USF St. Petersburg's campus sits right downtown on the waterfront at 140 7th Ave S — a great location if you're on campus most of the day, but it does mean commuting in from somewhere like Gulfport takes a car or a bike rather than a walk. Plan on roughly 12–15 minutes by car from The Waverly at Gulfport, depending on traffic and time of day; we'd rather give you an honest range than a number that only holds up at 6am.
For a lot of students, that trade-off is worth it: you get a quieter, more residential neighborhood to come home to, instead of paying downtown-adjacent rent to live inside the same few blocks as campus.
What you're trading off
Living further from a downtown campus means budgeting a bit more time for the drive, and factoring in parking once you're there. What you get in exchange is free off-street parking at home, a renovated apartment instead of a dorm room, and a neighborhood (Gulfport) with its own restaurants, coffee shops, and a waterfront that doesn't feel like a tourist strip.
Splitting the cost
If you're weighing a shared off-campus apartment against on-campus housing costs, our 2 bedroom / 1 bath layout is the one most students ask about first. We break down the actual math in this post on splitting rent with a roommate.
Dorm vs. apartment, by the numbers
If you're weighing this against USF St. Pete's own published hall rates, we ran the comparison in this post on dorm costs vs. splitting an apartment.
Seeing it in person
Most units offer same-day tours, several are ready for immediate move-in, and you can check current availability before you come by. Questions before then? Call (727) 712-6073.