Moving to St. Petersburg

[tulip]

Hello Ladies!

I'm a planner & my H *might* get a job in the downtown are of St. Petersburg. We will know next week if he got the job for sure.

We currently live in North Texas so this will be quite a change for us! We have a 2 year old DD and we have each been to Florida once as kids.

If you Ladies have any opinions as to the best areas to live, a pediatrician & low traffic areas you would be helping us out!!

Thank you for your time!

I'll be back after dinner/bath time!!

[tulip]

Sorry for all the exclamation points... I'm just REALLY excited...

[moonstone523]

I really LOVE the burg! It is very different than NTX (I'm from DFW area). I love the homes in old NE!

[tulip]

May 27, 2012 18:00:27 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

I really LOVE the burg! It is very different than NTX (I'm from DFW area). I love the homes in old NE!

Thanks for the Rec! What are the biggest differences between NTX & this area of Florida? I'm afraid I'll miss the shopping here, with 6 malls within 15 mins of each other, I'm kind of already mourning! Lol

[alzi]

I'm in New Tampa, and I really like it. If I didn't live here, I would want to live in Westchase.

[mrschelseap09]

I think the new Tampa (Wesley Chapel) area is great for new families but there is a ton of traffic, they have been working to expand all of the roads and its not as bad as it was but I still can't stand driving through there at rush hour.

Land O' Lakes and Lutz are great places to raise a family if you want to be close to Tampa. If you want to be in the immediate Tampa area, I would recommend looking at Westchase. Its perfect for families, has a ton of shaded sidewalks and parks but it is a little more expensive to buy in that area.

We live in Brooksville, which is 45 mins north of TIA and we LOVE it here. We have no traffic, its quiet and we have a ton of shopping (but no malls). I love that I can go to Target around Christmas time and still be able to find a decent parking spot.

[moonstone523]

In my opinion, any of the Tampa suburbs are too far to commute to St. Pete. I would look at Old NE and Shore Acres which are minutes from downtown.

[tulip]

May 28, 2012 14:25:49 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

In my opinion, any of the Tampa suburbs are too far to commute to St. Pete. I would look at Old NE and Shore Acres which are minutes from downtown.

Thank you for clearing this up! I'm pretty confused about the Tampa/ St Petersburg connection. They first said Tampa but the actual office is in St Petersburg, do most people commute it? It seems like a long commute to me! Is the whole area considered Tampa?

Thank you so much Ladies for giving me ideas of places & answering my questions! You all Rock!!

[moonstone523]

May 28, 2012 22:10:09 GMT -5 tulip said:

May 28, 2012 14:25:49 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

In my opinion, any of the Tampa suburbs are too far to commute to St. Pete. I would look at Old NE and Shore Acres which are minutes from downtown.

Thank you for clearing this up! I'm pretty confused about the Tampa/ St Petersburg connection. They first said Tampa but the actual office is in St Petersburg, do most people commute it? It seems like a long commute to me! Is the whole area considered Tampa?

Thank you so much Ladies for giving me ideas of places & answering my questions! You all Rock!!

Yes some people commute it but they spend +\- 2 hours in the car. I really like St. Pete much better than Tampa, and I'm not really into suburbs so I vote live near downtown St. Pete. It's walk able, near the water, lots of parks, etc. There are lots of museums and theatres there too. The downside, there are lots of homeless but they seemed to be in certain parts of the city.

[alzi]

I used to commute to St Pete. It's s crappy ride. I can't tell you where to look bc I don't know St Pete well, but I CAN recommend not sitting in the car for 1-1.5 hours each way:)

[mrsmew]

May 29, 2012 1:24:49 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

Yes some people commute it but they spend +\- 2 hours in the car. I really like St. Pete much better than Tampa, and I'm not really into suburbs so I vote live near downtown St. Pete. It's walk able, near the water, lots of parks, etc. There are lots of museums and theatres there too. The downside, there are lots of homeless but they seemed to be in certain parts of the city.

I haven't lived in St. Pete in years (I left town for college then moved out of state) so I can't have much input, but my family is still down there, and if I were ever to move back I would want to move to the downtown St. Pete area. I love it down there for all these reasons. It's really a fun, charming area.

That's my reasonably unhelpful input.

[saraandmichael]

tulip, i recognize your name but can't remember which board you are normally on.

page stpetegirl on ML...she's lived there forever and can help you out a ton.

and also, tampa and st. pete are connected by bridges. you definitely do not want to live in tampa if your husband is working in downtown st. pete. the only possible place i would live with a commute like that would be south tampa, because its just across the bridge and he'd be going the opposite way of traffic. but, honestly, i really love st. pete and would prefer to live there anyway.

[mrsjason]

I don't have anything useful to say other than I live in South Texas and it sucks. We do not have 6 malls within 15 minutes of my house. Color me jealous. There isn't a mall within a hour radius of my house. But my town does have an IHOP, whoo-hoo, we are big time.

But good luck in your move!