I am about to be offered a promotion that will require a move to Tampa from Richmond, VA. I've only been to Tampa once and it was years ago, so I have no recollection of what the various Tampa areas are like. Five of my store locations are in the Tampa area, and are pinpointed on the map linked below:

Port Richie
Citrus Park
Brandon
Largo
Pinellas Park



Here's the details...
- I need to live near one of these five store locations. My office will go in one of them.
- I'd LOVE to live very near. As in: A 1-5 minute commute of whichever one I choose to live near. My commute to my office store in Richmond now is 1.2 miles, there are two Starbucks in between, and just 2 intersections. I love that.
- I will be looking for an apartment at first, and a home in a year or two. The apartment must offer closed garages. Lakes/ponds on the property are a plus, as is a lack of speedbumps on the property. My current apartment has all of these features, plus I'm on the bottom floor.
- My current rent is $1100 a month plus utilities. If I can get a nice apartment for that much or less, that is wonderful. Ideal would be $800-900 a month rent.

Other notes:
- I want to live in an area as nice as where I'm at now or close. My current apartment complex is in a zip code with a median home value of $410,000, so the surrounding area is nice.
- I like living in convenient retail areas: Nice mall within a few miles, Starbucks right near home, some decent restaurants, grocery store, banks, etc.
- If I can live in an area that gets me a commute to the Tampa airport of less than 30 minutes, GREAT. If I can live in an area that gets me a 15-30 minute commute to the Tampa nightlife/downtown area, also great.
- Many of my other stores are in the Miami and Orlando areas, so for me to live in an area of Tampa that puts me closest to the routes I would take to get to those two markets would be nice too...maybe near I-275.
- I don't know what the car scene is like in the Tampa area, but if I am nearer to the heart of it, that's a bonus too. Right now I live 5 miles from the location of Richmond's weekly car meet, so that's another big convenience I currently enjoy.

All of these things above have me leaning towards living near Pinellas Park. Am I on the right track here? Or is the Pinellas area a dump? If Pinellas is where I should be looking, if someone is familiar with the area, let me know if you can suggest some apartment/condo communities by name that satisfy the things I listed above.

I have done a lot of research already, but most of what I'm reading on other forums and stats sites suggests living in places like Lutz, Land-o-Lakes, Wesley Chapel, South Tampa, Seminole Heights, St. Pete...but almost all of those are too far away from the closest store, and would give me a 15-30 minute commute.

So, throw some ideas at me. And thanks in advance. If you need to ask other questions, go for it.

 

Citrus Park is by far the best area, no question. Lutz (where I live), Land o' Lakes, and Wesley Chapel are all nice places to live, too. South Tampa is very expensive, and the traffic is unbelievable (traffic also sucks in Largo, Pinellas Park, Port Richey, and Brandon). St. Pete is just plain dead, and other than my frequent trips to Ft. Desoto Park (I like the sunrise there), and a great Italian Deli (Mazzaro's), there's just no reason to go there.

Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

 

If you have an office in Citrus Park, I'd suggest takin a look at Westchase. It's 5 mintures from Citrus Park, very nice area, has a nice shopping plaza with a Starbucks, restaurants, and bars. You would be 10 minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from DT Tampa, 40 minutes from the beach, and there are some good bars right in Westchase for nightlife. I have a few friends that live in there. One owns a 2 story townhome, another rents a 2 story apartment, and another rents a 3 story apartment. The price range seems to be what you're looking for, too.

If you need any help finding a place, my friend that owns the townhome in Westchase is a realtor. He found my house and found my friend's apartment in Westchase. Let me know.

 

Both the advice above is really good. Westchase has a TON of housing options (nice ones too), starbucks is inside westchase, and traffic flows well out of it... even during rush hour. My parents live in odessa (lutz) and it's 20 mins to find any kind of business/store. **** that.

PP is really shitty in most parts. I'd definitely stick to a nicer area in tampa.

Car scene is tampa is HUGE. Lots of ricey *** hondas, but plenty of other cars. Car meets all of the time. It is definitely a younger, more immature crowd though. But most car scenes are like that. Check out tamparacing.com

 

Here's a couple leads for you to check out:

http://www2.tbo.com/home/

http://www.baynews9.com/

As other's have said, lots of crime all over the area. Glad to see you're not going to buy for a while, prices are still falling and will probably do so for the next 12-18 months.

 

It's my opinion that brandon is your best bet. Close to tampa, convenient, and priced wayyyyyyyy below (in re housing). you'll also be 10-15 minutes from everything under the sun.

 

Of those locations, Citrus Park Area is the most recently developed so will have the nice homes and amenities you want. Quick toll road to the airport but you will have to use it a lot to get downtown and to nightlife (SOHO or Ybor), and the high-end mall (international). Not too bad though.

Largo is nice but quiet and spread out.
Port Richey is older folks.
Pinellas Park is trashy.
Brandon is hit or miss and too isolated/far away from everything.

Downtown St.Pete area can actually be quite fun, but is more for the alternative hipster crowd.

 

Tampa is a traffic nightmare scumhole. I avoid going there like the plague. I would suggest St. Petersburg north side. Its beautiful here and the most desired city to live in in Fl. Plus we have the BEST street racing scene if your into that sorta thing. If you must live in Tampa I would suggest Westchase.

 

I didn't know people still street raced...man, I must be getting old. Or it's the fact that I havent been boosted for 7 months.

 

I live in Westchase and have nothing but good things to say about the area.

 

Yea man Sunday nights are still the best at causeway and gandy.

 

People still race on the causeway? Jesus christ... some will never learn.

 

do it.

 

+1

op, citrus/westchase would be my choice.. largo isnt the best area and pinellas park is trash heaven, brandon is meh. check out the local Z club when you move down here aswell, check my sig for the website.

 

Check out Clearwater or North St. Pete.

 

Berkshire apartments in citrus park is a good community.
Gated, garages. I lived there and it was close to the mall,expressway, and retail including wal-Mary. No speed bumps. I had a streetbike there and my z and never one issue. Rent is from 850-1200.