Which town to live in ??? (Orlando, Palm Bay: low income, sale, apartments)
Brevard CountySpace Coast: Palm Bay, Melbourne, Titusville area
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I live in Palm Bay. Southwest Palm Bay is where you want to look at, particularly the Bayside Lakes area and its surroundings. The community is great and the houses are absolutely beautiful. Good choice on homeschooling. I recently graduated from Bayside High and it wasn't anything to boast about at all.
I'd look at Grand Haven in North Melbourne. It's towards the end of the Pineda Causeway heading west towards 95, about a 5 mile straight drive from Patricks. You can rent a home there for @ $1000 per month, save up and buy a 1500sq ft home in there for @ $125k. You'll be sorry in Palm Bay, the cheaper prices are for a reason - high crime (no matter where you are) and no pride of ownership in most areas. You'll rent a modest home for $900 per month or buy for $70k just to find out in two weeks your new neighbors have six beat up cars parked around the house, 4 pit bulls, 8 children and use rebel flags for curtains. Don't believe me, take a drive for yourself. And how do I know this? I work for a utility company and covered the Palm Bay area for 5 years, hence the reason why I live in Grand Haven.
.... You'll rent a modest home for $900 per month or buy for $70k just to find out in two weeks your new neighbors have six beat up cars parked around the house, 4 pit bulls, 8 children and use rebel flags for curtains. Don't believe me, take a drive for yourself. And how do I know this? I work for a utility company and covered the Palm Bay area for 5 years, hence the reason why I live in Grand Haven.
Although I think the OP should look at the places mentioned, Grand Haven or Pineda area and that this is very good advice, I am not 100% sure about the above is just true about PB.
If you live on a street with mixed Latin, African American, and white neighbors you may not find what is mentioned above in PB. Not saying it isn't in some neigborhoods of PB, just certainly not all. I do not live in PB, nor did I buy there. I live near PB and have no rebel flags in my neighborhood, none at all. Never seen a pit bull here or beat up cars. We did see that in Daytona area from generally nascar fans but can be the original reason to fly rebel flags we never stop in and ask you know....
I think the right advice to take from Florida Vince is to check the neighborhood carefully, what he says may occur just about anywhere in FL including PB and even more expensive areas. Before you rent/buy go and double and triple check it. Go early, go late. See who lives there at all hours. I have seen areas of Melbourne or even Merritt with higher end homes but a double wide end the street with similar people described by FL Vince here. I think what he says goes on anywhere in Brevard so just do your homework to not be disappointed. It does happen, not everywhere and certainly not every neighborhood of any area, but it happens all over FL including better areas of all of Brevard.
[quote=Florida Vince;24132699]I'd look at Grand Haven in North Melbourne. It's towards the end of the Pineda Causeway heading west towards 95, about a 5 mile straight drive from Patricks. You can rent a home there for @ $1000 per month, save up and buy a 1500sq ft home in there for @ $125k. You'll be sorry in Palm Bay, the cheaper prices are for a reason - high crime (no matter where you are) and no pride of ownership in most areas. You'll rent a modest home for $900 per month or buy for $70k just to find out in two weeks your new neighbors have six beat up cars parked around the house, 4 pit bulls, 8 children and use rebel flags for curtains. Don't believe me, take a drive for yourself. And how do I know this? I work for a utility company and covered the Palm Bay area for 5 years, hence the reason why I live in Grand Haven.[/quote
Ouch.....so not true......
Lets take a drive through South Melbourne, North Melbourne by the river , Eau Gallie BLVD, Aurora, Sarno, just to name a few areas When we were looking for a smaller house to buy 2 years ago.....same prices on those streets for 1950s out dated, not kept up homes on small lots. You can find things or areas to not like in almost every town you look at. Got a little more than a 1/4 acre on a quiet street and about twice as big as the ones listed at the time in Melbourne. Our realtor had your attitude about PB until we forced her to show us homes here.....now she shows homes in PB all the time.
As for crime.....ratio for crime is lower in Palm Bay than any other city on the Space Coast-even the beach towns. Last records are from 2010 but last year crime was down even more. I posted an article that was in the paper on this on the post asking about crime.
And everything else you listed can be found many many places besides PB. Contrary to popular belief PB does not have a ghetto area and the people who live here are no better or worse than people anywhere in the country. We actually might not have the big attitudes people tend to throw at this community----which is why we choose this are to live over some of the "ritzier obviously snobbier areas of the county-even though we could.
BTW been here in the city for 35 years and have never had a neighbor with a pit bull or more than 2 dogs, never had a neighbor with old cars parked even in the drive let alone on their grass, never seen the rebel flag as curtains and have lived in all but the SW sector. Never been afraid to drive or take a walk on any street in the city. can't say that about some areas of the state.
But for the OP who will bw working at Patrick, it is a little too far commute. Takes my son about an hour to get to his store in Satellite Beach during drive time.
Lets take a drive through South Melbourne, North Melbourne by the river , Eau Gallie BLVD, Aurora, Sarno, just to name a few areas When we were looking for a smaller house to buy 2 years ago.....same prices on those streets for 1950s out dated, not kept up homes on small lots. You can find things or areas to not like in almost every town you look at. Got a little more than a 1/4 acre on a quiet street and about twice as big as the ones listed at the time in Melbourne. Our realtor had your attitude about PB until we forced her to show us homes here.....now she shows homes in PB all the time.
As for crime.....ratio for crime is lower in Palm Bay than any other city on the Space Coast-even the beach towns. Last records are from 2010 but last year crime was down even more. I posted an article that was in the paper on this on the post asking about crime.
And everything else you listed can be found many many places besides PB. Contrary to popular belief PB does not have a ghetto area and the people who live here are no better or worse than people anywhere in the country. We actually might not have the big attitudes people tend to throw at this community----which is why we choose this are to live over some of the "ritzier obviously snobbier areas of the county-even though we could.
BTW been here in the city for 35 years and have never had a neighbor with a pit bull or more than 2 dogs, never had a neighbor with old cars parked even in the drive let alone on their grass, never seen the rebel flag as curtains and have lived in all but the SW sector. Never been afraid to drive or take a walk on any street in the city. can't say that about some areas of the state.
But for the OP who will bw working at Patrick, it is a little too far commute. Takes my son about an hour to get to his store in Satellite Beach during drive time.
I'm having a hard time believing that people would willingly move to PB if they had, say $100k - $150k to put into a home. I guarantee that 9 out of 10 people would choose to live somewhere else in the county. PB is an area you HAVE to live in, not one you CHOOSE to live in. The other areas mentioned (Sarno, Aurora, Eau Gallie ....) are equally trashy, but it seems like PB has a greater density of it - two descent houses, one trashy, one descent, three trashy ones .....
Fifteen years ago we decided to honeymoon to Florida. "Palm Bay" had sounded so nice and tropical that we rented a room at the former Ramada on PB road. During our first two days here we saw a homeless man get run over and pinned under a car, confronted at least four times by people asking for money or handouts while out walking, chased out of a local tavern by a woman crying hysterically that I was her long lost son and asked at a restaurant by a flirty waitress to attend a swinger party at her house after her shift. To put it bluntly, nothing has changed since our initial visit to PB fifteen years ago, hence why we moved north and live in Grand Haven.
I have many friends and co-workers (15+) who live in PB and every single one of them talk endlessly about moving out of there. The crime, crummy schools, speeders, pedophiles, egg shell well water, lack of sidewalks, trashy neighbors, slumlord rental market, corrupt mayor and lack of community pride are always mentioned, among other things no matter what conversation I have. Just watch the local evening news, PB is always in there for something bad. Hell, the city wont even pick up your trash if you are behind on your property taxes, they'll let it sit out by the road and pile up and rot.
It's not about being "snotty" or believing that someone else is below you for where they live. The facts are what they are and it's about providing a quality of life for your family. If being snotty means working hard to provide your children with a quality education, live in a more desirable area that is safer, kept up and surrounded by like minded hard working families that show pride in themselves then yes I am snotty and proud to be so. Sorry if I have aspired to do more in life than just "survive" or do the minimum. I would never subject my family to the above quality of life issues with living in PB (or the other areas mentioned), unless like I said before we HAD to live there.
There are plenty of good people in PB, but for the price I would take south Rockledge, Merritt Island or West Melbourne before living in PB. Just be forewarned - talk with people, compare notes and decide if the cheaper price of a home or rental is worth all of the extra head aches for you and your family. Good luck!
Yeah, I agree with this as well. I would add that while people should always judge for themselves & their own family (in person), I would not recommend Merritt Island or Rockledge at that pricepoint. Higher end pricepoints, yes, but not at $70k.
Palm Bay is a good bit further than Rock but commute time is really pretty subjective. I'd say average of 15 minutes more commute time (give or take 5 minutes) depending on where you are in Palm Bay.
... BTW, there are some foreclosed and HUD listed homes in the southern Rockledge area that are for sale in the $50K range, worth twice their selling price and are located in pretty descent neighborhoods. We will occasionally buy a few of them, update the interiors and landscaping and rent them out to young working class families. I'll let you know if any come available.
I think Florida Vince is focused on east part of Palm Bay. I drive around west part of Palm Bay nearly everyday and to me it looks the same as Suntree or any other good suburban location. Unfortunately as one goes east, it is the same all the way up including near route 1 of Suntree where there are double wide communities not the best looking, up through and beyond Rockledge. Stay west. FL Vince sounds like he went to very east PB, well same thing everywhere east not far off route 1.
Even in east PB I still have not seen the neighborhood he speaks of though I did turn once into a so called bad area of east PB and it looked the same as an old double wide community near Suntree and not too far from Viera that I saw once. I see no difference. If one is in an old east run down neighborhoods it is same all the way whether east PB, east Melbourne, east Rockledge. But for whatever reason he is ok with west areas of melbourne (not same as city of West Melbourne) such as he mentions but not western areas of PB. I don't get it as I see and can easily point out the same in both being here less than a year. Ok in the western areas of Melbourne they try to use words like Suntree, Grand Haven, Viera - but folks they are all Melbourne and Melbourne in the east is just as bad as Palm Bay in the east.
There are worse places. I lived in DC and Miami, you want bad neighborhoods with drunks and huge issues? Don't talk Brevard I can tell you what a real bad neighborhood looks like. I can show you and area of Miami where so many drunks are, and you will get robbed in 5 minutes being there if you want a real bad neighborhood.
... BTW, there are some foreclosed and HUD listed homes in the southern Rockledge area that are for sale in the $50K range, worth twice their selling price and are located in pretty descent neighborhoods. We will occasionally buy a few of them, update the interiors and landscaping and rent them out to young working class families. I'll let you know if any come available.
Yeah, you can definitely find a deal on foreclosures but unless you have the knowledge, patience, and eagerness to go that route, I wouldnt recommend it to somebody relocating to the area unless thats what they've done previously.
I'm thinking you may have seen 1 section of Palm Bay & said "this isnt for me". I just can't imagine you'd think so much higher of the other parts of Brevard if you'd ventured elsewhere in PB.
I get that it isn't for everybody and understand the usual knocks on Palm Bay...a little too far removed/rural, too far from the beach, attractions, less to do, no "downtown" area, etc. But it sounds like (as TestEngr pointed out) maybe you just looked around east of Babcock around Palm Bay rd? Thats not even 1/4 of Palm Bay. Not to mention...north side of Palm Bay rd is technically Melbourne for the most part. Here's a flood zone map which clearly shows the city limits of PB. I wouldnt recommend the areas to the extreme north & east either.
I'm having a hard time believing that people would willingly move to PB if they had, say $100k - $150k to put into a home. I guarantee that 9 out of 10 people would choose to live somewhere else in the county. PB is an area you HAVE to live in, not one you CHOOSE to live in. The other areas mentioned (Sarno, Aurora, Eau Gallie ....) are equally trashy, but it seems like PB has a greater density of it - two descent houses, one trashy, one descent, three trashy ones .....
Fifteen years ago we decided to honeymoon to Florida. "Palm Bay" had sounded so nice and tropical that we rented a room at the former Ramada on PB road. During our first two days here we saw a homeless man get run over and pinned under a car, confronted at least four times by people asking for money or handouts while out walking, chased out of a local tavern by a woman crying hysterically that I was her long lost son and asked at a restaurant by a flirty waitress to attend a swinger party at her house after her shift. To put it bluntly, nothing has changed since our initial visit to PB fifteen years ago, hence why we moved north and live in Grand Haven.
I have many friends and co-workers (15+) who live in PB and every single one of them talk endlessly about moving out of there. The crime, crummy schools, speeders, pedophiles, egg shell well water, lack of sidewalks, trashy neighbors, slumlord rental market, corrupt mayor and lack of community pride are always mentioned, among other things no matter what conversation I have. Just watch the local evening news, PB is always in there for something bad. Hell, the city wont even pick up your trash if you are behind on your property taxes, they'll let it sit out by the road and pile up and rot.
It's not about being "snotty" or believing that someone else is below you for where they live. The facts are what they are and it's about providing a quality of life for your family. If being snotty means working hard to provide your children with a quality education, live in a more desirable area that is safer, kept up and surrounded by like minded hard working families that show pride in themselves then yes I am snotty and proud to be so. Sorry if I have aspired to do more in life than just "survive" or do the minimum. I would never subject my family to the above quality of life issues with living in PB (or the other areas mentioned), unless like I said before we HAD to live there.
There are plenty of good people in PB, but for the price I would take south Rockledge, Merritt Island or West Melbourne before living in PB. Just be forewarned - talk with people, compare notes and decide if the cheaper price of a home or rental is worth all of the extra head aches for you and your family. Good luck!
We are just going to have to agree to disagree if this is truly what you believe about Palm Bay.....I chose Palm Bay 4 times now.....once as a single young teacher, once as a young married, once as a parent of 2 kids( now an engineer writing a novel and a business manager ), and now as a young retiree. Must be something here to keep us here when we could move anywhere .
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