[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Today1354

"compelled to reply" I understand that my criteria may be very broad and fits many different locations. I guess I am just trying to find the "perfect" place in Florida. I don't know quite how to say this but I am looking for the city that you would most want to live in if money was of no issue. I have been fortunate to have acquired success in my life so money is not so much of an issue. I really want a town where I can raise my kids in complete safety, go to the many parks and beaches on sunny days and the mall on weekends. I am not interested in the "hippiest, artsy environment". Rather, the perfect family oriented suburbia town.

Thanks again!

Boca is..umm...well, it has good schools but you have to visit it for yourself to see if you can take it. It's "different". All of those areas I named will meet your criteria as will many more areas. Boca meets it yet doesn't meet it, as there aren't many parks and it IS a (Joan Rivers) retirement oriented area, except for West Boca which IMO is just a bunch of houses and strip malls and not really that nice. It's kind of like Weston but without the parks, planning and family activities. One area that I would check out, however, is Wellington. It is more family oriented than Boca and I think exactly what you are looking for.

[HoneyRyder]

I would suggest Coral Gables.

[AnotherDayInParadise]

Here are some of the communities of New Tampa. It's only my opinion, but I prefer Gulf to Atlantic. You've got lots of research ahead of you.

[2bohemians]

Originally Posted by Today1354

Thank you everyone for your insightful posts! I looked at Vero Beach and it seems fantastic. I was wondering what your impressions of Boca Raton are?

"compelled to reply" I understand that my criteria may be very broad and fits many different locations. I guess I am just trying to find the "perfect" place in Florida. I don't know quite how to say this but I am looking for the city that you would most want to live in if money was of no issue. I have been fortunate to have acquired success in my life so money is not so much of an issue. I really want a town where I can raise my kids in complete safety, go to the many parks and beaches on sunny days and the mall on weekends. I am not interested in the "hippiest, artsy environment". Rather, the perfect family oriented suburbia town.

Thanks again!

Have you considered Northwest Florida and the Emerald Coast .... or more specifically ..... Beaches of South Walton?

[SoFLGal]

Here's my opinion on the different areas of Florida. This same question comes up quite frequently on City-Data.

It all depends on what you are looking for, there are places on the east coast that are very nice and beautiful, like Hobe Sound is one of my favorites! However, there will always be one major reason that I prefer the west coast of Florida - the beaches. On the east coast, the ocean beaches just aren't as pretty to me. The sand is darker and more coarse, there's more "stuff" in the water; seaweed, jelly fish, etc, and the water is just SO salty! On the west coast, the gulf beaches have white sand that is so light and fluffy it's like sugar and the water is always a crystal blue color. But all of that is a personal preference. The east coast has other advantages, such as a rich history in cities like St. Augustine and a much larger "party scene" in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Cocoa Beach, West Palm Beach, etc. The west coast seems much more laid back and relaxing - a beautiful place to enjoy life.

The St. Petersburg area is nice also. They have the nice beautiful gulf beaches that I adore, but with a much larger city attached to it. I would say that the primary difference in the areas that we service and the St. Petersburg/Tampa area is just the population. It's a major metropolitan city, so naturally there are a lot more people up that way. Also, there are colleges there, so the median age is a bit younger than it is places like Venice and Sarasota, which are mostly retirement and vacation communities. I don't have exact statistics on crime, but generally a larger city leads to more crime, unfortunately. The malls in Sarasota have a wide variety of stores-Macy's, Old Navy, Sak's, Dillards, Penny's, etc.

Because of the slower pace I think the the west coast is a better place for families. Specifically Sarasota county

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Boca is..umm...well, it has good schools but you have to visit it for yourself to see if you can take it. It's "different". All of those areas I named will meet your criteria as will many more areas. Boca meets it yet doesn't meet it, as there aren't many parks and it IS a (Joan Rivers) retirement oriented area, except for West Boca which IMO is just a bunch of houses and strip malls and not really that nice. It's kind of like Weston but without the parks, planning and family activities. One area that I would check out, however, is Wellington. It is more family oriented than Boca and I think exactly what you are looking for.

ROFLMAO Joan Rivers.

This is 100% corrrect. In fact, I'd say that you have your all ages Joan Rivers throughout Boca. You get mucho rep for that one.

Hmmm....ok Boca. My Phila co-worker's husb owns a family deli. They do ok. But man do they have the toys. Jags, Mc Mansion, several vacation yearly, loaded up with jewelry and clothes and handbags, big blond processed hair, dark tan from tanning beds, acrylic pink fingernails and where does she love? Boca. Her husb's family lives there too. It's very PINK LOL. This girl I swear is the weakest member of the management team and has never read any books she's happy to tell you, and preferred her cashier job at the deli but this one pays more. Your wife will know exactly what I mean. They love Vegas for vacation and the islands. They love going around the fake Venice hotel out there where you sit in a gondola and some American sings o solo mia while you get gondola'd around the freaking MALL in the hotel looking in all the store windows LOL. She thinks it's romantic, bless her heart. When I ask "Why don't you go to the REAL Venice" she replies "Ew Europe looks too dirty I prefer Las Vegas it's the same idea". Poor girl, but she's happy.

My son, age 28 attended Lynn U in Boca. Cost me 30 thousand a year in the 90's and a complete waste of money. Even HE complained about it being the 13th grade and had to move off campus because of too much constant partying.

Anyway, in Vero you don't see any of that but there is money here. That's a difference in itself in towns. But Boca's ok. I think it's a bit crowded, OK, but you can do much better.

I agree with Compelled about Wellington. Wellington is a real family area I'm told. My son's business partner actually lives there too. AND the BEST MALL is there ha ha. Seriously the stupid Macy's here in Vero is one quarter the size of all the others up North, just another minor adjustment. Planning your shopping. They told me the ones in PB county are average size.

The kids, they're a problem for me, I have no young kids but Compelled is a statistical robot on education and geographic demographics so I'd trust anything he says.

You need to learn about the schools here, FL has the number one highest dropout rate and education is not always valued. There are ratings like A B C and that's a start. Compelled can help you more with that.

I don't know about the West Coast.

I would avoid the East Coast southernmost points below Wellington just because you have young kids and the growth there is significant and economic diversity is an issue IMO. I mean that not knowing the neighborhoods, the schools, the changing population of renters moving in all over, your kids can very well end up in an underperforming school with kids who may struggle or not even attend or whatever. I've also read in magazines that social promotion below ninth grade abounds. THEN in high school they cant cut it so they drop out.

I'd look at Jupiter, Jupiter Island, Palm Beach Island, VERO, and then move to the west coast and see how they compare. There may be too many retirees for your taste, I dont know about the kid factor. But we have alot of construction in our schools right now, I've noticed and they wouldn't be having kids theater all summer if there weren't a load of kids here, I'm guessing.

The problem is kids aren't outside playing in the summer so I can't really judge.


You will have to be the ones to instill the love of learning and seek out a more academic environment for them, I can tell you that right now. This is NOTHING LIKE BOSTON here in the academic or even the liberal respect. But I believe that the parents control that and if they love to learn, then they will. Just turn off the tv and computer and engage them in the work along side you is all. My ex husband raised a complete nerd (in a good way) in his second marriage to be just like himself ....whereas our child who grew up with me is more free wheeling and academically independent like me. LOL That's a term for he did what he felt like in the areas he felt like. But he owns his own creative business now and works day and night so no complaints here that he doesnt remember Shakespeare.

Then again, who knows, you might drive through a totally unpredictable town see a great house (there are several) and decide that's it for you. Since we don't know you all we can really do is suggest you fly in and see.

I flew back and forth for months and still haven't made up my mind and haven't seen all the places on my lists.

SO MAKE SURE YOU RENT FIRST ....even short term....no house is a "irreplaceable dream house" unless it's a compound on the ocean

[runswithscissors]

Mike, I was just looking at open houses and thought of something you should consider. It truth, the sun factor in Florida is nothing to mess with. The index of UVA UVB is a 10 here and tops is 11 down south and Hawaii.

You'll need to factor skin cancer into your decision, imo, especially with kids. You can tint the car and house windows, keeping out 99% UVA UVB, buy a gallon of sunscreen with a pump, wear melanin tinted glasses to protect your eyes, and order Coolibar clothing with UV protection. You can also order from Coolibar, a titanium beach tent, titanium beach umbrellas and make sure you spend your beach time early in the am or in the evening. I got a mild neck sunburn in the car driving west one night between 5 and 6 pm.

But the reality is, the sun is serious and also ages skin very prematurely and severely. So your wife may not be thrilled about that.

Even on Housewives of Orange County (ha ha) one of the families moved from Ca to Chicago after repeated melanomas and one of their kids even had precancerous biopsies.

Not trying to be dramatic, but I had two basal cells removed before I ever came here. I love the outdoors. But most of my time is spent outdoors at night now. It's a bummer. But at 55 I have a shorter lifespan to worry about than you would with babies.

Just thought as a doctor you'd want to get that reality check early on.....

[Today1354]

'runwithscissors' you bring up a very valid point. It is interesting that not many people take into account this factor when deciding a place to relocate to. This is a crude analogy, but I don't think anyone would move somewhere where they knew the water was tainted with known carcinogens, yet people move to florida (and other 'sunny' states) without even questioning the risk of skin cancer. Of course those are two vastly different examples but the theme remains the same, all to often people neglect to take the proper precautions to remain safe.

Sorry for the rant, I just feel this issue gets less exposure and attention than it deserves. Just finishing a stint in the oncology department, you wouldn't believe how many cases started off as skin cancer and then metastasizes into something much more malignant. Wear that sun screen!

-Mike

[Alphaman]

So now moving to Florida is bad for your health?

What will people come up with now I guess this place is just one step away from hell lol

Look at this link Florida is not as bad for skin cancer as you make it out to be.....

Cancer - Comparing Skin Cancer in Different U.S. States

I`m not saying that Florida sun is not bad but looking at this map you can get skin cancer anywhere even up north and some of the more northern states have more cases then Florida.


And comparing going out in the sun with drinking contaminated water is a bad comparison not even close.

[verobeach]

Vero Beach - Indian River Memorial Hospital affiliated with Duke University. Excellent!!
You can be on the ocean or close to it.
Small Indian River Mall and Outlet Mall but 90 minutes away from West Palm Beach and Orlando.
Family friendly area (lots of parks, low crime)
Lots of new and newer homes to choose from.

I'm from Boston. Poster above was right. It took me 3 years to appreciate all that Vero Beach has to offer. Now I wouldn't go back to MA for anything.