Gay family possibly moving to Clearwater area....where to live??.... (Tampa: real estate, crime)

[avondalemama]

Hi- We are possibly moving to Florida from Maryland in the next few months....Possible job would be in Clearwater....need recommendations of where to live....school systems are a BIG factor...
Also, are there areas to avoid???
Thanks!

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by avondalemama

Hi- We are possibly moving to Florida from Maryland in the next few months....Possible job would be in Clearwater....need recommendations of where to live....school systems are a BIG factor...
Also, are there areas to avoid???
Thanks!

All of Florida's public schools, coming from Maryland. As we used to say in the "business", "Thank goodness there's Mississippi!"

There are some good schools but they're few and far between. They'll follow the demographics. Be prepared for a shock, no matter what. Florida schools pale compared to the ones where you currently live.

And watch out for the Scientologists since you'll be in Clearwater. They pretty much own the downtown. It's creepy.

RM

[reasonablevoice]

I do not know Pinellas schools well, but I believe the Palm Harbor area is an option. Maybe someone else could weigh-in. If you don’t mind commuting, the Westchase area has good schools and would be a reasonable drive.

[lavender]

Depends on how far you want to drive from home and school area for the job.
Palm Harbor, East Lake, Countryside all decent, some Tarpon area (east of the lake) are good for schools and homes.
Seminole and parts of Largo and after that it is patchy in Pinellas county (west of Tampa Bay) on east side, there are some
good schools dotted around Tampa and if you are working Clearwater area, you could consider West Chase
there are magnet schools around the county in all 3 levels, and having had a child in a magnet in a lesser school district, I found it quite fine as the teachers are usually very good in those magnets and the magnet kids tend to come out well regardless of the environment the school is in.

[Quentin RD]

Id avoid TampaBay in total. Maybe even another state?

[crag73]

Good luck on your move to Tampa Bay. Hope you find a great neighborhood.

[Concert D Major]

Why does it matter if you're gay?

[crag73]

I’m guessing it matters because there are people who dislike gay people . That could lead to vandalizing their home , bully the kids etc... People like to feel safe and welcome no matter who they are .It happens all the time when you have folks who just want to start trouble but use passive aggressive language to disguise what they’re really trying to say . Quite transparent , wouldn’t you say ?

[mermaid sees all]

Dunedin is a gay friendly town as many of the locals that live & work in it are gay. The dark side of Dunedin is that closer to Edgewater ave and the downtown there tend to be real estate investors and neighborhood curmudgeons with an excess of free time.They closely monitor their neighbors landscaping maintenance,where cars are parked on the property and have been known to cause unnecessary trouble for neighbors that they dont like.The downtown merchants try to keep the news about crime stats and curmudgeons on the down low but it does exist.Gay friends that still live in the town seem to be happy there.We left because of the investors changing the demographics of the neighborhood that we were in.(Urban gentrification)