5 Things You Didn’t Know About Living in St. Petersburg (Until You’ve Been Here a While)

With a nickname like “Sun City,” it’s easy to see why so many people choose to live in St. Petersburg, Florida. The sunshine is pretty hard to miss. So are our beaches.

But St. Pete offers so much more than warm weather and Gulf Coast scenery, which is why WinWay Homes loves building here. You can boat, visit museums, play golf, watch professional sports, explore a thriving downtown, enjoy waterfront parks, and dine at great restaurants, all in eclectic neighborhoods (each with their own unique personality).

From St. Petersburg and Gulfport to Clearwater, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, and other Pinellas County communities, new home buyers get to choose a neighborhood that fits their unique lifestyle. Then we custom-build homes around each lifestyle, using a personalized, hands-on approach.

One of our favorite parts of working with new Sun City homebuyers is sharing fun facts they may not know about St. Pete, like the fact that one of our local celebrities is a dolphin. Or that Saturday morning can become a standing appointment. Or that we treat Halloween decorating as a competitive sport.

If you’re moving to St. Petersburg, here are five things you may not fully understand until you’ve lived here for a while.

1: One of Our Local Celebrities Is a Dolphin

Yes, really! Petey and his dolphin friends regularly visit the St. Pete Pier. They are frequently spotted along the seawall in Pinellas County, according to numerous TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit posts by local residents.

This young dolphin is now a favorite local attraction, and many residents will tell you that they’re part of the “Petey Fan Club.”

But seeing dolphins around downtown St. Pete isn’t nearly as unusual as you might think. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins live here year-round, and local dolphin cruises have operated for years from the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina next to the Pier.

2: Saturday Morning at the Market: It’s a St. Pete Tradition

Not long after you move to St. Petersburg, someone will likely ask, “Are you going to the Market?”

They’re talking about the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market, one of our favorite weekly traditions since 2002. We like to think of it as the “heart of St. Petersburg,” bringing together family-owned local farms, more than 140 artisan-food and handmade-craft vendors, live music, and ready-to-eat dishes representing more than 15 countries. (There’s also great people watching and a LOT of dogs.)

 

If you’re new to St. Pete, set your alarm extra early next Saturday. It’s worth the early start. You may arrive planning to buy tomatoes. You may leave with tomatoes, fresh bread, lunch, a piece of handmade art, something for the dog, and absolutely no explanation for where the last two hours went.

During the “busy” season (not summer), the market operates downtown near Rowdy Stadium, with a smaller summer version when Florida reminds everyone why air conditioning was invented.

3: Baseball Is More Than Spring Training Here

Baseball — it’s not just for the Spring Training tourists.

Yes, we love our college football (even our regional rivalries), but living in St. Pete also means gearing up for the next Tampa Bay Rays season. This year, they’re returning to Tropicana Field, following repairs to the damaged stadium.

And across from the Trop sits one of St. Petersburg’s best sports institutions for watching a Rays game: Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill. Ferg’s started in 1992 in what used to be a Sunoco gas station. Today, it’s one of St. Pete’s best-known gathering places for sports fans.

With more than 100 televisions, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, and live entertainment, Ferg’s has the game-day atmosphere that makes “We’ll just stop in for one before the game” an extremely optimistic statement.

4: Old Northeast Takes Halloween Very Seriously

There are people who decorate for Halloween, then there’s the historic Old Northeast. While this beautiful St. Petersburg neighborhood is known for its tree-lined streets and historic homes most of the year, October brings out the love for Halloween magic (and some friendly neighborhood competition).

Old Northeast residents go all out with elaborate spooky displays, particularly around 17th and 18th Avenues Northeast between Locust Street and Beach Drive. Decoration themes are as diverse as the neighborhood, with everyone competing for the scariest and most festive front yard décor.

Entire yards disappear beneath skeletons, lights, ghosts, monsters, and displays that rival our end-of-year holiday festivities. Some homes even host their own private haunted houses!

So here’s your newcomer tip: If someone invites you to “walk around Old Northeast” near Halloween, wear comfortable shoes. (And understand that the inflatable pumpkin on your porch won’t win this.)

5: Yes, You Can Build a Beautiful Home Near the Coast in St. Pete

Now, for one of our local pet peeves: newcomers assuming every home on the coast must look like a house propped up on stilts.

Yes, hurricane season is part of coastal Florida living. Some years are relatively quiet. Other years remind everyone exactly why building codes, FEMA compliance, and good construction matter.

But one of the biggest misconceptions is that you cannot build a safe, durable new home near the coast that will still have curb appeal. You can. The key is designing the right home for each specific property.

For example, WinWay Homes builds both traditional slab-on-grade homes and elevated homes for coastal resilience, based on each lot’s location, topography, and flood zone, while meeting federal, state, and local requirements.

If your St. Petersburg lot requires elevation, the right design can make your home feel polished, intentional, and aligned with your new-home vision and budget. Building a safe, elevated home shouldn’t have to cost a fortune. WinWay can work within your new home budget to design a beautiful elevated home, without sacrificing aesthetics.

WinWay also designs custom homes with hurricane resiliency built in, including materials that are as durable as they are beautiful, such as James Hardie® fiber-cement siding, and impact-rated doors and windows with laminated glass.

In fact, we built a new elevated home for a family in nearby Treasure Island (the Flemings), after they decided to replace a house that suffered flood damage from Tropical Storm Eta in 2020. When Hurricane Idalia later brought a storm surge into the neighborhood, surrounding homes were severely damaged while the Flemings reported virtually no damage to their new WinWay home. (It was essentially the only home left standing in the area.)

“You can see this is our neighbor’s house right next door — you see where the water is and that’s their mailbox,” Eric Fleming said. “So this is our house right here. And, essentially, we just had a hose off to the garage a little bit and a little bit, you know, no damage.”

(You can read the Flemings’ story on the Spectrum News 1 website.)

So when someone from out of town says, “You can’t safely build near the coast,” longtime residents like the Flemings may have a few thoughts. Possibly several.

The Best Parts of Living in St. Petersburg Take Time to Discover

St. Pete’s beaches, sunshine, waterfront restaurants, art museums, and other cultural attractions always make a strong first impression with first-time visitors. But some of the best parts of living in St. Petersburg reveal themselves slowly.

You learn where to watch for dolphins, and you start to enjoy the daily and weekly rituals like walks on the beach and Saturday mornings at the market. You begin to understand why Ferg’s is practically part of the Rays’ experience. And you mark your calendar for a family visit to Old Northeast to get into the spirit of Halloween.

At WinWay Homes, we’re local builders who understand what makes St. Petersburg such a special place to call home, and what it takes to design and build a custom home for the realities of coastal Florida.

Thinking about moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, or building a new home in the neighborhood you already love? Contact WinWay Homes or call 727-342-7876 to discuss your lot, your lifestyle, and the perks of living in St. Pete.