[proudpapa]

Can someone tell me what some of the most family friendly cities are in FL. I would like to live 20-30 miles from a major city (more employment options). Things I would be considering are safety, park system, nice schools, lots of things to do with family, etc.
Thanks!!!

[bamboosmom]

How about the Charlotte County area? You would be inbetween Sarasota which is about 50 miles or less and Fort Myers which is also about the same distance.

[kpasa]

I would check on Melbourne area, and south suburban Jacksonville. I have heard good things about Charlotte County and Lakeland/WP area, too. I am not living in FL now, I have been studying the daylights out for a place to relocate my family and I have selected Jacksonville (Mandarin area).

[PHINSFAN]

Pasco County (new port richey/trinty) we're 30 min to the Tampa Metro (Bush Garden - Lowery Zoo - YBOR city) & Clearwater/St.Pete - Orlando is within 2 hrs - 20 min to beaches - some wonderfull state parks (web site you can check out) pascocountyfl. net search for parks.
We've lived here for just over 5 yrs and crime is very low, the school district we have Deer Park/River Ridge is wonderful A+ schools, our area also has a lot of community outings for families, festivals-spook in the park they decorate the wilderness park & cabins for trick or treating just like Bush gardens, a really nice family area.

Hope it helps good luck

[daytoday]

Baker county is a good place you have Jacksonville 35 miles east and lakecity 35 miles to the west

[sami]

Uh....I'll give a boost to my area of west central Florida. There are many nice areas at all prices in Pinellas County. You can get anything from city to almost rural..............yet the city is soooooo close. You have St. Petersburg and Clearwater as well as small towns and beach towns. The Tampa area is similar with Tampa close like St. Petersburg here. Hey you can run over to either area relatively quickly. If it is your cup of tea, another diversified area with city nearby is the Orlando area. There are plenty of family friendly places in Florida. Good luck hunting. (Research plenty then pick--I did and don't regret it.)

[yellowsmileyface]

Try Winter Park. It is just close enough to Orlando to make it an easy commute, but it is definitely a family oriented community.

[sbakun]

Fishhawk Ranch is very famiy oriented and has great schools. It is located in Lithia just south of Brandon. You can check out their website at www.fishhawkranch.com

[ex-floridian]

Child Magazine in January 2006 rated Miami #4, Orlando #5 in its top 10 cities for families. A few of its critierion were ease of getting around, family-friendly restaurants, parks, entertainment.

[WPR2006]

I was going to suggest Pinellas (or Pasco County) as well. I grew up in Palm Harbor and would love to move back to that area. Everytime we go there to visit my family, my husband comments on how he would love to live over there. Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin these are all about 10 minutes from Clearwater beach and close enough to Tampa for an easy commute. The schools are good, or at least I thought they were when I attended them. It is close to Busch Gardens , there are lots of parks on the Gulf of Mexico as well. I also like Trinity which was mentioned by another poster. When they first started construction over there my family looked at it for my Aunt, who ended up building in there but has since moved, and I begged my parents to move us there because it was so nice. Anyway, I now have a family of my own and live in Central Florida. I think it is getting a little too overgrown here, I like a calmer area, personally. I think you would like that area as it has a lot to offer without being too far away from Tampa.