St. Pete, Clearwater or somewhere else? (Tampa, Lakeland: apartment complexes, rent, condo)

[cjtex23]

Hello!

I'm 37F looking to move to the Tampa area. I've seen quite a few apartment complexes that look nice around the area, but would love to know people's opinions on the better places to live. I'll be working at the University of Tampa (hopefully!) and would like to stay within a 30 minute drive. I'm not really partial to living anywhere downtown and was thinking of Clearwater, St. Pete or someplace like that. I have a dog. I love to get out and walk with him. I also love arts, culture, the beach, and just generally "cool" places.

What do you think? I haven't been to the area in many years, so I really can't judge from my memory.

Thanks.

[spainbrit]

I think you would like downtown St Pete, great for walking dog along northshore park and the bay. Nice shops and places to eat. You could do UT in 30 mins maybe - sometimes it could be longer.
Otherwise South Tampa. You need to come and have a look - also you might like (if you can get a private rental) a condo along Bayshore in Tampa - that's really pretty, great for dog walking, lots of folks walk/jog along there and its very pleasant. It's possibly bikeable to UT also

[cjtex23]

Thanks! I'm visiting in two weeks.

[Keeper]

Check out Davis Island. Close to UT and on the water. They have a dog park too. Many medical ppl rent on the island. Not sure how many apts allow dogs though. Maybe someone else knows as those things change. While it is close to downtown, it isn't 'downtown'.
Also there are some nice apts all over south Tampa. Great area to meet other professionals. A lot depends on how much you are looking to spend on an apt.

[traveler73]

30 minutes from Pinellas county (St Pete/Clearwater) to Tampa might be a possible on days when the Howard Frankland bridge or Courtney Campbell Causeway isn't jammed with an accident and Saturn is aligned with Venus...lol. And you would have to get every green light and exceed the posted speed limit by 20 miles to do it. Over an hour is more realistic, especially during peak drive times. And I hope you are comfortable driving fast or you will be run off the road by all the gunners trying to get to work on time.

I lived on Clearwater Beach and worked in downtown Tampa, about 25 miles apart, and on a good day, if I got all the green lights and there were no accidents, it took me over an hour to get to the office. A couple times a week I had to wait as crews cleaned up an accident or two on Gulf to Bay Blvd, so it was a 2 hour trip. Going anywhere from West to East in Pinellas county during the day is nearly impossible because there is no West to East Interstate, only 3 lane roads and the red lights take forever to change.

If you are going to work in Tampa then might I suggest living in Hillsborough county and saving the beach for the weekends? Your car and sanity would love you for it. And the rents tend to be a little cheaper over there too.

Good luck with your move!

[cjtex23]

Hey Traveler,

You make a very good point! Thanks. I will only need to hit the office about 3x/week, but I'm not very partial to commutes and traffic, so thanks for the info. Life is too short for all that hassle.

[spainbrit]

Clearwater to Tampa is harder than St Pete in my opinion. Too many lights from Clearwater before you even access a fast bit of road. St Pete you can get onto I-275 quickly, and yes there can be accidents, my husband, who works in Lakeland (and we live in Seminole) usually does it in one a half hours max and he is not a fast drive (unlike me) he used to work on Davis Island and it took him 40 mins usually door to door and that's with a 20 min drive to the highway first.

[jessiesma]

and if you live closer to Downtown St. Pete. your near 275 and it's a fast ride over the Gandy and then crosstown to downtown. My husband's done central st. Pete to SOG in 35 min. in the am. If you live over there, you'll be so drained from the daily hassles with traffic anyway, you won't want to schlepp out to the beach on weekends. It happened to us so we're back in St. Pete and my husband works in either county as a substitute teacher.

Originally Posted by spainbrit

Clearwater to Tampa is harder than St Pete in my opinion. Too many lights from Clearwater before you even access a fast bit of road. St Pete you can get onto I-275 quickly, and yes there can be accidents, my husband, who works in Lakeland (and we live in Seminole) usually does it in one a half hours max and he is not a fast drive (unlike me) he used to work on Davis Island and it took him 40 mins usually door to door and that's with a 20 min drive to the highway first.

[escudvi]

wow, will be relocating to Tampa (office in suntrust building) and reading everything, wonder pls. can anyone say how traffic is from, say, safety harbor or oldsmar or westchase to downtown tampa. have been advised this weekend 3/25 doing construction and retooling of lanes on 275 to make commute to downtown easier... have sis who lives in palm harbor and want to be 1/2 way between here and downtown tampa. nice area. security... clean. safe very important. thanks for any replies.

[tjax1000]

I think you would like St Pete, somewhere near downtown. We were in Clearwater just long enough to decide it wasn't for us. I'd get home from work and had two choices, either put the family in the car and go to a park somewhere, or walk around the block. A walk in a 70's era suburb... yeah. What a blast.

Now we're in St. Pete and life is fun again. I get off work and I can take my son on a walk down to the park on the water and do whatever- play on the beach, kick a ball around, etc. It is a great place to be outdoors. In my opinion, Clearwater proper is just another "nothing special" city. It has got subdivision after subdivision barely hanging off of major, overcrowded roads where you'll hit one light after another and sit at them for 5 minutes. If you like mass market chain restaurants and stores, you're in luck. You'll see the same stores every mile or two.

Downtown Clearwater, as I think they call it, (on the mainland side of Clearwater beach) may not be too bad. But, the drive across the county would be holy murder.