Originally Posted by FloridaGirl89
I was born and raised in Melbourne/the Melbourne area. I've lived here my whole life and I love it.
Melbourne: Melbourne is a big town (not a big city, just a large town). There are SEVERAL different neighborhoods all in the Melbourne area. When I say Melbourne area I mean Melbourne is kind of the center and has surrounding places that I'll list in detail below. Melbourne has Harris, the Melbourne Airport, the mall, big stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, a community college campus, movie theaters, the biggest local hospital, etc. and it also has a lot of the normal chain restaurants. I've always thought of Melbourne as kind of the central hub of this area. It will have most of the major chain stores and places to eat. There are several gated neighborhoods in all price ranges, it's a pretty safe area. Those neighborhoods have lots of houses and not much yard space though. Melbourne also has regular neighborhoods, some better than others. Don't buy a house near University St. or by Stone Middle School because it isn't a good area. It's easy to get around, it's not too big but not too small. Traffic during rush hours is a drag for me, but nothing compared to like Orlando/other big city traffic.
Areas surrounding Melbourne:
West Melbourne:
Right next to Melbourne (actually I don't really know where the borders are for West Melbourne/Melbourne – it's kind of just the same area but those are the “official names”). There are just more neighborhoods and stuff in West Melbourne. Some nicer than others.
Downtown Melbourne:
Closer to the River (and the beach) is West Melbourne. It's sometimes called “Old Town Melbourne” or “Historic Downtown Melbourne” it's all little specialty shops and antique stores. There is a theater for performances and a chocolate shop, I like the area but I don't think many people actually live IN downtown Melbourne, we just shop there.
Northern Melbourne- Includes towns like Suntree and other nice neighborhoods. It's a rich area and very safe. It is expensive though.
Eau Gallie- (Kind of north of Melbourne) Parts of Eau Gallie are very ghetto, but some areas are okay.
Cocoa- (north of Melbourne) Parts of Cocoa (mainland) are also very ghetto, but I'm assuming some are okay.
Viera- (very north of Melbourne) Viara is a newly developed (and still developing) area. It seems to be developing into a nice, kind of rich area that has safe communities.
Palm Bay: Just west of Melbourne is Palm Bay. (Palm Bay also includes Bayside Lakes, Malabar, Valkaria, and Grant) Palm Bay is even bigger than Melbourne, but just in size, not like city wise. I must say, if you aren't from the area, “Palm Bay” might sound nicer than “Melbourne” but it isn't. It kind of has a reputation of being a more poor than Melbourne/other areas around Melbourne. Because there is so much land, it is very diverse. There is the Palm Bay area that is near the river, which is I don't think THAT good of an area but you might find a nice condo there. There are some country/southern/hick parts of Palm Bay too. They are Valkaria and Grant. There is also the Palm Bay that is just neighborhoods, I don't go in to Palm Bay much so I don't really know about the areas like that. If you want to be closer to Melbourne but live in Palm Bay, than choose Lockmar Estates to live in, it's a really and nice neighborhood, homes will be more than other places in Palm Bay, but worth it. I don't even consider Lockmar to be part of Palm Bay really. There is one nice neighborhood in Malabar, I think it's by “Malabar Lake” or something. And if you have to live further in Palm Bay, Bayside Lakes is a good community to live in, it's nicer than the surrounding areas. Grant and Valkaria are kind of farm style, I have only been there a couple of times. If you live in the outskirts of Palm Bay than it's not so bad, I just wouldn't want to live deep in Palm Bay because I prefer the beach and it's social class is kind of a step below mine (not to be mean or anything).
Going BEACHSIDE is...
Going from north to south, this string of towns is considered “beachside” for the south Brevard County area:
Merritt Island
Cocoa Beach
Satellite Beach
Indian Harbor Beach
Indialantic
Melbourne Beach
South Beaches
Each is a couple of miles long and less than a mile wide (it's one big stretch of land between a big river and the Atlantic ocean. There are causeways in Indialantic (connecting it to Melbourne) and I think Indian harbor Beach (connecting it to Eau Gallie? ...I don't remember the exact boarders for these beachside beaches, they all run together) and some more north too. But there isn't a causeway south of the one in Indiatlantic until you get out of Brevard county, so southern Melbourne Beach and the South Beaches aren't populated as much and they don't have as many stores/restaurants as the other beaches. Some like it that way though, it's quieter for sure. Sebastian Inlet is down in the South Beaches area and it's world famous for surfing. Cocoa Beach is famous for surfing too because Kelly Slater is from there (8x world champ). Satellite Beach is a nicer community, it's very, very safe. Indian Harbor Beach and Indialantic are WONDERFUL, some neighborhoods are gated and nice. Some houses along the river or beach are mansions, and some houses in between are small older houses. It's pricey to live beachside but I think it's worth it. Along these beachside communities are several neighborhoods, some local little shops, surf shops, local amazing places to eat, some chain stores and stuff (all the basics are covered such as Wal-Mart & Publix) and a verity of things everywhere, I love it. Satellite beach and north from there is more in the northern area of the Melbourne area. They are more in the northern Melbourne (mainland) area and Viera (mainland), a nice place for sure. Southern Melbourne Beach and below are a bit out of the way for the Melbourne area because of the lack of causeway connecting it to the mainland. Beachside is definitely a nicer place to live and more expensive, but with the sunrises over the ocean and sunsets over the river, the amazing people and places to go, and the surf community, I think it's definitely worth it.
Schools:
There are several preschools and elementary schools. Florida schools aren't known for their high quality, so don't be surprised with the over attention on standardized testes, namely the dreaded FCAT. I personally am NOT a fan of the public school system so I'll just try and say the good about the local high schools:
Melbourne High School (Mel Hi to the locals) is a very nice high school (very big too) with tuns of clubs and stuff. The students that go there are pretty well off when it comes to social class. It's a typical high school, I think it's second only to Satellite in the area when it comes to....how shall we say...quality of the students and school as a whole. Students that go there include those who live in Melbourne, Indian Harbor Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, West Melbourne, and a little part of Palm Bay.
Satellite High: Pretty much the richest kids around go there. I love it, it's a wonderful school. Their cheerleading team is VERY good and their football team is VERY bad! The students that go there seem to really enjoy everything about the school. Students who go there are from Satellite Beach, nicer parts of Melbourne (northern Melbourne), and I don't really know where else.
Palm Bay High School:
PBHS is kind of a ghetto school. Even though it's technically located in Melbourne it's called PBHS because most of the kids who go there live in Palm Bay. They have a VERY good football team, always are in the top 5 in the state. I wouldn't send my kids there just because the class of students/teachers is...not above average. Students who go there are from Palm Bay, (including from the neighborhood of Lockmar, those kids stand out in a positive way) but not deep into Palm Bay.
Bayside High School:
Bayside is a pretty diverse school, half the students are rednecks and half are gangster. I don't know too much about the school, it seems okay, probably nicer than PBHS but I'm not quite sure. I do know they have a horrible football team! Students who go there are from deep in Palm Bay, including Bayside lakes (those kids are not rednecks or gangster so they stand out in a positive way), Grant, Valkaria, and Malabar.
Other high schools I don't know much about:
Eau Gallie High- include kids from parts of Melbourne/Eau Gallie
Cocoa High- includes kids from the mainland side of Cocoa, a really ghetto school. Worse than PBHS.
Cocoa Beach Jr. & Sr. High- includes kids from Cocoa Beach and I'm not sure where else.
Merritt Island High School- includes kids from Merritt Island and I'm not sure where else.
Viara High School- A brand new school in Viera, a nice area, a nice school.
A new high school is being built in Palm Bay this year and will be open soon. Not sure about the details of that. All the high schools are very large, 2-3 thousand kids in each of them. If you have specific questions about a particular school, ask me and I will be able to tell you.
South Brevard County is a good area, I love it. If you have any questions, let me know.
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05-30-2008, 07:50 AM
Thank you everyone!
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