Small town in FL to raise kids (Miami, Tampa: environment, relocate)

[cubanjennie]

My husband is a physician and we are looking to find a job in FL and relocate. It seems that the best opportunities for him are in small towns (since they are less doctors willing to move there). We're in our late 30's and have two small kids (5 & 7). Our main goal is to find a good place to raise our kids and we will like to do some boating for fun. I grew up in Miami, we went to school in Gainesville (UF) and we now live in a "small" town of TX (Lubbock, close to 200,000 people). I want to move back to FL because of weather (we like it hot!) and to be closer to family (both our families are in big cities of FL) but my husband will only move to a small or smaller town. any advice about Sebring, Springhill, New Port Richie, Ocala, or any other small towns of FL. PLEASE!!

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by cubanjennie

My husband is a physician and we are looking to find a job in FL and relocate. It seems that the best opportunities for him are in small towns (since they are less doctors willing to move there). We're in our late 30's and have two small kids (5 & 7). Our main goal is to find a good place to raise our kids and we will like to do some boating for fun. I grew up in Miami, we went to school in Gainesville (UF) and we now live in a "small" town of TX (Lubbock, close to 200,000 people). I want to move back to FL because of weather (we like it hot!) and to be closer to family (both our families are in big cities of FL) but my husband will only move to a small or smaller town. any advice about Sebring, Springhill, New Port Richie, Ocala, or any other small towns of FL. PLEASE!!

Check the northwest part of the state Navarre, Pace, Milton, Jay, and Crestview. Great location close to Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola, and Destin. Small towns and they have great possibilities...

Low crime, better pricing for houses, and great beaches... We called Navarre the best kept secret and for many is paradise...

[BUBBAboyTM]

I lived in New Port Richey for many years. I loved it!!!! I miss it so much... very quiet area and very convenient to Clearwater and Tampa. You have Wal-Mart and any other kind of "chain" store you can think of but still have the hometown feel. I actually knew all of my neighbors and they would come over and say HI and sit on my porch and have coffee. I felt COMPLETELY safe and had no problem jogging in the wee hours of the morning. There seems to be many retirees there, so a doctor would be a good thing... there is also a medium-sized hospital there. But again, you have Clearwater and Tampa very close, so you have many options. Plus in this area is that houses are cheap... minus is that insurance is EXTREMELY expensive! I am not sure if you are hispanic... I am. I found that since most of that area is anglo, there wasn't really a good understanding of hispanics. Not racism, but some ignorance. The few hispanics in that area are Mexican. There are LOTS of Europeans, New Yorkers and a nice area near by with lots of greek families. NPR has a cute little downtown and they have parades and festivals all of the time. Big drawback about NPR is that the town rolls up the sidewalks at 10 p.m. So, to go have a drink or dinner or what have you, you need to get into your car and go to either Clearwater or Tampa. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me. Take care and good luck! Rich

[cubanjennie]

yes, I'm hispanic (cuban) but my husband is American. He doesn't understand how it's more important to me (than him) to be in a more cosmopolitan area just because I feel like I fit in more. He feels that I can find nice people any where and he favors smaller towns.

[BUBBAboyTM]

Hi... I am cuban too! Born and reared in Miami. They do have a great Cuban restaurant in NPR that is run by a cuban family... really good food! Its called "The Black Bean Deli". My story started like this... I was working in Clearwater and was driving around looking for a house... I stumbled upon NPR by mistake... I was driving around and I liked what I saw. Then I saw the Cuban restaurant and I thought to myself, "Hey, this place can't be that bad!" and I bought a house! LOL NPR is nice... but it will be culture shock. It is NOT Miami... most people there are extremely anglo and not really hip with ethnic people. But in their defense, most people are extremely polite and go out of their way to learn about you... that is all one can really ask for. NPR is also on a beautiful wide river (which does not flood, BTW) that goes out to the ocean... so there are some very nice high-end homes their too! To give you a comparison, NPR reminds me of Miami in the 1970s... majority anglo people with a nice, polite "southern" vibe. I would have no qualms about raising kids there although I would feel a need to give them an extra-strong dose of "cuban-ness" at home. One draw back is that NPR is in Pasco County... which does not have a very high per capita income. Unfortunately, many times that comes with certain attitudes and ways of being. If I was raising kids in NPR, I would feel a need to watch them VERY closely, give them a very strong base at home and then watch them closely some more! LOL But, I guess you really have to do that anyway. BTW... I know that in NPR they just built a great state-of-the-art recreation complex with swimming pool and the works. It costs peanuts to join it. I left right before they finished it. Here is the city's website cityofnewportrichey.org I think NPR has a good balance because your husband can have his "small town" and you can drive into Clearwater or Tampa for some city fun. Oh, and Tampa actually has the oldest Cuban community in Florida... Ybor City. Its a fun place full of history but its surrounded by a horrible neighborhood. They have "Centro Ybor" there which is like a MUCH nicer version of Cocowalk in Miami. RE: Springhill. Springhill is right next to NPR... It is nice, but I personally like NPR better as it has a nicer hometown feel and it actually has a little downtown with old buildings.

[doni]

Check out Niceville--just over the bridge from Destin. Best schools in the state, very clean ! Kid friendly , we moved here because we wanted a good environment for our son.
Best thing we ever did as parents. No gangs, minimal crime. Boating and fishing, sports
you name it, it's here.

[gypsychic]

Lakeland - beautiful smaller city (pop almost 100,000) sits between Tampa and Orlando. Quite a few Cuban, Latin, Mexican and other restaurants here, it's more diverse than people realize.

[sunrico90]

All get back to the question.

Sunrico90

[journey1]

Try Ocala...Small, but growing. Great hospitals and doctors in Gainsville and Ocala. Ocala is still the very afforable than most places.

We have a great home with 4.69 acreas for sale in a great location. Trying to down size. We live between Gainesville and Ocala. Easy drive for both...about 20-25 mins.

Please check out Ocala.

[kwick release]

We are moving to the Melbourne area MAR08. More specifically, we will be buying a home in Satellite or Indian Harbour Beach. The public schools are great. In fact, well over 50% of the physicians in the area send their kids to public school. Lot's of boating too!