Best small towns in Central/South Florida? (Miami, Fort Myers: housing, rent)

[asdavid]

Just wanted anyone's input on good small towns located south of Venice Beach and North of West Palm (East to West Coast and in between). I posted an earlier question about Belle Glade, Clewiston, and South Bay. Looks like they are not good choices for my in-laws who are retired and on a fixed budget. We want to drive them around this weekend and I'm hoping for some great locations to take them to.

Thanks!

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by asdavid

Just wanted anyone's input on good small towns located south of Venice Beach and North of West Palm (East to West Coast and in between). I posted an earlier question about Belle Glade, Clewiston, and South Bay. Looks like they are not good choices for my in-laws who are retired and on a fixed budget. We want to drive them around this weekend and I'm hoping for some great locations to take them to.

Thanks!

Port Charlotte, North Port, Punta Gorda, Sebring, Lake Placid, Port St Lucie are quite affordable again due to the housing bust... Tons of vacant newer homes in need of retirees..

[kwick release]

Check out Sebastian, Vero Beach, and Satellite Beach.

[kcm]

Try a small town called Lake Placid... it is about even with venice, maybe just a little bit north of it and right up the center of the state on highway 27. But it is quaint and only has two traffic lights through town. It moves quietly through the country from the side streets of the town and has some nice housing hiding in it's outskirts.
There are some really nice lakes around and the town is covered in murals in the center of town it is called "The town of Murals". A lot of retires live there but it is slowly growing as is the town north of it called Sebring... Sebring has the shopping and activities such as "The 12 hours of Sebring" that is a race that takes place in March and the whole town is "abuzz" at that time.
There is an Art League, if you are interested in that or activities in a lot of the retirement communities. Sebring is much larger than Lake Placid but has more activity.
The best part about both Lake Placid and Sebring is that the traffic is a lot less traffic than... lets say Fort Myers, which is only 70 miles away. As a matter of fact, Lake Placid is 92 miles (about 1 hour and 45 min.) from Universal Studios.... Or you can get up in the morning and drive to either coast in about 1 -1/2 hours.. the beach only 90 min.s away and ya don't have to put up with the traffic. You can enjoy any one of the lakes in the area too.... Lake June, Lake Placid, Lake istapoka, Lake Okeechobee, and a multitude of other smaller lakes, and the great part of that is you don't have to deal with the salt water ( it will eat up a lot of things just because the salt is in the air.)
The sunsets are fabulous and the wild birds are wonderful to watch and feed... the Egrets will almost walk up to you and eat right out of your hand (well ya got to toss it to them alittle bit). We have a blue bird that looks a lot like a Blue Jay but they are called Scrub Jays and you can feed them peanuts, they will land right on top of your head or in your hand as long as you have a peanut in it.
Before your inlaws make any choices have them take a look at "Hammock" state park in Sebring and go to Gatorama just south of Lake Placid, there is a lot to do if you want to take the time to do it all. Sebring is a little bit more active and is growing quite fast and Lake Placid is the smaller quieter "Sub" so to speak.... but they both are so centrally located you can be just about any where in a few hours.
One more great point.... We are where the coast evacuates to during the hurricanes. We are "Highlands County" the highest part of Florida. You are welcome to join us. And housing is still lower priced than the coast.

[Florida Cracker 1159]

Originally Posted by asdavid

Just wanted anyone's input on good small towns located south of Venice Beach and North of West Palm (East to West Coast and in between). I posted an earlier question about Belle Glade, Clewiston, and South Bay. Looks like they are not good choices for my in-laws who are retired and on a fixed budget. We want to drive them around this weekend and I'm hoping for some great locations to take them to.

Thanks!

Vero Beach is an excellent place to retire. My parents retired there in the early 90's from Miami and love it. Housing is more affordable in Vero the further west you go. The closer you get to the beach, the more expensive.
[SIZE=3]Vero has beautiful beaches, good restaurants, excellent shopping opportunities, and low crime. I would also check out Sebastian, it’s only about 10 miles north of Vero on U.S.1.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]As for inland towns, Sebring and Lake Placid are pretty nice, but boring. Stay the heck away from some of those towns like South Bay and Belle Glade or any of the towns on Lake Okeechobee for that matter.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Good Luck!![/SIZE]

[zeratul]

we live in miami and planed to come sebring for a weekend...many things we see that we can do at day time but how about at nights?is there any bar,disco in sebring also hows night life in there? i am sure after miami not excellent but we wonder..

[Carbondated]

Originally Posted by JohnVosilla

Port Charlotte, North Port, Punta Gorda, Sebring, Lake Placid, Port St Lucie are quite affordable again due to the housing bust... Tons of vacant newer homes in need of retirees..

I wouldn't suggest Port Charlotte or North Port. Read previous threads about those areas and I think you will agree.