South Tampa Recreation for kids????? (Palm Harbor, University: middle-class, real estate, apartments)

[crowleys]

We are now looking at the South Tampa area for my family. We know the schools in this area are good, but what are the recreation opportunities for children? All three of my boys are really into sports, and I want to be sure this area will be a good fit for them.

[ferret111]

There's the Y, three or four little league organizations, flag (and maybe tackle) football leagues, plus a number of city parks and pools, most with summer activities.

Also, South Tampa is safe and most of the residential streets aren't that busy, so playing around the neighborhood is always an option.

[rangersfan]

Can you tell me what school districts are good in South Tampa? Looking to move before start of school in Fall and have one starting high school, one in middle and one in 2nd grade - thanks! Have been concentrating on Palm Harbor area for schools so would love to have other options! Also need access to youth hockey for 7 year old fanatic and am looking for an Irish dance school for my girls. I know there is one in Lutz...TIA!

[ferret111]

Mabry, Grady, and Roosevelt Elementaries feed into Coleman Middle; Gorrie and Mitchell feed into Wilson Middle; Wilson and Coleman feed into Plant High School. All of these schools are north of Gandy and south of Kennedy.

I'm not familiar with the feeder patterns for the schools south of Gandy, but that area has Westshore, Chiramonte, Anderson, and Lanier Elementaries; Madison and Van Buren Middle Schools; and Robinson High School.

All in all, South Tampa has some pretty good schools. Plant is one of the best in the county and has received national recognitions. Robinson is a very nice middle-class and down to earth school and has really made improvements.

[Caa]

Originally Posted by rangersfan

Can you tell me what school districts are good in South Tampa? Looking to move before start of school in Fall and have one starting high school, one in middle and one in 2nd grade - thanks! Have been concentrating on Palm Harbor area for schools so would love to have other options! Also need access to youth hockey for 7 year old fanatic and am looking for an Irish dance school for my girls. I know there is one in Lutz...TIA!

Hey! WE are thinking of moving to Palm Harbor or Tarpon Springs, but having a hard time finding out about elem schools in those two areas. I saw that you have searched on schools any information you can pass along to me about the schools? it would be much appreicated!! Thanks!!

[rangersfan]

Sorry Caa- we haven't searched specifically elementary schools because we were going to narrow our real estate search to the areas that fed into Palm Harbor Middle and Palm Harbor University High. Having the kids the ages I do, I know that if the middle and high schools are high rated, the elementary in the district that go into the upper schools are usually good as well, so I haven't been as concerned with the elementary level. Plus, I spend more time at home with those grade levels doing extra stuff, so I know that if I see any gaps I'll fill them in myself.

Thanks for the info - I already knew about Plant High and am very interested based on its ratings, but the boundaries for it seem to be smack in the middle of downtown Tampa - I guess that is my mistake - south of Kennedy and north of Gandy is South Tampa? And this is residential? It really looks like city living on the map I kind of ruled it out even though my first thought was to just dive into the middle of town to get the full experience of living in a bigger area.

And hows the traffic...or don't I want to know?

[ferret111]

I don't think the downtown apartments would be zoned to Plant. Harbour Island and Davis Island, yes, but I don't know about the mainland.

South Tampa is pretty much all of the Interbay Peninsula south of Kennedy. Downtown Tampa is to the northeast of South Tampa and only minutes away from most places in South Tampa. It's even shorter if you take the Crosstown Expressway. The overwhelming majority of South Tampa is residential, with commercial stretches along the major arteries. There is still some light industry down around Picnic Island, hence the freight train.

It is city living, but it's not like, say, New York City or any other northern city. Most properties aren't slammed up against each other; most have yards. You're close to everything and, depending on where you move, you can even walk some places. Traffic can get a little heavy since it is a peninsula, after all. It isn't hard to get used to and, after awhile, you'll figure out your own shortcuts and routes since most of the peninsula is on a street grid. South Tampa has old sewage pipes, so some roads will flood even in modest amounts of rain. Dale Mabry between Henderson and Plant High is one of these roads.

[rangersfan]

I printed out the Plant High boundaries from their website and its the areas north of W. Gandy and South of W. Kennedy with some variation, going to the coast on east and west (Bayshore Blvd to the East). It does include Davis Island and I guess that little one to its east is Harbor Island? Thanks for all the info Ferrett111, I definitely will consider South Tampa now when I had ruled it out thinking it was downtown. Anything else I should know about the area in regards to raising kids in the area?