Lord Lionheart

I feel like a Scouser, the reason is that I am going to Tampa, FL next week while I am unemployed.
I'm flying out next Monday 24th and will come back on the 30th in time for Halloween. I have a freind that has recently arrived in the city via, LA, Chicago, NY and Texas - but that's another story all in itself.
I will spend the week looking around at housing, job market and doing some travel, any recommendations for a week in the Tampa area?????
Thanks in advance.......... or should I say ' Cheers wack!!'

Eskimo

err Seaworld

Lord Lionheart

You are a pain in the gulliver

Eskimo

Just trying to help- I guess there's no Brits in the area

RoadWarriorFromLP

Here's a start:

-International Mall, located west of downtown, near the airport, is a fairly busy and popular spot. If your idea of nightlife is eating corporate food at The Block (in Orange), then you'll like it there.

-At night, downtown Tampa would make a morgue seem lively. It is a business center, not a place for entertainment.

-Ybor City is an up-and-coming area east of downtown Tampa that has some nightlife and dining. The crowd is young, the area is gentrifying, parts of it are still fairly well worn. The whole scene is centered around 7th Avenue, fading off pretty quickly beyond that.

-St. Petersburg has a nice collection of older homes as well as a decent downtown area, includes a blend of retirees and younger people. Not the best comparison, but it reminds me vaguely of a Florida variant of Belmont Shore area of Long Beach or parts of Santa Barbara. (I emphasize "vaguely" when using this description.) Probably not a bad place for a family, if you can handle the commute into Tampa on I-275.

-Clearwater is bleak, bleak and bleak, but in a sunny sort of way. On a good day, it can also be fairly bleak.

Commuting could be difficult at points from areas west of Tampa because of the dependency on causeways -- one accident, and you're stuck for miles without exits or a place to turnaround. But the traffic should be a breeze compared to LA.

The area strikes me as a combination of attitudinal affluent Noo Yawkers in search of sunshine and good ol' boy Bubbas with their pickup trucks (new ones for the professionals, disheveled ones for the rest), with hints of typical Southern other-side-of-the-tracks black poverty and Florida latino culture to round things out. It's quite hot and humid during much of the year, which might appeal to some, but I wouldn't be able to take it.

If I had to live in Florida (and I wouldn't want to), I'd prefer Miami...but I'm single, horny and have come to appreciate women with silicone and attitude problems, so you might feel differently.

Sally

Can't offer any advice but I hope you have a productive time there, good luck 'n' all.

Schnorbitz

Crabby Bills on St Petes Beach for some nice casual seafood!

IMHO St Petes Beach is much nicer than Clearwater

AdobePinon

So, what visa do you qualify for?

Dan725

I live here, and I reckon you hit the nail pretty squarely on the head there!

I'd recommend to stay away from International mall, it's too expensive for shopping and it's where all the fake look at me gold digging crowd hang out for a night out (But if you are coming from CA, it might be no surprise!)

A good area for a night out is Hyde Park (now called Soho, must be them migrating New Yorkers), which is an up and coming fashionable sort of place but has some good down to earth bars.

Housing wise, prices are still sky rocketing. Best value is in the burbs, to the east of Tampa, Brandon is the up and coming place.

Job market - depends on what you do, quite a few city type jobs, quite a few low end jobs. In between is more of a challenge.

St Petersburg and Clearwater ok in a holiday sort of way if you like beaches a lot, however, not my cup of tea, and should a hurricane come this way, it won't be pretty there. Home insurance is high and increases steeply when you get closer to the sea.

The place is definately an up and coming city, building is going nuts, businesses are springing up and plenty of people are moving here. Prices are going up to match, but as yet wages are staying low - most likely you'll take a big hit in pay coming from California.

All in all, it really isnt a bad place to live, there is plenty to see and do. This time of year is the best, today the weather was just about perfect, a lot of the humidity has gone.

Let us know what you think!

bored-silly

Jobcentre?

Angry White Pyjamas

Welcome to Florida. I hope you like strip malls and palm trees. And tourists. And New Yorkers.

While you're in Tampa why dont you drive over the Sunshine Skyway? You may as well.

I have to ask...why Tampa?

PS Eskimo...Sea World is in Whorlando, about 2 hours from Tampa.

NC Penguin

The towns and communities around Tampa give good examples of urban sprawl at its finest. i.e. subdivisions of relatively wealth people then derelict areas of empty buildings and strip malls within a few miles of such subdivisions.

Then there's the miles and miles of highway that clogged up during the morning and afternoon rushhours (but you'll be used to that coming from CA).

Not forgetting snowbird season when the wrinklies outnumber the locals (or it seems that way) and those old folk like to live on the edge (of what?) when they take to the roads.

The local grocery stores will give you a flavor of the standard of cuisine in the area. Note the number of tattoo parlors, liquor stores and bail bond offices as well as second hand car dealers.



NC Penguin

Lord Lionheart

I will use Tampa as a base but freind has a car so we can drive and look around a bit. Miami is too expensive to relocate ( out of the frying pan coming from LA), looking for somewhere up and coming, open to recommendations??

cindyabs

Maybe he meant Busch Gardens?

Eskimo

Thats the one - either way full of chavs