Port St. Lucie ?? (Miami, West Palm Beach, Westchester: foreclosures, insurance, new home)

[FlaLadyB]

Originally Posted by verobeach

As far as determining who your neighbors will be, I find the best indicator of the population, wherever you may be searching to live, is at Publix. Just grab a cart or walk through and you'll be looking at your neighbors.

Actually that is extremely true here in Tradition since that is where we all go for groceries. I personally find the people working in our Publix to be extremely nice in every department all the way down to taking the groceries, finding something or a simple hello! Same way in Java...very nice, great sandwiches since I am usually on the run but in there all the time. For me, a great place to meet my clients and take a break as well.

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by totsuka

PSL is pretty big and the homes are very affordable right now. But, the job situation is not so good unless you have a good skill/degree.i.e. medical field would would work out well for you. A large number of people commute to West Palm for work so that means going down I-95 which is a death trap. I have never seen so many bad accidents and people getting killed in all my life. I lived in San Diego CA for years and it was never as bad as it is here on I-95. However, if you can weather the storm for about five years, PSL will continue to grow and might attract some new businesses. The public school system has alot of problems, but there are some private schools in the area which are expensive, but good. It seems that Florida is still mainly ideal for retired people that don't need to work or put their children through school.

What is happening with all those promised biotech companies coming to the area along with Scripps? Most of this state is a sad joke as far as any real economy goes. With the housing bust, a competitive cost of living again and realization now that we can't survive on retirees, tourists and home contruction only I hold out hope for a reemergence of the promise and potential when IBM, Siemens, Motorola and the like had a big presence in the mid to late 80's. NASA scraping the shuttle can't help Brevard county though..

[Leela]

I got trans by my company from Westchester County NY to Port St Lucie 9 1/2 years ago and I am crying today. You think there are no jobs were you live it is worse here! I am going to give you the best advice anyone could give you DO NOT MOVE TO PSL. If you want to fight for a job tooth and nail for $8.00 to $10.00 an hour work double shifts and get treated like a dog that is what is in Port St Lucie. And it is not cheaper to live here that is old news food is more expensive then NY my car insurance is more expensive my homeowner insurance is more expensive it costs more to maint a home in PSL then it was for me in NY. The only thing that is very cheap in Port St Lucie is employment. If I was in NY I wouldn't have been out of work more then 1 week but in Port St Lucie I have been out of work over a year. All my offers are to relocate and I can't do that right now with the RE market the way it is.

[Leela]

Very well put!

[Prettygyrl777]

Originally Posted by Leela

Very well put!

What was very well put??

[jrb1012]

This is a lot of great info to consider~ thanks everyone! Keep it coming, lol... I'm currently gathering information to compare PSL to our current situation (financial, etc.). The only thing I'm not seeing any real positive info on is schools. By the time we were able to move my oldest will have graduated (he will be a senior next year) but my daughter is getting ready to complete 6th grade this year so we still have several years of school for her. I may start another thread just on the school system...but thought I'd bring it up here too. Any thoughts on this?

[EDWYN]

PSL does have it's problems as most coastal areas in Florida does. But PSL crime rate has been inching up sense 1999 to a point that it has triggered some state big wigs to move resources to the area. Unlike the south we up here do not have unlimited amounts of police and firemen at our disposal. The national crime rate is 4.5 wile PSL has spiked to 8.9 in the last 8 years. There is a element in the area that has been on the police radar screen for some time now. Property values are as in most areas in Florida on the down turn but the PSL area seems to been hit hard, due to the "red-line" that has unfairly put on our town by the mortgage lenders due to the spike in crime. I for one , and I have lived her for 27 yrs would be very careful in investing in this area AT THIS TIME. A little more time I think is prudent to see if the police can get a handle on this problem. Even local real estate agents are seeing a element moving onto the area and are "careful" to show certain areas to buyers. I love PSL but it is defiantly a area in change. I think you should test the waters before you dive in, there are tons of rentals available in town.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by EDWYN

The national crime rate is 4.5 wile PSL has spiked to 8.9 in the last 8 years. There is a element in the area that has been on the police radar screen for some time now. Property values are as in most areas in Florida on the down turn but the PSL area seems to been hit hard, due to the "red-line" that has unfairly put on our town by the mortgage lenders due to the spike in crime.

Please source your numbers. Port St. Lucie was 25th safest city in the country in 2007.

[stevep111]

Yeah I just read the other day and saw statistics (will attempt to find) that showed PSL below the national average in every category. I believe there has only been 1 murder in the last year. Most of the crimes were break ins. Most likely empty houses and cars. Petty theft was up a bit but overall PSL is very safe. My neighborhood is crawling with police mostly because a lot of them live there.

Now you go just up the road to Ft. Pierce and it is a whole different ball game. Murder rate was 10 times the national average and they were off the charts in violent crime. Now that based on size not actual numbers of crimes. I don't think all of Ft. Pierce is like that but compared to PSL it makes this place look like Mayberry.

[psouth]

You have your work cut out for you here, Tri. Some killer older posts.