Help? Where Should We Live In Fl!?!? (Miami, Tampa: relocation, home)

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by vixiegirl07

Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place, but its my first time doing this stuff.

Me and my husband are looking to move to the Florida panhandle area in about a year. We are both in our twenties and have no children. He is a civil engineer and I am a science teacher.

Here are a list of the things we want to wherever we go in the Panhandle area:

-place to have our sailboat on a dock outside or near a house or apartment
-good job opportunities for both of us
-low cost of living, realistically (we are from Houston after all)
-low traffic
-someplace that is not the ghetto and is clean

Please please help me with this. I have been reading some of these forums and it sounds like alot of you are familiar with this area. Please tell me the things to look out for and the pros and cons of the Panhandle area.

Thanks for all the help in advance.

We have a number of post in regards NW Florida, do a search and you will find a lot of info.

[mgaines8]

Originally Posted by Want2LiVEinFLasap

Silversurfer...The reason I asked is because of the Orlando area, where we originally wanted to go, has had some of the worst reviews I've read on here talking of "gangs, crimes, and disregard for human life". We are trying to get out of such a violent area (Detroit) and was surprised to see Orlando (I think of Disney) to have comparable numbers of violent and felony crimes. Anyway, thanks for the advice and the comment, all are welcome.

As a mostly lifelong resident of FL, it is not reasonable to compare a city with almost 1 million people (Detroit) to one with 200,000 (Orlando). Also realize certain terms don't always mean the same things in all places, including the words, ghetto and gangs. Many major cities in FL don't have anything that even compares to the city projects in the North or the street life people refer to in S. California.

Does Orlando have problems? Yes. There is not a city in FL with concentrations of lower income residents that do not have violent crime.
However, if Orlando was as violent as it is made out to be, millions of people wouldn't flock there to spend $1000's every year or think of it as Disney. There are many areas of Orlando where one could live and raise a family and not be subject to violent crime. Consider something called gated communities. Law enforcement agents are welcome there and other neighborhoods with open arms. Really nice areas in Orlando are Winter Park, Gotha, Windemere as someone mentioned, Islesworth, Heathrow, Wekiva and Celebration to name a few. I would move to Orlando if the opportunity availed itself gladly.

[kelkelpa]

I am 30 years old, a nurse, and mom of 3 little ones.I am also looking to move to FL. Everytime I find a place I do a predator search and BAM there are 80 within 5 mile radius. Ten tears ago we lived in carrabelle fl only to move back to pa. We have missed it ever since. Carrabelle has gotten way to pricey. We are looking for an area with an acre or more, nice homes, great schools, far away enough from hurricanes not to get demolished without a town full of crime and predators. I really liked Carrabelle. I also need help!!???

[Wutsup]

Originally Posted by demogirl50

We love North Port,moved here 4 years ago and won't be going anywhere soon.

I am in process of finding a teaching job in Sarasota or Charlotte Schools so that I can move to North Port. I am looking for a community that has lots of kids (I have 3 sons, 15,13,6) With some shopping (Walmart would be nice) Just don't want to have to travel more than 15 mins. to go to grocery. Decent schools (though I worry about the number of students in High School) we are from a small community. I am curious about the "school within a school" concept that Sarasota County High Schools are trying. It sounds to me like a viable way to combat the issues in High Schools with large populations.
It was exciting to me to hear from someone that moved to North Port and liked it. Would like to hear more from you and why you like it. Please feel free to email me.

[AnotherDayInParadise]

The 'school within a school' concept at North Port High School is called Small Learning Communities, and they currently have the following communities: Architecture, Construction & IT; Arts A/V Tech & Communication, Business Management & Hospitality; Health Science; Human Services Education & Training; Law, Governemnt & Public Safety; and Performing Arts. The Performing Arts Center at the HS is top-notch. North Port has a new middle school opening in time for next school year, Woodlands.

[onegreatnurse]

Originally Posted by ajavella

This is a great thread for My wife and I. Now, we are from Hoboken NJ so we can appreciate the positives of diversity. We were just in florida last month and are expecting to move there in less than a year. We are South Florida people. We do not want the quiet neighborhoods of the Jacksonville suburban area. We are still in that weekend nights out stage. We decided living in Downtown Ft Lauderdale will be great now then when ready for a family we will go north and west to Suburbs. I honestly could not handle living in North Florida when many of the people are Bible Belters and as an earlier post said "fighting the Civil War". We are Mets (sorry I cant call myself a Yankee) from the North East and know we belong in Broward or West Palm beach Counties.

I'm trying to move there myself in under a year and having grown up here Northeastern NJ (and having been quite familiar with the Hoboken bar scene as well as all of its restaurants which are as diverse as the population) I want to be someplace with a nightlife and cultural diversity too, but will probably go to the Jupiter area/North Palm Beach County for the schools for my son. Bonus--you can watch the Mets play a little further up north in Port St. Lucie!! (I can't call myself a Yankee either!!!! GO METS!!!)

[nc2sc]

right on mmaa! I think rather than looking at the dominant skin color in an area how about things that matter such as actual crime rates not the race that you predict will commit crimes. Maybe look at school ratings or the percentage of citizens that have bachelors degrees. I hope to move to Fl. within the next year and we will be looking for homes around 320k and I can assure you anyone who can afford to be my neighbor is welcome to do so because they obviously get up and go to work and strive to be productive membors of society. You however should find a low rent trailor park with rebel flags drapped on front porches if you want to fit in!!!!

[Lee Coonce]

This is a great time to purchase a home in Florida. There are thousands of homes in foreclosure or short sale status. Just this week I purchased a home in Venice, FL at exactly 50% of what it sold for 30 months earlier.

Check out the following site for auctions that will be going on in the next few weeks on the Gulf Coast and other locations.

Foreclosed Properties: Buying Foreclosed Home, Properties & Foreclosed Home Listing For Sale

Many realtors also have lists of homes in short sale or foreclosure status.

At the prices homes are selling for you cannot really afford to rent.

[aesoprocks!]

wow, so someone mentions that they want to live in a predominantly white area, and some of you give the OP crap about it? so what if he wants to live in a "white" community!

stats dont lie. there are good and bad in all races, but he definitely will want to stay away from most of south fla, tampa, and orlando areas.

[compelled to reply]

Yeah, because there is so much more fun, quality homes and safety in north Florida (no offense many parts are great but so are parts of central and south FL). You also are forgetting how many black people live up there. Not that there is anything wrong with black people to me, but to other people there evidently might be a problem. Some of you guy should actually check out cities like Cleveland and Detroit. At least different races don't intermingle there, and we all know how wonderful these places are.