thia is a rural suburb of a suburb (Brandon) that is home to poorly-designed roads and services,…read moreridiculous school zones, nightmare traffic, and awful nightlife. The best place to go in Lithia is somewhere else. Let's drill down a bit!
POPULATION - Lithia is divided into two main population centers - FishHawk Ranch, and rural areas. FishHawk Ranch is a master-planned community with pools, shopping centers, and high HOA/CDD fees. The other portion - very lightly populated rural areas - have lots of confederate flags.
SERVICES - Lithia is serviced by a big block of East Hillsborough services, including a single HART bus. Sidewalks are intermittent and, along the busiest sections of high-traffic roads, nonexistent. Internet is whatever conglomerates used to be Verizon/Brighthouse, but their names have changed so many times to confound FCC protocols that you basically just hope your service stays up and bill gets paid. These two have some manner of non-compete treaty, so prices are sky-high for any internet/phone/TV service you can get. They both got nervous a few years ago when Google announced Fiber, but that has long subsided. Emergency services are off Lithia Pinecrest, where you will frequently see them responding to traffic accidents.
ROADS - Lithia is transected by a number of "Failed Roads," as rated by FDOT. The main thoroughfare is Lithia Pinecrest Boulevard, which is the site of over 700 accidents per year - hell, I saw three today just driving to get some coffee. Rush hour backups are an expected travel hindrance multiple times a day, every single day. Expect to add 45 minutes to your drivetime if you have an average 9-5. Traffic lights are asynchronous, so there is an excellent chance you'll hit every single red light. And several area schools are on main roads, so you'll get slowed down in school zones as well. Driving at off-peak times are no better, since much of the main roads are unlit, and lightly policed, leading to drivers going EXTREMELY fast. Most are also poorly maintained, which can lead to severe tire damage to distracted drivers.
DINING AND NIGHTLIFE - Dining options are extremely limited to pizza, a few chain places, and a below-average chinese food joint. Do you like pizza? Because there are literally 8 pizza restaurants in Lithia. And if you like ethnic food, you'll be titillated by exotic fare from Australia's (actually Tampa, but) Outback Steakhouse, with such foreign delights as Aussie Chips (fries) and steak (steak). Jake's, the burger place, is actually pretty decent though. As for nightlife, the cockfighting ring was shut down early last year (http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/deputies-discover-cockfighting-ring-in-lithia-20160227/), so expect to be home by 10:30pm since only Burger King and Sonic are open later.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES - Winn Dixie is probably hiring, and lots of local lawncare services always need people to cut other people's grass. Mosaic, the mining corporation, may need someone to help fill their enormous toxic sinkhole right outside of town (http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/mosaic-state-should-have-seen-sinkhole-forming-couple-says/2312739), so you might be able to do that. Otherwise, enjoy your long bumper-to-bumper drive to Tampa!
This paints a less than rosy picture of the town. But the schools and amenities for FishHawk residents are pretty good, so if you've got kids they MIGHT be able to go to a good school (highly dependent on what street you live on, and also if they don't redistrict everything again). So I guess it's not all bad.