Currently north of Charlotte, thinking of South Tampa for job move?

[NorthGaJacket15]

Hey folks, my family of 5 is currently considering some options to potentially make a move to the Tampa, FL area from just north of Charlotte, NC. Wondering if any of my fellow Swarmers have any thoughts or experience in the area? We're doing lots of research and have a pretty good list of pros and cons currently.

Thanks for any input you can provide!

 

[awbuzz]

Just know it will be even muggier there. Both are nice places to live. Charlotte is a lot closer to ATL for games, but don't make a career decision based upon drive time to ATL

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I have moved a lot, perhaps 17 times in my life. Maybe my experience is different but for me there was never any objective metric for determining whether or not a move would be good. Restaurants, hospitals, taxes, schools, museums, town ambiance, weather and more were all analyzed but there was always a missing ingredient that could not be measured ahead of time. The unknowns usually involved the work place and community of friends. Sometimes it would take a few months to get the feel of things, sometimes a couple of years, but these unknowns always made the difference.

I am transitioning into retirement now and my top priorities are being near family and a good airport.

 

[collegeballfan]

I have moved a lot, perhaps 17 times in my life. Maybe my experience is different but for me there was never any objective metric for determining whether or not a move would be good. Restaurants, hospitals, taxes, schools, museums, town ambiance, weather and more were all analyzed but there was always a missing ingredient that could not be measured ahead of time. The unknowns usually involved the work place and community of friends. Sometimes it would take a few months to get the feel of things, sometimes a couple of years, but these unknowns always made the difference.

I am transitioning into retirement now and my top priorities are being near family and a good airport.

Stinger I have been retired since 5/1/2008 and highly recommend it. I set the same priorities re near family and my son immediately moved 400 miles away. Luckily my daughter stayed within an hour's drive. My best wishes.

 

[LibertyTurns]

If you have youngsters who are involved in athletics Tampa is an above the line place to live. The birth of my daughter & an awesome job were the highlights of those years. 7 hour drive to GT football games was barely tolerable but at the time it was the closest I had ever lived to Atlanta post-graduation so I recall it positively. I've been back intermittently over the years and it has just gotten bigger. Other than that not much seems to have changed,

 

[jeffgt14]

Why would you leave the best city ever!!! I'm trying to figure my way back there.

 

[LibertyTurns]

Why would you leave the best city ever!!! I'm trying to figure my way back there.

When you serve at the pleasure of the President you go where you're told. I will tell you that I was sent to places that needed the knowledge and experience I gained in Tampa and for that I'll be forever grateful. Maybe by accident or maybe not, but someone put me where I needed to be when I needed to be there.

 

[jeffgt14]

When you serve at the pleasure of the President you go where you're told. I will tell you that I was sent to places that needed the knowledge and experience I gained in Tampa and for that I'll be forever grateful. Maybe by accident or maybe not, but someone put me where I needed to be when I needed to be there.

Yes. I was referring to leaving Charlotte! I lived in Cape Coral for a few years as a kid and will definitely say it is was a great place to be a kid so his kids will definitely enjoy the area.

 

[TampaBuzz]

I moved from Atlanta to Tampa 16 years ago. It took a little while to make friends and get more dialed in after leaving the place where I grew up and knew everyone. Tampa has a lot to offer from a family perspective - the zoo was rated #1 for kids a few years ago, my little guy loves the Children's museum, and the stuff going on downtown along the river is making it much more pedestrian/family friendly. As with anyplace, the neighborhood you choose determines traffic, schools, etc. Good luck with your decision. I'll be glad to chat with you more if you have specific questions.

 

[NorthGaJacket15]

Thanks all! We are just starting to explore, but have had a long term desire to get into Florida to be a bit closer to extended family (wife's sister and family) and also for the climate difference. Jeff, honestly we do love Charlotte as well, it's a great place to live and I would never discourage anyone. That being the case, we just feel we have some pull to try out the Florida option.

There seem to be hundreds of "cost of living" type websites, etc. but some of them tend to have different info. How much could/should we plan to pay in things like property taxes, home insurance (i know it's high!), etc. on a home around $300,000? We are likely looking in the South Tampa area but potentially could be on the north side near Carrollwood.

I have heard from a few folks that the traffic is really bad in Tampa.

How bad are things such as mosquitoes? humidity? etc.?

Thanks again!

 

[TampaBuzz]

Any idea where your office would be? If you are in South Tampa and your office is in the Westshore or Downtown area, traffic won't be a problem. As a general rule - stay away from the I-275/I-4 interchange any time that is close to rush hour. Whoever designed that exchange clearly is not a GT graduate!

Carrollwood to Westshore/Downtown can be be time consuming mainly because mainly because it is all surface streets to get in. It is a very nice area! We live in Seminole Heights which is very close in to downtown and is a "foodie" area. Traffic is easy from this area and lots of new in fill development going on. Unfortunately the public schools are generally not good in the area right now.

Humidity is similar to Atlanta, but thank goodness for the sea breeze which helps a lot. I have gotten to where I don't often notice the mosquitos - but we make sure to have no standing water around the property and planted things like catnip and lemongrass around the house because mosquitos hate them.

 

[NorthGaJacket15]

Thanks for the info guys.

TampaBuzz- it appears there are a couple of possibilities and we are still a bit away from it happening or not.. but it appears the more likely scenario now may be the Northdale area. South Tampa is still a possibility but looking less likely. I have heard about the 275/4 interchange from multiple folks, engineer probably from some polytech institute or something! I've also heard Carollwood is nice!

We actually homeschool so, at least currently, the schools are not as much of a concern for us as it could be for some folks, but thanks for the heads up! Definitely will make sure of no standing water, etc. Interesting note about catnip and lemongrass, will keep that in mind.

If we land in the Northdale area, do you know anything about taxes, etc.?

Thanks!

 

[TampaBuzz]

Thanks for the info guys.

If we land in the Northdale area, do you know anything about taxes, etc.?

Thanks!

I just received my trim notice, so I can take a look at the various rates. Interesting thing about Florida is there is a thing called "Save our Homes" that caps your home tax increase no matter how much the actual property value increases. It is also transferable. It would not apply to you, since you are a first time buyer, but helps with long-term budgeting. We actually were fortunate when the market crashed in 2008 - it took our taxable property value way down instantly, and it can only inch up. Northdale is also very nice, but like Carrollwood, traffic can be a little annoying.