Clearwater

Home Sweet Home       Find a Realtor       Find a Company       Vital Stats       Rain & Shine       Job Market       Class Notes       Getting Around

Great Outdoors    Good Sports    Hot Times in the City    Shop 'til You Drop    Nightlife    College Scene    Just for Seniors

This Gulf Coast city delivers more than it promises--not only clear water, and lots of it, but warm, sunny days. Clearwater is located at the heart of Florida's Gulf Coast and shares the Pinellas peninsula with 23 other municipalities. Geographically, the county is small and its population density is high--the highest in the state. Lots of people live here; lots more visit for months at a time. Why not? With sunny days and miles and miles of waterfront, Pinellas is a water-lovers paradise and a place of refuge for many thousands seeking the sun's warmth during the winter months.

Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and connected with its Clearwater Beach section by the scenic, two-mile Garden Memorial Causeway, Clearwater is the county seat. North of the city are Dunedin, several new developments and historic, one-of-a-kind Tarpon Springs--noted for its Greek heritage, culture and traditions and for its famous sponge docks. South of Clearwater are numerous beach communities along the Gulf, including Belleair Beach, Belleair Shores, Indian Rocks Beach and Indian Rocks Beach South Shore and six or seven more. To the southeast is its neighbor, St. Petersburg, and east across the bay is Tampa, the civic and cultural heart of neighboring Hillsborough County. Clearwater occupies a prestigious beachside position in the four-county Tampa Bay metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), yet its population of 104,472 benefits from the area's amenities, its numerous cultural and natural assets, its sports and shopping choices and its relaxed lifestyle.

Home Sweet Home

"We sell sunshine, water and palm trees," proclaims the Greater Clearwater Association of Realtors. And a wide range of single-family houses and condominiums from which to view nature's bounty and beauty. In the Clearwater area, recent sales have been 60 percent single-family, 40 percent condos. Prices range from $50,000 for a small, inland (yet only minutes to the water) condo unit to $3 million for a mansion on Boca Ciega Bay. Some waterview condo units can be had under $100,000, but typically they'll be in older buildings and under 1,200-square-feet.

Three residential markets predominate in the Clearwater area: under $160,000 (single-family homes and numerous condos); $160,000-$350,000 (upscale properties, both single-family and condos); $350,000 and up (many choices including oceanfront penthouses, seaside mansions, golf-course locations for amenity-filled single-family homes and other choice and prestigious properties). Compare these prices to the median price of a single-family home for the entire four-county region--$94,200 (1999).

Vital Stats

(Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA includes the counties of Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas)
Population: 2.19 million
Median age: 44.4
New citizens: 5,800 yearly
New job creation: 4.8 percent
Unemployment rate: 2.5 percent in August, 1999
Cost of living: 101.91 percent (U.S. average: 100 percent)
Per capita income: $27,311
Median household effective buying income (after taxes): $30,088

Rain & Shine

Even on days when it does rain in Pinellas County, clouds blow away and the sun usually returns quickly. The average annual rainfall is 49 inches, yet nearly every day is sunny at least part of the day. The average annual temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. In January, the average low is 50.1; in July the average high is 90.4; The now defunct St. Petersburg Evening Independent used to give the paper away on any day the sun didn't shine. During its 76 years of Suncoast promotion and publication, betting on the sun proved relatively inexpensive for the publisher. The paper was free only 295 times--an average of fewer than four times per year.

Job Market

Once a clear second-fiddle to Hillsborough County's bustling business environment, Pinellas County now attracts high-tech manufacturing companies. Business taxes are low; a skilled labor force is at hand. Pinellas ranks second in the state in manufacturing jobs. The county's top 10 employers are: Pinellas County School Board headquartered in Largo (18,202) , the City of St. Petersburg (3,585), Tech Data Corp. (3,500), Home Shopping Network in Clearwater (3,500), Times Publishing (3,384), Pinellas County Government (3,380), Jack Eckerd Corp. (3,375), Florida Progress (3,000), Nielson Media Research (2,600) and Raymond James Financial (2,200). Four of the fastest growing companies in the county are located in Clearwater.

Class Notes

Extensive information about the schools in this area is online at the state's Department of Education (http://www.firn.edu/doe/doehome.htm). There you'll discover everything you'll need to know about Florida schools -- in general and in particular. All you need is the name of your county and the names of the schools students from your neighborhood attend.

Use links from the DOE home page for general information about entrance requirements, immunizations and so forth.

For the nitty-gritty details that really matter, click on the logo for the "Florida School Indicators Report."

Getting Around

Amtrak and Greyhound serve the area. Freight service is via CSX. Three ports are handy: the Port of Tampa to the east, the Port of Manatee to the south and Pinellas' Port of St. Petersburg, which is primarily a port serving cruise ships and their passengers. Corporate planes and private pilots use Albert Whitted Municipal Airport in St. Petersburg. Two major airports--Tampa International Airport and St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport--are within 15 or 20 minutes of most Pinellas County residents. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) provides local bus service. To get to St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island, PSTA riders connect with Beach Airport Transit Service (BATS). Clearwater's Jolley Trolley maneuvers through downtown and over to Clearwater Beach and Sand Key. Trolley fare is a very affordable 50 cents.

Traffic--to the airports or simply around the county--can pose a problem at times, but locals become resourceful. Interstate 275 is the major north/south road. It connects with I-75 north and I-4 east, and I-275 crosses the dramatic Sunshine Skyway Bridge south into Manatee County. Four additional bridges, the Bayside Bridge, the Howard Frankland, the Courtney Campbell Causeway and the Gandy Bridge, move residents and visitors around the area and to adjoining counties. U.S. Highway 19 traverses the entire length of the Pinellas peninsula. It's an important but often congested north/south thoroughfare. Gulf Boulevard connects the beach communities along Pinellas' 28 miles of oceanfront.

Great Outdoors

Surrounded on three sides by water, popular and populated Pinellas remains a place where natural beauty is valued and preserved. A 15-foot wide paved path traverses the county. An innovative rails-to-trails recycling project, the retreat and exercise route for walkers, runners, bikers and in-line skaters will eventually be 47 miles long. Downtown Clearwater is on the Pinellas Trail, but so are bucolic scenes of ancient oaks trailing Spanish moss and glades graced by exotic waterbirds.

Caladesi Island--accessible only by boat--makes many Best Beaches lists, including those of Conde Nast Traveler and famed beach geologist Stephen Leatherman of the University of Maryland. In 1999 it was the top city beach in the Gulf region. The beach at Caladesi Island State Park was one of three Pinellas County beaches in his top 20. Indian Shores is home to the nonprofit Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, where sick or injured birds are rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Five islands comprise the 900-acre Fort DeSoto Park, the largest in the county's park system. Two fishing piers, a campsite, a boat-launching area, an historic site, numerous places to picnic and seven miles of waterfront make the park a good place to play and to enjoy the great outdoors. A good Clearwater place to take the kids is the environmental center at Moccasin Lake Nature Park.

Good Sports

Pro sports exist in profusion in the metro area: the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, the Tampa Bay Terror soccer team and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays major league baseball team. The grapefruit league (baseball clubs who do their spring training in Florida) is blooming and booming in Tampa Bay. The New York Yankees train in Tampa, the Toronto Blue Jays play in Dunedin Stadium and the Philadelphia Phillies call Clearwater's Jack Russell Stadium the team's home-away-from-home. St. Petersburg's Al Lang Stadium hosts the St. Louis Cardinals pre-season games.

If you'd rather be in the action than watching it, boating, fishing, golf and tennis are all popular in Pinellas County. Pleasure boats crowd area marinas and docks. Deep-sea charter boats are available as well, but many Pinellas residents don't bother with boats to do their fishing. They simply cast their lines from one of the piers (including Clearwater Beach's Pier 60) or directly into the surf of the Gulf. Forty golf courses and numerous tennis courts give participants plenty of recreational choices. If you're one of that rare breed that lives by the motto, "Give blood, play rugby," you'll like Tampa Bay. Four teams are based here, including the Tampa Bay Pelicans, who play in St. Petersburg's Old Busch Complex. Swimming, shuffleboard, croquet, polo and lawn bowling also boast loyal local participants.

Hot Times in the City

The social and cultural calendar is crowded. Time, not opportunity, is often the dilemma. There's so much to see and do that you've only yourself to blame if you're bored in Clearwater. Join the Clearwater Concert Association, or if you can't carry a tune, listen to them sing at the Clearwater campus of St. Petersburg Junior College. Attend Broadway shows, orchestra concerts or opera performances at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Take in historic aviation artifacts and restored planes at the Florida Military Aviation Museum or marine life at the educational Clearwater Marine Science Center and Aquarium. Or simply take it easy and watch the sun set from Pier 60.

Kids like building sand castles or splashing in placid Gulf waters at local beaches. Great Explorations: The Hands-On Museum welcomes all ages in nearby St. Petersburg. Although that city's Salvador Dali Museum appeals more to adults, it's small enough to hold the interest of older children. A good day trip for the entire family requires only a short drive northward to the unique community of Tarpon Springs. Its Greek fishing-village ambience, sponge docks, sponge boats and ethnic eateries provide plenty to catch the eye and tempt the palate.

Don't miss the Fun 'n Sun Festival in April, especially its night parade, Kid's Week on Clearwater Beach each June, Clearwater's Fourth of July party called Celebrate America! or the popular, four-day Clearwater Jazz Holiday in October.

Shop 'til You Drop

Shopping sites abound. Almost everything conceivable is available in the Tampa Bay area. In fact, you can purchase most of what you want and need without even leaving the confines of Clearwater. Boatyard Village includes lots of galleries and shops in its quaint, fishing-village environs. Countryside Mall holds 166 stores, JCPenney and Sears among them. Clearwater Mall includes Dillard's, Gayfers and over 100 stores. The Bay Area Outlet Mall makes bargain hunters happy.

Nightlife

You don't have to be a tourist to enjoy the historic Belleview Mido Resort Hotel in Clearwater or its excellent Chinese restaurant, Madame Ma's. The hotel also owns the Cabana Club, a gulfside restaurant on Sand Key Island. For French cuisine, try the Anchor Room in Clearwater Beach; for outdoor dining with good food and a great view, consider Frenchy's Rockaway Grill and Beach Club on Clearwater Beach. The Grill at Feather Sound, located on Ulmerton Road in Clearwater, made the Florida Trend list of Best New Restaurants. Besides its small shops, Boatyard Village hosts restaurants and a playhouse. Popular with locals and visitors, the Admiral Dinner Dance Boat features luncheon and dinner-dance cruises that leave from Clearwater. Food and entertainment are bonuses; the real fun for some is sightseeing and bird-feeding. If you like to gamble, jai-alai, greyhound racing, horse racing and the Seminole Gaming Palace await, although the first three are seasonal. Rock music fans patronize Gasoline Alley on U.S. Highway North in Clearwater. Other notable nightspots and restaurants provide locals with food, drink and entertainment. Hundreds are scattered throughout the large Tampa Bay metropolitan area.

College Scene

St. Petersburg Junior College is a coed, public, two-year school with several locations in Pinellas County, including one in Clearwater. And Hillsborough Community College is just across the bay in Tampa. The four-year University of South Florida (USF) boasts four campuses and almost 50,000 students. With its main campus in Tampa, it's the second largest school in the state's 10-member university system. One of USF's campuses is in downtown St. Petersburg.

Clearwater Christian College is a private, four-year school located on 50 acres of waterfront property. A private, four-year institution, Eckerd College is located in nearby St. Petersburg. So is the Stetson University College of Law, founded in 1900 as Florida's first law school. (Parent Stetson University's campus is in DeLand, Florida.) Poynter Institute for Media Studies, also in St. Pete, offers no degrees. The nonprofit center focuses on seminar-based journalism courses geared to college graduates and professionals already working in the field.

Just for Seniors

Seniors in Pinellas County like activity. Fishing, golfing, boating, walking and watching sunsets keep many 60-plus folks busy. Many more swim with the largest Masters Swim Club in the country, based at the Olympic-sized North Shore Pool in St. Petersburg or participate in the annual Goodlife Games for senior athletes 55 and older. County-wide competitions attract about 1,500 every year for chess, ballroom dancing, pinochle, bridge and badminton in addition to tennis, swimming, golf, track and field and volleyball. Volunteering to help at schools and organizations throughout the county is popular with many active senior citizens.

Mental exercise is popular, too. Local colleges give courses geared to seniors at the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College and the Learning in Retirement Institute at USF. Florida's public schools offer tuition waivers for people 60 and older, so classes of all descriptions beckon older learners when space is available. A nonprofit agency called Neighborly Senior Services provides seniors with home care, transportation meals and adult day care in order to allow them to continue living in their own homes with dignity. Call (813) 576-1533 for the Seniors Helpline. It's an information and referral service sponsored by Family Resources to assist seniors searching for housing, transportation, medical services and/or other resources to assist with various problems or needs. Federal, state and local programs assist seniors, but there may be waiting lists if expense is a consideration.

Pinellas County is popular with seniors and has much more than plentiful senior services to offer them. There's no state income tax or inheritance tax. Another bonus, out-of-state children and grandchildren love to visit and enjoy the 361 average days of sun and the water wonderland that surrounds the Pinellas peninsula.