Everything you'd ever want to know about Tampa suburbs (Miami: best cities, apartment)

[elevendollarlife]

Hey,



So what is recommended for Tampa and/or Tampa "suburbs"? I'd even consider all the way over to Clearwater or St. Petersburg I guess my list would be:

• work in downtown tampa and don't want to commute for more than 30-45 minutes (I'm moving from Chicago, so this time-frame would be a welcomed change)
• have kids so would need good elementary schools
• has to be safe (do I really need to mention this?)
• looking for a 3br or 2br w/ den apartment for $850-$900

Would love any feedback that includes best cities / good neighborhoods and boundaries by streets.

Thanks

[gypsychic]

You will NOT want St. Pete or Clearwater unless you want a hellish commute. I would try to stick to the neighborhoods in South Tampa - Tampaguy is our resident expert here on South Tampa and can tell you neighborhoods and streets.

[mquintana]

Brandon/Riverview/Valrico and New Tampa are nice areas as well. You might want to consider these.

[joelibyan]

is that a reasonable price for that size in tampa? i moved away in 06 to miami, where youd only find a place like that with that price in the middle of the ghetto. id imagine a 3/2 with a den would be at least $1000 or more.

[mquintana]

Miami is different, bigger, more congested, more expensive. It's cheaper to live here in the Bay area compared to Miami.

[elevendollarlife]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

You will NOT want St. Pete or Clearwater unless you want a hellish commute. I would try to stick to the neighborhoods in South Tampa - Tampaguy is our resident expert here on South Tampa and can tell you neighborhoods and streets.

What do you consider hellish? Keep in mind that I'm coming from Chicago and can easily drive an hour and not be out of the city. What are we talking here? 30, 45 minutes?

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by elevendollarlife

What do you consider hellish? Keep in mind that I'm coming from Chicago and can easily drive an hour and not be out of the city. What are we talking here? 30, 45 minutes?

Well, you said you didn't want more than 30, to 45 minutes. I think you would be looking at an hour at least with a LOT of traffic from St. Pete. Of course it will depend where you are driving from and driving to, and what time you are traveling. If you are driving over the bridge every day you will be stuck if there is an accident. That is what I would hate, maybe it won't bother you personally. But your original post said you wanted an easier drive from the one you were making in Chicago. Keep in mind my own hubby has always made LONG commutes to downtown Tampa because we don't want to live in Tampa. We have lived north of Tampa (Dade City 37 miles northeast, one hour commute) Lakeland (37 miles east, 45 minutes commute) and now north Sarasota (58 miles, one hour commute). As I said, I think commuting from St. Pete would just be problematic having to cross the water everyday, and there are a lot of accidents on that bridge. JMO, however.

Hope this helps.