unbearable bugs
tommy permalink | categories: beaches, bugs, environment, health, tampa, things to doby tommy @ 12:20 pm
Amy and her family are thinking about moving to Florida. Of course, before you move, you may want to check with the locals for any surprises. Ask About Tampa and we will help provide the answers, so we got an email from Amy:
My husband, our baby, and I are thinking seriously about moving to the Tampa Bay area from Portland Oregon. We are so tired of the 8 months of nothing but rain and we both like the beach. I have a few questions that I’d appreciate any answers
- Are the bugs unbearable?
- How many months are sweltering hot?
- Can you buy a cool 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a pool for about 300K?
- How expensive is the home owners insurance one needs (hurricane, flood, etc)?
- How bad is the traffic, for instance what are typical commute times to say St. Pete to Tampa? Could we live in Pinellas county and work in Tampa and get to work in a reasonable amount of time?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Just minutes before that, we got an email from Steve:
My wife and I are planning a move to Tampa from Portland, Oregon in February ‘08. Yes we are escaping the rain but another thing Portland is famous for is its bike paths. Is Tampa a good place for the occasional bicycle trip?
Now, I have no idea if Amy and Steve are from the same family. And it really doesn’t matter, I guess. We’ll just answer the questions from Portland together.
First off, for Steve - You will enjoy the Pinellas County Trail. It’s perfect for biking. It’s made for biking. To mix it up head to the Flatwoods or Wilderness Park in Hillsborough County. Check Alan Snel’s tampa bike blog for more. Now on to Amy’s concerns.
Eight months of rain is unbearable. Bugs are not. Plus you can just step on and squish the bugs. Doing that with rain doesn’t really help much.
For sweltering, August sorta sucks. Steve won’t be biking much. But it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. And the bugs, of course.
Traffic times vary greatly. Many folks live in Pinellas and work in Tampa. There is plenty of traffic information available online. I recommend 511 Tampa Bay or Google’s traffic maps.
Yep - you can find a cool 3/2 for 300K, but insurance is another matter. We’re in the middle of somewhat of a crisis. The most difficult part of buying your home will be locating an insurance company that will actually sell insurance. If you go with the “insurer of last resort,” you’ll spend a fortune. I purchased my home in late 2001, and insurance was $721. This year we’ll pay $2,000. Here is the St. Pete Times ongoing coverage of the Insurance Crisis, and the Tampa Tribune’s stories about Homeowners Insurance.
That’s it in a nutshell. I’m sure Sticks readers can give their thoughts as well.
Tags: beaches, bugs, environment, health, tampa, things to do
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March 13th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Okay, first advice to Amy and Steve is, keep coming back to this blog.
My wife and I moved down to south St. Pete (a year ago to the day, actually), and the entire SoF community was more valuable than they can ever know. It’s a real public service.
We moved down from DC, and my average morning drive time there was 45 minutes. That was to cover a distance of just a few miles, from Arlington to downtown DC. For the last year, I’ve driven from as far south in Pinellas County as you can go to Tampa (by the airport) every day for work, and it’s much, much further distance-wise, but the actual drive time is still shorter (if there’s no trouble on the bridge).
So, all that to say that there are traffic issues, sure, but I’d still rather drive over beautiful Tampa Bay any (or every) day of the week than anywhere else.
Good luck on your move — you’ll love it here.
BJK
March 13th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
The rain here is much worse than in Portland. I’d be interested to see a comparison of # of days a year it rains, but I know for sure the rain here is much more torrential, and you get free fireworks along with your rain here.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Three years in Seattle put me off rain for life. But if the choice was down to the NW winter or FL’s summertime mosquitoes, I’d stick with the rain.
March 13th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
1. I’m from south Georgia, so I’m used to the bugs. I don’t think they’re unbearable, though.
2. 9 months out of the year are hot, with about 6 of those what I’d consider sweltering. I’ve lived only in south Georgia or Tampa, so in my entire life I’ve never owned a coat (only a jacket), never owned or used an ice scraper, and pretty much spend my life hurrying from one air-conditioned place to the next.
I don’t know about the other questions.
Even though I hate the heat, I love living here.
March 13th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Sorry — I thought the rest of the questions were about buying a house. Regarding traffic, I’d say it takes at least 30 minutes to get anywhere and that most everyone commutes between 20-60 minutes to work (each way).
March 13th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
That travel time isn’t accurate, Lisa.
Here I go pimping my neighborhood again, but …
I live in Tampa Heights and work Downtown. It’s 1.9 miles to work, and that takes me 3 to 5 minutes of travel, depending.
Sure, my neighborhood isn’t completely gussied up (read: gentrified) yet, but I bought my house for half of what it would have cost me in Seminole Heights, and likely a third of what it would have cost in South Tampa.
I almost never have to get on an interstate or go over a bridge. I can travel to Seminole Heights, Ybor, Downtown, West Tampa or South Tampa - and it won’t usually take more than 10 minutes for me to hit my destination.
The savings isn’t just in time - it’s wear and tear on my car, gas, the environment and my sanity. It pays dividends.
March 13th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
A/C is standard in both cars and houses here. I’m a FLorida native and I just take the heat and bugs in stride. Pools are a necessary evil.
As far as the traffic, it depends on where you live. We live in Pinellas, a mile inland from the Gulf. I choose this neighborhood for its school district, which is one of the top performing elementary, middle and high schools in the county.
It takes me 5 minutes to get to the grocery stores (Publix, Albertsons, Kash n Karry), Walgreens,CVS, Blockbuster, etc etc etc.
5 minutes to the kids schools.
Takes hub 20 min to get to work in the morning–in the summer. Thirty minutes in the winter when the snowbirds come in. Seriously.
Takes me 20 min to get to my job in Clearwater.
As far as the insurance issue, we are definitely in a crisis and I can’t offer any advice there, otherwise I’d use it myself. Our insurance company just dropped us after 10 years with them, and we had no claims, 40 ft above sea level.
So, good luck Amy and Steve!
Btw, you can buy a beautiful 3/2 for 300K in our area.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Rain days, 151 for Portland, 106 for Tampa.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
David — Good point. Let me clarify by saying that it takes ME around 30 minutes to get anywhere. I live in Riverview and work in south Tampa: 30-40 minute commute. My boss commutes about 20-25 minutes each way and my best friend used to drive for almost an hour each way to work until she switched jobs. I can’t think of anyone I know personally who lives close to where he/she works. You’re very fortunate.
March 13th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Riverside Heights.
Check it!
March 13th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
On bike trips- Recreational or actually going somewhere? The husband either rides his bike or runs to work from our Port Tampa abode, however, he also jumps out of airplanes and does other things many people consider risky. This is not a cyclist/pedestrian friendly area. Our location does put us 20 minutes by car from just about anything worth going to except the beaches-but Picnic Island Park suits us fine for kayaking and “don’t want to spend all day at the beach” days.
A new 3/2 single family would be about 350K and up in our neighborhood, though older homes are much less. The older homes are quite small and built on concrete slabs at ground level so insurance is high if you can get it.
March 13th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
right, this is not a bike or pedestrian friendly area, though there are bike trails. you risk your life riding the roads.
its hotter in tampa than the nw, for sure. but i wdnt call it unbearable. in this world, there are heat people and cold people. figure out which you are before you go anywhere new.
there are 300k 3/2s out there, but you will commute if you buy one and expect to work in either urban core: tampa or st pete. there are valid reasons why it costs more to live in so tampa or old northeast in st pete or at the beaches. the old areas like tampa heights and seminole heights can still be bargains, but there are tradeoffs such as lousier public schools, more crime and general ugliness.
of course, if anyone is actually really moving here, my so tampa house has been for sale for 7 mos w/o an offer or even many lookers, so beware. the tax and insurance mess in fla is real and might not get much better any time soon.
oh, and the hurricanes? we’re supposed to be getting more and more of them, just fyi. due to global warming or whatever.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Thnaks, Gar, I was thinking maybe there were more rain days there, but we get a much different kind of rain, not that generally just whizzing rain. Our rain seems much harder, if in shorter bursts.
March 14th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Like David says, the rain is very different here. It doesn’t rain the same way as it does up north, because generally we’re not dealing with frontal systems. Whereas a rainy day in Portland is usually going to be drippy and dreary all day long, a rainy day here will actually be sunny for most of the day. Then, all of a sudden (usually at rush hour, it seems…), it will start pouring for about an hour. Rain like you’ve never seen before. Buckets of it. Then it’s done, the sun comes back out, and it all dries up.
As far as traffic, what everyone else said. It really depends on where you are, where you want to go, and when. Our traffic isn’t as bad as Boston or Houston, but it doesn’t always flow either. If you’re crossing a bridge, you’re more likely to encounter bottlenecks. If it’s tourist season, everything is worse. I commute from Seminole Heights to North St. Pete every day. Morning commute around 8:15 is 40 minutes. Getting back home takes an hour unless I wait until about 6:30 to leave. Worse if there’s a hockey game downtown, or an accident (or the aforementioned rainstorm). But on a Sunday afternoon, I can make the 20-mile trip, either way, in 20 minutes. Whatever you do, don’t commute on a bike. This is *not* a bicycle-friendly town. There are trails, and lots of recreational places to go and ride, but you don’t want to be on the roads. There are *very* few bike lanes, and the tourist nature of this place tends to mean a lot of people who aren’t sure exactly where they are going - so they’re not paying attention to you on your bike.
The bugs aren’t bad. I live near a river, so there tend to be mosquitoes in the summer, but aside from that, you learn to compensate for other things. Add a pest control service to your utilities budget. Learn to keep cereal in sealed plastic jugs instead of the original box (so things don’t get into it). Same with flour/suger/etc. If there are bugs in my house, I don’t see ‘em.
Anywho. 2 cents.
March 14th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Mike - thumbs up on the pest control. It’s about the best money I spend every other month. In addition to the very necessary termite treatments/insurance, it’s someone else’s problem to get rid of the wasp nests and brown widow clutches that start to swarm the front of my house over the summer. I also have no bug problems in my very old Florida home.
March 14th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Wow, all of your comments are helpful. Yes it rains here in Portland all day, grey for 8 months and the rain is drizzle with no end.
So in a good area (not a gated community) a 3/2 is going to cost about 350k? Housing here has gone through the roof, it’s at least 400K to live pretty far out a get a nice 3/2. Please keep your comments coming. We really need this info to make an informed decision. Oh and yes we are warm weather people. If we could afford Hawaii we would already be there. California is almost as expensive! I am getting worried hearing your comments on home owners insurance. I don’t mind paying but not being able to get any is another story.
Thank you so much!
March 14th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
heres the problem w insurance in fla: its unpredictable whether you will be able to get it. as newcomers, youd be in the worst spot bec insurers wont necessarily insure you even if you are buying a house w long history of no claims. its completely quixotic. and of course expensive. expect to shell out at least 2k. and the taxes on a 350k house in tampa will run around 6k to 6.5k. and that relly doesnt buy much bec the schools are terrible mostly, the cops are known for brutality and general imbecility, and the roads are mostly in rough shape. and oh yes, it floods up to your car floorboards in s tampa every time it drizzles. still wanna move here?
March 14th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
We just got a notice that our insurer, of multiple homes and after making many moves with us, is pulling out of the FL market except for houses that meet a certain criteria (to be named later). Don’t know yet if our 15 month old house, which towers over the older homes in Port Tampa because the first floor is over 8 ft off the ground, will meet whatever their new requirements turn out to be. Ah well, Al Gore says it’s going to be under water shortly after the mortgage is paid off.
March 19th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
[...] other news: If our Portlanders want to live in Historic Port Tampa City, ECF president says I don’t think you can buy an [...]
June 9th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Hi there. I am currently living in Tampa afer moving here 3 1/2 yrs ago to be with my girlfriend whom I met here. First off, no regrets with her, she’s wonderful. Tampa in general though, can’t stand it, I’ll tell you why and these factors may or may not matter to you.
Why Tampa is no comparison to Portland
• Portland is gray and rainy 7-8 months of the year (true). i used to do a lot of snowboarding in the winter. once i was able to keep busy, it wasn’t a factor. as for tampa’s weather? winter is great (high 60’s to high 70’s). summer, which actually seems to be about May - October, is not comfortable. I really associate the way people view summer here with how winter in the NW is. The papers start their heavy dose of “what to do indoors” lists of books and movies. the beaches here are beautiful; clean, white sand (some, i love siesta key).
what i really miss is portlanders and their creative, progressive, co-operative way of being. i miss the art, music, neighborhoods (tampa is so spread out and strip-mally, very few charming spots to chill), live music scene, close access to camping, snow sports, good beer (yes, that matters to me).
tampa’s people seem to me to be rather complacent. developers really have gotten a strong hold here and the environment is definitely not the priority here. the mangroves that survive in shallow salt water are continuously being threatened and demolished to make way for more $400,000 condos.
ok, so this is shaping up to be pretty negative for tampa. well, i AM moving back to portland in november (yep, just as winter creeps in…so be it, it’s an easy trade).
i guess i’m just a NW guy at heart. i could persue the things i love here on my own, be really motivated and roll ghandi style to make the world a better place. but, i am just more effective spinning ideas around with other like-minded people. everywhere you go there’s culture, unique to that area. i prefer the NW culture over tampa and the identity crisis is suffers. i don’t want to go down with it.
good luck with whatever you and your family decide. feel free to email me if you would like to know anything else specific aside from my rants/raves.
regards,
Elin McLain