[tripleklutz]

We weren't sure how we'd like living in Viera, but we've been here about 3 years and love it. Our neighborhood, Wingate Estates, has really friendly neighbors and a nice mix of young families with kids and retirees. I understand the people who say it has a "cookie cutter" feel, but I think they just haven't been looking in the right neighborhoods. There are a lot of areas where the houses and landscaping are actually quite distinct, and people take pride in that.

[redbirdny]

IF you want a cookie cutter house and hear the noise of I-95 than live in Viera.

[gt50conv]

I have lived here since 1992, moved from southern california. Brevard is suffering from the same problems as the rest of the state, high taxes, high insurance, low wages (unless you work at the space center). I live on one of the barrier islands, can't get insurance for under $4500 a year, been told by the assessor that my house isn't worth anything ($56k) but my land is worth almost 1/4 million (paid $74k total in 1994) so I shouldn't be surprised when my assessment keeps going up and the rest of the county goes down. Maybe a hurricane will blow my uninsured house away and I can sell the bare lot (to one of the greedy condo developers who have bought up every single vacant lot beachside) for enough over market to move to Tennessee like everyone else I know.

[gwatersc21]

Brevard County has a lot to offer. It is geographically a long county, something like 75 miles north to south. I have a preference for the central County area like Viera/Suntree/Rockledge. You are still 15 minutes to the beach and 45 minutes to Orlando. Most of the schools in the county have a good reputation.

Regardless of the area you choose, you will find positives and negatives. I guess that is like most areas.

[daveyjones]

Truth is the beachside is not the way to go,every tropical storm the beach loses a lot of sand and the county is getting tired of spending millions to replace it.
But if you got the money,go for it.

Check out the sub-divisions in West Melbourne...great place.

[KT2007]

I have been reading past posts and recent posts about Melbourne. My boyfriend and I are moving to that area from Southern Oregon. People have said one place is good and other people say that place is bad. Is it basically like any other place in the country; in that it all depends on who you are and what your interests are and what you are comfortable with, to determine what places are good and what places are bad? I also would like to know about the colleges. I am majoring in Criminal Justice and need to know good colleges for my major??

We don't get hurricanes here in Oregon so it is not something we have experienced. Do they happen quite often? I watch the news but never have needed to keep up on Florida.

We love the beach and look forward to living closer since we are 2 hours of a drive from the beach and our ocean as many know, is colder than a well diggers butt!!!!! Does anyone recommend beachfront houses?

And what is up with the screened in swimming pools??? Do the alligators like to visit them or what?? Or is it the bugs??

I lived in Mississippi once so I understand the humidity.

Ok my boyfriend just made fun of how much I wrote and that people lose interest in reading.... But I am in college and they always want content!

[floridasandy]

i have a screened in pool. it is for the bugs and to keep debris out of the pool, hopefully not to keep the alligators out...

[nurz2b]

I live in Melbourne and have for nearly 3 years now. My in laws live in Palm Bay. Depending on your personal situation you will find that Viera is more expensive, as that town has set it up so riff raff cannot afford to live there. Palm Bay has, as of yesterday, a population just over 100,000, according to Florida Today news. Melbourne is in the lower 70,000 range. As far as finding empty land, there are mostly empty lots to build on. The housing market is in the dumps. The housing boom is over. There are newly constructed homes on nearly every block that have been empty for almost a year waiting for buyers. They are addressing the taxes. My in laws live in a 4 year old home they built. The first year the taxes were around 1800, last year they were just over 5000. Palm Bay has really become a high crime area for such a small, in area, town. The area called University on Babcock street and an area just west of Emerson drive, called Degrudt, have very bad reputations. There are not many "housing communities" as far as gated goes, in Palm Bay. As far as beach living, if you want to take your chances with hurricanes and higher taxes it is beautiful. Indialantic has some amazing places to go. Even in Melbourne, I live just on the other side of the causeway, you are only about 5-10 minutes from beaches. Viera has more exclusive shopping, and expensive. Downtown Melbourne is nice to walk around. There are a lot of little shops you can visit and nice cafes to sit and talk. Patrick Air Force base is beachside, just the other side of Satellite Beach. Another nice area is Merritt Island. There are substantially more gated communities and great schools. I have a few friends who live there and they love it. The homes in the gated communities can be in the high 200's and up. They are on the river. It has a nice size down town are and you don't really hear of the crime occurring there as you hear about it happening in Palm Bay. There are colleges here. BCC, Keiser, FMU, FIT, are all in Palm Bay or Melbourne. Orlando is only about 45 minutes drive from here. There are more colleges there. Hope some of this helps. I will be glad to answer more specific questions should anyone have any.


I have enclosed the link for the Florida Today online newspaper. If you look to the left you will see the section on Palm Bay and the crime issues it has. You will also be able to look up housing and apartment information. Good Luck.

floridatoday.com