Considering a move to Tampa from Houston (Clearwater, Seminole: 2013, hotels)

[071402]

Originally Posted by MortonR

I moved to Tampa about 20 years ago from the Midwest for an administrative type of job.

I showed up for work the first day wearing a dress shirt and tie. My employees laughed at me.

That's the mindset here, unless you're an attorney or banker, I think.

RM

family and friends in silicone valley show up to the office in flip flops. torn jeans and baseball hats.

[lwilson80]

Originally Posted by MortonR

I moved to Tampa about 20 years ago from the Midwest for an administrative type of job.

I showed up for work the first day wearing a dress shirt and tie. My employees laughed at me.

That's the mindset here, unless you're an attorney or banker, I think.

RM

You too!!! I thought I was the only that happened too.

[wallyb2013]

Originally Posted by jj2015

Wow, I'm so interested by all the comments here about opportunities. Obviously Houston is a lot bigger than Tampa, and yes there are more jobs. But I'm very curious about the quality of life and work. I feel as though here it's very easy to have a large house and a lot of things, but not spend a lot of time with friends or doing outdoorsy things. Do people get together more in Tampa? Get outside more? Most of my coworkers in Houston go to work and go home, repeat. I grew up in the Midwest where there are less jobs, and people just generally work less hours. They spend a lot more time with friends and family and are a lot healthier (though maybe a bit bitter or cranky about the job situations). This is just a random sidebar, but I've also noticed in Houston that because there are lots of jobs, lots of unqualified people are filling jobs. I've faced a lot of frustration dealing with this. It's like you just need to adjust your expectations down a couple notches. Everyone I talk to from the North East or Midwest feels similarly. What is the work culture like in Tampa?

We just moved here from Charlotte, NC, but I'm from Louisiana and have visited Houston many times. We decided to move from Charlotte, which has many more job opportunities, to St. Pete, because I thought that the quality of life would be better for our young sons (ages almost 3 and 5.5 months). Charlotte, probably like Houston, has much more of a rat-racey feel, and, much like Houston, people typically move there because of a great job and not as much for the city itself. We also moved for here a great job opportunity for my husband, and I was able to transfer within my company and work remotely.

It does seem like people work less hours here, and there is much more socioeconomic diversity, at least in the circles I ran with in Charlotte vs. here. There seem to be less people in the 30-something professional with family demographic, so it's been hard for us to make friends and find a true community, but we've only been here since mid-March. I really miss Charlotte, but a lot of that has to do with missing my friends, our wonderful house there, our neighborhood, and the more upscale nature of Charlotte as a whole. Tampa and St. Pete feel like they have pockets of "nice" areas, but a lot of Tampa Bay feels run down and low-rent. As a comparison, Charlotte seemed almost too yuppie and not down-to-earth and genuine enough. I love the laid-back vibe of St. Pete, but I kind of miss that Charlotte had more of a classy, professional feel. I guess the grass is always greener. Regarding the work culture, I can't say because I work from home, but my husband has not been impressed with some of the people he interacts with daily compared to his coworkers in Charlotte. I don't think it's because there is an excess of jobs - I think it's because the population here is less educated than in Charlotte (this has certainly been my experience).

We chose St. Pete over Tampa because there is more going on here generally, it's closer to the water, it has a more "up and coming" feel that's exciting to be a part of, and our neighborhood in Northeast St. Pete is very walkable, close to parks and restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment, etc.. It's also closer to my husband's work, and I didn't want him having a 45 minute to 1.5 hour commute each way cutting into our quality of life. South Tampa is very nice, too, and has fantastic schools. You'll be hard-pressed to find a three-bedroom in the $350K range there, but I'm sure there are options out there. It's not really walkable to much, but it has a really comfortable feel, and at our price point, we could get much more for our money there.

Good luck with your search! I think this is a great area, but it's a huge adjustment from Charlotte and I'm still weighing the pros and cons.

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by wallyb2013

We chose St. Pete over Tampa because there is more going on here generally, it's closer to the water, it has a more "up and coming" feel that's exciting to be a part of, and our neighborhood in Northeast St. Pete is very walkable, close to parks and restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment, etc..

Sorry, I'm going to have to debate this. Tampa has the entire revision of Channelside, the upcoming Seminole Heights, the Invision project, and whatever it is that Mark Sharpe's working on. This encompasses the entire city, minus South Tampa, as "up-and-coming." You have me on the walkable part, as Tampa is a pretty terrible city to walk in, however, Hyde Park, SoHo, and other areas of South Tampa would fit this bill.

You are correct that areas of South Tampa in the good school district will be expensive. That's just the way South Tampa is set up.

[wallyb2013]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

Sorry, I'm going to have to debate this. Tampa has the entire revision of Channelside, the upcoming Seminole Heights, the Invision project, and whatever it is that Mark Sharpe's working on. This encompasses the entire city, minus South Tampa, as "up-and-coming." You have me on the walkable part, as Tampa is a pretty terrible city to walk in, however, Hyde Park, SoHo, and other areas of South Tampa would fit this bill.

You are correct that areas of South Tampa in the good school district will be expensive. That's just the way South Tampa is set up.

St. Pete as a city seems to be experiencing more of a revival from "God's waiting room" to hip destination. I agree that parts of Tampa are being revitalized, possibly to compete with what St. Pete has to offer now in terms of arts, culture, music, festivals, etc.. I've had numerous people who moved to Tampa 10+ years ago tell me that, if given the choice now, they would choose St. Pete.

I think they are both great cities, and it's a good problem to have trying to decide which of the two areas is most in-demand.

[jj2015]

So our trip to Tampa got pushed back. Of all things i got stuck on jury duty! The airline was kind enough to give us a full credit due to circumstances though, so we will be visiting in November. I'm so curious to see what it's like. The few friends we have told about visiting are like, "Tampa? Seriously!?" I guess here is a perception that it's a bit redneck or a retirement community.

[jj2015]

Originally Posted by wallyb2013

It does seem like people work less hours here, and there is much more socioeconomic diversity, at least in the circles I ran with in Charlotte vs. here. There seem to be less people in the 30-something professional with family demographic, so it's been hard for us to make friends and find a true community, but we've only been here since mid-March. I really miss Charlotte, but a lot of that has to do with missing my friends, our wonderful house there, our neighborhood, and the more upscale nature of Charlotte as a whole. Tampa and St. Pete feel like they have pockets of "nice" areas, but a lot of Tampa Bay feels run down and low-rent. As a comparison, Charlotte seemed almost too yuppie and not down-to-earth and genuine enough. I love the laid-back vibe of St. Pete, but I kind of miss that Charlotte had more of a classy, professional feel. I guess the grass is always greener. Regarding the work culture, I can't say because I work from home, but my husband has not been impressed with some of the people he interacts with daily compared to his coworkers in Charlotte. I don't think it's because there is an excess of jobs - I think it's because the population here is less educated than in Charlotte (this has certainly been my experience).


Good luck with your search! I think this is a great area, but it's a huge adjustment from Charlotte and I'm still weighing the pros and cons.

Thank you for sharing your experience moving from NC! Grass is always greener, ain't that the truth! I too was worried about this... if we leave Houston what if we suddenly miss all the things we don't even really appreciate on a daily basis, like you say, things being a little more upscale, smart professional coworkers,etc.

How are you finding the schools in St. Pete?

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by jj2015

The few friends we have told about visiting are like, "Tampa? Seriously!?" I guess here is a perception that it's a bit redneck or a retirement community.

The bigger cities have a lot going on... The areas people call "Tampa" outside of city limits are pretty.... Backwards.

Essentially, anything Hillsborough County outside of city limits and Pasco County.

[jj2015]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

Sorry, I'm going to have to debate this. Tampa has the entire revision of Channelside, the upcoming Seminole Heights, the Invision project, and whatever it is that Mark Sharpe's working on. This encompasses the entire city, minus South Tampa, as "up-and-coming." You have me on the walkable part, as Tampa is a pretty terrible city to walk in, however, Hyde Park, SoHo, and other areas of South Tampa would fit this bill.

You are correct that areas of South Tampa in the good school district will be expensive. That's just the way South Tampa is set up.

I think this is why my husband's company is opening an office in Tampa. Good demographics for what they do and it is considered an up and coming city. The things i've read about Tampa so far have been really neat, and remind me of Houstons growth. Even 5 years ago Houston was viewed as a big corporate city, or just big and ugly. I've watched it start getting much more credit on a national front, attract a lot of young hip talent and it looks like Tampa is going through a similar revitalization. We will be checking out St Petes and also Seminole Heights. Seminole Heights reminds me a bit of the Heights neighborhood in Houston.

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by jj2015

I think this is why my husband's company is opening an office in Tampa. Good demographics for what they do and it is considered an up and coming city. The things i've read about Tampa so far have been really neat, and remind me of Houstons growth. Even 5 years ago Houston was viewed as a big corporate city, or just big and ugly. I've watched it start getting much more credit on a national front, attract a lot of young hip talent and it looks like Tampa is going through a similar revitalization. We will be checking out St Petes and also Seminole Heights. Seminole Heights reminds me a bit of the Heights neighborhood in Houston.

Seminole Heights is my favorite Tampa neighborhood. Not far from Downtown or Ybor also.

Tampa has a lot of growth going on right now. It's an exciting time to be here. Both Jeff Vinik and Bill Gates invested a LOT of money into the area formally known as Channelside to completely redo that area. Our Mayor (Bob Buckhorn) is working on the area in between Downtown and Ybor. Mark Sharpe is working on "North East" Tampa, and I believe this is where Johnson & Johnson is moving their facility (don't quote me on location). And there's another project I believe called InVision. That's added to all of the new independent businesses opening in Seminole Heights, the slow growth of Westshore, etc.