St. Petersburg (Tampa, Clearwater, Holiday: apartments, to rent, insurance) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

Jammie · 01-07-2007, 12:45 AM

St. Pete is one of the top cities on our list for relocation. Can you tell me the good and the bad of the city? There appear to be jobs there with benies and it also appears that apartments are somewhat reasonable there. Also there seem to be fairly reasonable condos for 55 plus. Does anyone on this forum live there? Any input on the city, the traffic, the crime, the jobs, the housing? Has anyone moved there from the midwest?

Any info will be so much appreciated.

sunynan · 01-07-2007, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammie

St. Pete is one of the top cities on our list for relocation. Can you tell me the good and the bad of the city? There appear to be jobs there with benies and it also appears that apartments are somewhat reasonable there. Also there seem to be fairly reasonable condos for 55 plus. Does anyone on this forum live there? Any input on the city, the traffic, the crime, the jobs, the housing? Has anyone moved there from the midwest?

Any info will be so much appreciated.

Jammie, are you from the midwest (I looked at some of your other posts)? I grew up there, in Kansas. I am thinking of relocating to Pinellas county too.
Have you visited there? Are you looking at 55, to rent or buy?

Jammie · 01-07-2007, 11:37 PM

Hi Suny, we live in So. Dak. We've never been to the area, have you? We've been to Fla. to visit family and that is one area we have not seen yet. What drew you to that area? Some people have posted on here that midwesterners are normally drawn to the Gulf area.

We won't be able to move there yet for a year since my husband wants to stay with his current job until he is 62. When are you planning on moving?

WE're sort of tossing around first renting an apartment, but we have also been looking at small condos. They do seem to have a lot of 55 condos in that area, don't they? What are you planning on doing when you get there?

SunKrist · 01-08-2007, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammie

St. Pete is one of the top cities on our list for relocation. Can you tell me the good and the bad of the city? There appear to be jobs there with benies and it also appears that apartments are somewhat reasonable there. Also there seem to be fairly reasonable condos for 55 plus. Does anyone on this forum live there? Any input on the city, the traffic, the crime, the jobs, the housing? Has anyone moved there from the midwest?

Any info will be so much appreciated.

Hi. My mom moved here from Illinois about 25 years ago (I was born here).

Traffic: There are areas where it can be almost as bad as Tampa, but if you find the right area to live in conjunction with your job, you should be able to avoid most or all of it. I rarely take the interstate, and only take the busiest roads if it's necessary.

Jobs: For anything paying more than $30,000 it helps if you are experienced or qualified in a particular area. There are a lot of jobs in the medical field, but again, you need to have the education. I can't say whether or not it will be easy for you to find a job, there are too many factors involved with that. You should probably try looking at a job placement website, like Monster.

Housing: The market may not be as booming as it was last year and the year before, but that's only better for the buyer. Since the Holidays are over, I have noticed a lot more signs in people's yards. There are a lot of areas within St. Petersburg to consider. There's NE St. Petersburg, South St. Petersburg, West St. Petersburg, and everything in between. Yes, there are some less desireable areas, but it's not like you are going to be deceived into buying something there - you should be able to recognize what it is, and move on. The only problem is that they are kind of spread out over the whole city.

Condos are being built like crazy. I'm sure you could find one you are interested in, in a good area, for a pretty reasonable price.

Crime: It doesn't seem to be much higher than most other areas. But, I haven't live in any other area. It could be that it's extremely high compared to where you live. I suggest that you go to the websites of the news stations and newpapers (tbo.com, myfoxtampabay.com, baynewsnine.com, tampabaysten.com, stpetetimes.com, etc.) and look at the reports for yourself.

Hope this could be of some help.

-Kristina

Jammie · 01-08-2007, 10:30 AM

Sunny, thank you for the info.

I have checked the crime comparison on Sperlings and St. Petersburg's crime is a 7 for both violent and property crimes. My area is a 3 and a 5 respecitvely.

Even though we have plans of renting an apartment for a year, we have checked out the condos there. Some are very reasonably priced. It appears that they're quite reasonable compared to a lot of areas in Fla. Is it hard to find homeowner's insurance in that area? Do you have to go with Citizen's or are others still writing policies there?

It also appears that your area has a good supply of employment and that is something that's important, too.

We were wondering about the transit system there. Someone had provided a link and I got info on the shuttles and buses. I do have a car and drive, but prefer to not drive in populated areas. My husband has no problem with it, but I was considering using public transit to get around. Is it quite dependable there?

It seems that your Mom feels she made the right choice to leave the midwest and settle in that area since she stayed 25 years already. Does she ever want to go back to the Midwest or is she totally happy with her decision to live there?

SunKrist · 01-08-2007, 07:16 PM

Jammie,

It doesn't really surpise me that the crime rate is higher here. It's such a densly populated area, with more people comes more crime.

I am fairly sure that you can still get a policy with another insurance company. I think it's only in the areas that were hit hardest in '04 that Citizens' is the only one available. We haven't had to change our company, but I don't know positively about getting a new policy.

There are buses everywhere. I personally don't use them, so I don't know how dependable they are. But there are a lot of them, and a lot of bus stops.

I think that my mom feels that she made the right decision at the time. St. Pete has changed a lot since then, though. She got married to my dad not too long after moving down here. He owns his own business, and that makes it a lot more difficult to move around. However, recently my family has been seriously considering moving out of Florida. Our closest family friends will be moving to Tennessee in the next few years, and although we were originally looking at Oklahoma, after researching and comparing, we decided to take a trip to Tennessee instead. We liked what we saw, and if we decide to move at all, I think that is going to be the place. We just feel like we need a change of scenery, and the culture here is becoming too international. Everyone is very private and independant, there isn't really a sense of true community.

Of course, the other side of the story is that we live in a flood zone, and could potentially be wiped out if a severe storm hit this area. But since we've lived in the same place for so long, we honestly can't afford to sell and buy another house in this area that is even close to what we live in now. We are already in some debt as it is, so the only way we can see being more financially free is to sell our house and my dad's business, and move somewhere where the cost of living is less. In Tennessee we can buy a house 50% bigger than the one we are in, and on twice as much land, for half the price we would sell our present house for.

Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on so much. I'm sure you won't have any of these problems. None of those things would really be an issue if we only had money. So, the number one piece of advice when moving to Florida is: bring money.

bungalowbuck · 01-10-2007, 09:33 AM

st. petersburg is a wonderful city for lovers of old houses and old neighborhoods. i have lived in st. petersburg for several years, restoring and selling old houses in crescent lake, the old northeast and historic kenwood.
in all that time i have never had a break-in, nor any other crime-related experiences. in all the houses that i have owned, i have always had a monitored security system, locks on the backyard gates, and i always park my car in my garage overnight. all the neighborhoods in which i have lived have active neighborhood associations and good relationships with the mayor, the city council and the police department. the local "foodie" scene is getting better and better. downtown st. petersburg is bustling morning, noon and night seven days a week. i wouldn't live anywhere else. i love it here.

Jammie · 01-10-2007, 09:39 PM

Thank you both so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

sydney1128 · 01-10-2007, 10:14 PM

If you aren't set on St. Pete, there is a nice retirement community in Clearwater called On Top of the World. It's condos I think, but they may rent as well. Seems nice - pretty large area.

Jacindad2 · 09-11-2010, 11:46 PM

Sunkrist,
I am looking to move to St. Pete as well, but i'm wondering what is meant by "We just feel like we need a change of scenery, and the culture here is becoming too international". Usually, that draws people to a city. Unless you mean that people moving from all over affects the close sense of community. Thx