Does anyone know anything about Tampa, FL? Just looking for some info at this point.
TIA

By Rayanne on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 09:43 am:

I live in Tampa/Lutz.
What do you need to know?

By Cat on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 09:56 am:

Dh is contacting someone about a job in Tampa. I'm just trying to find out where to look for housing, where the good schools are, stuff like that. He's really interested in this job because of Florida's state tax.

By Katiesmommy on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 10:05 am:

I am from Lakeland (23 miles from Tampa) and alot of people who work in Tampa live there. Its a GREAT town and I miss it SO MUCH! Florida doesn't have state tax, (not the last I heard anyway). It is less expensive than the Tampa area and depending on where your from, its ALOT cheaper than most places.

By Rayanne on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 10:12 am:

What grades are your son's in? 5th and 7th, right? I am going to write down some schools that I know of that are good, but I wanted to give you the schools that your kids would be able to go to.

By Cat on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 02:35 pm:

Yes, Rayanne. They'll be in 5th and 7th grades next year. Thanx.

Lakeland's only 23 miles away? What about places like Riverview, Brandon, Plant City and Seffner? Is one side of town nicer than another? I was looking at the east and north sides just to get further from the coast (hurricanes!). We'll have to see if dh can get the job first, but I like to be prepared.

By Rayanne on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 02:59 pm:

I do know that the Land O' Lakes area is booming right now, and new homes are constantly goind up. I don't mean in price, just building.

Some schools that I know are good are:
Canella Elementary
Claywell Elementary
Freedom High
Gaither HIgh
Ben Hill Middle
Hunter's Green Elementary
Lutz Elementary
Maniscalco Elementary
Plant High
Schwarzkopf Elementary
Sickles High

I know that you will need a middle school for your oldest, but Ben Hill is the only one that I have 1st. hand knowledge of. Sorry.

I have worked at Lutz Elementary and Schwarzkopf and all the teachers and staff were wonderful.

I don't live far from the other places that you are asking about, but don't know all that much about them. Brandon is growing big time, and so is the Riverview area. My aunt and uncle just bought a really nice house out there. I have an aunt and uncle that live in Plant City also. If there are specific questions that you would like me to ask, just let me know, and I will do my best.

I hope that I have helped you in some way.

By Cat on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 03:12 pm:

Thanx, Rayanne! I'm still waiting for dh to talk to his friend. He'd have to go to DC to interview for this job (company's based out of there). I'll keep that list of schools.

By Rayanne on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 03:51 pm:

Not a problem sweetie. I hope it works out. If you do end up moving here, we will definately have to meet.

By Katiesmommy on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 04:14 pm:

Plant City is 12 miles from Lakeland. It is small there, we used to go to the Strawberry Festival there every year in February! Brandon has gotten really big! I don't know anything about Seffner, but Riverview was very rural back when I knew of it (gosh, its been almost 20 yearssince I was in Riverview!) I left Lakeland 2 years ago (MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE ALL THERE). We live on the outskirts of DC in a crappy suburb, but that is where my husband's job is I wish you luck. Florida is GREAT!!!

By Palmbchprincess on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 06:31 pm:

Cat, I switched from a NJ high school to a FL high school my junior year. The curriculum was very lacking in FL, and a lot of my credits were not transferrable. I had to drop my AP classes, and all of my regular classes were considered honor in FL. A couple of my teachers actually told me to go back up north for college, the schools were better (though FL does have some great schools!) Just something to look into, though this was West Palm Beach.

By Palmbchprincess on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 06:35 pm:

I just realized that could sound really bad to anyone who works with FL schools. I certainly don't mean it that way, that was just my experience with schooling there!

By Cat on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 08:20 pm:

Heck, yeah, we'd have to meet, Rayanne!!! That'd be cool. I got to meet Bea and Ginny (and a couple others from M2M) a few years ago. It was really neat!

Amy, I like small towns. The town in Michigan I grew up in was only 500 people. Dh grew up in Raleigh, NC. Neither one of us wants to live in a big city, but we don't have a problem living in the "burbs". If we go there, we'll have to get together (with Rayanne!) when you come home to visit. Where outside of DC are you? We were at Andrews AFB for two years. Don't miss the area at all.

Crystal, thanx for the info about the schools. I know schools differ from state to state. The schools my kids were in in Maryland were awful. I used to have a website that told which states were better than others (and worse) but I have no idea what happened to it. Maybe I'll have to do some Googling.

Dh didn't get in touch with his friend again today. He said he tried several times, but he was out of the office and he kept getting someone else's answering machine. Maybe he should try emailing him. So we wait. Dh is finished the end of May, so he'd like to start a new job the beginning of June. That's really not that far off. Houses here usually take a long time to sell, so we really need to know if we're staying or not so we can get our house on the market if we need to. I hate the waiting game.