When making the decision to live in a new area, you’re faced with a variety of choices. Whether you’re choosing between city or rural living, the proximity to local schools or bustling night-life, it may seem hard to find a place that checks off everything on your list. A vibrant beach town like St. Pete Beach, on the other hand, has everything you’re looking for in a new home.
Only a short drive to many major cities like Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota, St. Pete Beach sits near the Skyway bridge in lower Pinellas County. Boasting beautiful weather, charming restaurants, sugar sand beaches and miles of coastal waterways, you’ll wonder why you didn’t move her sooner.
Imagine being able to stroll on the beach with the sand between your toes and catch the most breathtaking sunsets you’ll ever see. Or riding your bike to one of the dozens of local bars and restaurants to enjoy a cold beverage and the fresh catch of the day.
Living in St. Pete Beach offers a more carefree lifestyle where you can wear shorts and sandals to fancy restaurants and let go of the daily grind and destress. It’s time for you to enjoy the fruits of your labor at a pace, and place, you can feel very comfortable.
A Brief History of St. Pete Beach
On July 9th, 1957, St. Pete Beach was incorporated after a five ballot voting process joining four towns together as the City of St. Petersburg Beach: Pass-a-Grille, Don CeSar, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach, as well as areas of unincorporated Pinellas County. In 1916, a road was built from Pass-a-Grille to Blind Pass, and in 1918, the first toll bridge was built to welcome tourists, says St. Pete Beach Today. In 1925, the Don CeSar Hotel was built and still stands today. Since then, St. Pete Beach has become an attractive place to live and work.
St. Pete Goes Green
No matter who you are or where you live, the one thing we all have in common is keeping our planet clean. The people of St. Pete Beach are no different, each doing what they can to keep their beautiful waterfront paradise green—like installing eco-friendly lighting that is designed to help ensure hatching sea turtles won’t be attracted inland by artificial lights and instead guided by the moonlight to the Gulf waters. Many residents plant sea oats around their property, restoring the native plant habitat of coastal dunes.
On a larger scale, being a green city means executing programs aimed at water conservation, planting trees, preservation of sensitive lands and estuaries, fuel-efficient technologies, and of course, recycling.
St. Pete is a top 25 city in the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge in which these Climate Challenge actions “are projected to reduce emissions by 40 million metric tons through 2025 which is equivalent to taking 8.5 million cars off the road for one year.”
With this kind of community support for green initiatives, St. Pete Beach has become a leading force in sustainability throughout the state of Florida.
Working Here
St. Pete Beach is just a short commute to St. Pete’s bustling downtown and to major corporate campuses in the Carillon and Gateway areas at the north edge of town—making it a perfect place to live while growing your career. St. Pete’s thriving job market is ranked #51 in the country and #1 in Florida, thanks in large part to numerous Fortune 500 and 1000 companies calling St. Pete home.
St. Pete has become a hotspot for entrepreneurs in recent years. With a low cost of living, vibrant cultural scene and seemingly endless other reasons, more and more businesses are heading to our amazing town, thanks in large part to support from startup initiatives that help these businesses secure capital and establish their local footprint.
Looking to start your own business? St. Pete Beach is a highly attractive environment for retail, dining, and other tourism-focused businesses. With easy access to Tampa Bay and Sarasota, the beaches draw tourists and residents alike—both with a taste for independent, locally-owned businesses. Plus, Tampa, Florida, is among the nation’s ten fastest growing metro areas for entrepreneurs, according to LinkedIn and the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Schools
While parents are at work, they can rest easy knowing there are plenty of fantastic schools in the area for their children to excel. Schools are rated according to the Florida Department of Education’s Accountability Reporting criteria, summarized in a letter grade.
Residents of St. Pete Beach are zoned for Azalea Elementary School, Azalea Middle School, and Boca Ciega High School. Azalea Elementary is a ‘B’ school and Boca Ciega High School offers a well-respected Fundamental program as well as a medical program.
Pinellas County offers many other public school options including Charter, Fundamental, and Magnet programs. These are:
- Gulf Beaches Elementary Magnet School - ‘A’ School
- Pasadena Fundamental Elementary School - ‘A’ School
- Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary School - ‘A’ School
- Pinellas Preparatory Academy Charter School - ‘A’ School
- Madeira Beach Fundamental Elementary and Middle School - ‘A’ School
- Bay Point Elementary Magnet - ‘B’ School
- Lakeview Fundamental Elementary - ‘B’ school
- Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School - ‘A’ school
- St. Petersburg Collegiate High School - ‘A’ school
- Osceola Fundamental High School - ‘A’ School
- St.Petersburg High School - ‘B’ school, various programs
From this data and proximity, families have a good chance of getting their student into a top rated school.
Making a Move to St. Pete Beach
The next evolution of St. Pete Beach, the “Sunset Capital of Florida,” includes you!
St. Pete Beach offers a wide range of property types available, including traditional single-family homes, multi-family homes, condos, and apartments to meet your housing needs. Homes are also available with easy access to all that the beaches have to offer: whether you want to walk out your front door directly to the beach, dock your boat in your backyard, enjoy a neighborhood with children and families, or retire to a private 55+ escape.
Whether you’re looking for your permanent residence, a luxury getaway for part of the year, or a new location for your business, our real estate experts have insider knowledge of all that’s happening in St. Pete’s beach communities. Get in touch to find your perfect property today!
