Port St Lucie "Activity" and Area Life (Miami: real estate, neighborhood)

[eldogg]

A few weeks ago, a friend and I took a ride up to PSL from Palm Beach County and looked at the Valencia and Del Webb communities ... possibly for the future.



We were impressed with the PSL area and the amount of building that is going on ... and of course ... with the relatively lower real estate prices as compared with South Florida.



We didn't get a chance to explore the area very much. We know that it's not too far from Jensen Beach and we drove through the Tradition Square area, which was nice. We also drove over to route 1, and can obviously see that route 1 is well built up with retail.

But is there anything at all in the PSL area ... or even in any surrounding towns say within 30 minutes ... that is anything similar to places like Atlantic Ave in Downtown Delray or Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale or even Mizner Park in Boca Raton? A neighborhood or area with a strip of restaurants, bars, cafes, shopping, ice cream, people actively walking around, etc?


Any boardwalk areas at nearby beaches?


In other words what is there to do in the area other than what would be available within the community?



Any suggestions or recommendations for whether two new retirees would like the area and if so, what specific communities or what to stay away from?


Many thanks in advance.

[manny118]

Originally Posted by eldogg

But is there anything at all in the PSL area ... or even in any surrounding towns say within 30 minutes ... that is anything similar to places like Atlantic Ave in Downtown Delray or Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale or even Mizner Park in Boca Raton? A neighborhood or area with a strip of restaurants, bars, cafes, shopping, ice cream, people actively walking around, etc?


Any boardwalk areas at nearby beaches?

Stuart has a downtown that is like a much smaller version of places like Las Olas and Atlantic Avenue. Jensen Beach also has a downtown with bars and restaurants that is even smaller than Stuart's downtown. Fort Pierce has a downtown that I'm less familiar with but I now they have some bars and restaurants including Sailfish Brewing Company. Port St. Lucie does not really have one centralized downtown since it is such a large sprawling area. I believe Tradition has a small town center.

The beaches on Hutchinson do not have a boardwalk. Hutchinson Island is much less developed than the beaches to the south. There are some nice restaurants here and there on the beach like Kyle G's, but for the most part it keeps a much more natural look to the beach as opposed to the urban beaches like Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood. Most of the action is on the mainland centered in the downtowns I previously mentioned. The downtowns are on the Indian River Lagoon or St Lucie River, so they still offer water views.

[eldogg]

Originally Posted by manny118

Stuart has a downtown that is like a much smaller version of places like Las Olas and Atlantic Avenue. Jensen Beach also has a downtown with bars and restaurants that is even smaller than Stuart's downtown. Fort Pierce has a downtown that I'm less familiar with but I now they have some bars and restaurants including Sailfish Brewing Company. Port St. Lucie does not really have one centralized downtown since it is such a large sprawling area. I believe Tradition has a small town center.

The beaches on Hutchinson do not have a boardwalk. Hutchinson Island is much less developed than the beaches to the south. There are some nice restaurants here and there on the beach like Kyle G's, but for the most part it keeps a much more natural look to the beach as opposed to the urban beaches like Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood. Most of the action is on the mainland centered in the downtowns I previously mentioned. The downtowns are on the Indian River Lagoon or St Lucie River, so they still offer water views.

Thanks for the information.



So you are talking about the area around Flagler Park in Stuart I'm guessing? Where would you say the "focus" of the area is? Where would you park the car, get out, and take a walk to see activity and have a good choice of restaurants, bars and shops? Along Route 1? SE Ocean Blvd? SW Seminole St? SW Osceola ST?



What about Jensen Beach?



Thanks again!

[manny118]

Originally Posted by eldogg

Thanks for the information.



So you are talking about the area around Flagler Park in Stuart I'm guessing? Where would you say the "focus" of the area is? Where would you park the car, get out, and take a walk to see activity and have a good choice of restaurants, bars and shops? Along Route 1? SE Ocean Blvd? SW Seminole St? SW Osceola ST?



What about Jensen Beach?



Thanks again!

The focus of downtown Stuart is south of Flagler Park. The main streets in downtown Stuart are Osceola, Colorado, Flagler, and Seminole. There is a large parking area between Flagler Park and downtown Stuart. There is also on street parking throughout downtown.

Downtown Jensen is centered at the intersection of Jensen Beach Boulevard and Indian River Drive. There are also some bars and restaurants on Indian River Drive north of the Jensen Beach causeway, most notably Conchy Joes. Most parking in downtown Jensen is on street parking.

Parking is free in both downtown Jensen and Stuart, which is a nice change from places in the three counties to the south.

[FiveLoaves]

Thanks for your responses to this thread.....I'm following along.

We're interested in the Stuart / Jensen area for the future. We've been to Delray and Las Olas Blvd (Dear Daughter lives in Miami now) those areas are much too busy for this stage of our lives. Even Charleston is growing much too big, with all the associated traffic problems.

Smaller restaurants are a real treat. Once you find the good locals.....you support them. Is Conchy Joe's a local place or a chain ??

What's the music scene like ? I know the Rolling Stones are not coming to play in the area, are there local bands that play bars ?? Outdoor concerts at the ballpark or some such ??

Is the traffic getting to be too busy there ??

[manny118]

Originally Posted by FiveLoaves

Smaller restaurants are a real treat. Once you find the good locals.....you support them. Is Conchy Joe's a local place or a chain ??

What's the music scene like ? I know the Rolling Stones are not coming to play in the area, are there local bands that play bars ?? Outdoor concerts at the ballpark or some such ??

Is the traffic getting to be too busy there ??

Conchy Joe's is a local place. The family that owns Conchy Joe's owns a few other restaurants in the area.

Many of the bars and restaurants have live music on the weekends. Places like Tako Tiki and Crawdaddy's in Jensen Beach seem to have live music Thursday through Sunday. I'm sure Stuart also has a lot of places hosting live music. The Lyric theater in downtown Stuart will occasionally bring in a well known performer that is past their prime. For example, Bruce Hornsby recently performed at the Lyric. West Palm Beach is a little under an hour away and has larger venues to see major acts.

Traffic is getting worse but is not nearly as bad as it is in the more congested counties to the south. Traffic is noticeably worse during the high season winter months.