Commute time into St. Pete?

GulfCoast1102

Hey folks. I'm trying to get a feel for the commute time (during typical peak traffic times) from Bradenton into St. Pete. I'm looking at a job in St. Pete, and trying my best to find a good school district for my young kids, and get "as rural" as practicable while working in St. Pete. Seems like Bradenton, or perhaps Palmetto would be a decent option for me. Other suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!

Reel-Lucky

I'd look east of 75. Depending on Skyway mishaps, 25-30 min door to door.

Icatcher22

Where in st pete

CaptainBly

I don't think traffic would be bad at all in any of those places into st. pete. Palmetto would be 20 minutes or so. Kind of depends where in st. pete your job is. Your traffic issues in the morning are 275 and i4 in tampa. I don't think in general you will have any issue with 275 over the skyway into st. pete.

Bradenton depends on where in Bradenton but pretty much same thing. Once you get to 275, it is a quick shot into st. pete. So figure out how long and how bad traffic is going to be from wherever you decide to live to 275 and then it is about 10-15 minutes to st. pete from there.

I don't know the school districts at all there but Terra Ceia and the palmetto area have always looked very "Fishy" to me. Never really fished there but looks like some good waters.

Good luck and tight lines.

jsrodguy1

The only issues I ever face is in the evenings going north on 275 from SR 70 to the 301 Ellington mall exit. I would also suggest looking east of 75 as the traffic west can sometimes especially in the winter time but very frustrating.
Good luck with your search.

GulfCoast1102

Location is approximately the 200 block of 1st Avenue North in Downtown St. Pete. I've got two kids in elementary school still, so schools are a big deal for us. The schools in the St. Pete area tend to have some pretty low marks. Schools in Clearwater and in Palmetto seem to be doing well. I sure wish I could have gotten in on the housing market when it was at its worst. I'm seeing lots and lots of houses for sale for 2 to 3 x what they sold for around 2010!! Assuming it all comes together, and that is a pretty big assumption right now, we'd be renting for a while. Likely 6 months to 1 year or so.

benjid

I live in Bradenton off of SR 64 (east of 75) and commute to N. St. Pete right around Gandy. Commute is 35-45 minutes depending on the time of year. With school out and no snow birds its a breeze! At first I was really unsure if this was going to work. Five years later and it is just business as usual. The best part of my commute is crossing the Skyway-- very relaxing, especially after a very stressful day.

Good luck!

jsrodguy1

Gulfcoast here's another option, I live in NE St Pete and we also faced the school delimma, we were fortunate to get both of our kids into magnet schools in south St Pete, both did very well and went on to USF & University of Florida.

GulfCoast1102

I attended a magnet school for 3rd-5th grade in Ocala, FL in the early 90s. It was a good school, but I remember my mother had put me on a list before I ever started kindergarten, and we got a call that I was accepted shortly before 3rd grade started. I'm not sure how tough it is to get the kids in to the magnet schools in St. Pete. My son will start kindergarten in August, and my daughter will start 4th grade in August. We're happy with the elementary school she is in now, but we've got some pretty dumpy schools in my area. She's pretty bright, and I want to make sure that she stays challenged, and isn't surrounded by a bunch of riff-raff kids. That can be a pretty tall order with public schools, but sometimes you luck out.