Anyone from the Tampa area?

[YLChik]

Hubby got a tentative job offer for the Tampa area and I have heard Florida schools can be dicey...

We are looking for info on places to look to live - and NOT live.

The bro in law lives in Dunedin and we have considered Palm Harbor in the past, but are open to anywhere in that larger area with good schools.

Any info you TRT'ers have on the area would be great!

Thanks-
Amy

[Dimples]

Originally Posted by YLChik

Hubby got a tentative job offer for the Tampa area and I have heard Florida schools can be dicey...

We are looking for info on places to look to live - and NOT live.

The bro in law lives in Dunedin and we have considered Palm Harbor in the past, but are open to anywhere in that larger area with good schools.

Any info you TRT'ers have on the area would be great!

Thanks-
Amy

While I'm not from the Tampa area I've heard it is an awful place to live
All of the FL schools are dicey.
All the communities are shady too.

In my opinion you'd be better served staying in IL with the highest ranked elementary school in the county and living near the the cool people who live around the corner, over the bridge and around the other corner

......for the record I have no actually data to support the first three comments, well except for the fact I'm not from Tampa..........

[know-it-all]

Originally Posted by Dimples

While I'm not from the Tampa area I've heard it is an awful place to live
All of the FL schools are dicey.
All the communities are shady too.

In my opinion you'd be better served staying in IL with the highest ranked elementary school in the county and living near the the cool people who live around the corner, over the bridge and around the other corner

......for the record I have no actually data to support the first three comments, well except for the fact I'm not from Tampa..........

I'd have to agree with this

[know-it-all]

Jess, you forgot to mention they have big bugs there too

[Phishnoob]

My sister is a teacher in a private school down there and she said the school systems are terrible.

I don't care for Florida at all due to the weather, the white trash and other criminal elements and the fact that the highest point in the state is something like 550 feet.

It is about as tacky as Vegas as well with all the tourist trap stuff there.

If you like surfing the waves break all funny compared to the Pacific and there are little sharks that like to bite a lot.

[know-it-all]

but if you move there, we have a place to stay for diving

I'm so conflicted now

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by know-it-all

but if you move there, we have a place to stay for diving

I'm so conflicted now

you and me both!

I mean more money, more job advancement, family, warm weather, scuba did I mention warm weather.... and lets not forget Disney world , have to start over with friend base, could buy a house with a pool

vs - ailing family, not a lot of money, but financially sound, far less job advancement, crappy weather, comfort of having been here, won't have to move a tank or sell a house

[FishDaddy]

Amy, Greg is the local expert on all things Tampa. Shoot him a message and pick his brain.

My parents lived in Florida for many years and so have my sister and oldest daughter, so I've spent mucho time in all areas of the state and watched the changes over the past several years. None of the changes are for the better, IMHO.

Given all I know, I wouldn't trade an acre of TN for all of Florida, not to dis all my friends there. High taxes; even higher insurance rates; crime; and not to even mention the frequent hurricanes that march across the state. I love to visit and play there but no way I'd live there.

Just to cheer you up with the thoughts.

Dick

[Phishnoob]

Oh yeah alligators lurking in the lakes to eat your pets and kids, and you gotta be able to tell the poisonous snakes from the other snakes that are all over.

Spend a week there during August and let us know how it goes.

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by FishDaddy

Amy, Greg is the local expert on all things Tampa. Shoot him a message and pick his brain.

My parents lived in Florida for many years and so have my sister and oldest daughter, so I've spent mucho time in all areas of the state and watched the changes over the past several years. None of the changes are for the better, IMHO.

Given all I know, I wouldn't trade an acre of TN for all of Florida, not to dis all my friends there. High taxes; even higher insurance rates; crime; and not to even mention the frequent hurricanes that march across the state. I love to visit and play there but no way I'd live there.

Just to cheer you up with the thoughts.

Dick

Can teh tax rates really be higher that Illinois?

and corruption - I really thought we had the corner on the market on that one

[OneDummHikk]

I have family that have vacation houses in Tampa but I can't get hold of her. I can't speak of Tampa so my experience with Florida is from Jacksonville (other end of the state).

The sales tax in Florida is right at 6-7%, depending on which part of the state you are in and the local addition to the state sales tax. Jacksonville has lower sales tax than where I am now. Ala side or the Ga side of the river has higher sales tax.

Last trip to Florida, gas was about 15 cents a gallon more, which is about 8% and that is typically true as gas prices go up.

Income taxes: Florida: 0. No state income tax at all.

Property taxes I don't know about, never bought a house there.

My tags were cheaper in Florida. Florida sells you the tag based on the weight of the vehicle. The heavier your vehicle, the more damage to the roads so you pay more for it. Aleebammer bases the tag on the value of your vehicle so that a 2,000 dollar 40 ton dump truck costs less to put on the road than a 100,000 dollar Mercedes Benz. I guess they figure if you can buy a Mercedes then the tag won't bother you.

Schools. I moved from Alabama back to Florida (right before finding TRT) so that I could get back in the school system there. I think schools are a odd thing. The schools here, some suck some don't. The ones I think are good, others thought were bad. I think it depends a lot on what you are looking for and whether the schools offered it.

General living environment, I preferred Florida but I truly HATE where I am now, always have so I think an igloo on a kayak at the north pole would be better to me.

You don't have a corner on corruption, just a corner on the ones dumb enough to get caught (A politician told me that).

[YLChik]

sales tax is 7.5%-10% here in the great state of Il so I guess that means it would be less in Fl

[YLChik]

gas appears to be about .20cents cheaper per gallon toady vs here

[OneDummHikk]

Amy, I think Tampa is like anywhere else. It has its good, its bad. It has things that are going to be better and things that are going to be worse than wherever you may move from. That is true of where you move from. Its going to be better and worse (in different ways) than anywhere you move to.

Good luck if you decide to move to Florida

[Doug1]

Originally Posted by YLChik

Can teh tax rates really be higher that Illinois?

and corruption - I really thought we had the corner on the market on that one

Well sometimes, it's better the devil you know