Family of 5 wanting to move to Tampa bay area (Clearwater: apartment, to rent)

[Negotiator75]

We are a family of 5, the 3 kids are ages 3,5 and 7. We are wanting to rent a 3 bedroom apartment for a few months and eventually buy a 4/2/2 house for under $250,000 and hopefully be near good elementary schools for the kids.

We are leaving the Seattle area because it is too expensive and hard to get around. It is always cloudy and it has become depressing.

We were thinking Palm Harbor or Tarpon Springs areas. If someone knows, can you please provide recommendations on areas/cities near by Palm Harbor or Tampa that are safe? Also can you recommend good recruiters for IT or Telecom jobs?

Thank you so very much in advance!

[annesg]

Palm Harbor itself is very nice, safe, pretty, and family friendly. I'm not sure on home prices there. Depending on what sort of square footage you want, you should be able to find a 4/2/2 for your price range.

Where you live will probably depend on where you work; Palm Harbor is probably not a great choice if you work in downtown Tampa. Carrollwood or Brandon would be better, or even South Tampa itself if you'd rather have a smaller house but shorter commute.

There are good schools to be found in each of the areas, it really will depend on where you work and how much of a commute you want. I personally like Carrollwood Village and original Carrollwood, as well as the NW Tampa are just north of Carrollwood or the southern portion of Odessa (Hillsborough County). Lutz also has a lot to offer.

These are just the areas I know--i'm not as familiar with Pinellas county!

[sncoupons]

For IT jobs, try with KForce, Veredus or Princeton. All of them got good local client base. KForce got their US head quarter in tampa. Veredus is equally good for IT clients in Tampa/St Petersburg.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by annesg

Palm Harbor itself is very nice, safe, pretty, and family friendly. I'm not sure on home prices there. Depending on what sort of square footage you want, you should be able to find a 4/2/2 for your price range.

Where you live will probably depend on where you work; Palm Harbor is probably not a great choice if you work in downtown Tampa. Carrollwood or Brandon would be better, or even South Tampa itself if you'd rather have a smaller house but shorter commute.

There are good schools to be found in each of the areas, it really will depend on where you work and how much of a commute you want. I personally like Carrollwood Village and original Carrollwood, as well as the NW Tampa are just north of Carrollwood or the southern portion of Odessa (Hillsborough County). Lutz also has a lot to offer.

These are just the areas I know--i'm not as familiar with Pinellas county!

Thank you for the information! We have also heard from different people that the humidity over in the Tampa Bay area is high and we heard about sand flies being common in beaches. Can someone describe this better?

[annesg]

Sand flies? Not sure what they are? We do have no-see-ums, that's the only name for them I know. They come out at sunrise and sunset (or that's when I've experienced them), they don't like the heat of day. I have heard that taking vitam B12 repels them but have no idea if that's true.

It is VERY humid here, but is equally humid during the summer in many other parts of the country--our summer just lasts a lot longer!

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by annesg

Sand flies? Not sure what they are? We do have no-see-ums, that's the only name for them I know. They come out at sunrise and sunset (or that's when I've experienced them), they don't like the heat of day. I have heard that taking vitam B12 repels them but have no idea if that's true.

It is VERY humid here, but is equally humid during the summer in many other parts of the country--our summer just lasts a lot longer!

Sandflies and No-see-ums, we are probably talking about the same thing. Are there certain beaches that don't have those? What if one wants to sleep in a tent at the beach?

[Keeper]

They are pretty much everywhere, but if there is a breeze they aren't too bad. I know some ppl go by boat to camp on some of the spoil islands in the channel around Dunedin and also there is a camp ground at Ft DeSoto. You really can't camp on public beaches.

Humidity is high during the summer and only slightly lower in the short winter months. During the summer it mormally rains pretty much every afternoon.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by Keeper

They are pretty much everywhere, but if there is a breeze they aren't too bad. I know some ppl go by boat to camp on some of the spoil islands in the channel around Dunedin and also there is a camp ground at Ft DeSoto. You really can't camp on public beaches.

Humidity is high during the summer and only slightly lower in the short winter months. During the summer it normally rains pretty much every afternoon.

Thanks for the good info. What input do you all have on crime? Where are the bad areas in the Tampa-Clearwater-St.Petersburg area? Which places are unsafe, such as car jackings, drug deals, gangs?

[Ronnie-N]

I have lived in Palm harbor for 18 yrs. and previously in Safety Harbor for 10 yrs. I am not aware of any 4/2/2 houses in that price range. Property insurance is sky-high. I now pay $3,800/yr. for $360,000 replacement value. House was valued at $465,000 in 2006 - Would be less now. Many good schools in this area. Serious crime seems to be almost nil. IT work should not be a problem unless you are mainframe only. As you know, the scenery here is probably not as picturesque as Seattle.

[lookingforparadise]

Originally Posted by Negotiator75

We are a family of 5, the 3 kids are ages 3,5 and 7. We are wanting to rent a 3 bedroom apartment for a few months and eventually buy a 4/2/2 house for under $250,000 and hopefully be near good elementary schools for the kids.

We are leaving the Seattle area because it is too expensive and hard to get around. It is always cloudy and it has become depressing.

We were thinking Palm Harbor or Tarpon Springs areas. If someone knows, can you please provide recommendations on areas/cities near by Palm Harbor or Tampa that are safe? Also can you recommend good recruiters for IT or Telecom jobs?

Thank you so very much in advance!

Funny, my family of 5 with kids about the same age is looking to move from Seattle to Tampa too. Nice spring we're having, isn't it?