Your Guide to Buying a Home in Tarpon Springs, FL

Buying a Home in Tarpon Springs, Florida

Tarpon Springs is located in Pinellas County

The business-friendly City of Tarpon Springs is located in Southwest Florida. It is in the Tampa Bay area, at the northwest boundary of Pinellas County, the most densely populated county in the State. The City is surrounded by the newest and most rapidly developing unincorporated communities in Pinellas County.

Tarpon Springs is one of the oldest and most charming communities in the region. Scenically located on the Gulf of Mexico, the City also claims the beautiful Anclote River and several picturesque bayous complete with rare manatees. It is rich in tradition and Greek heritage; incorporates the largest antique community in the Tampa Bay area; boasts one of the most renowned art communities in the State; includes substantial commercial and industrial yet-to-be developed land parcels; and is one of the most affordable communities in which to live.

The City of Tarpon Springs hosts an excellent public education system that includes three elementary schools, a high school and its own 3000-student campus of St. Petersburg Junior College. Tarpon Springs High School is proud of its Adult Community School, in addition to its exceptional honors, vocational and standard courses. The public school system in the County is continually rated one of the best in Florida and one where SAT scores, both verbal and math, are significantly higher than national averages. St. Petersburg Junior College services the County through six separate campuses, one in Tarpon Springs, catering to over 30,000 individuals each year. It offers two-year associate degree programs in many disciplines along with a continuing education program, a corporate training division and specifically crafted courses to meet the needs of business and industry. The College is well equipped to custom design and administer the courses necessary to aid businesses in the initial and continuing education of their workforce. In many cases, the State will reimburse all or part of the cost of this training for both new and incumbent businesses through its Workforce program. The Leepa-Rattner Museum, on the St. Petersburg Junior College Tarpon Springs campus, houses $26 million worth of fine art. This, thanks to the generous patronage of the Leepa family and other supporters of this exceptional institution. This eighty thousand square foot structure also includes state-of-the-art education facilities meant to accommodate a wide range of programs. Thirteen colleges and universities are located in Pinellas County and the surrounding Tampa Bay area with an enrollment of 78,000 students. The Pinellas Technical Education Center (PTEC) offers over 50 technical programs addressing the changing needs of business and industry. Also within Pinellas County are internationally-recognized Stetson Law School; Eckerd College with its top notch liberal arts program; and a campus of the University of South Florida, whose main campus is about a half hour from the City and is the seventeenth largest university in the country.

The business climate in Tarpon Springs, which is in the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), has never been better. The area, comprised of nearly three million people, is ranked number one in Florida by Outlook magazine and is in the top ten in the country among cities with the most to offer relocating businesses. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate the MSA created more than 53,000 jobs in 1999, the most in Florida.

The City of Tarpon Springs claims a diverse and expanding business community. This community includes one of the oldest Coca Cola distributorships in the State; the largest distributor to salons of L’Oreal cosmetics in Florida; Stamas Yacht, a national boat builder; six national and regional banks; a major area hospital; the largest enclave of sponge harvesting and distribution in the country, a major area tourist draw that attracts a million visitors each year; Classic Corvettes & Collectables, one of the largest classic car dealerships in the country; and scores of professional, manufacturing and development organizations. Yet the City still contains some of the best tracts of land available in the county for industrial and commercial development.

Tarpon Springs is blessed with an abundance of recreation facilities and cultural events and is in close proximity to world-class entertainment and sporting events.

The City also operates its own Cultural & Performing Arts Centers that present numerous artistic performances throughout the year. In addition to brilliantly produced hometown events, these venues offer year-round programming featuring the highest quality national and international performances from chamber music to ballet, theater and opera, folk music and jazz. These venues are in close proximity to the Tampa Bay Theater for the Performing Arts, Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Bayfront Center. Each of these facilities stages Broadway events involving international talent along with philharmonic, ballet, contemporary pop, country and jazz and opera productions.

If swimming, sailing or fishing are your thing, Tarpon Springs is right for you. It has superb fresh water fishing on the Anclote River and Lake Tarpon, while also offering the advantages of great salt-water activities at its western boundary on the serenely spectacular Gulf of Mexico. Both Sunset Beach and Howard Park, two exceptional family parks, are located on the Gulf shores of Tarpon Springs. The working Sponge Docks, with its outstanding restaurants and beautiful boutiques, is located on the Anclote River, a short distance from the Gulf of Mexico and attracts about one million visitors each year.