Amy

i am getting transferred to Tampa. where are the good areas to live? where is the nicest, upscale area??? any good places for someone in their late 20's??? would love some advice.

OliveOyl

I'd look in two areas Amy. One is the very upscale Hyde Park area....full of DINKS. It is close to downtown, close to night life, some decent shopping, including grocery, good restaurants plus a renovated area with real character. Other than that, for your age bracket I'd look at the beaches. The commute though will be significant.

kris

Hyde Park or Rocky Point area. Check out Hyde Park at www.oldhydepark.com.

Amy

What beach towns??? How far a commute from the airport are we looking at (I am a consultant and will be flying out at least 3 times a month).

OliveOyl

I live 5 minutes from the airport. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to the water at Clearwater Beach and about the same for St Pete Beach outside of rush hour. (Longer mileage wise to SPB, but almost all interstate so faster).

Kris has a good suggestion if you are interested in apartments and being close to the airport. Rocky Point is one traffic light from me, the same 5 minutes from the airport and upscale Post apartments there are on the water and full of young singles.

Tampa

Bayshore, Westchase, Waterchase, Cheval are all upscale areas.

Nancy03

Don't forget Harbour Island. It's beautiful. Just south of Downtown and near to all that happens for your age group.

haydencat

In my opinion, the South Tampa/Old Hyde Park area is the best for someone your age. There are some Post apartment communities there, including one very nice one in Old Hyde Park Village. All the coolest bars, restaurants, etc. will be found in that area, plus it's much more charming than the suburb-y, urban sprawl North Tampa areas (Westchase, etc). In my opinion, you should avoid those at all costs!

joebobs_banshee

Hyde Park area is very nice with alot of the older style homes that have character. the closer you can get to bayshore the better. I lived in Tampa Palms and it was nice, I visited about 5 years later and was absolutely amazed at the explosive suburban sprawl that had overtaken the area, Hunters Green used to be the end of the road, now there are housing developments crammed in beyond there for miles.
you can get very nice housing there but it will be very crowded and all the houses look the same (think las vegas style sprawl), personally, I would look at south tampa/hyde park, but you may decide you like the North Tampa area, 10's of thousands of others seem to like it.

also check out Palm Harbor, some parts of Lutz, Countryside, Eagle Lake Area (Help me OliveOyl am I remembering the names right? they are a straighter shot to the airport)