Live/Work Options

St. Petersburg was developed as an affordable retirement and tourist destination in the early 1920s. As a result, there is an abundance of smaller homes available, many now considered historic. One neighborhood, Historic Kenwood, was developed as workforce housing by residents who worked to fuel the booming tourist economy, and now has the largest concentration of craftsmen bungalows in the state of Florida. It was profiled in Cottage Living Magazine as one of the best neighborhoods in America.

Approximately 33 percent of St. Petersburg’s housing stock consists of pre-WWII era homes. These compact homes—with their extensive architectural detailing, front porches, fireplaces and hardwood floors—are located in traditional, family-oriented areas in downtown and near downtown neighborhoods featuring brick streets, sidewalks and mature tree canopies.

Renewed interest in this smaller scale historic housing has brought new vigor to these long forgotten neighborhoods. Historic downtown buildings converted to residential living spaces also attract a diversity of people including artists who have revived abandoned and vacant industrial and commercial spaces. Mixed use zoning encourages live/work and live-above arrangements in older retail corridors.