[Phriend]

What are the best Florida beach towns to live in year-round? (Please take the crime rate into consideration when answering!)

Gracias.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Guess it depends on your income.. I like Naples, I prefer the beaches on the west coast over the East coast anyday.

[Alphaman]

Treasure Island, Madeira beach, St Pete beach, Panama City beach there are quite a few but they are all different depends on what your looking for, You might want to do a bit of exploring.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I have to agree that I prefer the West coast of Florida, specifically Naples and Fort Myers. I have heard good things about Bradenton and Sarasota but have no personal knowledge of them.

I live half way in between Daytona and Orlando and I find Daytona trashy, certainly NOT my kind of place at all. The goings on in Daytona whether it be bike week or race week have a huge impact on the surrounding area, the traffic on I'4 is unreal.

[~peaches~]

I live in Bradenton FL, we have beautiful beaches here, Bradenton Beach and Anna Marie Island. Sarasota has Siesta Key which is gorgeous!

That being said, I have noticed the closer you live to the beaches here the older the communities are. We moved to West Bradenton ( 2 miles from the beach) and we live in a retirement community. We are moving a little further east since we are a young couple in our 30's with a child who would benefit greatly if we moved. Also if you choose Bradenton as your home, check the area out throughly. Some parts on the East side of town are saturated with drug activity and gangs.

If you are younger I would suggest Lakewood Ranch in Bradenton. I can't speak for Sarasota, we have only been there a few times and from what I understand it's an older community and very touristy (sp). When we decided to move here we thought we don't care where we live, it's by the most beautiful beaches in the USA, but I quickly learned the congestion and traffic are to much to bear.

[SoFLGal]

I agree with Peaches, Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Beach are great little beach towns! I grew up on Longboat Key right next to Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach and my parents started the local paper out on Anna Maria called the Islander (way back in the 60's). It's definitely a great area to live in!

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by Phriend

What are the best Florida beach towns to live in year-round? (Please take the crime rate into consideration when answering!)

Gracias.

Northwest Florida offers the best beaches and low crime...Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, Mexico Beach, Navarre Beach, Pensacola Beach, just to mention a few.

http://www.visitflorida.com/images/m...p_section1.pdf

Florida Beaches - Northwest Florida

[Alphaman]

Originally Posted by sunrico90

Northwest Florida offers the best beaches and low crime...Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, Mexico Beach, Navarre Beach, Pensacola Beach, just to mention a few.

http://www.visitflorida.com/images/m...p_section1.pdf

Florida Beaches - Northwest Florida

Of course you would say that, you live there.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

Of course you would say that, you live there.

We do and we call it Paradise....

[Alphaman]

Originally Posted by sunrico90

We do and we call it Paradise....

I have never been to the panhandle areas yet you have any photos you could share? I have a friend that lives in panama city and she tells me it`s really nice up there.