Transferring to Tampa

[El&Asmom]

Dh and I both have the opportunity to transfer to the Tampa area. We currently live outside of Chicago. We are here as this is where we grew up and came back to after finishing school and starting our family. Grandma has babysat the kids since they were born while I was at work a couple of days a week.
We have always said that the only reason we are in Chicago is b/c of family.
When I broached this possible transfer with my mom, she was thrilled and said the only reason they don't get a place down in FL is because of us!

So now I am a ball of stress thinking about taking the kids away from all they know and starting all over. After weather like today in Chicago, mild winters and a sub tropical climate sound like heaven. The opportunity for the transfer with my job is a very rare opportunity as the veterinary corporation for which I work never has openings in Tampa as no one leaves. When I spoke with my friend who is our recruiting manager, she said they had decided the day before my email to open up a my position in one of their clinics! I have been offered the position if I want it.

So, besides the amazing benefit of being 1.5 hours away from WDW. (I don't think I will be able to stand being that close and not going there weekly), but any other great things, or not so great things about the area.

My company is flying me down next week to check out the area, but wanted to get others opinions about living in Tampa.

Our kids are 9, 7 and 4 btw. We would love to live in a family friendly area with the best public schools possible.
Right now, we are considering renting for a year in either South Tampa, or the Fish hawk area and then buying a house after that.

Thanks for any help.

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

We live about 45 mins south of Tampa. In the lakewood ranch area. Very nice if you don't mind the drive to Tampa.

 

[leight]

hi! I live in the fishhawk ranch subdivision and I wouldn't live anywhere else in the Tampa area. Please feel free to PM me any questions. It is very family friendly. I would suggest looking specifically at homes that would get you into the Bevis Elementary school not Fishhawk Creek. Had a lot of difficulties with FHC elementary. Good luck!

 

[Abbeys_mom]

I don't know about Tampa, but we just relocated and DD is thriving. Kids are resilient. We made her part of the process on our house hunting trip, and she is beyond thrilled.

We don't have family nearby, bonus for you that yours may follow!

 

[El&Asmom]

Thanks so much for the responses. Leight I sent you a pm. Thanks again.

I know the kids will be fine. I'm sure they will miss their friends and it will take time to build relationships again but they and we will.
To me the hardest part will be building trust with parents and setting things up like playdates.
At least now, I know all the families very well and can trust that my kids are safe (within reason, no one really knows anyone anymore) at playdates.
I also have about 2 dozen moms I can call last minute to help me if I'm in a bind. It will be a while before we have that again.

Given that it was 7 degrees when I woke this morning here, I think we will figure it out

 

[lucas]

We now live in South Florida but we once lived in Tampa for about 8 years. We lived in Pebble Creek, not too far from USF. The best part of living in Tampa was being close to Disney World! From our driveway to the Epcot parking lot was 72 miles. It was great to be able go for the day and back. Right now we are 200 miles from WDW - big difference that I hate!

 

[El&Asmom]

We now live in South Florida but we once lived in Tampa for about 8 years. We lived in Pebble Creek, not too far from USF. The best part of living in Tampa was being close to Disney World! From our driveway to the Epcot parking lot was 72 miles. It was great to be able go for the day and back. Right now we are 200 miles from WDW - big difference that I hate!

I'd take 200 miles right now!

The Fishhawk area we are looking at has about a 1hr 10min drive to WDW on Mapquest. I can't even imagine being that close. The idea of packing up the car and being able to be there in an hour is unreal.

My big this is that I still want to do longer, at least week long trips to the World though even if we are that close. I love immersing myself on property for a week and pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist.

The other nice thing will be seeing the other parks around WDW that we never do now. When we typically only do a week at WDW a year, I don't want to waste any time going anywhere else. If we are an hour away, we can actually visit Universal, Seaworld, and Busch Gardens would be in our back yard. And you can't forget the beaches and other attractions.
So exciting. Chicago is boring

 

[lucas]

I'd take 200 miles right now!

The Fishhawk area we are looking at has about a 1hr 10min drive to WDW on Mapquest. I can't even imagine being that close. The idea of packing up the car and being able to be there in an hour is unreal.

My big this is that I still want to do longer, at least week long trips to the World though even if we are that close. I love immersing myself on property for a week and pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist.

The other nice thing will be seeing the other parks around WDW that we never do now. When we typically only do a week at WDW a year, I don't want to waste any time going anywhere else. If we are an hour away, we can actually visit Universal, Seaworld, and Busch Gardens would be in our back yard. And you can't forget the beaches and other attractions.
So exciting. Chicago is boring

When we lived in Tampa, we always stayed over at the WDW hotels. We got the room only Florida resident rates and the Florida resident seasonal or annual passes. But, it is nice to have the option of going for the day. We took a lot of visiting family to WDW for the day. And, it was nice to check out the other non-Disney parks as well. The Orlando outlets were always fun to check out, too.

We did other day trips from Tampa like going to Clearwater and Tarpon Springs. We also did a couple of cruises out of Tampa.