[destinolegri]

You mentioned Destin. It's great place to live. Beautiful, low crime. We do get our fair share of tourists during the summer (March-Aug) but it's not unmanageable. The winters are mild and IMO, the best time of year. The city is currently upgrading our infrastructure. Lots of good restaurants and shopping. Plenty of entertainment.

Hurricanes were mentioned but the truth is, if you aren't directly on the beach, you are fine. I am 30 ft above sea level in my location and sat thru Ivan & Dennis with no damage.

[tiredinfla]

Originally Posted by RAINBOWWAVES

The west coast also gets hit bad by hurricanes as the gulf water is always warmer..the keys and Miami always got thier butts kicked. The east coast had not had a hurricane since the 40s and is not prone to them...The weather ppl said it was a fluke we had 3 hurricanes here.

I would gather that you haven't been here long. Names like Cleo, Betsy, Andrew, King, Irene, Frances and Jeanne to name a few will stir emotions among long time east coast Floridians. I will agree that many hurricanes will slide up along the west coast. A point to note is many hurricanes stay east and follow the gulf stream in the Atlantic where they eventually die out when they hit cooler water. Also many hit the bottom of Florida from east to west continue into the gulf and turn north into Alabama, Mississippi or Louisiana. The Okeechobee hurricane (first recorded force 5 hurricane) made land around Fort Pierce turned north in the center of the state and continued up the eastern U.S. seaboard. I just wanted to point out that no place in Florida is safe.

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by tiredinfla

I would gather that you haven't been here long. Names like Cleo, Betsy, Andrew, King, Irene, Frances and Jeanne to name a few will stir emotions among long time east coast Floridians...<snip>...The Okeechobee hurricane (first recorded force 5 hurricane) made land around Fort Pierce turned north in the center of the state and continued up the eastern U.S. seaboard.

You are correct about East coast storms in general, but Rainbowaves lives in Port St. Lucie and was probably referring to that area. The area was brushed by David in 1979, and was not hit again until Frances and Jeanne in 2004, and Wilma in 2005. That was the total activity in the area in at least 60 years. She erred in referring to the East coast as a whole.

Fort Pierce is already north of Lake Okeechobee, so if a storm entered at Fort Pierce and turned north, it could not possibly hit the lake or the City of Okeechobee. The 1928 hurricane that kiled nearly 2000 people around Lake Okeechobee entered near Palm Beach, then took the path you described. I couldn't find a track for the 1925 storm that hit the lake, but I believe it came in from the West coast.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

Yes oldtimer you are right as usual. We came here mainly because my husbands aunt and uncle had been here 20 yrs and said there hadn't been a major hurricane since the 50s here and that it was said hurricanes didn't usually hit this area. They waited for us to get here...LOL...we got hit DIRECT by Francis, Jeanne and Wilma...WOW!!!!

[grammy164]

That's funny, Rainbow. I can relate. My Dad lived in Lake Worth (right on the intra-coastal) for about 15 years--never got hit with a hurricane. He moved here to central Florida and kept telling us this was even safer. Hadn't seen one here in over 40 years. We moved here (Lake Wales area) the end of July in 2004. BAM--Charley, Frances and Jeanne. We thought they waited for us to get here.

[tiredinfla]

Originally Posted by pslOldTimer

You are correct about East coast storms in general, but Rainbowaves lives in Port St. Lucie and was probably referring to that area. The area was brushed by David in 1979, and was not hit again until Frances and Jeanne in 2004, and Wilma in 2005. That was the total activity in the area in at least 60 years. She erred in referring to the East coast as a whole.

Fort Pierce is already north of Lake Okeechobee, so if a storm entered at Fort Pierce and turned north, it could not possibly hit the lake or the City of Okeechobee. The 1928 hurricane that kiled nearly 2000 people around Lake Okeechobee entered near Palm Beach, then took the path you described. I couldn't find a track for the 1925 storm that hit the lake, but I believe it came in from the West coast.

I guess when the mind gets old strange things happen. You are correct the eye of the storm actually made land in West Palm, headed into Okeechobee then turned north/northeast. I should proof read in the future. I stand corrected. It would have been interesting to see the damage Gordon would have done if it ever got to higher sustained winds. It almost entered the east coast where it departed. It would have been devastating to the area.

[aplacetocallhome]

Don't come to Kissimmee if you're looking for low crime and great schools you can still find affordable housing but, you'll find that all your neighbors are from PR which translate to crime, bad schools and bad neighborhoods. I just recently move here from Long Island and I feel like I'm living in little puerto rico, I'm packing my bags and saying adios amigos.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

grammy164...we were in total shock. Not one but 3!!!! We thank God every day we had a brand new house that was hurricane coded...i think they had just started the coding in 2000 and our house was built in 2001. Plus we paid for a special garage door that has special bracing that can withstand 200mph winds...and it still shook like crazy!!! Frances and Jeanne were very long storms...was like they would never stop..scariest thing we have ever been thru.

[Zooshox]

I'm moving to the Clermont area soon. Can anyone tell me some things about Clermont? How good are the schools? Crime rate? How would you compare Clermont to Davenport?

[LSW]

Stuart Is Beautiful And With Realatively Low Crime. Its About 20 Miles South Of Ft.pierce And 40 Miles North Of West Palm. Much Less Crime Than These 2 Places, Beautiful Beaches, Good Fishing, Many Golf Courses, Pretty Good Mall. You Can Also Drive To West Palm For A Bigger Mall And The Kravis Center Is Wonderful-if You Want To See A Ballet, Opera, Show,ect...you Should Check Out City Data's Statistics On Stuart, Its Pretty Accurate. I Know Because I Am A Native Here.

Stuart Is Low Crime And Beautiful, I'm Not Sure What You Would Consider Cheap, Though. I'll Be Honest, Cheap In Martin County Would Be A Really Small Townhouse, Duplex, Or Something Like That. I'm Not Sure You Can Find A House For Under $200,000 In Stuart These Days. On The Brighter Side, It Really Is A Beautiful And Safe Place To Live. Nice Beaches And Rivers, Lots Of Golf Courses, Good Mall And Shopping. Stuart Is About 40 Miles North Of West Palm Beach, Its Smaller And Has Less Traffic, But Its Not A Very Long Commute If You Want A Bigger Mall Or You Want To Go See A Ballet Or Opera At The Kravis Center.