NY to FL to ATL
612 posts, read 2,770,335 times
Reputation: 230
Quote:
Originally Posted by MortonR View Post
You will probably find the portions of Temple Terrace that are affordable to be less than desirable. I would highly advise that you rent for a while and get the lay of the land before you buy. Believe it or not, if you live in Brandon vs. Tampa, you'll find a substantial difference in your car insurance costs, too.

I live in Valrico (southeast of Brandon) and commute to USF daily. It's an easy commute, as the traffic is all going the opposite way. Once I get on I-75, it's a straight shot up to Fowler and I'm at USF before I know it. Maybe 25-30 minutes on the average day, and probably half of that time is spent on Bloomingdale Ave. getting from Valrico to I-75.

And if you go east of 56th street, you'll find a lot of rental properties are geared towards the USF kids, so be careful. It's no fun having a bunch of coeds for neighbors, especially if you like keeping normal hours. . .

RM
Let me clarify--east of 56th Street and south of Busch Blvd was where I was talking about.

Forgot about north of there where the college kids live.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2006, 03:37 PM
 
25 posts, read 84,468 times
Reputation: 22
Thanks! Great tips. A 30 min. commute would be ok for me. I lived 19 mi. from my office in Atlanta and it took me 1 to 1 1/2 hrs. to get home.

BTW... I definitely will be renting for the 1st year. Any single source/website to use for finding rentals? They seem to be a dime a dozen on the web and since time is not on my side, I sure would like to find the best source with the most inventory, so I only do this once. Plan is to fly out at the end of the week to look at prospects.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top