Viera,Florida (Orlando, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach: buy, to live in, shop)

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by verobeach

Lived in Vero Beach for 5 years. Never saw a palmetto bug or a rodent. Mosquitoes don't compare to NH. Alligators are only where they belong... in the Everglades. Hurricanes... every 20 years or so, rain only in the summer months, and yes to high humidity.

If you get sprayed quarterly, the only bugs you'll see will be dead bugs.

Move in after Francis and Jeanne? Maybe we are a little jaded now but will never say hurricanes don't scare me some, any more. Been quiet for a few years. Not much since Wilma, but really doubt that we have 15 years before we see another. You do realize even if the storm comes in 100-150+ miles away you might just be effected by it. Hate the weeks of living without water and anything electric .

I am guessing you don't fish or go boating on the river since you think gators are only in the everglades. As for Palmetto bugs all you have to do is go outside in the evening to a ball game and you will usually see them flying around. We have lots of frogs and lizards around our house so we don't even have to spray for bugs in doors.

[seeriously]

Your point is what, Rab? Before Frances/Jeanne it was more than 20 years of placid hurricane-less seasons, alligators don't roam through backyards in civilized neighborhoods and palmetto bugs aren't climbing the ceilings, at least not in my house. Where can you live in the US that you don't have something? Moose, bear, wild boar, black flies, snakes, bats?? And I'd rather a hurricane every 20 or so years than an annual ice storm, the threat of mudslides, tornadoes, fires, or earthquakes. Pick your poison and in the meantime enjoy the sunshine. And try living without heat for 4 or 5 days in the northeast after a blizzard pulls the electrical lines down!

[Rabflmom]

I guess the point I was making was.... having lived here for 30 years I have dealt with more than 2 hurricanes. David, Erin, Frances, Jeanne, scared to the hilt by Floyd( joined the mass exit on that one because of the size of it and prediction for landfall on the Central coast, ), 2 weeks later followed by Irene that went up the coast just offshore which took out our tree and continued the erosion on the beach and caused many structures to fail beachside. You also have to count tropical storms and the damage they cause sometimes. Look at all the damage just last year from Faye. No power for 3 days from that little storm.

The 2nd point I was making was that your view of alligators only being in the Everglades is incorrect. There can be gators in almost any body of water in Florida. I live in an upscale neiborhood in a city of over 100,000 people. We have had them sunning in our yard, swimming in the lake where we go boarding, and in the ponds in our subdivision. One of our old friends was actually a gator rangler who gets called in when one is spotted in the canal or ponds in neighborhoods.

Even WDW checks their water for gators and actually has had some in the water near Splash Mountain. These videos are on you tube illustrate this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiPSIgUx2Ls and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZqrnJkQuQ

And lastly it is hard to believe that you have never seen a palmetto bug outside somewhere.
Guess we just have different views of Florida living from our different lifestyles maybe.

[jstans71]

Well now that the arguements over wildlife and hurricanes are over, back to topic. Please. How about drastic differences between Melbourne/Palm area and Viera? Cost of living? Age median? Tax differences? I understand they are all close but what are the reasons for living in one and commuting to the other. If you can find that perfect middle ground... Which would it be?
Also, checked the CDD deal... HOA's seem to be listed by the realtors. Are CDD's not? Cause I haven't seen any mention until these forums and now I'm looking.

[Slingher]

I have lived in Central Fl since 2004. I am presently looking to buy a house in the Viera area. The reaons I have chosen Viera over other parts of central Fl is this.

#1 The schools. All the schools are highly rated and that helps your resale value.
#2 Close to a beautiful wetland area that I frequent a lot.
#3 The area is very new and upscale.
#4 Crime is very low.
There are more reasons but I can't think of right now.

The house I am currently looking to buy has HOA fees of 390/yr that includes Viera's master fee of 145/yr

[ridercbr1000]

Originally Posted by Florida15

Does anyone know anything about Viera,Florida-preferably someone who lives there?

I love Viera. It has everything we need here. It's safe, good school system, and it's not over-populated. Viera is within the city-limits of Melbourne and Rockledge, it's only that we have not incorporated yet for the typical reasons.

[lmrandazzo]

Im so glad to have stumbled upon this post. My family is also considering a move to FL in the next few years. We are from Maine but are following some of our family that has already relocated. We will be in FL next week and plan on checking out Viera while we are there. Any suggestions on how to get the best feel for the town in a day trip? Thanks for your help!

[NHYankee]

We have visited Viera twice, September and November 2010. We loved it! We are from NH and thinking seriously about moving there within the next 2-3 years. It is attractive and seems to be fairly safe (coming from the "safest" state - NH) as we asked the locals as we were out and about. Prices seem to be reasonable for homes. We don't like the fact that the homes lack real yards and privacy, but that is about the only drawback we found. We will be looking again this fall and getting closer to our goal of relocating to Viera!

[Mamasaurus0607]

Originally Posted by verobeach

Your point is what, Rab? Before Frances/Jeanne it was more than 20 years of placid hurricane-less seasons, alligators don't roam through backyards in civilized neighborhoods and palmetto bugs aren't climbing the ceilings, at least not in my house. Where can you live in the US that you don't have something? Moose, bear, wild boar, black flies, snakes, bats?? And I'd rather a hurricane every 20 or so years than an annual ice storm, the threat of mudslides, tornadoes, fires, or earthquakes. Pick your poison and in the meantime enjoy the sunshine. And try living without heat for 4 or 5 days in the northeast after a blizzard pulls the electrical lines down!

I like when you said 'pick your poison!! SO true!! Everyone thinks that it's the worst where they are. I have in a friend in Cali that thinks hurricanes are scarier than earthquakes and cannot understand why someone would want to live where there are alligators and hurricanes! She thinks I'm nuts for wanting to move to FL and not Cali! I also have friend in AZ who asked me if I was scared when a huge blizzard was bearing down on us a month ago here in NJ. She said she would be frightened to death to drive in it. She heard someone was driving on the parkway and got killed because a sheet of ice slipped off a vehicle in front of them and crashed through their windshield. Yes, that DID happen here and CAN happen. It happend to one of my sil's one day while she was driving to visit me (with her kids in the car) luckily...they were all okay. The odds of it happening every time there is a snow storm...very low. You just learn to stay away from the cars that have stuff on top while driving on the highways. I told her if I lived in AZ I'd be afraid of the AZ bark scorpion...a child almost died from a sting!! She said you learn to put your baby's crib legs in glass jars so that the scorpions don't climb up...and you enver walk around without shoes. Me? I'd be freaked out!!

To each their own.

Less then 15 minutes from my house a cop was murdered by a gang member a few weeks back...all he did was stop the car and ask the guy a question. THAT scares the bejesus outta me! AND I live in a low-crime area in Ocean County with great schools and upscale homes.

I believe I'd be okay with hurricanes. I can move out of the way of an approaching hurricane...not a bullet.

[lmrandazzo]

Can anyone tell me how long the drive it from Viera to the closest beach??? It looks like 30 minutes but Im not sure how heavy the traffic is so maybe its longer. Thanks!