Life for SBF's in St Pete/Tampa/ (Miami, Apollo Beach: buying a home, transfer)

[jcn1130]

Hi, I am being transferred to St Petersburg and am wondering about how my social life may change drastically. I am a professional, educated Black Female with two teenagers. Everyone tells me that I should change companies before moving to that area and that I will be very, very lonely. I'm always involved in my community, like to dance, go to the theater, have friends over for dinner, etc. I currently live in a larger city where diversity isn 't a huge issue. My kids are used to having a diverse group of friends and they haven't really experienced racism up close and personal, so I am mostly concerned about them (twin 15 year old girls). Where would you suggest we live? Are there interracial churches in the area? Is there a sizeable African American middle class? Will we be pretty much on our own? Where SHOULDN"T we live? I can probably swing buying a home in the $350K range, but prefer not to live in an all white or all black neighborhood.

Any advice?

[I_Want_Snow]

I lived in St. Pete for 4 years and I absolutely loved it!! Racism is everywhere you go, but the St. Pete area is VERY diverse, so I doubt you will experience any racism. I am a white male who always dates outside my race and I never experienced any issues or had any problems when I was out with my dates or when I had a girlfriend. All the parties, clubs, bars, jazz bars, festivals, concerts, etc I went to, there was always a large diversity of people.

The area has lots of festivals and concerts going on all the time. The downtown St. Pete area is nice especially around Baywalk and the pier.

I lived in North St. Pete which seems to be the nicer area. As far as the bad areas of town, when I moved there I was told to stay away from South St. Pete, basically look North of Central Ave. The roads are named N and S so that makes is easier to distinguish.

You should be able to get a nice house for the price range you are looking at, especially now since home prices are dropping.

In my personal opinion, I would choose St. Pete over Tampa every time. My main reason for that is because I like the vast choices of beaches near by.

[jcn1130]

Thanks a lot for your reply! I am going to take the plunge and try it down there.

[joelibyan]

I lived in Tampa between 1998 - 2003. I loved it. As Snow said, there is racism wherever you go in this world, but the metro areas of the Bay area are definitely on par with the more progressive viewpoint on this issue. The more rural areas of Tampa are more "deep south" in their thinking when it comes to race. I lived in North Tampa (Carrolwood), a thoroughly middle class area where most neighborhoods had a good balance of white, black and hispanic residents. I am white, and my high school/college circle of friends/co-workers consisted of white Americans, black Americans, Hispanics from the Caribbean, children of Jamaicans, Haitians and Lebanese... It seems like you're open, so the people you come across will most likely be open to you.
Tampa/St. Pete is great for being involved in the community. There are many events that encourage residents to come out and get to know each other, as well as many events like theater and dance, as you mentioned. It's not NYC, but Tampa has a good arts scene.
If your job is in St. Pete, I would recommend living in St. Pete, because traffic can be pretty bad. NE St. Pete is nice, as well as areas directly south of downtown St. Pete (contrary to what the other guy said, South St. Pete is not completely run down. It has nice pockets). If you don't mind a bit of a commute, South Tampa is nice, as is the North Tampa/Carrolwood area. A great multi-racial church I recommend can be found at gracefamilychurch.org. I used to go there and I miss it!
Currently, I live in Miami, and I miss Tampa a lot for the exact reasons you mention. There is less mingling among the races, as it seems each group has "it's territory," and the middle class is smaller. There is much more money and much more poverty in Miami than in the Tampa Bay area.
Granted, the black community in Tampa is not like major areas in Atlanta, LA or Chicago, but by no means will you be on your own. The area grows more diverse daily.
On the side, I would recommend not living in Pasco County or anywhere in central or Northern Pinellas County. Although there are some nice areas, they are poorly served by big highways and you will be stuck in stop and go traffic for upwards of an hour!
Good luck, I'd like to see how it turns out!

[cmor]

I live in Apollo Beach, about a 30 min cummute from St. Pete or Tampa. One of the reasons we love where we are is because of the diversity. Our neighborhood is about 15% african american and 30% hispanic... it is beautifully kept with houses up to about the $350mark. Our place may be a little far from St. Pete, but generally speaking the Tampa/St.Pete metro area is a great place for professional minorities. I've known people to leave and come back because of Tampa's great 'melting pot' feel they didn't get elsewhere. There certainly are some racists here.. but it's more like a baby tugging at your pants. Yeah, you'll notice it.. a bumper sticker or rebel flag (I can only think of one anywhere in town currently) and it hurts but you'd be suprised at the variety of cultures we have. You wont have any problem finding a great place you feel comfortable in! Good Luck!

[hmontaq]

Nice to hear that about Apollo Beach. I have been looking at that location myself. Small and quiet with decent access to the city and diversity. Sounds pretty good...