[ozy]

If you want to be within 15 min of melbourne airport you are in luck. If you lived anywhere in eaugallie 15 min is easy. The suntree and palm bay areas will add considerably to the time and frustration of the commute. Eaugallie, Melbourne or Melbourne beach are all nice, have good schools and meet your drive time.

[Cartagoani]

FloridaGirl, you are great! I hope that your advice have helped this family.
I was just browsing around and found your tips for this family. I would love to move to that area.
Maybe in the near future. Now we are living in Charlotte,NC but the job situation is bad here. Last year I was working as ESL Teacher Assistant for the public school distric but they have had a huge laid off for teachers, assistants, etc.etc. and I have no job now, I keep aplying for any vacancy they have but there are more applicants than jobs. My husband just retired from the army and we have a seven year old son. I was wondering how are the jobs around there. I am bilingual (English-Spanish) and I have an Associates in Early Childhood Education.
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Cheers!

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by kahskye

FloridaGirl, I just want to thank you for taking the time to post all of this information. We may be moving to the Brevard area, and this post has been most helpful.

Please do not believe all the things posted about the different communities here in Melbourne/Palm Bay area. All the ghetto talk is just amazing to me. How condescending can we get. All of Brevard county is a great place to raise a family. Like most communities there are good and bad areas to live in. With growth we have gone from a place where doors weren't locked to a place where you have to be aware-no matter which town mainland or beachside you live. You will find that there are mostly friendly caring people on the Spacecoast.

Our beaches are beutiful and uncrowded. Our schools are in the top 2 or 3 of the state. Our kids do as well in athletics as they do in Science and Math competitions and we usually have teams going to state in sports and scholastics.

This link compares cost of living, schools, crime.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Tripdad

I was hoping for a little advice from some Brevard locals. I am currently living in Orlando but am thinking about moving over to the east coast. Ive been over to the area a bunch and basically have narrowed it down to Viera, Suntree area and Indialantic/Melbourne Beach. My wife and I are in our early/mid 30s and have 3 very young kids (triplets) and we want to raise them closer to the beach area plus we've grown out of our current house here and need something close to 2800 square feet minimum. Im originally from the Jersey Shore and miss being within close proximity to the beach. Any thoughts?

Been here for 30 years- Viera would not be one of my choices. It is houses and a few businesses built out in a field with all the trees removed. It mostly has houses that look pretty much the same within a few feet of each other. Access to the beach is quite a ways away. Right now I live n South Palm Bay- beautiful newer houses, good roads and schools, but it is too far from the causeways. Viera would have the same problem. It takes us about 30-35 minutes to get beachside. We always lived on the river but decided we wouldn't chance another hurricane on the river. Francis and Jeanne wore us down. I would have the same problem with Sun Tree. It is a nicer area than Viera, though. I guess if I lived that far North I would hit Cocoa Beach as my beach instead of the Melbourne beaches, though so not sure how far that would be.

Indiatlantic is a great small town on the beach. A lot of people buy a 1950s house, tear it down , and build a nicer bigger home on the prime lots. Its a little more affordable than Melbourne Beach, but Melbourne Beach is kind of a cool community that has family oriented activities in their park. Sort of Norman Rockwell where everyone seems to gather in the park. Moms with their kids, older people playing shuffleboard. Just sort of picture perfect.

From reading these boards and seeing people quoting their insurance for less than a $1000, I have to warn you that it is much higher here. Even our car insurance has a hurricane charge on it. It is actually a little difficult to find homeowners insurance even here on the mainland. We got dropped twice in 3 years and have had this one for 2. Every time we get a letter from them we feart it will be the one saying they are leaving Florida. LOL We are with a company we never heard of before and just pray they will be solvent if we need them. Ours is just under $2000 a year for a 3 year old house-2100 sq ft. . Car insurance for 2 cars is just under $3000, but we have low deductable.

Melbourne, Palm Bay, West Melbourne, Rockledge, Cocoa Beach, Indian Harbor, Satellite Beach etc. all have some beautiful neighborhoods so come over and check them out and don't take just a couple people's opinions. Find a good realtor that will do research for you, too.

[ChrisA70]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom;10729949[B

]Please do not believe all the things posted about the different communities here in Melbourne/Palm Bay area. All the ghetto talk is just amazing to me.[/b] How condescending can we get. All of Brevard county is a great place to raise a family. Like most communities there are good and bad areas to live in. With growth we have gone from a place where doors weren't locked to a place where you have to be aware-no matter which town mainland or beachside you live. You will find that there are mostly friendly caring people on the Spacecoast.

Our beaches are beutiful and uncrowded. Our schools are in the top 2 or 3 of the state. Our kids do as well in athletics as they do in Science and Math competitions and we usually have teams going to state in sports and scholastics.

This link compares cost of living, schools, crime.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

I agree.... The few places... Cocoa, University Blvd in Melbourne, and a few select streets are ghetto, NOT ALL of Bravard. I miss the Melbourne area. Yet where I am now is a good place over here on this side of the state. I agree Viera, Suntree are great, Rockledge is nice as long as it's not too close to Cocoa, now that IS ghetto.

[hopelovegrace]

What about Cocoa Beach? I currently live in Indianapolis, Indiana and I am planning to relocate when my lease expires next year in August, so I still have a while to plan my move. I have heard some conflicting information about Cocoa/Cocoa Beach. What is the difference and how far apart are they? I have two school aged children, and my daughter has disabilities (down syndrome) so I'd like to make sure they are in a good school with resources, even though she has been mainstreamed in the classroom here. I'd like to find a small house close to the beach or know about rentals that are in a good area. It's hard to know what areas are good. I plan to come for two weeks in December to look around, but I'd like to know which specific areas to look. I'm interested in Melbourne-how does the Melbourne Beach area differ? Higher cost of living? Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

~Naomi