Consider downtown St Pete or St Pete Beach for Retirement. Which one’s the best?

These are two entirely different lifestyles, and honestly it comes down to how *you* want to live your retirement.

St Pete Beach is probably not a spot to live at 24/7 unless you love that party / tourist vibe. Sure, fun to visit, but living at a carnival or theme park day in and day out isn’t for everyone. But there are many people that love that vibrant atmosphere… it’s important to know who you are and what you’re going to be happy with long term.

Good news though is there’s not *just* St Pete Beach to choose from.

There are plenty of other beach options that are more quiet residential with … yes.. nearby restaurants, pubs, yoga, shuffleboard etc. They just don’t have as much of the “drunk tourist stumbling across Gulf Blvd to the liquor/ $5 tshirt shop” thing going on.

Places like Indian Rocks as mentioned before (they have a no street parking rule to keep public beach access to their preferred levels), but also Pass-a-grille, the Reddingtons, Treasure Island, Madeira, Sand Key…. each has their own type of flavor so you can really fine tune what you want… Condo tower, low condo / townhome, single family home, beachfront, canal with a boat, beach cottage etc.

Downtown you obviously know already.

So the main question is, do you see yourself walking down to the beach 3-5 times a week, enjoying a quieter and slower pace of life, and driving or catching the Sunrunner to downtown when you want some pep and action?

Or, do you want to live downtown and drop down an elevator and be in the thick of the action, with maybe heading out to the beach once or twice a month at most?