just bought a house at Valencia Lakes...what to expect?? (Tampa: best suburbs, crime)

[kab0906]

Originally Posted by MJM24

hahahaha the haters are silenced after the backyard pic is posted. case closed

He's not the only one with a view.




Doesn't negate the infrastructure difficulties and failures.

For example, we just went back on water rationing for irrigation because our county planning committee didn't insist that the builders connect their new neighborhoods to reclaimed water I stead of potable water.

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Or the Crosstown local/lower deck in the morning on a weekday?

RM

Working on those million dollar pretty lights that have never worked more then a week require lots of orange barrels.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by mrviking

Working on those million dollar pretty lights that have never worked more then a week require lots of orange barrels.

Heh. Yeah, that was a boondoggle, wasn't it? What I think is funny is that there have been lights on the support towers for the ramps between the I-4 connector since they were built. They're small, tasteful, and always working when I've seen them. Then a couple of years later they came up with this scheme for lighting the Crosstown, and it's never worked.

Government at it's finest!


RM

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Government at it's finest!


RM

Spend millions of tax payers $$$ on beautification lights. They briefly work before going dark for good. Instead of the original contractor being held responsible to fix them, tax payers get stuck with the bill.
Over 2 years later, they are still dark.

[Ghost Town]

Congrats!
Valencia Lakes seems not too far inland.
Relatively close to the water.
But I am considering Plant City.
I guess it will be a lot more criticized here for the remoteness.
And as I am currently in Houston, I don't know yet.
Plant City seems not that far at least from downtown Tampa.
I drove there already.
By my current standards it's fairly close.
But I realize it could be closer.
And of course FL standards are different.
Also need to consider poor vs middle class vs rich.
For me as a middle class that distance is not bad
Plus insurance rates will be better.
For the rich it's way far...

[bluskyz]

IMHO what to expect is very dependent on your personal thoughts and scruples. If you are a type that appreciates normal manners and proper civilities you may not be pleased. Also, add proper development planning and a real serve and protect police force and you may perhaps be frustrated. Motor vehicle violations are not well enforced allowing road rats and bullies to endanger others, and seem to be part of a odd culture.
On the other hand if lovely views and imagined paradise are high on your priority list you may dream onward and be satisfied. My observations of this areas residents seems to indicate the "anything goes' types are somewhat content here.

[saturno_v]

Originally Posted by bluskyz

IMHO what to expect is very dependent on your personal thoughts and scruples. If you are a type that appreciates normal manners and proper civilities you may not be pleased. Also, add proper development planning and a real serve and protect police force and you may perhaps be frustrated. Motor vehicle violations are not well enforced allowing road rats and bullies to endanger others, and seem to be part of a odd culture.

I noticed that aggressive driving is definitely not limited to the area of Valencia Lakes but it's a Florida phenomena. I did not notice any noticeable differences with other areas of Tampa in that regard.
Consider that where I live (Seattle) we had several city council members that openly stated that they did not believe in law enforcement and judges that refuse to send people in jail for robbery...Police telling you "if your car get stolen, do not bother calling 911 we have other fish to fry"....not to mention people openly defecating on the streets...talking about anything goes....

Dealing with just aggressive drivers seems an improvement to me....

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by saturno_v

I noticed that aggressive driving is definitely not limited to the area of Valencia Lakes but it's a Florida phenomena. I did not notice any noticeable differences with other areas of Tampa in that regard.
Consider that where I live (Seattle) we had several city council members that openly stated that they did not believe in law enforcement and judges that refuse to send people in jail for robbery...Police telling you "if your car get stolen, do not bother calling 911 we have other fish to fry"....not to mention people openly defecating on the streets...talking about anything goes....

Dealing with just aggressive drivers seems an improvement to me....

Having multiple homes I have some observations in this regard as well:

Drivers here can be aggressive, more so than in other places I drive regularly. Worse, people here don't seem to understand the concept of "stay left unless you're passing". Now I get that on arterial roads you might have to be in the left lane for some reason other than moving forward (like turning at the next light, for example.) However, if that's not the case and you don't want to drive at least the speed limit, for the love of Mike, could you PLEASE move over?

Don't even get me started on cell phone users while driving.

RM

[Ghost Town]

I drove in Tampa Bay area just for a couple of days and found local driving culture a lot better compared to Houston or South Texas in general. Even coming back to Houston and driving from the airport was an instant shock after Tampa. I guess there might be better driving culture even compared to Tampa, but at least it didn't feel bad at all.

[FL_Expert]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

I drove in Tampa Bay area just for a couple of days and found local driving culture a lot better compared to Houston or South Texas in general. Even coming back to Houston and driving from the airport was an instant shock after Tampa. I guess there might be better driving culture even compared to Tampa, but at least it didn't feel bad at all.

I agree, Tampa isn’t bad unless you’re coming from a small town. I’ve seen far worse.