Moving to Tampa ?
I have been considering moving to the Tampa area for some time. I have about had it with the cold NY winters, high taxes, crazy traffic, overall congestion, high real estate costs and would love to be able to enjoy my cars year round.

I have been looking at homes online in Palm Harbor, Clearwater, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Tarpon Springs, and St Petersburg areas. It appears that I could buy a pretty nice home for $250k-$325k with very reasonable real estate taxes.

Are these cities safe, youth based and prosperous communities to move to ?

I have read that their are also no state income taxes ? What is the deal with this ?

Can you guys give me an idea of real estate taxes and auto / homeowners insurance costs ?

I have been in the IT industry for about 3 years, how would my prospects for a new job be in Tampa ? My wife is a RN (Registered Nurse) so I am sure she could land an excellent job in a few days however I am concerned about my prospects.

It seems that many companies are moving to Tampa due to lower overheard. Is this true ?

How is Tampa in a nutshell ? Any input from you guys would greatly be appreciated.

 

Welcome to Florida!

 

Welcome to Florida!


To answer a few of your questions:

The Tampa area is a very nice area, taxes are generally pretty low in the state of Florida in general.

My sister lives in the Clearwater area, less than a 15min drive to the beaches.

If you are not committed to the Tampa, West Coast area-how about in the Orlando/Kissimmee area? We're located smack in the middle of the state, easy access to either coast, and if you want waterfront property, there are 100's of lakes to choose from.

Don't know what you mean as far as being in the IT arena--are you in hardware or in software design? I do know that the Univ. of Central Florida just did some type of joint venture with EA Games and Orlando leads the list for EA Games to move their headquarters too.

Can't answer the auto/homeowner tax questions-although, I have a number of out of state friends, and we in Florida pay a lot less in taxes.

Yes-we don't have a state income tax, and our general sales tax probably runs 6-8% or so.

Traffic is a helluva lot better than NYC! People down here tend to complain about I-4 etc as major hassles--but I don't think they've exprienced the Long Island Expressway during rush hour.

Also, about the state income tax--I've read where a person in NYC who makes $100K a year, will only make $80K in Florida. Even though you make $100K, you probably pay over $40-50K just in taxes alone, so you'd come out ahead in Florida.

As for your wife--I think it depends on if she's looking for hospital, clinic, or private practice job.

Good Luck--and yes-since I got my S2K in March, I've had the top up less than 10 times!

 

No kidding.


I have been looking at homes online in Palm Harbor, Clearwater, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Tarpon Springs, and St Petersburg areas. It appears that I could buy a pretty nice home for $250k-$325k with very reasonable real estate taxes.
You can have your choice of pretty much anything with that. the farther north you go away from st pete, the cheaper houses get. Oldsmar is prime right now, big beautiful houses in great neighborhoods going for VERY good prices. its getting ready to shoot up.

Dont move in the middle of a ghetto and your good. some of the nicer areas of St Pete, have a ghetto area VERY near though.

frikin rocks yo.

No, but i'm yet to hear anyone complain.

IT in St Pete area, good luck, Tampa more than likely. LOTS of hospitals and such, she wont have a hard time. you'll prolly need to submit a number of resumes

VERY true, lots of places are moving HQ's and everything here, neat to watch.

Tampa is great, personally i only visit (its about 15 min from st pete were i live). But everything i see is a blast, plenty for everyone to do there.

just figured i'd let you know... anywhere that takes 15min to get to in no traffic will take about, 45-1hr to get to in rush hour traffic (4pm - 7pm).

Okay, heres a picture



That entire peninsula and a little above is all Pinellas County, to the East is Hillsboruogh (where tampa is), and to the south is Sarasota. Theres about what? 15 cities listed in Pinellas? ALL of those are interconnected, and the county is really just one huge city. Tampa, is about 15min east of that star over the red bridge. Tampa is, well Tampa is Huge. And its growing RAPIDLY. Pinellas is out of room, Tampa has plenty. Right now its moving north. Zypherhills, Oldsmar etc is hitting all the devlopment right now. The farther north of tampa you go, the cheaper the houses, and the more space there is. Granted that might last a few more years, not long. Personnaly i would not suggest Pinellas county if your trying to get away from conjestion, same with tampa. i'd try for the oldsmar area. Houses there a beautiful, and reasonably priced. Golf courses and community centers abound there. REALLY nice area for a family. The other big area to try is in Sarasota, south of pinellas just over that 8mile long bridge. That area is also taking off, land is cheap, and houses are too. OHH BTW if this area ever gets hit by a hurricane (the Tampa Bay metropolis area) "lol" is all i can say. hasn't happened in a long time though. any who i'm just being ramblly so i'll slow it down. i'll end with the sterotypes of Pinellas County cities

South St. Pete=ghettos, downtown, and richy people
North St. Pete=more average normal residential
NE St. Pete=rich and proud of it
Pinellas Park=rednecks, and white trash
Semionle/Largo=Suburbia type stuff, gossiping wives etc
The Beach cities (all 10 or so)=to live on $$$$, to goto, beautiful
Lealman=white trash

Luckly i live in unincorperated which is surrounded by, pinellas park, lealman, and St pete. so i'm an interesting mix of the above .

*no one be offended if you don't like how i describe those areas, its true and you know it *

gah this post is too long, and probably not what your looking for.. but i bet you still read it
~Tim

ps. i've had my s2k for about 2 weeks now and the only time my top went up was when i parked it.

 

I live South of St. Pete. (Bradenton). My wife and I like it down here, but when we first moved to Florida we lived in Tarpon Springs. My wife is a RN also and she worked at Morton Plant Hospitol which was about a 35 - 45 min. drive from Tarpon Springs. I worked in a building right next to the airport in Tampa and it would take me any where from 45 min. to 3 hours to get to and from work. It all depends on what time it is and how many wrecks there are.

We relocated to Bradenton because of my job and we love it. My wife went to work for Sarasota Memorial Hospitol. Every where you want to go down here only takes us about 20 min. and that is with traffic. There are alot more older people down here so people tend to drive a little slower (except me).

about the top being down, I have owned MY00 about 2 years now and the top is down far more than it is up.

This is my $0.02 worth, don't know if it will help, but there it is any way.

Good luck on your move.

Joe

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Draco13
I live South of St. Pete. (Bradenton).

 

come on down

 

Bump for more input .... thanks all ... everyones opinions have really helped !

 

I am readaing all your posts pretty carefully and have noticed one trend ... everyone seems to absolutely love it in and around Tampa.

I work for Micros which is a Restaurant / Hospitality IT company. I might be lucky enough to get a job with one of the local dealers in Tampa.

Is Tampa a city with tall building like Manhattan ?

Really is the traffic that bad ?

Any other info would be greatly appreciated.

 

We don't have really any tall buildings, and our downtown is very small. If you think Tampa's downtown will be like in NY, you will not be happy.

Traffic is not too bad though. That part is the plus that should make you happy.

Good luck with your decision, hope too meet you if you make it down here.