Vero Beach, Port St Lucie, or Jensen Beach from MD?? (Coral Springs: best town, for sale)

[ChrisandArdenn]

My girlfriend and I have decided that, after careful planning, we are going to move to Florida. We currently live in Western Maryland where it cold, hilly and snowy--not to mention hot and very very humid in the summer. And, far from the ocean....which is what i really want to be close to.

I've always wanted to live in Florida, and so has she, so it works out well. We were thinking about Fort Myers or Naples since we both have family there during the winter. But after checking the prices, theres really no way we could afford that.

So, we decided to be a little farther from the Gulf, and found a nice new development in Immokalee (Collier Co), with affordable new homes. I searched "Immokalee" on this website and quickly found that it was the "crime capital of Collier Co". Not gonna happen...

So, now we're thinking Vero Beach, Port St Lucie, or Jensen Beach. I can work anywhere in Florida, but we need a town with lots of customer service jobs for my girlfriend. And affordable houses ($250), closer rather than farther from the beach, with low crime are very important(thats most important to me). Nightlife or things like that don't matter to us anymore.

Good schools are a plus for the future.

Any suggestions on what city to choose or specific areas in those citys, with respect to crime and jobs?? Thanks in advance!!

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by ChrisandArdenn

My girlfriend and I have decided that, after careful planning, we are going to move to Florida. We currently live in Western Maryland where it cold, hilly and snowy--not to mention hot and very very humid in the summer. And, far from the ocean....which is what i really want to be close to.

I've always wanted to live in Florida, and so has she, so it works out well. We were thinking about Fort Myers or Naples since we both have family there during the winter. But after checking the prices, theres really no way we could afford that.

So, we decided to be a little farther from the Gulf, and found a nice new development in Immokalee (Collier Co), with affordable new homes. I searched "Immokalee" on this website and quickly found that it was the "crime capital of Collier Co". Not gonna happen...

So, now we're thinking Vero Beach, Port St Lucie, or Jensen Beach. I can work anywhere in Florida, but we need a town with lots of customer service jobs for my girlfriend. And affordable houses ($250), closer rather than farther from the beach, with low crime are very important(thats most important to me). Nightlife or things like that don't matter to us anymore.

Good schools are a plus for the future.

Any suggestions on what city to choose or specific areas in those citys, with respect to crime and jobs?? Thanks in advance!!

PSL has the lowest crime of the 3, Vero Beach and Jensen Beach have relatively low crime and pretty good education. Vero And PSL could be considered affordable, but the schools are NOT awesome in PSL.

Basically
Schools
1. Jensen Beach (not sure about local distircts, but Martin County schools have very good reputation)
2. Vero Beach
3. PSL (education is particularly weak in the high schools)

Crime
1. PSL (safest in Florida only to Coral Springs)
2. Jensen Beach
3. Vero Beach
None of them are really bad.

Beach Access
1. Tie between Jensen and Vero
3. PSL

Immokallee is quite economically depressed and is a hotspot for illegal immigration, so you are making the right choice to look into there areas.

[Prettygyrl777]

Excellent breakdown, fort lauderdale.

I'd like to add the PSL has quite a few customer service jobs. The ones that I can think of off the top of my head is

1. QVC (a GREAT place to work)!
2. Liberty Medical Supply
3. PSI
4. Aegis Communication

The pay is generally lower in Florida (pretty much all over) compared to upnorth. I'm not sure what you're looking for but some of the jobs mentioned are commission based if that helps.

[katschell]

We're from Jensen Bch.Many northerners are now calling this HOME.If they could take the summer heat,they would stay ALL year.We live 5 minutes from the Atlantic.Check w/ chamber of commerce re: salaries and pick up the pt.st.lucie news-stuart news.There's the Treasure coast-Palmcoast newspapers.Less problems in Martin Cty schools.Lots of good buys in real est,too many bought home for spec and can't rent them now.Collier not a good choice.Marketing is growing here and we're less expensive here than Naples area.We're clean and nice.Many of our tenants end up buying and staying.Good luck.

[LovelyLady]

I live is Stuart which is a great place to live and has great schools. Ive lived in Port Saint Lucie but went to school in Stuart So Im not sure about the school system but it is to also a great place to live. I would have to say Jensen Beach.

[ChrisandArdenn]

Thanks everyone for your posts!! Keep em coming....yea...Collier is out of the picture......

[TriMT7]

Port St. Lucie will get you more house for your buck. $250k will by you a 3/2/2, often with pool. If you want to be close to the beach, check out the area East of US-1 near Walton Road.

Jensen is nice, but expensive. You can find townhomes in the mid-200s though.


Not really up on Vero Beach very much. It's changed so much since I last went there (which has really only ever been to the mall/theater and the outlet mall!)


Martin County (Jensen Beach) has a good reputation for schools. Port St. Lucie gets a bad rap for schools but I went 2nd grade -- highschool in the St. Lucie County system and it never hampered my opportunities.

Oh, and PSL has a LOT of customer service centers, as the poster above noted. I worked at QVC for a few months during college and it was a lot of fun! Just about every other person you meet is employed by Liberty medical!

[Sueilp]

We live on the outskirts of Vero Beach more near Sebastian and we love it here.....nice beaches which we live an 8 minute drive from or 5 minutes to the Sebastian Causeway...

houses here like previous poster said you can get here for $250k a 3/2/2 without too much difficulty in a nice area.

Schools are generally good - no complaints from me as I have one going into Kindergarten this year and one going into middle school.

Low crime rate - we feel relatively safe here.

As regards to night life - whats that...lol with 2 kids in tow we dont go out much except to eat dinner maybe (and there is plenty of choice round here)

[jensen beach gal]

Hey guys! Well you can probably guess what I'll say I love Jensen Beach You can certainly live in Jensen and work in PSL. I love the Martin County schools, not familiar with PSL schools, there has always been negative rumours though. There are so many homes for sale, I think you can find something in your range in any of the areas mentioned! Check out the local paper TCPalm. Good Luck!

[Jareb]

I've lived in Vero Beach for 18 years. We raised our daughter here and think this is the best town in Florida. Quiet most of the time-very little crime-good school system and the finest beaches around. There are no high rises in Indian River county due to county ordinances. Fishing is fantastic! Houses on the west side of town are easily obtainable in the $250K range and you are less than 10 minutes to the beach. Vero has a small town feel yet has all the amenities you could want. Living on the island is more expensive- start at $500K and up from there.