give me the good and bad on Westchase (Dunedin: apartment, HOA fees)

[C5Aprea]

And which schools are the best. Parential input on the schools, not the webs sites

What communities are best.

HOA fees

and then I hear about community development fee?

Mom's how do you like it

[annesg]

WEstchase....a lot of people love it. My issue is that there's one way in and one way out--Linebaugh Rd.--and it's JAM PACKED crowded in the mornings. A LOT Of people complain. It's also sort of out of the way, not a great location except for the mall, really.

If you get into the Westchse district (elementary school) that is the one people seem to really want.

Communities are broken up by class really, so I hope you don't want diversity in your life. The Greens is guarded and gated; the Fords are not and are less pricey but still have largish houses. It isn't really which is "best" it is which can you afford.

CDDs are imposed on new developments to absorb the costs that go with massive development. They are added to your taxes for 10-20 years usually and are a couple thousand dollars a year on top of already high taxes. Not fun.

As a mom, it was not what I was looking for in a community. Too planned, to generic. I do love the shopping areas they have there, and there are lots of choices and price points for housing. But you won't have anyone "different" than you economically (houses tend to all be in the same price range in each neighborhood) and I just don't care for all that class division stuff.

The Greens is, aesthetically speaking, my favorite neighborhood if you're going to buy there--there is MUCH more landscaping and the streets just seem less generic than, say, the Fords.

[hjtoledo]

We have been staying in an apartment in Westchase while selling our house in Philly and purchasing a home in the Dunedin area.

Westchase, is not my cup of tea. It doesn't seem real... Typicaly suburbia. Not sure if you are moving from somewhere else. If you are, I'd recommend being near water/coast.

[Trabbz]

Westchase....

Good - Nice, well kept, low crime, green grass, suburbia

Bad - Totally cookie cutter, houses close together in some spots and look the same, it all looks the same

[nitokenshi]

I read the fees to live there are insanely high.

[TampaKaren]

Bad (maybe)...I had a Brink's rep tell me today that Westchase was experiencing higher than average burglaries (house break-ins), but I can't find any police records to support it. The online records are from 2006 (ugh).

Good is that it was built on the concept of live, work, play. The planned development does have HOA and CDD fees, but for that you get schools (overcrowded though), retail, banks, restaurants, recreation and more all contained within the community.

[Aconite]

Desperate Housewives, bay-bee.

A friend who lives there plays bunco with the women in her neighborhood despite the fact that she hates it. Why? Because if she's not hooked into that network, it's difficult to arrange playdates, carpools, and all the other accoutrements of suburban-child-life.

Makes me really value my un-gated, un-planned neighborhood full of old people and gay couples in '50s vintage houses. (Though I will say the PTA budget for Westchase Elementary is staggering. Probably six times the one at my neighborhood school.)

[Tim Tim Tim]

Westchase is huge so there is really a decent variety of what you may be looking for. There is alot more ways in then linebaugh, there are probably 5-10 ways in. From racetrack, waters, hillsborough ect.. Its not cheap to live there but you get what you pay for. go live in a free neighborehood where everyones lawn is weeds and you drive through the garbage that the truck left behind ect. or you can go to westchase, spend the money to have the places ALWAYS looking tip top shape. lawn is always very nice (along main roads is what im refering to, eventhough the personal lawns are usually nice too). A big variety of people, alot of new shopping centers going up in there.

There are probably 50 different neighbhoods within westchase. If thats not your cup of tea, you may want to look into carrolwood village. much cheaper to live and still well kept with a big variety of home sizes and styles