Tampa Bay area and 'burbs. Would you move there?

SeaNile

SeaNile

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2010
1,522
Chadds Ford, PA
Boat Info
2003 50 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins QSM11
Typical Philadelphia winter about to set in and it got me thinking...what if I could move? Where would I move and why. Tampa seems like a great option with reasonable cost of living and a great boating season.

[FONT=verdana, geneva]For those of you in the Tampa Bay areas, do you like it? Where you born there or did you move to Tampa? If we were ever to move the school district would have to be fantastic. Two boys, 5&9 so their education would be #1 priority. Home would have to be fairly close to the boat (30 min tops) and a pool would be ideal. Sure I would love a house on the water with the boat right there, but would also be OK with a 'burb a few miles away with a beautiful house and pool. Budget could be 700K but heard less will still get a beautiful home. [/FONT]

Thanks for the feedback.

JK
 
Since your from Philly I'l tell you Tampa sucks. :grin: No really, it's a nice place to live, well atleast St. Petersburg is, I personally wouldn't live in Tampa. I moved form Chicago when I was 16 and I won;t leave unless I have to. With a budget of $700k you can definately find waterfornt property and have your boat sitting in your back yard. There is nothing like it.
 
I will respectfully disagree about Tampa. I could live just about anywhere, and continue to make Tampa my home. I live downtown on Harbour Island love it. Boat is a 5 minute walk from my condo. Plenty of things to do, and the tampa bay lightning home ice is a short one beer walk from my place. What else does a man need?

I am not fortunate enough to have kids, but i do know the Plant high school district is very good. Excellent athletic programs and funding for the student athlete. There are also several good private schools as well if that is in the budget as well. Pm me if you need help or have questions, i will do my best to help out. Im sure you will love either side of the bay, this area is fantastic and worth a look.

matt
 
True Matt, the Harbour Island/Davis Island area is nice. We boat and stay at the Marriott a couple of times a year. We have a freind who keeps his boat there too. My only downfall with Tampa is the traffic and the fact that it's a long way to boat to the beaches or the open gulf.
 
I agree with Bucit and Matt- both sides of the bay are awesome. I live in St. Petersburg in a community called Venetian Isles (www.ourvi.org). It offers great value for under $700k and is very family friendly. I chose to send my kids (8 & 11) to private school, however there are public school options that are good. Being on the water and close to downtown St. Pete is the best of both worlds!

I have been here since 1990 and I feel like I have been on vacation for 23 years. Year round boating with access to great cruising grounds, including the Keys and the Bahamas. I simply would not live anywhere else.

Brian
 
I'm in medical device sales and the area surrounding Tampa has a lot of hospitals so I'm confident there are job opportunities. Sure a lot of things would need to line up for this ever to happen but it's hard to resist the thought when it was 19 degrees last night. We love boating and used the boat 8x on the Upper Chesapeake last season. Not knowing much at all about the area I just mentioned Tampa as the general location. I wouldn't want to make this move and be a hour from the boat. Fishhawk Ranch looks like a really cool development.

Reality is where I am you can count on a solid 5 months of bad weather and really 6 if you add in the chilly and rain soaking April. The winters here aren't even festive, no snow, gray skies, etc. I'm used to some HOA fees as currently mine are $125/month on top of the 15K/yr in taxes.
 
Interesting stuff! I get quite a few recruiters trying to get me to consider that part of the country. I'll have to get them to fly me back there to take a look...
 
Fishhawk Ranch appears to offer a lot in a very localized area. Pools, gym, town center, nice homes. Would be an ideal transition for the family, if there ever is such a thing. I'm still shooting for that on the water, or at least near the water type of feel.

What is most interesting about Fishhawk Ranch is the relative newness and style of homes. Knowing my wife, I am sure she would rather have a yr 2003+ 3500sq/ft home a few miles from the water rather than a 1970's 2000sq/ft outdated home on the water. It's all about compromises!

 
It also doesn't have to be the Tampa area, it could be east coast too. Being a sales rep for a medical device company if I am close to a city I am generally OK for job opportunities.

Guess the main goal is better weather, close to water for boating, lower cost of living and would have to have a great school system. My wife has the stereotype that all of FL is full of old people but I am sure that is not the case.
 
Fishhawk Ranch is waaaay out there. Not even close to Tampa Bay. We have friends that live out there. The subdivisions are newer and you get a lot for your money because it's a hike to the beaches.
 
Palm Harbor is nice but east side of the lake you must mean Lake Tarpon? I use to ski there everyday in high school.
 
I'll take the flip side and the unknowns of this argument for $200 Alex.

My brother lived in Lakeland, FL several years ago, before Obama. He's a golfer, not a boater. Lakeland population, ~100K. Tampa population, ~350K.

Because of the local malpractice insurance rates, Lakeland was losing on average 1 OB-GYN practice per week. Damn near 1 OB-GYN doctor every other day. They all went to Texas where frivolous law suits are frowned upon. By all, I mean well over 85% of the departures. The remainder retired or went elsewhere.

OB-GYN appointments went from we can see you in a couple of weeks to we can see you in 4 months...maybe...if we are still here.

I cannot speak to Tampa/Saint Pete, however, if there are any females in the equation, based on the numbers, it is something to consider.

On a separate note, check the boat insurance rates. I know they are substantially higher and some companies will not insure Florida boats. Just something else to plan for.

As far as being a pretty area, I think Tampa has a lot to offer as well at it's riff-raff sections as does any major city. The plusses have always outweighed the minusses each time I was there. I can assure you the Gulf of Mexico beats the James River every day.

Good Luck.
 
Bucit said:
Palm Harbor is nice but east side of the lake you must mean Lake Tarpon? I use to ski there everyday in high school.
Click to expand...


OMG, now that sounds awesome! Only a slightly better way of life, as I write this with it raining and 35 outside and rain for the next 2 days.

From looking online it seems that the newer homes and better school system is on the east side of Lake Tarpon. 500K goes a long way compared to where I am!
 
School systems in Florida are not the best. If you can afford it private schools are the way to go. My daughter starts kindergarten next year and I know I'll be paying for it.
 
You should also take a look at Sarasota. Little more expensive generally, because the very affluent who can afford to live anywhere often pick here, but excellent schools and even a public school for gifted children called Pine View, plus Riverview High school is excellent and one of the best in the whole state. We had to pull our son from a private school and send him there to graduate because the private school curriculum was too far behind for the college he wanted to attend! Sarasota has little to no crime, very upscale with excellent theatres, golf etc., etc. Near enough to Tampa for what it offers. Plus the boating here is just the best, I know folk who live in Tampa who keep their boats here for that reason! Hurricane track record (need to really consider this) is better than most areas too:) If you would be interested in a beautiful 3,500+ sq ft. home in an excellent award winning gated community (we're looking to downsize at our age) with a large (28.5’Lx 15’H x 10’W) high and dry boat rack too (15 mins away) PM me:) BTW someone told me the other day that the average age of the population in FL is now 43.......the secret's out! Nearly forgot, would NOT live anywhere else, and believe me we have seen a few places, 45 of the fifity contiguous (incl. Alaska and Hawaii) and numerous other countries too:)
 
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I'm a sales rep for a medical device company so I assume most of my work would be in the Tampa area. I'm pretty unfamiliar with the area but am open to ideas and suggestions. Fishhawk Ranch looks nice because of the community and homes but not the location, it's too far from the bay and gulf for boating. Palm Harbor looks great because of the location and schools.

I really know nothing about Sarasota but will look it up for sure. Love the fact that most of these homes I've been looking up have a pool. At this point that would be a must!

Aside from the weather here and lack of boating, the 15K/yr in taxes and 1500 in HOA is getting old.
 
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