Sunny Climate. Dark Undertones.
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2/26/2006
Tampa is beautiful, full of palm trees, lakes, sunny skies and white sandy beaches. I'm convinced that Tampa is one of the best places to visit on vacation in the US. There's actually much more to do than Orlando and you can always drive over there to get your Disney fix (it's only 45 minutes to an hour from Tampa).
If you've visited Tampa, you may have thought about living here. Plenty of people do love it. However, there are quite a few cons to living down here that it's taken us 3 years to fully understand. Before you move down here, you should know the cons...
1. Lots of weird religious stuff: witchcraft, scientology, cults (even some Protestant churches are more "out there" than you might find in Northern and Western cities)
2. High crime (burglary and robbery; also assualt, rape, murder)
3. Large parts of the city are run down (in need of major renovation; blown out signs; run-down trailer parks next to a million-dollar subdivision); this is not a clean/new city
4. Poor school system (and therefore hard to find good employees; private schools are high except some religiously based schools)
5. Relationships are superficial and often don't last long(transient society; hard to make good friends; materialistic)
6. Housing is high and keeps going up (most is $200/sq.ft. as of 2/2006 in any growing area; higher as you get closer to the beach; better deals near Brandon or North Pasco County going toward Brooksville)
7. Wages are comparatively low (unless you're a call center rep; then you might make a little more than elsewhere -- think $20-30K per year; senior managers and IT professionals will have a tough time going past $120-150 unless you own your own business)
8. HURRICANES - don't underestimate the hassle of trying to decide whether or not to evacuate; potential flooding; tree damage; power outages; etc.
9. Orlando/Tampa area is the lightning capital of the world. Expect power outages throughout the summer and possible damage to home electronics from surges. If you move here, get surge protection through the electric co.
10. Tourists - pack out all of the good places whenever you want to go; bog down traffic going to Orlando
11. Traffic - very bad on I-4 right now during construction; most suburb to downtown commutes are 30 minutes to an hour
12. Horrible Drivers - think old people plus angry tourist plus poorly educated drivers
13. Far to drive outside of Florida (4 hours from Tampa to Florida/Georgia state lin
Abhd | Seffner, FL