Got a fantastic business opportunity that would require a full-time presence in St Pete. I'm 32. Don't know a soul in the entire state. Single. I'm coming from Boulder, Colorado. Driving roads are generally non-existent yes? Food? Culture? I'm big into hunting and fishing, I gather there are plenty of fellow rednecks in the area? F-car dealership/network seems spectacular, all things considered. Thanks.
You can live in Tampa and commute to St. Pete like lots of people do. There's a larger young professional crowd in Tampa and more to do. I used to commute from Tampa Palms (north Tampa) to All Children's Hospital in St. Pete and it used to take 45 minutes in the morning. That was before rush hour at like 5:45 AM. Downtown is much closer and not as bad.
I used to live in St. Pete about 13 years ago and liked it. We moved to just north of Atlanta for work and because of much better schools for our then 3 year old daughter. We liked St Pete but the public schools are not good, we were going to have to put our daughter in private school if we had stayed so that may be a consideration for you. As far as driving roads, will be nothing compared to Boulder. Downtown St Pete has become quite trendy and a nice area. If you can handle the heat and humidity in the summer you will love the other seasons down there. After our daughter does off to college my wife and I will most likely move back to Fl somewhere. As far as hunting and fishing, there is hunting in the center of the state and lots and lots of fishing. The one thing you will have to deal with is white thrash, lots of that in FL. It seems like most of the crazy stories you see on the national news eminate from FL. PM me if you want to discuss more.
UPSIDE: Nice coastal living from Tampa on down to Naples. Enough to do if you like boating, fishing, beautiful sexy women, and warm to real hot weather. Can drive the F-car all year round. Decent food, local fish is great. National sports teams, top market for big name acts. Reasonably priced housing too compared to other markets. No state employment tax. DOWNSIDE: well you do have hurricane season from June to October basically, not to much activity in the last several years in SWFL, but you never know. 92 degrees daily and 70 at night. Maybe not as much or as deep cultural artistic activities, but enough, Dali museum and stuff like that. Not 420 friendly, but tolerable.
That commute is brutal. If he has work in St Pete, he needs to live near by--unless he enjoys traffick and the baboons that occupy the local airways on all the FM channels.
Downsides- it's hot, all the time. It can rain a lot, humidity can suck. Being on the coast helps. And it's flat, unless you make your way towards the center of the state. Upsides- it's hot, and the beaches on the west coast are some of the nicest in the state. There are some great car shows within a few hours drive around the state, and some good clubs and groups of enthusiasts that get together for drives. Hunting- the deer aren't huge, but there is quite a good population. Hogs are everywhere. Turkeys, ducks, doves, and more. There are several hundred thousand acres of public land within a couple hours drive from Tampa. Scrub lands, swamps, pines, oak hammocks. Archery, black powder, and rifle seasons for deer. If you want to lease land, your options are only limited by your budget. Fishing is the absolute best part of the Tampa area. Inshore and offshore, freshwater, it's all there. Redfish, seatrout, sharks, tarpon, grouper, cobia, snook, snapper, there's more than you can think about. Even more options further offshore and the east coast. I am sure I'm biased, I've been here my entire life. But it's a great place, and if you like to fish, one of the best.
IMHO , St.Pete is great lots of great food , fishing , new high rises downtown , great beaches , nice ladies. I'm thinking you will love it. There is baseball , football although the Bucks suck you are close to Tampa nightlife , Sarasota , Dupont Car shows , CNC in Orlando , CnC Tampa and Sarasota too. Good luck with the move.
Thanks guys. I took the offer. The deciding factor was income taxes. With the money I save I can play around elsewhere more, if I end up not liking it much.
Congrats and best of luck. St. Pete is a great area. If you need any assistance before/during your move, feel free to PM me.
Congrats on your future move! Although from Naples I have spent some time in St Pete visiting and learning the area. Seems to be two areas that are fun to live. The beaches in St Pete are beautiful. The beaches are not only big but what is even better are the number of restaurants and bars right on the beach. Caddy's is fun for the day. And there are others that are fun at night. The other area that is happening now is downtown. It's changed significantly over the past 10 years from a little sleepy city to a vibrant area with new condos, restaurants, clubs and a seemingly younger population than before. It might be better area for you since you are in your 30s. As others have noted.........there are a lot of nice ladies in St Pete. Hmmm......did I mention why I visited? And if you ever make it down to Naples give me a shout. Beautiful little town with different attributes and only 2 hrs and 8 min [my best time] away.
Congratulations. People like to lampoon Florida but I've lived here for a long time and never seriously considered leaving. St Pete is big enough to be fun and have everything you need, but small enough to be non-intimidating. Heck, there's even a connection to the Scuderia: Nigel Mansell lived there for a while.
FWIW the Central Ave district all the way down to the Vinoy and Vinoy Park is really hopping. Lots of night life and some pretty cool condos overlooking the bay. One of my favorite pubs anywhere is there too. If you get down, try The Moon Under Water if you like English curries, beer etc.
And the St Pete Grand Prix is coming up at the end of March. Last year we were able to get invites to 2 different parties in high rise condos overlooking the race course. That was clearly a great way to see the race. Lots of fun at the parties and down on the street level too.
