Question about a Carrollwood Neighborhood (Tampa, Citrus Park: rental, insurance, homes)

[k8p]

Along with the rental home in Pelican Island, I'm also looking at a home in Trevi at Bay Lake in Carrollwood. Is this a nice area besides the immediate neighborhood? How about commute time to MacDill? Reasonable or horrific?

If you had to choose between the 2 neighborhoods/areas assuming that both homes are equal, which would you choose?

Thanks again for all your help!

[Keeper]

Not sure where that is in Carrollwood but TampaKaren would know as she lives in Carrollwood. I like Carrollwood area, the downside being the traffic during commute hours. If you won't be working 8-5 then it might not be as bad. I am guessing commute time would be around 45 minutes to MacDill during rush hour. Dale Mabry south of Kennedy is slow with lots of traffic lights where traffic backs up.

Maybe someone can give you a better idea of the commute time.

[Tim Tim Tim]

I live in carrollwood but am not exactly sure where that is.. Overall carrollwood is a GREAT area though so im going to assume its not bad

[TampaKaren]

Trevi at Bay Lake is a small, but very nice, gated neighborhood just east of Carrollwood Village and west of Avila. Bay Lake is ski-sized and has a community boat dock. It is very convenient to a plethoria of stores & restaurants: Publix grocery, Fresh Market, Melting Pot, Grill Smith, Bonefish Grill, JJ Chings, Borders, Barnes & Noble, the Book Swap, Starbucks, the Carrollwood Cultural Center, Lowes, Home Depot, Ballys & Anytime Fitness, Staples, Office Depot, a Comedy Club, Tampa Pitcher Show, the Citrus Park Mall and much much more. The closest north/south artery would be North Dale Mabry, but I-275 and the Veteran's Expressway are easily accessible as well.

It would not be fair for me to choose between the two neighborhoods because you are the one who's going to live there (and I would surely be partial to Carrollwood since I live here already). I would advise you to research both well so you can make an informed decision. The negatives I see are that Trevi would be a longer commute, and Pelican Island just might be in an evacuation zone and realize higher homeowner's insurance, plus most of the homes are older (1980+). The positives would be that there is more to do around Trevi and the homes are newer (1996+), and Pelican Island would probably be a shorter commute plus many of the homes are on a canal.

Hope this helps!