Want to live 5-10 drive from beach.. (Tampa, Clearwater: apartments, to rent)

[Bone]

I will be moving to Tampa from London, England and I am looking to rent somewhere that is 5-10 minutes drive from the beaches, any nice beach, with a nice friendly community. I can afford the $1,000-$1,500 a month renting bracket.. but I do not want to be too far a commute from my new offices in E.Jackson St. Does any know of any great areas that I could search for please?

Cheers..

[deckardc]

Originally Posted by Bone

I will be moving to Tampa from London, England and I am looking to rent somewhere that is 5-10 minutes drive from the beaches, any nice beach, with a nice friendly community. I can afford the $1,000-$1,500 a month renting bracket.. but I do not want to be too far a commute from my new offices in E.Jackson St. Does any know of any great areas that I could search for please?

Cheers..

How far do you want to commute to work? From Jackson St. to Clearwater Beach you are looking at about a 45 minute commute on a very good day. If there is even moderate traffic on the Courtney Campbell, it could take much longer.

I would suggest Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Countryside, Town 'n Country, or Westchase. Those areas will put you about 30 minutes from work and 15-20 minutes of the beach.

[Bone]

Are there any other beahces closer than clearwater??
I dont mind like a max 30 min drive... obviously with traffic being ok, also i will be finishing work around 4pm so hopefully would that miss the rush hour!??

thanks for your help

[deckardc]

Originally Posted by Bone

Are there any other beahces closer than clearwater??
I dont mind like a max 30 min drive... obviously with traffic being ok, also i will be finishing work around 4pm so hopefully would that miss the rush hour!??

thanks for your help

If you are referring to being closer to Jackson St. then no, Clearwater is the closest on the Gulf. I think there a few man-made beaches on the bay such as Upper Tampa Bay Park and Ben Davis Beach on the Courtney Campbell Parkway. As far as the Gulf goes, Clearwater beach is more or less a straight shot from the industrial area where you will be working. Honeymoon Island is a bit north of Clearwater but it is no closer in distance.

Where you will be working is in the industrial area south of Ybor City in Tampa on the east side of Tampa Bay. It is quite a distance from there to the Gulf of Mexico on the west side of the Pinellas peninsula. The causeways that cross the bay are between 10 and 15 miles long, and that is just crossing the bay. You can go around the bay to the north on route 580 but it won't save you time or distance. Working a maximum of 30 min. from Jackson St. and living 5-10 min. from the Gulf isn't possible. You will have to give in on one end or the other. Leaving at 4 pm won't help much. That is the start of rush hour in FL. People here like to leave early to enjoy some outdoor time before it gets dark.

If you want to live close to water, be a reasonable distance from the Gulf, and a reasonable distance from work, look at Oldsmar or Safety Harbor.

Google the address of your new employer and look at the layout of the area on the map. It will give you an idea of how everything there is positioned and the various distances. Traffic can be bad in Tampa at any time of the day so take that into consideration when looking.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Bone

I will be moving to Tampa from London, England and I am looking to rent somewhere that is 5-10 minutes drive from the beaches, any nice beach, with a nice friendly community. I can afford the $1,000-$1,500 a month renting bracket.. but I do not want to be too far a commute from my new offices in E.Jackson St. Does any know of any great areas that I could search for please?

Cheers..

You will have to decide if you want to commute to work, or to the beach. There are no beaches in Tampa, you have to go to St. Pete or Clearwater, and yes, it is at least 45 minutes from downtown, 30 if no traffic maybe, but sorry, even at 4 p.m you will not miss rush hour.

[spainbrit]

E.Jackson is very close to Bayshore, then onto Gandy and straight along Park to Indian Shores, about 35 mins, my husband used to commute to Davis Island every morning.
Or, just a couple of blocks to I-275 and over Howard Frankland Bridge, along Ulmerton to Indian Rocks Beach, again about 35 mins in heavy traffic if you don't have a hold up. If you are smart you will check before leaving work and hopefully use one or other depending on hold ups, but it's always tough at rush hour. I think Park is better option. Lots of lovely homes in Seminole/Largo/Belleair behind those beaches.

[Keeper]

There are some apts on the bay, Tampa side. If you don't want a long commute that would be your best bet. Beach.. not the gulf but you would be on the water and the sunsets are happy hour most nights. You would be close to night life in Tampa too.
Hyde Park or SoHo have lots of restaurants and cafes, plus Bayshore has a sidewalk along the bay.
I wouldn't want to travel the Frankinstein Bridge everyday.. talk about stressful, if there is an accident on the bridge you can be sitting for an hour or more. I have traveled the HFB to Indian rock beach on the weekend and it took more like 45 mins.
Gandy might not be too bad but I think the drive is much more than 30 mins.

[Kwanger]

As the others are saying, I'd be inclined to stay Tampa side unless you want a commuting 'mare.

Off the top of my head, there are some nice apartments on the waterfront at Rocky Point at the Courtney Campbell Causeway - will likely be at the upper end of your budget but just about do-able I suspect.

Are you single? If so, the Rocky Point apartments would probably work for you, otherwise like the others have said, I'd be inclined to be in the Hyde Park area of South Tampa - no waterfront, but great walkable area with decent bars and lots going on.

4pm on a Friday won't help much as has been said - maybe a little. Traffic in Tampa can be a stinker at any time, there always seems to be some sort of roadworks going on somewhere at any given time. I can guarantee though, after a couple of weeks if you find somewhere St Pete/Clearwater side, you will wish you hadn't - it'll get old quick. Stay Tampa side, live on the waterfront in a complex with a pool and mini-beach type things, but save the real gulf beaches till the weekend.