Pasco County

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    Shop 'til You Drop    Nightlife    College Scene    Just for Seniors

Home Sweet Home

Pasco County is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It's a growing region that offers relatively affordable housing compared to its southern neighbors: Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. In 1999, the median sales price of an existing single-family home in the MSA was $94,200, up 7 percent from 1998.

The East Pasco Association of Realtors, says that for $94,200 home buyers will find a three-bedroom, two-bath home--sometimes with a pool. The average real estate sale is $50,000, which includes vacant property, mobile homes and single-family residential, including duplexes. Home prices range from $30,000 to $200,000. Inventory includes many mobile homes and duplexes. Three condominium developments offer the area's total conto inventory; very few condos are on the market--a few resales, none new. Once cattle and citrus country, things are changing and so are home buyers. "In the last three years, we have an emerging market out of Tampa; we are fast becoming a bedroom community for Tampa," adds the East Pasco Association. Taxes are low and you can get lots of house for your money in eastern Pasco County.

In central Pasco County, reasonable prices are also the rule rather than the exception. The Land O' Lakes Board of Realtors, says that for $94,200, a buyer here might acquire a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath, two-car garage home with a screened-in back porch or lanai on a 8,000-10,000 square-foot lot. Prices of most homes range from $60,000 to $75,000. As the area's name implies, waterfront property is a feature of central Pasco County. "There's a lot of lakefront that developers are snapping up," notes the Land O' Lakes Board. Three of the newer communities are Swan Lake Estates, Lake Padgett and the Preserve of Lake Thomas. Prices start at $350,000. Good schools and lakefront homesites appeal to Tampa buyers, especially of the upper-middle class. The area's only about 15 minutes from Tampa, and roads are improving, being widened or being built. Lots of land is available, yet "commercial values are skyrocketing," she adds. Best buy in this area? "People are snapping up older homes on lakefront lots."

If you have $94,200 to invest, you're likely to get a 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home in the county's western section, says the West Pasco Board of Realtors. The average sales price in his area is $62,000; the average house on the market is a two-bedroom, two-bath single-family home.A large, two-bedroom, two-bath home with pool is probably the area's best buy. Here's why: "We're a retiree area. Larger homes don't appeal to retirees from up north," the West Pasco Board adds. "They don't want the maintenance and upkeep. Another excellent buy in this area is waterfront property. God isn't making any more of it, and the state won't let us make more." Even though the coastal area is popular, the housing market here differs from other Florida coastal areas. For one thing, condos are only 6 percent of sales, not 50 percent like some sections of coastal Florida. For another, there's an enormous amount of protected wetlands area between much of the gulf coast and the developed sections of western Pasco County. Very few homes are actually on the gulf, but many sites offer gulf access via some type of protected entrance between waterways and canals and the gulf itself.

Vital Stats

(Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA includes Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties)

Population: 325,824
Median age: 49.4
New citizens: 5,280 yearly
New job creation: 4.8 percent (1999)
Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent in August, 1999
Cost of living: 93.13 percent (U.S. average: 100 percent)
Per capita income: $19,843
Median household effective buying income (after taxes): $26,232

Rain & Shine

The area is blessed by gentle breezes most of the year. It rains some, but humidity isn't a problem very often. The average annual rainfall is 55 inches. In January, the average temperature is 60 degrees Fahrenheit; in August, the average temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit.

Job Market

Citrus products, retailing and healthcare are among the area's primary economic engines. The county ranks third in the state in the percentage of citizens 65 or older, which helps to explain the importance of the service sector. Water from Zephyrhills is big business; it's bottled and sold in large volume. Unemployment is low: 3.1 percent in the MSA in 1999. Agricultural interests still emply some residents in citrus, cattle and Christmas-tree operations or in processing those products for market, but retail is king of the private sector. Major private employers include: Publix Super Markets (1,500); Lykes Pasco Packing Co. (1,350); New Port Richey Hospital (1,256); Winn-Dixie Stores (1,100); Kash-N-Karry (970); and Saddlebrook Resort (930. In the public sector, the school board employs 4,000 people full time and 2,000 part time; state (1193) and county (1450) governments also employ hundreds.

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

Major roads include U.S. Highway 41 and Interstate Highway 75, both north/south arteries, and State Roads 52 and 54, east/west routes. Changes are in the works. U.S. 41 is going to be six-lane, and S.R. 54 in going to be four-laned and its appearance upgraded, especially through towns. I-75 is already an excellent route. Soon the new Suncoast Expressway will tie St. Petersburg (south in Pinellas County) to Brooksville (county seat of Hernando County, immediately north of Pasco). The new superhighway will run right through west-central Pasco.

Some public transportation is available by arrangement during daytime hours, but mass transit isn't well-developed as yet. The closest major airport is Tampa International, a short drive from most of the county. Tampa Bay Executive Airport and Zephyrhills Airport serve local commercial and executive planes. Forty miles from Dade City, but closer to most of Pasco County's communities, is the deep-water Port of Tampa.

Great Outdoors

Anclote Key State Preserve and Anclote National Wildlife Refuge are among the area's stellar natural sites, and state and federal folks want to keep it that way. Accessible only by private boat, the key is home to ospreys and eagles and many dozens of bird species. The beach is peaceful, serene, uninhabited. An old 19th century lighthouse stands at the island's southern tip. Other natural wonders, the pristine waters of three rivers--the Anclote, the Pithlachascotee (Cotee for short) and the Withlacoochee. In west central Pasco, the new Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park preserves 8,300 acres of wilderness yet provides hiking and bike paths, horse trails, cabins and campsites, so visitors can appreciate nature.

Good Sports

Pasco County parks preserve thousands of acres of wildlife, but they alsooffer athletic fields, recreation complexes, aquatic centers and natural, freshwater springs. At least 15 golf courses, lots of tennis courts and several excellent public beaches, especially Hudson Beach Park, offer sports activists lots to do. Canoeing and fishing, both freshwater and saltwater, are popular.

If your idea of sports involves sitting in front of the television set watching the pros mix it up, you'll do fine here. And even if you like to see the real thing, you're in a good place. The Tampa metro area offers big-league teams in all major sports except basketball: The Tampa Bay Lightning play awesome hockey, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers entertain their fans with pro football, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball team calls St. Petersburg home. If only National Basketball Association teams will satisfy your hoop dreams, its about an hour-and-a-half drive to Orlando, home of the Magic.

Hot Times in the City

Located in Holiday in the county's southwestern section, the Pasco Arts Center is close to New Port Richey and its population. Galleries here display both the works of local artists and traveling exhibits. The Baker House museum, also in Holiday, is of interest because of its architecture and its age; it's said to be the oldest house in the county. In eastern Pasco County, visit the Pioneer Florida Museun, a complex of seven buildings including an old schoolhouse, a church, a private residence, a trail depot--all remnants of another era. For the kids, the parks and beaches go a long way with the younger set, but if you're searching for excellent educational resources that the children actually enjoy going to, try the Children's Museum of Tampa or Great Explorations Museum in St. Petersburg, Lowry Park Zoological Gardens in Tampa or the popular Museum of Science and Industry, also in Tampa. Calendar highlights in the county include the Chasco Fiesta, New Port Richey's March festival; Dade City's Fourth of July bash called Sparklebration; and the Pioneer Florida Day Festival at the museum on Labor Day. One-of-a-kind, perhaps, is San Antonio's Rattlesnake Festival, held the third Saturday in October. November's schedule includes the Golden Harvest Art and Crafts Festival in New Port Richey; Fall Flapjack Festival in Land O'Lakes; and the Thanksgiving Bluegrass Festival in Dade City. December brings the Christmas Lighting Contest in Zephyrhills; the tour of homes in Dade City; and the open house at Pioneer Florida Museum in Dade City.

Shop 'til You Drop

Almost 50 shopping plazas and shopping centers offer practically everything you might need in the way of retail goods. Dade City in eastern Pasco offers antique shops in its historic downtown. And western Pasco has Gulfview Square Mall, a major regional center with many small shops and four anchor tenants: Burdines, Dilliard's, Sears and JC Penney. The Bay Area Outlet Mall is in Clearwater, a short drive for citizens in western Pasco County.

Nightlife

There's not much nightlife here. In Hudson, the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, formerly Tin Pan Alley, provides dinner, then headline acts or popular plays. In Pasco County, friends enjoy eating together at their homes or dining out in small groups. A scarcity of four-diamond restaurants in the immediate vicinity or swinging nightclubs that stay open until 4 a.m. doesn't equal a shortage of social life, but big spenders who want to stay out past midnight head for Tampa or St. Petersburg, where choices abound in both entertainment venues and cuisine. Close at hand, the charming fishing village of Tarpon Springs, only a few miles south of New Port Richey in northern Pinellas County, gives Pasco residents and visitors a convenient place to dine on Greek food and enjoy this tiny town's heritage and ambience. Other good places to eat include Lunch on Limoges in Dade City. Along the western coa, or dine in elegant surroundings and enjoy live entertainment at Ile de France, also in Hudson.

College Scene

Saint Leo College, a four-year, private Catholic liberal arts school, is located in the tiny town of Saint Leo, which has grown up around it. Most of the town, in fact, is involved with either the college community, the abbey or the convent. At the school itself, about 1,300-1,400 students are enrolled full time; almost the same number are part time. In this peaceful little place, not far from Dade City in eastern Pasco County, you'll also find the monks of Saint Leo Abbey and the nuns of the Holy Name Priory.

A two-year, state-supported junior college, the Pasco-Hernando Community College, operates several campuses and centers in the two counties, including the East Campus at Dade City, the West Campus at New Port Richey and centers in Land O'Lakes and Gowers Corners.

Many other community colleges and four-year state and private universities are within 50 miles of most Pasco County residents, among them Eckerd College, a private, four-year school in St. Petersburg, the University of South Florida, the state's second largest public university, whose main campus is in Tampa, and both Hillsborough Community College and Pinellas Junior College.

Just for Seniors

Several senior centers serve the 60-plus group with places to gather, enjoy social activities and congreate meals. For information on all kinds of services--legal aid, medical transportation, congregate meals, home-delivered meals, personal care and respite care--call Information and Referral professionals who staff the Senior Helpline at 800/861-8111. They'll be able to tell you about both public and private services and whether of not a fee is charged. State and federal programs often help the low-income elderly.