Where's everybody from?

[Bob]

4300 hops away.

Frogs II-Death of the Real Estate Flippers!!!! The frogs are angry. First they bloody their noses hitting the FSBO sign. The next week, the sign moves, it's now a Realtor sign. These obstacles spell war, and someone will pay....Michael Brown

 

[TooFarTampa]

I have to agree with you on the school system in the St. Pete, Clearwater and all the central area of FL schools in general. (AND the locked doors in So. St. Pete, too!!) Not to be a downer, but they truly are horrific. By the time our son was 3, we moved to Chicago area only for the school system. The public schools here are awesome by comparison. Once the high school years are over, then, we'll move back to FL, but NOT to St. Pete/Clearwater (icky beaches!!!!!). It will be the Sowal area or Pensacola.
(BTW, we always wondered why Clearwater Beach got that name because the water was never clear!!)

The school system in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties has changed in the last 5 years or so, and there are some excellent educational opportunities. Graytonbound, if you are still interested in St. Pete High, I hope it's because your children are bright enough (of course they are! ) to attend St. Pete High's International Baccaleaureate program, which is outstanding. The kids at SPHS who do really really well are IB, and maybe band members or swimmers. The school itself probably isn't all around outstanding, but it has a decent sense of community.

The Pinellas schools in general have a lot of magnet programs, and there is widespread school choice, so if you do your homework and get lucky you can get a great education. However, I'll say that while the schools seem to be better than they were when I was growing up, it's still a bit of a cr*pshoot and I'd choose the private school I went to. Pricey though. :shock:

I am pretty sure that Newsweek's list of excellent schools is very narrowly chosen. Has to do with IB and AP programs and such. If your child is capable of doing well in those programs it's not a bad idea to go by the list.

And as for having to lock your doors ... is there anywhere you don't have to anymore?

 

[TooFarTampa]

From the above message you can probably guess I'm from St. Pete. Hubby and I met at UF and lived in California while he was in the Marines, then went back to St. Pete for 6 years. A job transfer took us to Massachussetts for a year, and when we came back we settled in Tampa.

We love Tampa and can't imagine wanting to go back to St. Pete. Lots more young professionals here.

We are/were some of those dreaded "investors," thanks to a tip from a good friend of ours. Drove up one weekend and found a great lot in Seagrove, 50 yards from a walkover. That was two years ago. Now we own a house in Seacrest with two other couples. We come up every chance we get, and plan to hold onto the Seagrove lot as long as possible so we can build our beach dream house. We bought in for purely financial reasons but we are staying for all the reasons you would expect.

We love the feel of 30-A and hope that it soon will have a few more of the amenities like you see in Sanibel/Captiva, once our favorite regular vacation spot. I'm sure it will get there in a couple of years.

Hardly anyone from around here knows anything about 30-A. Seaside is just a dot on a map to them; most around here head to Sanibel or Marco Island or Boca Grande.

 

[Kurt]

We love the feel of 30-A and hope that it soon will have a few more of the amenities like you see in Sanibel/Captiva, once our favorite regular vacation spot. I'm sure it will get there in a couple of years.

What are they?

 

[ShallowsNole]

A DVD of "Frogs" should be included in the closing papers for sales in any of the new subdivisions cropping up around Point Washington - particularly the new one being planned that backs up to the state park property on the "old road" to PW (watch out for spiders!).

 

[TooFarTampa]

What are they?

Oh, it's really not much, but they do have restaurants and shops scattered throughout the area. We don't have a lot to choose from on the east side of 30-A yet. It will be nice (and I speak mostly of that side of 30-A) to have a number of places to eat that know you are going to be there when you come back. For example, we loved going to Luna Del Mar. Rosemary and Seacrest are sort of dead from a shops and food standpoint. I'm sure that as the area matures that will change.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Oh, it's really not much, but they do have restaurants and shops scattered throughout the area. We don't have a lot to choose from on the east side of 30-A yet. It will be nice (and I speak mostly of that side of 30-A) to have a number of places to eat that know you are going to be there when you come back. For example, we loved going to Luna Del Mar. Rosemary and Seacrest are sort of dead from a shops and food standpoint. I'm sure that as the area matures that will change.

I doubt that you will see much increase in the number of restuarants in So Wal in the next three years. Get ready to drive to Freeport. Land is too expensive, help is too expensive, and too much work for the profits. Most restauranteurs will not have enough cash in the bank to withstand the growing period from start to 2 years down the road. That is the primary reason why 90 percent of all new restaurants fail within the first 12 months.

 

[SlowMovin]

The new Shades at Rosemary Beach is pretty good. Nice bar.

 

[pk305]

Missouri originally. Nashville since 1971. Soooooo excited to soon be having a place on 30a!!! Just 3 more months!!! In the meantime, though have secured a nice lot in Freeport, just in case we ever need a back-up plan!!

 

[TooFarTampa]

The new Shades at Rosemary Beach is pretty good. Nice bar.

Thanks for the rec! :clap_1: