Where to live

BellaBean76

Hi Ladies - My husband recently accepted a position in Clearwater FL and we have to move there (from Boston).  Anyone have any suggestions of where to live and why?  We have been looking at Palm Harbor, Lutz and New Tampa.  Our baby is 4 months so although it won't be for a while we are interested in areas with good schools.

TIA

amberrrjade

I wish I could help you. I think out of those I've heard the most positive things about Palm Harbor. I live in Brandon, which is about an hour from Clearwater, and it's really nice.

mrslucid

If you husband is going to be working in Clearwater, I would look at Palm Harbor.  It's a long drive from Clearwater to Lutz/New Tampa.

divegirl920

Palm Harbor/Dunedin/Safety Harbor are the best areas for someone working in Clearwater.  I currently live in PH and it's great.  PH and Dunedin have great schools, it's simply a matter of what you're looking for (charter vs. public, etc).

BellaBean76

@divegirl920 We would be interested in Public schools, it seems that PH has good ones, but I would definitely be interested in your opinion.  Are there good activities for kids?  I saw that there was one big mom's group that seemed to do a lot, so I was thinking that would help.  I will definitely have to try to meet people once I am down there as I know no one and my husband travels a lot.

divegirl920

You can certainly come meet my friends and I: one has a 16 month old boy, one is due with a boy December 1 and then I'm due Feb 13.  I haven't looked into schools yet (horrible, I know) but I will ask around and see what I find out.  There seems to be lots of community things to do and the PH library is always having activities.  If you need recommendations on daycare just let me know because I'm starting to look into that too!

BellaBean76

Congrats on being preggers very exciting! That is super sweet of you! We still need to sell our house and find one there, so it will likely be a few months. but I would love to take you up on the offer! I will be in touch. Thx again.

MamaMiller2013

I highly, highly recommend Dunedin and Palm Harbor. (Lutz and New Tampa are going to be at least a 45 min drive, if not more.) If you like a little bit of night life, St. Petersburg is great (that's where we are now.) And the Old Northeast neighborhood there is drop-dead gorgeous. Clearwater itself is really lovely as well, though the average age of your neighbors will probably be around 55-60. I lived there for about 4 years and it's nice and quiet. All in all, though, the whole area is really lovely. Most of these areas are really big on community (particularly Dunedin and St Pete), so there's always a lot of stuff to do. Best of luck on the move! I hope you enjoy the Bay area! 

zbeesma86

Dunedin/Palm Harbor-- I live in Dunedin. Moved here from Tampa and I love it!

planetkari

I agree with the others that the Dunedin, Safety Harbor and Palm Harbor areas are great.  St. Pete is nice, particularly the Old Northeast and Crescent Lake areas.  I recently moved to the Citrus Park/Westchase area of Tampa and work in Clearwater, and it's been wonderful.  The drive to Clearwater is reasonable and the area is very family-friendly with great schools.  You have a lot of good options nearby.