Tampa or St. Petersburg FL

[bpxdomino]

Hello! This is sort of relevant to travel... I am not a Florida resident yet but hoping to be in the very near future. Moving from NJ - I'm heading down there this weekend to look at places to live.

 

I'm looking for some advice as to where I should look.The Tampa Bay area is ideal as that I can be close to my mother (who lives in Treasure Island) but could also still do a day trip to Disney.

Looking for advice though on where I should consider living. Health and wellness is of primary importance to me so I figured this is a group whose advice I can trust. I want to live somewhere I can easily keep the Whole 30 lifestyle going strong.

I'm 35, married, 2 dogs, 1 cat, no kids
Would prefer to be able to bicycle or walk to grocery stores, gyms (Crossfit?), things to do. Maybe a good independent coffee shop nearby. I am looking to live a fairly green, eco-friendly lifestyle
I love farmers markets and grocery stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods
I hate yardwork

Any advice?

[Guest bfree11]

Hey there! I can totally help you out!

 

St. Pete hands down. I'm a 26 year old, single gal, who wants all of the same things you were describing in my community. I moved here from Boston a few months ago and chose Tampa and I really regret it. I'm actually trying to break my lease and move to St. Pete!

 

Tampa: more metropolitan-ish, fancier restaurants, better mall, whole foods, a lot of active, healthy people out running and biking along the path on the bay (Bayshore Blvd). I live in Hyde Park, which is definitely the nicest area. There are a lot of restaurants that I can walk to, and I can walk to the path along the bay, but for the most part, Tampa is really spread out and there's not a lot going on. You're like 45 min from treasure island, but 30 min closer to orlando.

 

St. Pete: Has a center of town, and more of a community feel. More hippy, alternative, eco-friendly people. A lot of health-conscious (gluten-free, vegan, raw, vegetarian) restaurants. Fresh Kitchen is super healthy/paleo, theres one in Tampa and they're currently building one in St. Pete! There's also 3 cold pressed juice companies on the same street, within a mile of each other, and a local kombucha company that is amaaaaazing. You can bike along the water, there's parks everywhere, and you 15 min from the beach and treasure island. 4th street is the street with traders joes, fresh market, target, and lots of other stores and restaurants. central ave has crossfit 727, cool shops/restaurants, etc. There's a lot of healthy active running stores and bike groups. I belong to the best yoga studio ever, the body electric. And they just built a rock climbing gym that's way bigger and better than the one in tampa. There's an awesome farmers market every saturday morning, which is a little smaller in the summer because of the heat, but still great. They're also going to be building a whole foods downtown shortly. The old northeast is the best neighborhood. You'll love it. Live as close to downtown as possible/affordable. It's so walkable. I work in the sundial building in downtown st. pete at a place called Locale Market. It's a chef-driven market/restaurant. We have the freshest, most local meat, seafood, organic produce, etc. It's awesome. And I've mapped out all of the whole 30 options there already. Tons of choices. Sundial also has other restaurants, shops, and a big movie theater, right in the center of downtown. It's a cute, small little city, with a lot of fun activities going on. THere's a local soccer team, the Rowdies that people get all excited about. 

 

I picked Tampa because I thought being in a bigger city would help me make more friends and be more interesting, but I was wrong. I like Tampa, it's pretty and there's nothing wrong with it, but St. Pete is just warmer, more friendly and feels like home. I have met so many friends though work, rock climbing, and yoga. There's always cool walkable events going on on the weekends. Check out "Keep st. pete local" and "I love the burg" online, Facebook, instagram, websites, and check out Locale Market too! As soon as I get the green light from my landlord, I'm moving to St. Pete.

 

I hope this helps, please let me know what other questions you have! I'm happy to help!

 

Rebecca

[chawley419]

Oh Rebecca- Reading your post made me so happy. I also live in St Pete, and am obsessed with this town. I'm currently finding Whole 30 options as well and will post when I find some  

[chawley419]

Ok! So, I had family in town for 5 days, meaning, eating out in St. Pete was inevitable. But, to be honest, in a town with such a rich foodie culture, finding something we could eat was pretty simple!

 

The place I would recommend the most for anyone trying to stick to the Whole30 in downtown St. Petersburg is 400 Beach. They were informative, accommodating, and the food was fantastic.

 

Here's what we ordered:

Meal 1:

- Grilled shrimp

- Sirloin 

- Vegetable stir fry

All were cooked in oil instead of butter, and they left off anything that had sugars, gluten or soy.

 

Meal 2:

- Almond crusted red snapper

- Roasted rosemary potatoes

- Sauteed carrots

Also asked for oil only, and they were happy to accommodate. Those potatoes were like gold.

 

 

Other locations to try:

- The Avenue- they have grass-fed bison burgers you can get on a salad

- Whole Foods- there were plenty of options for us to eat, such as mojo pork, yucca, and green beans

 

 

[bpxdomino]

Thanks everyone! Responding a little late, but after one year of searching high and low, I have finally made the move to St. Pete! Settling in and just started Day 3 of another whole 30. Thanks for the advice! Rebecca, if you are still on the forums, let me know, I love locale market and would love to know what my W30 options are there!