Moving to New City; How to Choose Where to Live?

[AEuropa]

Hello all,

I'm in the military and am being reassigned to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL. I grew up a few hours south of there, so I have general-but not intimate-knowledge of the area.

I am trying to figure out where I should live. The problem with Tampa (just like all other big cities) is the traffic. I HATE living in cities, but the problem is that the location of MacDill AFB is that it makes living out of the city nearly impossible without a really long commute (in stop and go traffic, ugh). While there are significant strategic advantages to living outside of the city; there are also disadvantages and vulnerabilities associated with a very long daily commute.

I would LIKE to be we able to ride a bicycle to work on a regular basis (yes, I'm aware this also adds in vulnerabilities to my commute), so 15-20 miles is the maximum distance that I would like to travel.

As it stands right now, I will only be stationed in Tampa for 2 or 3 years (although I MIGHT leave the service after this tour, TBD)...so for now, I'm considering this a temporary post and will not be buying property for at least the first year.

I have a dog and want to have a small garden, so a high-rise/apartment complex is out of the equation.

I have looked at the obvious considerations such as:

- Multiple Routes of Egress
- Flood/Evacuation Zones
- Crime Rates by Area/Zip Code
- Corrections Facilities
- Hospitals
- Police Stations
- Power Plants/Water Treatment Facilities
- Schools (I'm single and do not have children, but nearby schools can add several additional variables)
- Vicinity to locations/activities that I'm involved in

Based on the above criteria, I'm currently considering the area South of W John F Kennedy Blvd, East of S West Shore Blvd, North of W Bay to Bay Blvd, and West of S Dale Mabry Hwy.

What else am I missing?

And yes. I KNOW I'm overthinking this...but it seems to me that as a prepper, we should think this through just as much as, if not more so, all of the other preps that we talk about on a regular basis (which rifle to buy, which TQ is better, etc...).

- Alex

[TripleThreat]

Good luck to all

[doitnstyle1]

Don't come to Miami Unless you own a boat or plane or sea plane and live right next to it. The people here are messed up eating each other's face off. Crime is rampant and people might as well be zombies cause they are rude as hell! IMHO

[none1]

What else are you missing? Looks like you got WAY more knowledge about your prospective area than most other posts I've seen on here.

So, What's your plan?

What is your disaster assessment, what are you prepping for?

Are you going to look for a place to rent, that you can build up to be a good bug in location? Are you bugging in to the base? If SHTF, are you bugging out? Where is your BOL?

What is your bug out transportation?

Located in big city in FL, bugging out northwest, worried about crowded evac roads, you might live closer to base (to be close to your BOV), use motorcycle as main bug out vehicle, rent a small storage space outside the city with extra supplies, possibly bigger BOV (cheep jeep cherokee? with supplies?)

If you're only bugging in to base, perhaps its cheaper / bigger garden if you are a little further away ...

Perhaps your plan could help you choose where to live?

Good luck!

[JARHEAD0811]

When you find a place or, a potentual place you may want to sign up for this. It keeps you aware of the crime zombies in your area.

http://www.crimemapping.com/map.aspx

Hello all,

I'm in the military and am being reassigned to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL. I grew up a few hours south of there, so I have general-but not intimate-knowledge of the area.

I am trying to figure out where I should live. The problem with Tampa (just like all other big cities) is the traffic. I HATE living in cities, but the problem is that the location of MacDill AFB is that it makes living out of the city nearly impossible without a really long commute (in stop and go traffic, ugh). While there are significant strategic advantages to living outside of the city; there are also disadvantages and vulnerabilities associated with a very long daily commute.

I would LIKE to be we able to ride a bicycle to work on a regular basis (yes, I'm aware this also adds in vulnerabilities to my commute), so 15-20 miles is the maximum distance that I would like to travel.

As it stands right now, I will only be stationed in Tampa for 2 or 3 years (although I MIGHT leave the service after this tour, TBD)...so for now, I'm considering this a temporary post and will not be buying property for at least the first year.

I have a dog and want to have a small garden, so a high-rise/apartment complex is out of the equation.

I have looked at the obvious considerations such as:

- Multiple Routes of Egress
- Flood/Evacuation Zones
- Crime Rates by Area/Zip Code
- Corrections Facilities
- Hospitals
- Police Stations
- Power Plants/Water Treatment Facilities
- Schools (I'm single and do not have children, but nearby schools can add several additional variables)
- Vicinity to locations/activities that I'm involved in

Based on the above criteria, I'm currently considering the area South of W John F Kennedy Blvd, East of S West Shore Blvd, North of W Bay to Bay Blvd, and West of S Dale Mabry Hwy.

What else am I missing?

And yes. I KNOW I'm overthinking this...but it seems to me that as a prepper, we should think this through just as much as, if not more so, all of the other preps that we talk about on a regular basis (which rifle to buy, which TQ is better, etc...).

- Alex

[azstinger]

I would look at the factors most likely to happen then work backwards from there. In Florida I'd say face getting eaten, Hurricane/Flood, then it drops off into more of the stuff you get everywhere petty crimes, break ins etc..


So with that in mind, I would look for someplace near an evac route away from the water and that has multiple access points to said evac route. I'm going to hazard a guess here and say that maybe using a route that not everyone in the city is going to try is going to be best. Though I would try and talk to people that are locals or perhaps people that were around Katrina. I have this sneaking sensation that those primary evac routes turn into giant parking lots in a real emergency but then again they could be the only ones the LEOs/Mil/any one cares to help keep moving/clear of debris etc.

Also one small tip, live in a place you want. I lived in a preppers dream area for about a year, I hated that house with a passion. I made a few sacrifices in terms of prepping but day to day life is much more enjoyable.

[Manimal2878]

I live in the Tampa Bay area. We recently bought a house and the first thing we did was make sure we weren't in a flood or evacuation zone. The biggest thing to me in a disaster would be being able to stay with all my stuff and not being flooded out or in an area too dangerous to even consider staying.

The next thing for you would be to think about the kinds of things you like and move to that area. If you like things the young folks do, like parties and clubs, move to the college area near usf or ybor city. If you want a quieter neighborhood move away from those areas and from the downtown areas. If you like art and museums, maybe living near in the soho area is a good compromise. If you like boating look for an area with easy access to ramps or boat storage, you get the idea.

I know a lot of people tend to think the best survival plan is to move to the middle of nowhere with your 40 acres, but to me that means you are alone in the middle of nowhere. Move where there are people like you that like similar things, that way when there is a problem everyone is invested in getting through it together. If you do move into a house instead of apartments look for areas with active neighborhood associations and community activities, like weekend bbqs at the local park.