Tampa

[Wake27]

New job list came out and the best one is in Tampa. Anyone there and have feedback about the area?


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[farscott]

Just accepted an offer in St. Pete. Looking to live in Dunedin due to the access to culture and the walking/biking trails as well as keeping the commute short(er). We visited before even deciding to move. Some areas get sketchy very quickly based on my "broken windows" views. For example, northern Clearwater is nice; southern Clearwater and Clearwater Beach have huge transient problems. We spent a week driving around and exploring before we agreed I would take the offered role. I highly recommend spending some time there before making any decision.

The housing market is skewed to sellers, with many homes seeing multiple offers above asking. Prices have skyrocketed since 2019; some houses are up 60% in less than two years. I expect a correction once interest rates rise, but right now buyers have little to no leverage. Someone will bid $450K for a 940 sq ft home with no garage built in 1947.

Lots of stuff to do, but no backyard shooting range in Pinellas County. Tampa itself is in another county, Hillsborough.

[HeavyDuty]

My best friend lives in Gulfport (south of St Pete,) and I really like the area. People seem to describe it as “old Florida.” She inherited it.

[Jim Watson]

I have friends in the Tampa area, they have lived south in Ruskin, close in in Temple Terrace, now out north in St Leo.
Like any other metro area, you can find about any sort of neighborhood.
For important stuff, while visiting I have shot at the Wyoming Antelope Club.

I am in Florence just 40 miles down the road from farscott and find the Tampa area to be big and busy by comparison. Like he says, scout it out.

[RJ]

I lived/worked in Marietta GA for a couple years, but they kept sending me to Tampa to check on various contracts I finally asked them to move down permanently. I was on the road for a couple years in an RV, then we moved back to Tampa to retire and bought a condo in Safety Harbor. I got bored and went back to work; we moved up the 589 to Lutz, then back to a small apartment near Rocky Point. We just moved down the coast to Venice FL since I retired "for good".

Since it's p-f, I'll mention some shooting.

Shooters World on Fletcher is yuge, with a few dozen pistol and rifle ranges. I used to be a member. It's probably the largest store in the area. Prices are high, staff is not that knowledgeable. Big Sig Shop.

Cracker Boys Guns in Pinellas is a Glock Blue Label dealer. The manager always was happy to work with me on a trade. Great small store with lots of LE contacts.

Shoot Straight is "ok"; I'm not a fan of the management but they do have several stores with decent ranges.

Florida Firearms Academy up on Hillsborough Avenue is a smaller shop/range, so so condition (Target carriers frequently malfunction) but ok for occasional shooting.

Wyoming Antelope Club in Pinellas is an outdoor option. The atmosphere is clubby and exclusive; I never felt really welcome despite being a member. I've shot several USPSA matches there. The facility is poor; roads leading in a in terrible condition, never paved, frequently rutted. The shooting bays are dark, footing is wet, loose gravel since the sun never gets in. There are only old wooden benches for reloading. One smelly porta potty is all they have available. It sits under the approach for St Pete Airport, so you get frequent aircraft fly over.

Guncraft in Ruskin down I-75 is an excellent outdoor facility. I shot a match there last Sunday and was impressed. They've spent quite a bit recently on the stages, with a fully-concreted shooting platform for each bay, along with sturdy covered stalls with several electric fans every few feet in each one. Two indoor bathrooms are available outside the large AC'd shop with classroom (I took one of my Tom Givens classes here).


Tampa is a typical big city in FL, but has a "real" vibe to it, unlike say Orlando (tourist focused) or Gainesville (UF focused.) Generally, the farther you are North, and East, the sketchier Tampa becomes. (I say "generally".) There are some very swish neighborhoods near MacDill AFB along Lake Shore Drive. I liked living there a lot, we just moved to Venice to be somewhere quieter, since I wasn't going to keep working forever.

Real Estate is going nuts anywhere in FL. Builders are going like crazy. We contracted in Oct 2020 and closed in July; our house has probably jumped an easy high five figures in that time. The problem of course is we like it, and it'd be hard to find something as nice as what we have.

If you have any specific questions, be happy to try and answer.

[Pepper]

We have been in the Tampa area since 1992. All the comments above are pretty much fact. The thing to remember is that we only have two seasons: Hurricane and Snowbird. Getting around in Florida during the winter takes lots of planning due to the traffic. Drop me an email if you have questions and I'll try to help. ;)

[Wake27]

Unfortunately I won’t be able to see it before committing (I’ve already said it’s the job I want). If I get the job I’d work on MacDill so anything within 30-60 minutes of there would be best. That includes traffic though so looking at how urban the area seems, I expect that won’t get me far.


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[RJ]

Unfortunately I won’t be able to see it before committing (I’ve already said it’s the job I want). If I get the job I’d work on MacDill so anything within 30-60 minutes of there would be best. That includes traffic though so looking at how urban the area seems, I expect that won’t get me far.



You should be able to find a suitable place, but there are like a million people who commute to MacDill every day. Oddly, despite being associated with various USAF contracts the last ten years of my career, I've only been twice. Once with family to visit the exchange, and once to get my CAC card.

Good luck; it's not the worst place I would pick in FL to end up, that's for sure.

[Jim Watson]

If I get the job I’d work on MacDill so anything within 30-60 minutes of there would be best.

A friend's son is an Army Major, just transferred from Morocco to McDill. He found a good house ONE MILE from the gate.
Doesn't that just make you green with envy?
His Aunt is the friend I mentioned now living in St Leo.

[rob_s]

I work in the construction industry, specifically building condos, hotels, and apartments. Tampa & St Pete have been Exploding with new construction the last few years with no sign of slowing down.

We built, and are building, stuff in the Channel District, which is kind of a gentrification area as I understand it. Last time I was there the highway was a pretty hard go/no-go line to the north between the 20-something’s in the channel district and the section & drug dealers. Even still, if I was in my 20s looking for a relative,ly close apartment to McDil, I’d be looking there. Stuff to do right in that neighborhood plus Ybor and downtown close by. With a family? I wouldn’t want to live there.

ETA
This is the building I was thinking of that we built. $2400 for a 1/1? Holy crap!
https://www.channelclubapartments.com/floorplans

[Hambo]

Unfortunately I won’t be able to see it before committing (I’ve already said it’s the job I want). If I get the job I’d work on MacDill so anything within 30-60 minutes of there would be best. That includes traffic though so looking at how urban the area seems, I expect that won’t get me far.


Been to FL before? It's different living here.
Do you want to live in the suburbs? Rural area?
Family to consider?
Do you like the outdoors?

Theoretically, your driving radius takes you out to Tom Givens territory.

[Wake27]

Been to FL before? It's different living here.
Do you want to live in the suburbs? Rural area?
Family to consider?
Do you like the outdoors?

Theoretically, your driving radius takes you out to Tom Givens territory.

I was born there but left when I was a toddler so not really. I’d love to live somewhere with space but don’t see that happening anywhere near the potential job. I do have a family with a toddler and dog and I like the outdoors but not not snakes or water dinosaurs which is all I picture when I hear FL.


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[Caballoflaco]

I was born there but left when I was a toddler so not really. I’d love to live somewhere with space but don’t see that happening anywhere near the potential job. I do have a family with a toddler and dog and I like the outdoors but not not snakes or water dinosaurs which is all I picture when I hear FL.


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Mosquitoes the size of your head have caused me far more issues enjoying the outdoors in FL than any of their snakes or gators. If it wasn’t for that time in our country when we DDT’d everything (and Air conditioning) it never would have been settled in such large numbers.

[Hambo]

I was born there but left when I was a toddler so not really. I’d love to live somewhere with space but don’t see that happening anywhere near the potential job. I do have a family with a toddler and dog and I like the outdoors but not not snakes or water dinosaurs which is all I picture when I hear FL.


It's not all swamp and snakes, but it takes some getting used to. I moved from an area that had made an incredible effort to have 'rail to trails', parks, and national park for hiking. I'm lucky that the county I live in has a lot of hiking, although some trails are stupid short. Always take water.

If you like fishing, you'd be moving to the right place. Hunting, not so much.

Space is relative. If you can find an older neighborhood with larger lots and no HOA, that would be a start. New developments, IMO, might as well be condos.

Everybody drives like they're on crank, and your insurance costs will reflect that.

There's no state income tax, but they make it up in other charges.

Storms and hurricanes aren't that bad, but sometimes they're the real deal. Get ready ahead of time. Hide from wind, run from water.

You can own any capacity mags you want, NFA friendly, and generally gun friendly. But if they ever get an AWB on the actual ballot, we're fucked. YOu can carry a knife with a CWP, but local laws preempt that.

Overall, I think that people's happiness in FL depends on to what extent they can say, "Hey, it's Florida."

[Sal Picante]

I love it here. (I'm in Sarasota...)
People have said everything that needs saying - but - if you ever have a question, drop a note.

[Andy T]

I am in the process of moving to Wimauma - hopefully in a month to month and a half. I did some looking around for gun ranges and it looks like JTAC Ranch is a winner so far due to their facilities.
I am a bit surprised by the membership cost of most of the ranges. Right now, in the Northeast (MA/NH), I belong to two clubs. I pay about $170 at one and $225 at another for an "all you can shoot" per year. The $170 has an indoor 24/7 pistol/rifle range up to 25 yards with up .50 caliber and even allows machine guns. They also have a benched 100 and 200 yard range.
The 225 has "pistol/rifle" pits that allow for drawing from holster, shooting on the move and shooting at steel targets.

[RJ]

Speaking of ranges, my son lives in Orlando, and I'm planning to meet up with him mid October at Teneroc Public Shooting Range in Polk County:

https://myfwc.com/hunting/safety-education/shooting-ranges/tenoroc/

I've never been, but I'm looking forward to shooting at this public FWC range, which appears to be well-set up.

[rob_s]

I am in the process of moving to Wimauma - hopefully in a month to month and a half. I did some looking around for gun ranges and it looks like JTAC Ranch is a winner so far due to their facilities.
I am a bit surprised by the membership cost of most of the ranges. Right now, in the Northeast (MA/NH), I belong to two clubs. I pay about $170 at one and $225 at another for an "all you can shoot" per year. The $170 has an indoor 24/7 pistol/rifle range up to 25 yards with up .50 caliber and even allows machine guns. They also have a benched 100 and 200 yard range.
The 225 has "pistol/rifle" pits that allow for drawing from holster, shooting on the move and shooting at steel targets.

Being caught between two "oceans" and a lake, plus the everglades, plus a never-ending influx of people means land is much more of a premium here than in most other states.

Look at the Dallas sprawl. They probably have as many, if not more, people moving there than we do but since they have unlimited land they have unlimited sprawl.

[Wake27]

Turns out the job got filled immediately, my guess is they already had someone in mind. Next up, Auburn.


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