Living in Tampa /West Palm
 

I grew up on the beach in SC. Moved away for college, then grad school, now work. I've always seen myself moving back to the coast but am worried about finding work - I'm in public health and my partner is a software engineer. I had actually not thought about Florida until recently.

A lot of the posts I'm finding are at least 5 years old - a lot changes in that amount of time. So I'm looking for thoughts on living in the Tampa Bay or West Palm Beach areas? Is the tech industry in either? Things to do? Walkable areas? Cost of living? Raising a family?

I'm currently in Atlanta and love the number of festivals, biking /walking trails, walkable areas. But I'm a beach girl at heart and am going out of my mind with the traffic. Looking for a smaller city that still has a bit of culture and fun things to do. Would love your thoughts and perspective on how the area has /is changing. Thanks in advance!

Re: the Tampa Bay area, look at South Tampa for walkable neighborhoods; or St. Petersburg, which is also much closer to the beach and has a more bohemian, younger population. Any other areas are going to be entirely car-centric. Towns like Dunedin, or Safety Harbor are charming and walkable in and of themselves but somewhat isolated otherwise.

Since you don't have kids yet, the question of schooling is probably not urgent, but keep in mind that public schools in Tampa Bay vary a lot. Some are excellent, some not. Don't listen to anyone who tells you all Florida public schools are lousy!

Sorry, I can't help with information about public health or tech jobs, maybe someone else can.

You can get lots of info regarding the living situation in Tampa or any other US city here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/

<Would love your thoughts and perspective on how the area has /is changing. >

Both downtown Tampa and downtown St. Pete are growing by leaps and bounds. Bars and craft breweries, restaurants, new apartment and condo towers, grocery stores, new and expanded museums, new parks, new mixed use developments, you name it, and all as infill of existing areas, not new sprawl. St. Pete is way ahead of Tampa, with more walkable neighborhoods interconnected, but Tampa's downtown has improved tremendously in the last decade and has lots of new investment with plans for the next 5 years.

Definitely South Tampa for walkability. The area has had a lot of growth and now has great restaurants and the Riverwalk area. Cost of living isn't bad - but housing in S. Tampa can be expensive. Schools in S. Tampa are good if you are in the right zone (Plant High School).

Be helpful and probably save a lot of time if you would kindly tell us why you picked those two areas in particular.