Is the Tampa area a good place to live?

[ReeferJones]

whats up tampa reefers? My wife and I are considering moving down to the tampa area next summer, we've visited there a few times, but wanted to know how it is to live there. We have 2 young children, so any input on schools there would be great too.

thanks!

[jokeefe727@aol.com]

Welcome to Paradise. Look into Pasco Ccounty just north and west of Tampa.Land and taxes a little cheaper.

[kybreos]

I work in tampa but live in pinellas, to be honest I prefer pinellas, i grew up here I like the schools and the general feel of the area. Tampa is much more city like.

[college429]

Try to live close to where you work. Commuting is terrible.
Schools are ok. Public schools are somewhat crowded. Housing prices are going up rapidly. It is starting to be difficult for some low and middle income people to afford the house they really want. Other than that, the weather is great, HOT and sunny most of the year. A few months in the summer (such as right now) it rains almost every afternoon.

Sports are great....Bucanners, Lightning, devil rays, etc.

Busch Gardens right in our back yard...Great theme park.

And Orlando only about and hour away.

Good beaches less than an hour away.

I like it here!

[david8956]

You wouldn't like it.........hot, HUGE bugs, snakes alligators, etc. Make sure to tell all your friends

[DaddyJax]

Originally posted by david8956
You wouldn't like it.........hot, HUGE bugs, snakes alligators, etc. Make sure to tell all your friends

Must be another local like me.



Seriously, its a good place to live. Lots of everything to do and a laid back feel for a city this size. If we can just get the New Yorkers to stay away we would be alot better off!!

[ReeferJones]

Originally posted by DaddyJax
[ If we can just get the New Yorkers to stay away we would be alot better off!! [/B]

lol, well we are from the DC area, so I don't know how much better we are

How is the Port Richey area? is the commute down to clearwater, or tampa all that bad? I currently drive 30 miles each way to work in stop and go, and I'm hoping its better than that at least a little. Of course being right by the ocean would make it all worth it for me.

[exotec]

I don't care *where* they come from so long as they become Floridians when they move in! (We don't care *HOW* you did it up North!!! )

We were born and raised in Pinellas also. You're already used to traffic ... don't expect that to change too much for Tampa! The difference you might notice here is that a lot of your fellow travellers will happen to be retirees - they're not always sympathetic to the concept that those of us who are still working have a schedule to adhere to!

Port Richey and New Port Richey are nice. As was mentioned earlier, the Pasco area is nice too, and a little less cityish. And although we're not very "close to the ocean" here, the Gulf does play a passable impostor! The ocean isn't too far a drive, though.

All in all, a very nice place to be. Come and love our Florida for who she is.

... of course, you DO realize the mosquito is the Florida state bird, and we're petitioning for the cockroach as mascot - ??? LOL

[jokeefe727@aol.com]

Port Richey is 30 min. from Tampa and Clearwater and it has a great saltwater fish importer exporter thats open to the public. AQUATIC VISIONS.

[Aquatic Hamster]

Originally posted by jokeefe727@aol.com
Port Richey is 30 min. from Tampa and Clearwater and it has a great saltwater fish importer exporter thats open to the public. AQUATIC VISIONS.

!!??!!

Wow, one more reason to move there. I gota look them up.

[DaddyJax]

Originally posted by jokeefe727@aol.com
Port Richey is 30 min. from Tampa and Clearwater and it has a great saltwater fish importer exporter thats open to the public. AQUATIC VISIONS.

{Insert advertisement banner here}

[angelsil]

I live right in Tampa - in a historic district. I love it. We'd never be able to afford a house up North. Even though we're 10 minutes from Ybor City and 30 minutes from the beach, we still have plenty of greenery. I've also lived in S. Pinellas. I wouldn't want to live way out in Pasco or north Pinellas, but I'm a city girl.

Traffic sucks no matter where you are, though. I live in Tampa and work in Pinellas. If there's no traffic it's a 20 minute drive. In traffic, over an hour.

Yeargh!

[guntercb]

Traffic in Tampa is Very Bad. I have driven in lots of Citys and there are only a few that I think are worse. I believe Atlanta and Miami to have worse traffic. Chicago traffic is bad, but Chicagoeans are much more friendly in there cars than Florideans.

Live close to where you are going to work.

Good luck. Do you have a job lined up yet?

Cheers,
Chris

[kabboord]

I've been in Pinellas for about a year and a half and I'm not really a fan of the whole area... I've lived in Brevard and Alachua... maybe its all just to urban for me... I've travelled and stayed all over Florida and it seems like Tampa has all the bad stuff a big city has without much of the good stuff... The county planning landuse\ traffic is border line criminal. And for all the area theres not many nice areas, or cool places to shop and eat... maybe its just the gulfport area... but you better like the area where you live here... cause from 7-10 am or 3:30-7pm I wouldnt stray more than 20 miles.

[SawCJack00]

My wife and I just moved into our house in New Port Richey. We rented in ST Pete for 6 months prior to buying after moving down from MN last December. We absolutely love it here. It's a great place to live. The traffic is average for a larger city. Lots of construction going on. We were lucky to buy when we did as within a month of our closing, the exact same model in the same neighborhood has sold for $35k and $40K more than what we paid. Just this week another of the same model in the same neighborhood went on the market for $54K more than we paid. it will sell quickly too. I work in Seminole (until our new branch opens in NPR this fall) which is south of Largo and north/west of St Pete, and my comute is about an hour & 15 minutes each way if traffic is good. Schools are hit & miss in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. In Pasco (where New Port Richey & Port Richey are located) the schools are very good. Taxes and home prices are better in Pasco, but one thing to be careful about that we didn't know about is there is only one insurance company that will cover you in Pasco at this time and it's a crappy state run company called Citizens. Our HO insurance is 3 times what we would be paying in Pinellas Cty. Hopefully we'll get some competition & prices will drop eventually. Also depending on what you do for a living, the average salary here is lower than many parts of the country. My wife and I both took signifigant salary cuts to come here, but for us it is worth it!

[ReeferJones]

thanks for all the input guys! (and girls if applicable)

[Acolin]

I came from Palm Beach Gardens on the east coast of Fl and New Hampshire and before that, MN-

Tampa is kinda industrial town compared to everything else I've seen, but it is always sunny, even in the summer when it rains every day at 3:15 and there is 1-2 hours of daylight left when you get outta work, and the weekends are always nice (except when the rare hurricanes try to blow you off the map!)

[luminary]

I gotta disagree with some of the traffic comments. It's certainly not great and there are a few major intersections to stay away from at certain times...but relative to every other city or urban area I've lived or stayed at for any length of time, traffic here is a breeze.

Basically, I've been here, lived/worked in Lake Worth/Ft. Lauderdale (Palm Beach County), DC Metro and New York (Long Island). Tampa doesn't even compare to the rest of those places IMO.

I liked Palm Beach better than Tampa, but it has nothing to do with the traffic (I just like the ocean better than the Gulf), otherwise I like living here.