[sabrina73]

My husband and I will be moving to Florida along with our 6-year-old son who is home schooled. We are planning to buy a business, and the business we are looking at are in the following areas: Sarasota, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Clearwater-St. Pete-Tampa. It's the same type of business in each location, so we just need to decide where we want to live.

Here is what we are looking for. We want an area that has small historic homes ... think 1920s style with mature trees and hardwood floors around $300k. We are NOT looking for suburban family oriented areas. Because my son is homeschooled, I am happy to drive him to be around other kids. Having an organic market or farmers market nearby would be a plus.

Of course, we want to stay away from high crime areas. We don't mind if there are a lot of retirees about because we can simply drive to areas where my son can have play dates.

One important thing is that my husband will only need to work away from home a couple of days a week, which means he could commute up to 45 minutes or even an hour. We don't have to live right in these areas. He will work in one of these areas, but we could live somewhere outside the exact area.

Which of these areas do you suggest, and which would you absolutely rule out?

[FLBob]

Venice was developed in the 1920's by the Brotherhood of locomotive engineers. There is a historic overlay district on what is now called the island of Venice. While the entire island is not in the overlay district, there is still a large portion that is maintained. The original style was defined as Northern Italian Renaissance. Within the overlay district the existing structures are being maintained and new and remodeled homes will conform to the Northern Italian Renaissance style.
Venice was originally laid out by John Nolan in the 1920's so the "new urbanism" concepts for a walkable town are well integrated into the fabric of Venice.
Mature landscape is one of the things I love about living in Venice. Venice is just south of Sarasota, and has a very low crime rate.
I love the town I live in and have posted a number of photos in CD. here's a link where you will be able to get a feel for the architecture and the town http://www.city-data.com/forum/saras...ml#post7404112

[TriMT7]

West Palm Beach has a number of historic neighborhoods:

City of West Palm Beach Neighborhoods - Historic Districts

I live in one such neighborhood (Flamingo Park), and think that it might afford what you're looking for should you choose this area. The "north" end of West Palm Beach is generally the high crime area, even though there is a GREAT historic neighborhood there called Northwood. FLamingo Park is in the Southend. Also look into Southland Park or Sunshine Park.

[gypsychic]

You would probably love Laurel Park in downtown Sarasota. Old homes, lots of huge trees, walking distance to downtown, there is a Whole Foods downtown and an AWESOME farmer's market every Saturday - great restaurants, etc. The biggest challenge would be finding something in your price range in this neighborhood. There are other lovely neighborhoods in Sarasota as well. We live in historic Whitfield Estates on the north end of town near the airport and bay - very eclectic, established in the 1920's but with homes built in nearly every decade.

There is really no town on your list to absolutely rule out - there are places that could fit your criteria in any of those I think. See if you can visit each area and see what "vibe" seems to fit.