[rroes56]

Originally Posted by LFJourney

I'm grateful for you taking the time to set me straight. I've heard that others seem to like Lakeland as much as you so that obviously says something, and you always make me think twice. I agree with you that I really need to go there to see it for myself before making judgments.

A few weeks ago I spent a ridiculous amount of time and searched high and low to find what seemed to be the most reliable health ranking report for Florida. Most sites were very inconsistent, which made me skeptical anyway, but I found this one to be the best. Here's the link for Polk, but you can change it to whatever county or even state.

[url]https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/explore-health-rankings/florida/polk?year=2022[/url]

However, I totally admit that this information can be skewed big time if you look at the county in it's entirety. The reason I say that is because it shows Sarasota County as #7 healthiest in the state. I rolled my eyes when I first saw this, mainly because of what I've witnessed mainly in Venice but even in Sarasota! I said to a friend recently that I wish I could find something like this but city/town specific because that could make a huge difference.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you're feeling better and on your way to recovery after being in the hospital.

TY for the link! Being a retired RN makes medical care extremely important to me!

[LFJourney]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Well, it was worth a shot! I hope you will keep us all updated about what you choose, we will all be curious (nosy, lol)

Believe me, I truly appreciate any recommendations that might work for me. Lakewood Ranch probably would have been a great suggestion if I hadn't grown up not far from there. Thanks again, and I'll definitely update this thread once I finally figure out where I belong, which hopefully will be sooner rather than later. I still can't believe how long it's been since I sold my home and that I still haven't purchased another one due to all the unforeseen circumstances that Covid has caused. I keep hoping that I'm going to wake up and find that I was just having a bad nightmare!

[LFJourney]

Originally Posted by rroes56

LFJourney
Thanks for your post. All your concerns are our concerns as we are trying to return to FL after being gone 20+ years. We sold our home in the Tampa area and all of FL has changed greatly since leaving in '01, imo. We thought in April '22 after traveling all over FL we had found our retirement spot.....Vero Beach! Now, not so sure! (airport traffic and closeness to beach, hurricanes, and all of the expenses that go along with hurricanes) I am desperately wanting to find out how things will change in the RE mkt after the 1st of next year and waiting to see what the changes will be in Property insurance after Ian/Nicole. We've been in OKC area for the past 4+ years and the insurance here is ridiculous!!!! You are a person with very similar desires for a FL location from what I am reading and I will be looking forward to see where you pick! I hope you find your new home soon!

Thanks for your feedback. I watch the real estate market ad nauseum and receive emails about it every day from various blogs that I've signed up for. I'm honestly exhausted from it and can't wait to find my new home so I can feel normal again. It's been a painful process. At least things are getting a little better for buyers now, and I can only hope that trend continues after the first of the year. I will tell you that property insurance is definitely increasing dramatically in Florida, and it was already increasing before Ian and Nicole. People complain about it constantly. You also have to be extra careful on the company you choose because they may not have the ability to even pay a claim, but they'll gladly take your money! I'd love to know what the insurance is now on my home that I unfortunately sold. I'll for sure update my thread when I figure out where I'm supposed to be at this stage of my life. Good luck with your search, too!

[LFJourney]

Originally Posted by rroes56

TY for the link! Being a retired RN makes medical care extremely important to me!

You're very welcome. Having quality medical care AND being around people who have healthy behaviors (like not smoking, diet and exercise, etc.) is so very important to me so finding those traits in a city/town is where I know that I'll belong.

[cyp555]

How about Lakewood Ranch?

[cyp555]

Scratch that. I see it has been talked about earlier. I researched the area some time ago due to a possible job n relocation that did not materialize.

[LFJourney]

Originally Posted by cyp555

Scratch that. I see it has been talked about earlier. I researched the area some time ago due to a possible job n relocation that did not materialize.

You're right, I'm not interested in Lakewood Ranch because it's a little too close to where I grew up, but thanks anyway.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by LFJourney

I heard things have gotten better since I left two very long years ago, but it was definitely an issue in Heathrow...for sure! And anytime I was out and about running errands on Lake Mary Boulevard or Rinehart Road or 46A or wherever I was going, I often felt there was a very low flying and extremely loud jet over my head. In fact, there were times that I'd be outside the pool store or wherever having a conversation, and it was difficult to hear what the other person was saying. Lake Mary is so wonderful with tons of upscale communities so it was hard for me to understand why they let that airport get to the point of becoming such a nuisance. When I moved to the area in 1992, I didn't even know there was an airport there, and it was many years (thankfully) before it became so active.

I'm puzzled by your experiences because these newer Allegiant jets have noise baffles and are surprisingly quiet. Furthermore the flight path for landings roughly follow 25th Street/46-A and largely takeoff out over Lake Monroe. None of the flight paths are low-flying over Lake Mary as it's too far from the airport in terms of trajectory.

[LFJourney]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I'm puzzled by your experiences because these newer Allegiant jets have noise baffles and are surprisingly quiet. Furthermore the flight path for landings roughly follow 25th Street/46-A and largely takeoff out over Lake Monroe. None of the flight paths are low-flying over Lake Mary as it's too far from the airport in terms of trajectory.

I haven't lived there for a couple of years so maybe things have changed. I lived in the Heathrow community on the west side of I4 so maybe you're down on the other side of Lake Mary. I can just tell you that Heathrow had so many complaints about it that the Board appointed someone to be an advocate and to go to meetings at the airport about the noise. It also wasn't all of Heathrow that was affected by the noise, but I won't go there! There's even a website where complaints were logged by homeowners in Lake Mary. It was a big deal, but maybe Allegiant got tired of fighting with all of the angry homeowners. I also lived pretty much in the middle of Heathrow, and 46A was right out the north/rear gate of the community. When I was there, the jets were so loud and low that I could clearly see Allegiant's name on the jet, etc. It sounds like the airport finally listened and did something about this nuisance because Lake Mary is a great place to live. And when I first moved there 30 years, I didn't even know there was an airport there because it wasn't used then for commercial purposes. It didn't start to become an issue until years later.

[traysea]

Originally Posted by LFJourney

Thanks so much for your feedback. The house that I sold was in a gated community in Lake Mary in Seminole County. I unfortunately moved to Venice in Sarasota County. They're literally like night and day.

I'm glad that you at least don't hate Miami like I do here. It's interesting that you lived in Brevard because I just went there a couple of weeks ago to check out Viera that someone told me about. Do you know anything about Viera, and did you like living in Brevard? Viera is a newer area, which I like, but maybe it wasn't growing when you lived over there.

After reading your situation, what is it about Venice? I live in greater Orlando area and considering buying a 2nd home to mainly use to park money and enjoy and possibly rent out enough to pay for upkeep.

My cousin has a winter home in Englewood ( lives in NJ during summer) and I soooo wanted to fall in love with it, but didn’t. Housing prices seem stupid expensive for what you get. The beaches/vibe are not as nice as what I’ve appreciated visiting Sarasota and Lido Key.

Ideas for you ( I’m checking out these areas too— )
Mt Dora - we go here a lot and have a friend that lives downtown. I’m in love with the vibe.
Dunellon ( Rainbow River area?) cute downtown and it’s not perfect but has some room to build
Dunedin
Palmetto ( maybe areas a bit north to Venice)
Deland