[Michaelfl]

Hi,

I have always wanted to live in Florida, and i think now is the time. When it comes to moving to Florida there is a wide variety of cities! To be honest I've spent a lot of time on this forum trying to see what people view as their favorite city. And after hours of reading I have came to make a list of which i think are the best favored ones:

1.Daytona Beach
2.West Melbourne
3.Jupiter
4.Satellite Beach
5.Cocoa
6.Palm Beach
7.port orange
8.Coral Gables
9.Coral Springs
10.Venice
11.Parkland
12.Navarre
13.St Augustine
14.Gainesville

My criteria is:

housing & overall cost of living
crime
climate
strong job market
multicultural
natural beauty & access to nature
nice area with shops/restaurants
nice public spaces/parks
decent school system.

I pesonally would preffer South FL. So please tell me what do you think is the best/worst of those cities, and please mention why you believe so. Any suggestion would be GREATLY APPRECIATED !!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much....

[kyle19125]

[QUOTE
housing & overall cost of living
crime
climate
strong job market
multicultural
natural beauty & access to nature
nice area with shops/restaurants
nice public spaces/parks
decent school system.
[/quote]

I would recommend Satellite Beach most from your list. Housing costs and overall cost of living is relatively low, compared to the others. It has a very low crime rate compared to all of your other choices. It features the usual coastal climate, many you mentioned aren't on the coast and don't have the ocean breezes. The job market is no better or worse than your other choicest though I'm not aware of anyplace with a strong job market currently. It only lacks in what you term multicultural. The only place that would fulfill that is South Florida but then you lose other criteria you're looking for. Satellite Beach is a beautiful town that hasn't been overdeveloped like the most of the cities you mentioned. You're right on the beach and also have a nice park system and bike trails. There are plenty of nice shops and restaurants nearby. The school system is excellent and has had a long tradition of quality education.

Satellite Beach, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Satellite Beach Trail
Satellite Beach

[TriMT7]

That's a pretty diverse list.

The town of Palm Beach is waaay too expensive, but, if you like South Florida access without the accompanying hectic-ness, Jupiter is your best bet on that list. It is the most Northern city (besides a small village called Tequesta) in Palm Beach County, which is the most Northern County in "South Florida."

Low crime, access to world class shopping and dining within a 10 - 20 minute drive, access to three major international airports, a greatschools.net school system rated "10" out of 10, Palm Beach County is very very diverse. Natural beauty, public parks, state parks and lots of nature preserves nearby (Jonathan Dickinson, Everglades, Blowing Rocks preserve, Loxahatchee preserve, etc. etc. etc.).

[TD*]

Consider Tallahassee.

[Kevin from Tampa]

Coral Springs, from your list. The only thing that's an issue from your list is cost of living, but you can find lots of stuff near Coral Springs that's less expensive.

The thing about listing many of the areas you do is that they are often part of a larger metro area...ie, Coral Springs is in Broward County. Broward has LOTS of municipalities that are right on top of each other and living in one is usually as good as living in another. Parkland abuts Coral Springs, for example...and much of that area is indistinguishable from the next.

[Sgoldie]

Curious as to why the Tampa area isn't on the list?

I like Daytona Bch because of the beach and colleges, and St Augustine because it's close to employment and Jacksonville, but would also recommend Ocala for an all around small city near nature. Satellite Bch has a good high school but the general population area spreads out to include a large area; Melbourne, Palm Bay, Eau Gallie, Cocoa.

Have you been to any of these places?