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Moving to Tampa - Help
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I suppose there are better forums to solicit feedback about cities to move to, but being a triathlete I thought it couldn't hurt to post something here. I will be moving to Tampa, FL in early 2016 for work and don't have a clue as to any good places to live. Here are my biggest needs:
  • Good schools - I have three kids (7th grade, 5th grade and preschool), currently in a great school district in Bucks County, PA.
  • Proximity to Downtown Tampa - my office is in downtown and I would prefer to keep my commute to under an hour. With that said, I will be traveling around the state quite a bit
  • Training - I want increase my swim/bike/run training, it would be great to find a tri club to join. Also a good pool or open water would be key (nothing with alligators please)

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate them. Thanks!

Jamie
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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My 2 cents. St Pete is where it's at if you're a triathlete. North Shore pool in Saint Pete is where so many riders show up to ride on the weekends or even during the week. There's also more places to ride whereas with Tampa it's up and down bayshore and Davis Island.

I'm sure some people will disagree but I've lived in both places.
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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jwadtri wrote:
I suppose there are better forums to solicit feedback about cities to move to, but being a triathlete I thought it couldn't hurt to post something here. I will be moving to Tampa, FL in early 2016 for work and don't have a clue as to any good places to live. Here are my biggest needs:
  • Good schools - I have three kids (7th grade, 5th grade and preschool), currently in a great school district in Bucks County, PA.
  • Proximity to Downtown Tampa - my office is in downtown and I would prefer to keep my commute to under an hour. With that said, I will be traveling around the state quite a bit
  • Training - I want increase my swim/bike/run training, it would be great to find a tri club to join. Also a good pool or open water would be key (nothing with alligators please)

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate them. Thanks!


TriathlonJoe wrote:
My 2 cents. St Pete is where it's at if you're a triathlete. North Shore pool in Saint Pete is where so many riders show up to ride on the weekends or even during the week. There's also more places to ride whereas with Tampa it's up and down bayshore and Davis Island.

I'm sure some people will disagree but I've lived in both places.

Them's fightin' words ;). The furthest south I ever go to train is the bridge loop in Clearwater! The Bayshore/Davis Island/Downtown area is terrible but head a bit north and there are plenty of options. The Suncoast Trail is always a good choice but of course it does get a bit boring doing the same thing over and over. Still, can't beat almost 50 miles of continuous dedicated bike trail and it's a dream to ride compared to the Pinellas Trail.

Tampa or St. Pete, there are plenty of triathlon groups around here. St. Pete Mad Dogs, Tampa Tri Team (T3), KLR - there's always someone organizing something!

As for schools, typical of Florida there are a couple of great schools, a bunch of mediocre ones, and a bunch of terrible ones. Look into the IB magnet schools for the higher ranked academic schools. I currently live in the Westchase area and find it's a great mix of good schools, good area to live, and not far from anything.
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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When you get here, send me a message and I can introduce you to a couple of the different groups that train here as well as point you to some FB pages where a lot of us post our upcoming workouts.
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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If you're working in downtown, there are a few communities that are within an hour commute that probably merit some consideration. Off the top of my head is an area called New Tampa but I personally think the area is very congested and I don't know too much about the schools. New Tampa has a big YMCA with Olympic sized pool and a trail area to ride road and mountain bikes (Flatwood Park). The paved part is only about 7 miles though. South Tampa is probably the most convenient to downtown and has good schools (especially Plant High school). Bayshore Blvd. is good for running, but biking is not very good in that area. I live in an area very close to the Suncoast Trail (~ 50 mile paved trail for cyclists/ruuners) which has 3 A-rated schools in the same complex right next to the trail (McKitrick elem., Martinez, middle school, and Steinbreener high school). There are a couple YMCA pools nearby as well as some private country clubs pools. The drawback to this area is the commute is the longer of the 3.

St. Pete is a great area for triathlon, but the commute to downtown Tampa would be a deal breaker for me. Depending on where you're at, I imagine the commute would be over an hour each way.

There are some other areas like Brandon, Riverview, Apollo Beach, Plant City, etc., but I personally wouldn't recommend those areas given your criteria.

There are a bunch of tri clubs in the area, and you won't have any problems finding group rides, Masters swim, etc. in any of these areas. All of these areas have pools or you can always go open water swimming at the beach. Various tri clubs have open water swims at least a couple nights a week.

I've lived here in Tampa for over 40 years, so feel free to PM me any specific questions if you want.
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [sake] [ In reply to ]
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St Pete, St Pete, St Pete.

If you are working downtown Tampa, depending on the time, that drive is a killer. I have two small kids (2years and 6 weeks respectively) and we live in Shore Acres. One of the top elementary schools in the county is Shore Acres Elementary, but then things drop off a bit into Middle School and High School if you stay in the public system. That is 100% going off of the public school ratings and not my personal opinion of the schools themselves. The area is one of the best in the country for training and racing, and raising a family in this community is fantastic.

If you need to work in downtown, I would suggest Davis Island or Harbor Island. New Tampa is great, but it is on the edge of civilization and a complete bear to get to and from during rush hours. You can get a lot of house for not a lot of money and I believe the schools are good. Wesley Chapel would be another suggestion, but you are again opening yourself to traffic to and from work. But their schools are all very good and you're a quick 15 miles away from San Antonio which is one of the best cycling spots in the state.

but my .02 is St Pete. Conde Nast recently rated it as the 4th most underrated city in the country. Take what you will from that, but everyone that comes to visit here ends up falling in love with it.
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [ In reply to ]
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All great advice...I have heard good things about South Tampa and Plant High School, the only issue is the cost of homes. As things get firmed up a bit more I will most likely be messaging all of you.

Thanks!

Jamie
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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Based on your criteria Westchase, Odessa, keystone & citrus park will be the best choice!
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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I live in Westchase in NW Tampa. The community has two climate controlled 25 yard pools open year round. Masters is M-W-F from 5-7am ... but it is really just swim on your own, there is no coach. The main pool regular hours are typically 10am-8pm all week. The other pool is 3-8pm weekdays and 10-8 weekends. Both pools stay open until 8:30pm in the summer. Sometimes, I will also swim at 3 other public pools in Tampa when I need to adjust my schedule.

My commute from Westchase to the Westshore office district is 20 mins inbound and about 30 mins outbound. Add another 10-15 mins to that for going downtown. Times will drop when the Veterans tollway expansion is complete.

I am a member of Team Psych which is local but I tend to race mostly long course which takes me out of town. School zoning depends on where you live in Westchase and zoning boundaries can always change. However, my daughter has grown up here and her elementary, middle, and now high school are all A-rated.

When I'm building for an IM, I do my long rides from my house to the top of the Suncoast trail and back (115 mi). And like everyone else who is serious in the area, I go to San Antonio (about a 45-50 min drive from my house) to ride in the hills...yes, hills!

I certainly agree with other posters that St Pete is not a good choice if you are working in Tampa. One thing I've learned from living all over is to never put a major bridge between your home and work location. St Pete has better access to OWS, but I think the Pinellas Trail sucks rocks, and it's a lot longer drive for them to get to the Suncoast and to San Antonio.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [jwadtri] [ In reply to ]
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Mons Venus
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [Charles De Mar] [ In reply to ]
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Charles De Mar wrote:
Mons Venus

Hmmm, NSFW would have been nice on that one. Glad I am not in the office.

Jamie
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Re: Moving to Tampa - Help [sake] [ In reply to ]
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I live in the McKitrick Martinez Steinbrenner school district. 3 great, A rated schools, so I feel good about my kids going to school here for the next 12 years.

I work in downtown Tampa and the commute is about an hour during peak times (35 min off peak).

Suncoast Trail is very close and convenient for long runs and rides. San Antonio hills are about 25 miles away. There are several pools around to use. Several tri clubs also. When I need an open water swim workout, I drive to Clearwater or St. Pete. This doesn't happen too frequently so the distance is not a big issue for me.

Hope this helps.
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