Good place for families near Palm Coast? (Jacksonville, Tampa: job, houses)

[brittabake]

My husband and I are considering a move to the Palm Coast area from Tampa for a job offer. His office would be right off 95 on SR-100. We have a 2 year old daughter and have visited Palm Coast several times. I enjoy it there but it doesn't seem like there's much for kids to do other than the beach. Can you recommend any areas to live within commuting distance that have lots of kid friendly activities? The things we most enjoy are the zoo, parks, hiking, recreation center type stuff, libraries and swimming. Eventually good schools will become a concern as well. I'd also like to be close to an airport as well as shopping, grocery store, post office, etc. We don't want to live in the middle of the city but do enjoy the amnenties that come from living close to one. I would like to live somewhere with a sense of community if that makes sense...4th of July parades, festivals...that type stuff. We'll probably be looking at the 300-400K range for a house. Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance for any help!

[riveree]

I think you're right, there's not a whole lot in the Palm Coast area, it's never really taken off as it should have. Palm Coast developers are building houses and not much else.

Personally, I'd recommend staying in Tampa. You could look south to Ormond maybe; St. Augustine is to the north, but it's really too far (do the drive and you'll see).....that's about it - there's not much going on around Palm Coast either.

Have you checked out the general Florida forum? LOTS of extreme opinions about Palm Coast there. The Orlando sub-forum might have some ideas for you - they're as far from Palm Coast as Jacksonville is.

I'd really take a good close look at Palm Coast before making that move - it's easy to buy there right now, but it may not be so easy to sell if you want to get back out.

[brittabake]

Thank you for responding and for the advice.

[angelface519]

I live in Palm coast for 3 years and they do and are working on having more kid friendly things for children to do.

I have 2 children 8 & 3

all located in Palm Coast not drving anywhere far

dance classes
gymnastics
They have boy scouts, cub scouts, daisy's
Baseball Softball
cheerleading
Let's Play ( cool place for climbing adn activities for kids)
awesome moms clubs like palm coast moms /flagler moms group
Junior Golf ( Little Links)offered at Pine Lakes

[SlickP]

You are basically going from a large town (Tampa) to a very small community. Palm Coast is like a suburb town but located just a little to far from any major town. Realistically, you could live in Northern St. Johns County (South of Jax) and your husband could probably get to work on I-95 in 35-45 minutes (No traffic). Heck, I lived in Atlanta and it would take me 60+ minutes to go 24 miles. Communting from Brandon to Downtown Tampa would probably take longer than the commute from 210 or WGV to Palm Coast. Just a thought!

[rocketman10]

There's plenty for kids to do in Palm Coast besides the beach. Angelface mentioned some of the organized activities plus we have some wonderful parks. Princess Place which has trails, picnicking, camping and fishing areas. We have the new Rails to Trails? (walking trails) being worked on. There a real nice boardwalk in Flagler Beach that goes to the Intracoastal Waterway and under the bridge. Just need to ask around and probably the mom's club could help further.

Personally, with the price of gas now if your husband has a job at 100 & 95 I would stay close to the job. You could live in Ormond Beach area without it being too far.

[apvbguy]

re palm coast
do a forum search in the main FLA forum, there are many threads and many differing views on the area

[riveree]

I'm going to close this one since it's old and it's no longer relevant to the OP. It was revived again today, but really the Palm Coast discussions belong on the general Florida forum - this forum is for Jax/Jax area.