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Is it predominately white? Is it upscale? What are the "nice" parts of town? Is the housing stock older or is it newer?
Is it a retirement area or are there real companies with real jobs?
Looking on the map, I didn't realize that Florida 60 went all the way from Clearwater to Vero Beach. Makes sense, but I just always thought of Florida 60 as "Gulf to Bay" and the causeway in the Tampa area.
I have no agenda here other than to learn about Vero Beach and to possibly go there.
Is it predominately white? Is it upscale? What are the "nice" parts of town? Is the housing stock older or is it newer?
Is it a retirement area or are there real companies with real jobs?
Looking on the map, I didn't realize that Florida 60 went all the way from Clearwater to Vero Beach. Makes sense, but I just always thought of Florida 60 as "Gulf to Bay" and the causeway in the Tampa area.
I have no agenda here other than to learn about Vero Beach and to possibly go there.
Well "predominantly" white?
You realize the demographics of the country, right? 77% White. And White includes Hispanics.
But no. We have racial diversity. All over. If you want minority majority you have to go to an urban center. Wherever there are high taxes, too LOL.
Upscale? We have the highest number of retired CEOS in the country, an airport because so many have/use planes AND it's the manufacturing center for Piper. But it's a gentle and quiet wealth.
BUT we also have fantastic diversity of population and the Walmart is always packed to the gills LOL. We have a very charitable community constantly having one event or another for less economically advantaged people. Our Community Center, with the aquatic center...for example has after school care and homework help for $35.00 semester. So while there's a ton of golf there's also a ton of community activities too many to mention. Parks, outdoor activities, fairgrounds, fishing stuff, a very historic and important African American community with active leaders and families.
Free community bus you won't find THAT in urban centers.
We have our share of crackheads but they stick to themselves LOL. Crime is low but you do hear of some things like a VERY occasional robbery or shooting at a party or last year a MURDER by a schizophrenic who came up from Miami and just randomly killed a guy at McDonalds. The police are taking action to change the laws permitting action when someone is acting like a vagrant and potentially high risk to others.
You have to come here to "get it".
I suggest you listen to AM 1490. We have a community hour radio show daily at 6 PM and I think 8 AM with all the community events, politics etc. All the players locally come on to talk about everything. Even the fishing expert telling you what's biting and where!
You would have to be more specific about "jobs".
If you're just looking for "a job" don't come here. GET the job then move. We're already paying through the nose for all the people who don't have jobs or healthcare etc. It happens to be the hot topic at the hospital right now. I'm really sick and tired about hearing about INDIGENT CARE simply because some crack heads or alcoholics decided Indian River County would be a great place to crash. OR even families who are trying to escape their urban centers moving up here from, say, Miami.
There are EXTENSIVE threads about Vero using the search function and advance search choosing this forum you can read. Especially by me describing a bunch of this stuff.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 06-11-2015 at 01:01 PM..
You realize the demographics of the country, right? 77% White. And White includes Hispanics.
But no. We have racial diversity. All over. If you want minority majority you have to go to an urban center. Wherever there are high taxes, too LOL.
Upscale? We have the highest number of retired CEOS in the country, an airport because so many have/use planes AND it's the manufacturing center for Piper. But it's a gentle and quiet wealth.
BUT we also have fantastic diversity of population and the Walmart is always packed to the gills LOL. We have a very charitable community constantly having one event or another for less economically advantaged people. Our Community Center, with the aquatic center...for example has after school care and homework help for $35.00 semester. So while there's a ton of golf there's also a ton of community activities too many to mention. Parks, outdoor activities, fairgrounds, fishing stuff, a very historic and important African American community with active leaders and families.
Free community bus you won't find THAT in urban centers.
We have our share of crackheads but they stick to themselves LOL. Crime is low but you do hear of some things like a VERY occasional robbery or shooting at a party or last year a MURDER by a schizophrenic who came up from Miami and just randomly killed a guy at McDonalds. The police are taking action to change the laws permitting action when someone is acting like a vagrant and potentially high risk to others.
You have to come here to "get it".
I suggest you listen to AM 1490. We have a community hour radio show daily at 6 PM and I think 8 AM with all the community events, politics etc. All the players locally come on to talk about everything. Even the fishing expert telling you what's biting and where!
You would have to be more specific about "jobs".
If you're just looking for "a job" don't come here. GET the job then move. We're already paying through the nose for all the people who don't have jobs or healthcare etc. It happens to be the hot topic at the hospital right now. I'm really sick and tired about hearing about INDIGENT CARE simply because some crack heads or alcoholics decided Indian River County would be a great place to crash. OR even families who are trying to escape their urban centers moving up here from, say, Miami.
There are EXTENSIVE threads about Vero using the search function and advance search choosing this forum you can read. Especially by me describing a bunch of this stuff.
No worries about adding to the pool of indigents, I can pay my own way. LOL. Vero Beach is just one of those places in Florida I keep hearing about all the time but know nothing about.
My question about minorities living there? You don't have to worry about any cross-burning from me. I know some people consider this mean or impolite, but that's the way I judge whether or not I should buy real estate somewhere. One thing I've noticed over the years is that you can't go wrong buying homes in or near upscale areas. Working class areas, however, tend to go downhill fast.
North side of Vero Beach near the new Publix looks like a growth area?
No worries about adding to the pool of indigents, I can pay my own way. LOL. Vero Beach is just one of those places in Florida I keep hearing about all the time but know nothing about.
My question about minorities living there? You don't have to worry about any cross-burning from me. I know some people consider this mean or impolite, but that's the way I judge whether or not I should buy real estate somewhere. One thing I've noticed over the years is that you can't go wrong buying homes in or near upscale areas. Working class areas, however, tend to go downhill fast.
North side of Vero Beach near the new Publix looks like a growth area?
No I didn't infer you were a cross burner, in fact I worded my reply such that if you were African American you could be comfortable here as well. I DESPISE hearing Spanish all day long like down South and we don't have all that yet here. And I say that having been married to someone not a Native English speaker but he and his family would NEVER do that OR demand everything be bilingual.
Vero Beach is very nice, trust me. I'm from Philly, lived in NJ, NY, and all over the East Coast of FL and ended up here. I can be really picky and especially being a dog walker working in other people's homes.
It all depends on your life style and what you want. More density for Sure in the South but less "shopping" in the North where it's rural.
Also up and down 66th North OR South is SUPER rural and has just a couple nice sub divisions but mostly farms.
I just visited an HOA all the way up at 76th ish...Fieldstone. Very nice and very rural. You have to drive about 20 minutes or so to "shop" for more than food and some basics, though.
You really can't judge Florida like other states because the crash was hard. LOTS of good neighborhoods went to hell and they were expensive and totally middle class and WAY overpriced AND overimproved. But people have been buying them and it's coming back.
So a neighborhood may look shady but it's just because of a bunch of renters or former foreclosures. You can't tell if it's on the downward or coming BACK. I was in a little ranch house today in a just OK neighborhood...and it was gorgeous inside with an alarm etc.
So it takes a bit of research.
But anyway you can't go wrong in the North part except for that very small area I mentioned and it won't even be on your radar anyway. We have always been a HUGE citrus county and cattle, hence the ranches and farms. So it's very mixed.
There is also "City of Vero Beach" with distinct boundaries, SMALL. The rest is the MSA all separate CDPs or towns or unincorporated etc. I'm including all of them when I say "Vero Beach" which is the county seat. The city is only 16K people or so, the MSA is 150K. Includes the cities of Sebastian and Fellsmere.
Some people LOVE to be right in the city and shop at Miracle Mile, and go right over the bridge to the beach - others prefer the rural deal with cows LOL. There is a second bridge Rt 60 E up the North-ish end. You can be on it in fifteen minutes from just about anywhere up there.
Vero is SMALL.
Worth a trip to scope it out. You will need time or you'll forget what you saw and where.
I posted here somewhere suggestions on how to navigate the place to see everything.
AND I haven't mentioned the actual BEACH at all, the very best area in MY opinion. And the most beautiful barrier island on the coast unless you're into the South Beach deal with all the action and retro architecture etc. That is definitely NOT us haha. And Ft Lauderdale is the city of canals and has it's own things to be proud of but also lots of "issues" IMO. It is PEACEFUL HERE. But we DO have things to do. Gloria Estefan opened up a spa and hotel here on the beach. Wouldn't have done that if it wasn't worth it. Also there's a Disney property up far north on the beach.
Use Trulia to see housing and comps. Scroll to the bottom of each listing for the nearest comps.
If you say what you're looking for, you can get better suggestions.
If you're a BEACH lover there's a little ranch house on Camelia listed at 285 that would be perfect for a single or small family and it'll NEVER EVER be a "bad neighborhood". That's CHEAP, BTW. But on the mainland you get a very nice HOA, pools, clubhouse, tennis, golf and activities and community feeling so that's a whole different choice.
FIRST line item of the budget has to be insurance AND hurricane protection if it's not included in your house already, too.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 06-12-2015 at 06:11 PM..
Can you live in Vero or Sebastian and commute to jobs in Melbourne/Orlando?
The mileage looks modest in Google, but roads vary of course, and you have be there to know if it works.
I think you have very affordable homes, that are unimaginable here in Virginia at those prices.
I have driven-through/toured Vero Beach, but I was staying in Ft Lauderdale, and that was quite a journey for me. I would never live there and commute south for work.
That said, I saw tons of great ranch houses for sale at around $100k; dead quite and safe-looking at night. I was driving around in a rental BMW, and afraid I might wake somebody. Loved that.
Orlando IS the 1.5 hrs that's on Google maps UNLESS you get stuck in traffic or an accident. And you have to be full throttle not just tooling up the highway. And I'm just talking about the actual drive not what you do when you get OFF up there.
Google i-95 Florida accidents you won't believe it LOL. I wouldn't even live 20 minutes from downtown Jacksonville if I had to take a major road like I-95 when I lived there.
Melbourne? I do have some clients who do that commute. I went to court there twice and thought I'd NEVER get there, BUT when I was corporate in NJ I did 60 miles one way for years so....yeah. Sebastian would put you closer, obvs.
Yes Vero is dead quiet at night. Lots of blinking yellow lights during those hours, too haha. Not really loud during the day, either. There IS some predictable traffic now, though. Our summers are increasing by 20% people now! But that's good for the economy so I'm not complaining.
Runswithscissors (are you a book lover?)
I'm wondering where to look since we know nothing about Vero Beach other than having been here a hundred years ago with our kids and loving the beach, etc.. Could you help us also to familiarize ourselves with the town? We would like ideally to live where we are very near the shops (we're older retirees) but close enough to the beach that we don't have a hair-raising drive to get there. I think we're past doing hair-raising drives at this point in our lives and would just like to enjoy the lovely warm weather, etc. but not the traffic. Definitely not the traffic. Could you lay out a few parameters for us and I will look for them on Zillow. Thanks a million!
Runswithscissors (are you a book lover?)
I'm wondering where to look since we know nothing about Vero Beach other than having been here a hundred years ago with our kids and loving the beach, etc.. Could you help us also to familiarize ourselves with the town? We would like ideally to live where we are very near the shops (we're older retirees) but close enough to the beach that we don't have a hair-raising drive to get there. I think we're past doing hair-raising drives at this point in our lives and would just like to enjoy the lovely warm weather, etc. but not the traffic. Definitely not the traffic. Could you lay out a few parameters for us and I will look for them on Zillow. Thanks a million!
I stole that name but never read the book LOL. More like "don't run with scissors you'll poke your eye out."
Go to "search", hit ADVANCED, then key word search Vero Beach, then select this forum.
All the threads will come up.
If you want the many many posts I've made about Vero, you can also select "user name" and mine.
I prefer Trulia to Zillow. It is accurate and has the comps at the bottom of the page. Sold AND For Sale.
We don't exactly have an area with "shops". No hair raising drives at all, more or less. Two areas do tend to have accidents so you have to always drive defensively. Oslo Rd and the two bridge causeways.
The area with the least density is North Vero. But the area with the most shopping is South Rt 1. OR in the middle by the mall.
Miracle MIle area is very nice, has enough shopping you don't have to go anywhere else usually, close to the beach access.
HOusing diversity is all over, too so it depends on your budget and what you like.
I LOVE a condo for 55+ because everything is cut and dry with pools, socializing and maintenance. Some even have golf and they are very reasonable but going UP. Like Vista Royale. Or Grove Isle.
Can you live in Vero or Sebastian and commute to jobs in Melbourne/Orlando?
The mileage looks modest in Google, but roads vary of course, and you have be there to know if it works.
I think you have very affordable homes, that are unimaginable here in Virginia at those prices.
I have driven-through/toured Vero Beach, but I was staying in Ft Lauderdale, and that was quite a journey for me. I would never live there and commute south for work.
That said, I saw tons of great ranch houses for sale at around $100k; dead quite and safe-looking at night. I was driving around in a rental BMW, and afraid I might wake somebody. Loved that.
Thanks
Lots of people commute to work in the Melbourne area that live in Sebastian and Vero Beach. Some friends from Palm Bay do the reverse commute and work in Vero Beach. It is an easy 25-40 minute drive on the interstate or US1 depending on where you live . It is so much easier than the commute we did in Illinois. :-). We lived 40 miles from the school where we taught and had to contend with the snow from Nov-March. Some nights we even ended up stranded and had to stay at one of my student's houses. Here no snow and easy light traffic between the 2 areas.
Runswithscissors, thanks for all the info. I will also investigate trulia.
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And the most beautiful barrier island on the coast unless you're into the South Beach deal with all the action and retro architecture etc. That is definitely NOT us haha. And Ft Lauderdale is the city of canals and has it's own things to be proud of but also lots of "issues" IMO. It is PEACEFUL HERE. But we DO have things to do. Gloria Estefan opened up a spa and hotel here on the beach. Wouldn't have done that if it wasn't worth it. Also there's a Disney property up far north on the beach.
