retirement in rockledge fl (Palm Bay, Melbourne: houses, neighborhoods, buy)

[olddude]

we have been looking at the possibility of retiring to rockledge fl, we have been scanning zillow and talking to friends that live on merritt isl.we were also looking at palm bay and melbourne.after talking to our friends and reading some of the post on this forum it seems that rockledge is the way to go.we would like to stay in the $150,000 range,any input would be gratefully appreciated

[olddude]

wow 38 looks and no responses,i guess nobody wants me to move to there area.come on folks help an old man out

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by olddude

wow 38 looks and no responses,i guess nobody wants me to move to there area.come on folks help an old man out

You didn't ask any questions. Not sure what answers you are looking for. Can you buy a $150,000 house in the area? Yes.

[olddude]

what i meant by input was how is the area for crime,shopping, restaurants,is rockledge better then palm bay,melbourn,etc,etc.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by olddude

what i meant by input was how is the area for crime,shopping, restaurants,is rockledge better then palm bay,melbourn,etc,etc.

Crime-probably not a whole lot different. They are all pretty safe but you do have to take precautions like locking car and house doors. If you don't do or sell drugs, cheat on your spouse, get into fights with family, etc. You will be as safe as anywhere else you have lived. Some neighborhoods worse than others, but for the most part you can't judge a neighborhood by whether it is new and shiny in Florida. Even in bad areas, the houses often look the same as in safer neighborhoods.

Shopping- Melbourne is probably the best because of Melbourne Square Mall and the shopping centers in Viera, but I don't know anyone in Brevard County that restricts themselves to 1 area for shopping. You really have to stop and think which town you are in since most towns in Brevard County are across the street from the next and the town lines are not a straight line. We live in Palm Bay which has less stores-even though it has the most people. We shop in Palm Bay, Vero Beach, West Melbourn, Melbourne, Viera, Merritt Island, and some of the beach towns. It is all just a short drive to any of them and there are different stores. Grocery stores pretty much the same-mostly Publix and Winn Dixie. PB and Melbourne have Walmarts-not sure if Rockledge does

Restaurants- Melbourne probably has the most, but there are some good ones in all the towns. Like all of Florida we have a lot of chains, but there are some mom and pop places, too.

Being retired you might want to think of medical facilities. Palm Bay and Melbourne have Holmes (Health First) and Wuestoff hospitals. Rockledge has Wuesthoff. Our doctors are all in Melbourne and we prefer the Holmes hospital there over the one in Palm Bay, but the rooms in Palm Bay are actually nicer.

[olddude]

thanks for the input,we will be coming down in jan. for a few weeks to look around and check out the areas.if all goes well we will be moving to fl.within the next few months.

[Sun4Us]

At the beginning of this year we retired and moved down here to Viera (which is part of Rockledge). Since then we have settled in quite nicely. The great post from rabflmom about sums it up. But I would like to add that there's always something to do. We have joined a couple of clubs and social groups...ie The Space Coast Parrot Heads Club chapter - with their motto being "party with a purpose". We go on trips, cruises etc and a portion of our fees, dues etc goes to charity. If you are into cars there are a number of car clubs which you can join. If you are into the arts - same thing, plenty of places to go and not to mention all the festivals. So far we are very pleased with our move down here. We always heard about the summer weather but found it really wasn't that bad. Sure it's warm and humid but, especially in this area, there's always a sea breeze which helps. The only issue we found so far is how the holidays sneak up on you. Up north when the leaves fell and the temps got cooler we knew the holidays were coming up, down here you really have to keep checking the calendar - I guess that's our only gripe...haha

[olddude]

thanks for the response,we have visited our friends a few times on meritt lsland,and you are wright there are a lot of things to do in the area.we have been going to disney for years so i am sure that will be a place we will visit often.also i cant keep the wife away from st augusten.i am sure we will be busy looking up new things to do.about the holidays no proublem there the grand kids will let us know when its time to visit when schools out.once they found out we are looking for a house with a pool they are trying to talk there mom into moving down with us.

[sahara12]

Unless you're familiar with the maintenance of a pool it does take time/effort/$$$ to keep it looking great.
I have a 15 x 30 x 7 ft D but most are`a lot smaller then that size.
I moved to Melbourne 15 years ago from Boston and compared to the other local towns/cities,Ill stick with Melbourne as it seems to be the center of everything.
Universal Studios is about 60 miles
Disney is about 70 miles