Apartment between USF and St. Pete? (Tampa, Oldsmar: apartments, neighborhood, school)

[tampa0927]

Hey all,

I'm moving from out-of-state into the Tampa area for graduate school, and I'll be needing to commute pretty regularly between the USF campus and one of their buildings in St. Pete.

Anybody have recommendations for where I should be searching for 2 bedroom apartments? Ideally it would be some place right in between the two places (so likely South Tampa area, I'm guessing?). I can tolerate up to $1800 or so (hopefully I'm not asking for the impossible!). If that's too unreasonable, I can also just do a 1 bedroom for up to $1400, and hopefully that's not asking for the impossible either.

Also, any information about the parking situation for Tampa apartments in general would be great too, since I recently bought a car, and noticed that many of the complexes only have outdoor parking. Is garage parking (or even just covered parking) really that rare?

Any guidance/information would be GREATLY appreciated! Definitely not from the Florida area, so I'm completely going out on a limb here.

Thanks so much in advance!
Tried to do some Google searches and the like, but just ended up getting more confused with the variety of choices... Figured I'd go to the resident experts here to clue me in on what to avoid and what to go for!

[tampa0927]

I think I should clarify...Ideally it would be in the $1200-1500 range.

[TampaKaren]

The first place that pops into my head would be Cordoba at Beach Park. It's located on Kennedy Blvd at Interstate 275 and the Howard Frankland bridge. It would be convenient to the expressway and it's in a really nice area, too. They even have the covered parking you asked about. I have no idea about availability, though. Maybe this info is enough for you to start with.

[GoRays813]

Definitely South Tampa for convenience between the two locations and quality of life. Your range will give you plenty of options but you're right- covered parking is a rarity in most of the apartments. I know the Madison has a garage but I've heard that the place can be hectic due to the large number of undergraduates that live there. I would confine my search to Hyde Park and also look at the Westshore area. I would consider the high rises in downtown and Channelside if covered parking is a must.

[corvidae]

I was looking at a map and the only other area that would be close to half way between USF and St. Pete would be the Oldsmar area. However I think the commute might be longer for both there.

[tampa0927]

Thanks so much for all of the extremely helpful advice! I really, really appreciate it.
I've started looking around at all of the suggestions, and there are some really great prospects.

Do any of you have specific suggestions for people in their mid-20's?
I doubt I'm going to have much free time in graduate school (haha), but it'd be nice to live in a place where things are easily accessible (but at the same time isn't surrounded by drunk undergraduates at all hours..!).

Thanks so much again!

[powellmacaque]

I commute from 5th Ave N in St. Pete (just north of downtown) to USF almost daily. Yes, there are some days when it sucks, but 90% you can figure on a 30-55 minute commute from St. Pete to USF.

This will probably start some sort of flame war, but in my opinion St. Pete is just a nicer option for 20-somethings, especially if you're into the "artsy" or "alternative" crowds. If you're into a more "machoistic" type of party (frats, dudes in Tapout apparel, hood rats who still think driving blinged out escalades are cool) then Tampa is more the scene (at least in my experiences). I'm involved in the music scene in the Bay area, and probably 2/3 of my gigs happen in St. Pete/Pinellas, the other 1/3 is in Tampa. Are there clubs in St. Pete with the "ultra lounge party" feel? Of course. But to me, St. Pete has a bigger variety of options.

As far as living, you can totally find something for $1200-1500. I'm a poor undergrad and I'm living in a nice studio in the Kenwood neighborhood of St. Pete for $525/month TOTAL (rent/utilities/power/cable/wifi). If you look, you can find something really nice for $1300. Check out Fusion 1560 apartments next to Tropicana field for a super nice, trendy complex.

A lot of people like South/Downtown Tampa, but I could not live there myself. The road system in Pinellas county just makes more sense to me. Tampa has random roads with no previous planning or rhyme or reason (just try driving down Fletcher near USF during school or trying to catch a Lightning game that was conveniently scheduled the same day as a marathon that was conveniently scheduled the same day as a convention that was conveniently scheduled during tourist season). People complain about the Trop, but getting in, around, and out of St. Pete is so much easier to me than Tampa.

Once again, not trying to start a flame war, just giving my completely biased opinion.

[Sunscape]

That is a good post, Powell. Informative for the OP.

[tampa0927]

Ditto, Annie! Thank you so much for your input, Powell. Very informative, whether it's biased or not. I'm always very interested to hear of everyone's point of view.

Anybody else have input on specific suggestions for people in their mid-20's (sans the 24/7 party scene)?

Thanks again for all of the advice so far! It's been extremely helpful (and much appreciated).

[GoRays813]

I suggest looking at your schedule and determining which direction you'll be headed to most often. If you're only going to the St. Pete location less than half the time, I suggest looking at the Hyde Park neighborhood. If you're going to the St. Pete location for more than half the time, stay in downtown St. Pete. Hyde Park is conveniently located in between both locations and offers a great quality of life. It's a bit expensive and cramped, but I enjoy it here.