People from Tampa Bay.How is the cost of living, crime etc from Tampa bay area compared with DC,N Virginia?

Compared to the DC and N. Va area, Tampa is much much cheaper for housing and has a lot less traffic congestion. We have a much nicer house than relatives who live in the DC area for about the same as what they paid. I would suggest you contact some of the vets in the area using yahoo yellow pages and find out if anyone is hiring before you move. Crime depends upon where you live. If you move to the Carrollwood area of Tampa there is low crime and they have a lot of stuff for kids like sports teams, their own cultural center, etc. Stay away from areas near Florida and Nebraska Aves as the crime is higher there. You are not going to be able to afford to live at the beach. The prices are much higher there. You will also have a long commute to any jobs from there, too. However, most people live close to where they work and go to the beach on the weekends. Floridians don't go to the beach in the winter, that's when the Canadians go, it's too cold for us.