Nice parts of St Pete (Sarasota: condos, crime, townhouses)

[xbillyx]

I'm looking for nice neighborhoods to live in in St Pete. I checked out Google Street View for the Historic Kenwood area and it seemed pretty nice.

What parts of St Pete should I consider and which should I avoid? Where's the crime?

Here's what I'm looking for in an area:

• My wife and I will be 30 at the time of our move
• We have dogs and cats, children are a strong possibility
• Somewhere walkable and decent for getting around on a bike
• Not much crime at all (I know some is inevitable everywhere)
• Somewhere we can walk around at dark and not have to worry about it
• Not too much noise or pollution

[ferret111]

There are tons of threads on this already, but, in short, most of St. Pete is fine. Just watch out for the area south of 1st Avenue South, west of 4th Street South, north of 26th Avenue South, and east of 34th Street South. There's also Lealman, which isn't part of St. Pete but has a St. Pete mailing address. Parts of it are pretty seedy, especially around 34th Street and Haines Road.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by xbillyx

I'm looking for nice neighborhoods to live in in St Pete. I checked out Google Street View for the Historic Kenwood area and it seemed pretty nice.

What parts of St Pete should I consider and which should I avoid? Where's the crime?

Here's what I'm looking for in an area:

• My wife and I will be 30 at the time of our move
• We have dogs and cats, children are a strong possibility
• Somewhere walkable and decent for getting around on a bike
• Not much crime at all (I know some is inevitable everywhere)
• Somewhere we can walk around at dark and not have to worry about it
• Not too much noise or pollution

Kenwood is surrounded by an "iffy" area, and there is a problem with crime. On the surface it looks nice but I wouldn't live there. Last year in broad daylight some guy beat an 11 year old pet Siamese cat to death there. It's not a place I would walk around. You can google it for more info.

Also:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humanin...cle1025814.ece

If you want to be close to downtown St. Pete, stick to old Northeast. Even they have the occasional problem with crime, but it's mostly pretty good around there.

[xbillyx]

That's too bad that Historic Kenwood is surrounded by iffy areas. It looks nice. So, Old Northeast is the only real neighborhood to consider?

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by xbillyx

That's too bad that Historic Kenwood is surrounded by iffy areas. It looks nice. So, Old Northeast is the only real neighborhood to consider?

Only if you want to live near downtown. There are plenty of beautiful neighborhoods that are safe in St. Pete, but they won't be walkable to downtown.

[ferret111]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Only if you want to live near downtown. There are plenty of beautiful neighborhoods that are safe in St. Pete, but they won't be walkable to downtown.

Yep. Most of St. Pete consists of neighborhoods with 50s-60s tract homes. Most of them are pretty nice, relatively quiet, and safe. You are usually convenient to a lot of things, though most aren't walkable.

[xbillyx]

What are some other nice neighborhoods of St Pete (even if not near downtown)? If the neighborhood itself is walkable that might do, depending on how nice it is.

Thanks for all the help, once again.

[xbillyx]

Also, how is the Old Southeast?

[xbillyx]

I've been looking up some info on St Pete. It's hard to tell online what other neighborhoods are desirable (in addition to the Old Northeast). Any help is appreciated.

[gypsychic]

St. Pete is huge and spread out. There are tons of nice neighborhoods, but they aren't "walkable" to much for the most part. Maybe on the beaches. You are probably just going to have to come down and explore it for yourself. My cousin lives in old Southeast on the water and loves it, but we don't keep in touch and I haven't talked to him for years. I think it's probably OK there for the most part. Old northeast is nice because it is not only close to downtown but close to the nice waterfront park system, that is a real treasure of St. Pete, IMO.

We just went up to St. Pete for a day trip today and drove all over - whew it is big and spread out for sure! Makes Sarasota seem very tiny and compact. I think it is hard to live within walking distance to the downtown. Even old Northeast is a bit of a walk, and the downtown is pretty big and spread out. They do have some nice condos downtown and are building some nice townhouses, too. But then you will have to live with the noise downtown if you are OK with that.