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New Tampa Information
New Tampa is an area in Florida that encompasses both a 24 square mile area
within the corporate limits of the City of Tampa, as well as a larger land area
that is in unincorporated Hillsborough and Pasco Counties, but retains a Tampa
mailing address. The incorporated portion of "New Tampa" which lies within the
city limits of Tampa is one of the largest city neighborhoods. The area has
grown rapidly after the area was annexed by the city of Tampa in 1988. As of the
2000 census, the district had a population of 22,466. Many new master planned
residential communities are currently planned or already under way. Big-box
stores are following the boom in population and are transforming this once rural
feeling area.
New Tampa is bounded by Lutz to the west, Wesley Chapel to the north, Morris
Bridge Road (near Thonotosassa) to the east, and the University community and
the University of South Florida to the south.
New Tampa has seen extrodinary growth in the past few years, the population rose
from 4,568 in 1995 to 22,466 in 2000. The population is now estimated at 34,598
and is expected to rise to 50,000 in 2010 and then 120,000 by 2050. New Tampa
flows from northern Hillsborough County into Southern Pasco County. There are a
lot of avaliable land around the city to develop on, many new franchises are
being built in the city, one of the earliest stores was Supercenter Wal-mart. A
brand new elementary/middle school has just been completed and opened to handle
the rapidly growing school-age children. New shopping centers, resturants,
stores, homes, and schools are being built. It is becoming a magnet for young
families due to low taxes, great schools, affordable housing. The median price
for a home is about $189,900.
Although settled in the mid 1800's, New Tampa remained undeveloped until the
late-1980s, when the city of Tampa annexed the 24-square mile area. Its oldest
neighborhood, Tampa Palms, although originally developed when the area was still
unincorporated, didn't thrive until the district boom of the 1990s. Most of the
city's growth in the 1990s occurred in this district.
The explosive growth of New Tampa, both in terms of residential and commercial
properties, has given rise to a great deal of territorial debates and arguments
regarding what exactly constitutes New Tampa. People and businesses located
within the established city of Tampa limits argue that any house or business
located outside the city limits should not be referred to as being in New Tampa.
Those living outside the limits argue that their homes and businesses contribute
to the overall financial and social success of the region, and therefore the
region as a whole deserves to be referred to as New Tampa. This argument came to
a head in the spring of 2006, when the annual "Taste of New Tampa" culinary
event was held in Wesley Chapel, Pasco County. The controversy, for the most
part, is civil in tone.
Another contentious issue for New Tampa is how the city and counties
encompassing the area are dealing with infrastructure improvements in the wake
of seemingly uncontrolled commercial and residential growth. Numerous
residential developments, including high density housing (condominiums,
townhouses, etc.), continue to dot the landscape while several retail outlets
are being planned for completion by the end of 2007, including the Cypress Creek
Town Center Mall. Yet roadways, especially Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Cross
Creek Blvd. continue to deal with vehicle traffic well above the numbers the
roadways were built to support, making for sometimes nightmarish morning and
afternoon commutes and jamming the roadways around popular Friday and Saturday
night theaters and restaurants each week. Citizens groups continue to press
elected officials for relief from these problems. Widening of Cross Creek Blvd.
began in June 2006, and is set to be completed by May 2007.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for a Place...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.