Tampa area suburbs?

[BarefootinBrooklyn]

My husband is interviewing at a company in the Tampa area and I'd love to hear from people who live nearby--where do you live and why is it awesome (or not)? We're originally from Melbourne on the East Coast and are trying to head back to FL after some time living out of state. 

We are hoping to live near water and our initial online search has pointed us toward Apollo Beach, Riverview...any other great ideas of where to explore? The company is in Fish Hawk so we're hoping to keep his commute less than an hour.

This is all hypothetical as he hasn't been offered the job yet, but I'm trying to get a jump on where we'd want to look for houses. I have a 4 year old and 5 month old at home and we're interested in good public schools as well as home-learning possibilities, laid back/crunchy/"old florida" style environment, and definitely looking for an area that isn't all gated communities. 

Thanks in advance!

[FloridaBorn]

Plant City!!  Lake Thonotosassa!  

30 minutes to Lithia/Fish Hawk, very agricultural, historic district.

Or maybe somewhere off the Little Manatee River more Tampa way.

BTW, Fish Hawk is just ONE BIG gated community  *gag*

[BarefootinBrooklyn]

Thanks for the quick reply! Do you know about Apollo Beach at all? From a real estate search it looks like a mix of older homes and gated communities...We'll probably skip looking around Fish Hawk then, haha. :)