Anyone here live in Tampa?

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
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Just a preliminary search as I am applying to 2 schools in Tampa.

If you could live anywhere in Tampa that is within 20 minutes of either of the following places, where would you choose?

Princess Palm Avenue Tampa, Florida 33619

and

58th Street North Largo, FL 33760

Thanks in advance
 

Qacer

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2001
2,721
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The middle point of these two places is technically the "ghetto". But there are some nice places. If you can afford it, I would suggest living in the South Tampa / Hyde Park area. Plenty of young professionals live there. From this area, you can get on the Crosstown Expressway, cut north on I-75, and then exit on Dr. MLK to get to Princess Palm Ave. To get to Largo, you really only have two nearby options: Gandy Blvd. or I-275.

The flow of traffic on I-275 and Gandy Bvld. is eastwards during the morning rush hour and westwards in the afternoon. Traffic on the Crosstown flows westwards in the morning and the opposite in the afternoon.

You can get some more suggestions if you visit other websites such as city-data.com. They've got some Tampa-based realtors on their boards that can provide you a better match in terms of what your willing to pay.

 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
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Thanks for the Hyde Park recommendation.

I am not worried about a midway point as I would want to be close to whichever program I went to.

What is safvety harbor like?
 

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
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I worked at an office on Princess Palm Ave, and it's a very nice area. It's definitely one of the higher end places to live in Tampa.

I know very little about Largo, except that it has the reputation of being rednecks who can't afford St. Pete. They have nice beaches though.
 

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
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For clarification, when I worked in the Princess Palm office back in the mid 90's, if you went 20 minutes north, there wasn't much at all. If you went 20 minutes south, you were in a serious ghetto. If you go west, it wasn't that bad at all in a community called Lutz. IIRC 20 minutes east was Zephyrhills which is not a bad little bedroom community.
 

Mr Pickles

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2006
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Safety Harbor is nice in certain areas. If you take a look at the two places you are interested in you'll see Tampa Bay between them. Its not so much the "ghetto" as much as it is the body of water. These are two different areas, two different counties, with two different living styles. If you wanted somewhere close to the Tampa area you should expect to pay more since its in the bigger city. There are hundreds of condos and apartments within 20 minutes of either of these places. The spot in largo is near the better part of Ulmerton called Feathersound. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a nice temporary place there. As for the spot in Tampa, Hyde Park will be your best bet.

I work in Tampa and have lived my whole life in Pinellas County, grew up in Largo. If there's any questions about anything just let me know dude.

I'm not sure about all this redneck and ghetto talk. Tampa and Pinellas County are both pretty dense areas, not a lot of open land, so you're going to have the good and bad, but its not like you're going to end up driving down a road that you'll be shot at.
 

daweeze02

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2003
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I live in Tampa, well seffner now but I am buying a home next month off 56th and Puritan, the only decent area in Temple Terrace lol.. But honestly it doesnt matter where you live in Tampa the ghetto is every where. I guess you could move to Harbor Island and yes Hyde Park is nice but your gonna pay for top dollar for places over there. LIke the above post, Feathersound is very nice but at 5 oclock getting there from Tampa and being stock on Ulmerton is not enjoyable at all.
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
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Price is not going to be an issue so much as school district quality. I'd be selling a house in New Jerseym which will translate into plenty of money for a nice house in Tampa. The drop ion property taxes alone will make our potential purchasing power substantial.
 

daweeze02

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2003
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Example on pricing, I just had my offer accepted on a 2000 sq foot house, 2 car garage, 18 inch tiles, brand new carpet, fenced in back yard, fireplace etc etc. I offered 125k and the bank pay $7500 in closing and they took it. I thought you were looking to rent, but I see you wanna buy. There are so many short sales and stuff going on here now you wont have any problem finding a steal.
 

Mr Pickles

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2006
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You have a home in Jersey but you are going to apply to two schools in Tampa and you have an interest in school districts, as in high school zoning? I'm really confused here. Is the school district interest essential for your child or for you? I'm lost.
 

Qacer

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2001
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Originally posted by: daweeze02
I live in Tampa, well seffner now but I am buying a home next month off 56th and Puritan, the only decent area in Temple Terrace lol.. But honestly it doesnt matter where you live in Tampa the ghetto is every where. I guess you could move to Harbor Island and yes Hyde Park is nice but your gonna pay for top dollar for places over there. LIke the above post, Feathersound is very nice but at 5 oclock getting there from Tampa and being stock on Ulmerton is not enjoyable at all.

56th and Puritan is not the only "decent" area in Temple Terrace. The it spot is actually the area east of 56th and south of Bullard Parkway. You'll find homes from 1957 sharing the same location as half-a-million dollar houses.
 

Qacer

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2001
2,721
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Originally posted by: daweeze02
Example on pricing, I just had my offer accepted on a 2000 sq foot house, 2 car garage, 18 inch tiles, brand new carpet, fenced in back yard, fireplace etc etc. I offered 125k and the bank pay $7500 in closing and they took it. I thought you were looking to rent, but I see you wanna buy. There are so many short sales and stuff going on here now you wont have any problem finding a steal.

That's a pretty good deal. If the Temple Terrace redevelopment project goes through, then that house may be worth a lot more in the future. Plus, if they build the area where Ikea is going to open, then Temple Terrace could possibly be one of the "it" towns.


 

Qacer

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2001
2,721
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Originally posted by: Mwilding
Price is not going to be an issue so much as school district quality. I'd be selling a house in New Jerseym which will translate into plenty of money for a nice house in Tampa. The drop ion property taxes alone will make our potential purchasing power substantial.

If you are planning on buying a house, then make sure you are picking the right location. There are some subdivisions in the area that ended up with many foreclosure. This in turn affected the residents credit since lenders were classifying these areas as high risk.

I suggest you shop around for neighborhoods that are already established. One neighborhood that is worth looking into is Temple Terrace especially in the golf course area. Many nice houses. The only problem with this is your drive to Largo will take about 1 hour. However, your drive to Princess Palm will be short (~20 minutes).

If you are willing to invest in a condo, then there are many available in or near the downtown Tampa area. This would make your drive to Largo a little bit easier since you have easy access to I-275 or Kennedy Blvd.

I suggest you go looking on Realtor.com and post the residences that you find interesting here. The Tampons should be able to give you an opinion whether it is a nice place or not.


 

Qacer

Platinum Member
Apr 5, 2001
2,721
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Nice area? Avila... I've never been in there, but supposedly Jon Gruden, other Buccaneers players, and many other rich folks live there. In general, the immediate vicinity is pretty good. I used to live slightly southwest of there a few years ago and did not have that much complaints besides your usual rush hour traffic. If you go eastwards from there, you're about 20 minutes from the University of South Florida. Westwards will bring you to a variety of shops on Dale Mabry. North will take you to the new mall near the Pasco-Hillsborough line, and of course, South on I-275 or the Veteran's Expressway will eventually take you to the beaches (~45 minutes if traffic is not that bad).
 

Cuda1447

Lifer
Jul 26, 2002
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Another option is to live north on 75. Wesley Chapel/Land O' Lakes are very nice area's and growing quickly. You can just hop on 75 and head south to tampa, not more than 20-30 minutes tops I would say.
 

Cuda1447

Lifer
Jul 26, 2002
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Originally posted by: daweeze02
Example on pricing, I just had my offer accepted on a 2000 sq foot house, 2 car garage, 18 inch tiles, brand new carpet, fenced in back yard, fireplace etc etc. I offered 125k and the bank pay $7500 in closing and they took it. I thought you were looking to rent, but I see you wanna buy. There are so many short sales and stuff going on here now you wont have any problem finding a steal.

What area did you purchase in and how old was the house? Me and my fiancee are looking for a house in that price range, but we don't want to live in the ghetto, or close. I love the Land O' Lakes area I'm in right now and would prefer to live in nice apartments than houses that are in questionable areas.
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
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I would want to be as close as possible to whichever program I go to. I have 3 small kids and a major committment like this needs me at home whenever I can be. The requirements are nice area, great schools and close to the school (Barry U. or NSU Tampa). I am in the nice position that I can afford a lot of house.

So, Tampons, if you had your choice of area near either locale and a price ceiling of a million bucks, where would you go?
 

SuperSix

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: Mwilding
I would want to be as close as possible to whichever program I go to. I have 3 small kids and a major committment like this needs me at home whenever I can be. The requirements are nice area, great schools and close to the school (Barry U. or NSU Tampa). I am in the nice position that I can afford a lot of house.

So, Tampons, if you had your choice of area near either locale and a price ceiling of a million bucks, where would you go?

Still looking for info on Tampa?