Stuart...a nice place to live? (Jacksonville, Hollywood: transplants, home, job market)

[wavehunter007]

I have a job offer in the Stuart area. I spent some time on the West Coast (Santa Barabra, CA) and the Pacific NW...and didn't like it. Live now along Connecticut coast and it's OK. I have some family down in South Florida. I am not real up on moving to their area to rise kids (Hollywood ) but might consider Martin County since they say the schools are good. I was wondering what some folks who relocated to the Stuart area think of it. A list or pros and cons would be interseting.

[beentheredidthat]

as much as i hate FL, i will honestly tell you Stuart (martin county) is nice for the most part...and alot of people from CT, NY, NJ have moved/live part time in the area...I would suggest staying North of palm beach county...the state is turning to **** and its moving north more every year.

[Lilybeans]

One thing nice about Martin County is there is a height restriction. Nothing over four stories. There are no high rises here.

[stevep111]

I think Martin County has a lot to offer but you should comapre the home prices and everything else with St. Lucie County. I found that home prices alone were much higher than St. Lucie county. Do your homework though.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

Stuart is the heart of Martin county, but I would suggest looking beyond the city limits for purposes of evaluation. Too often post's of a positive (home town loyalist) nature, wind up being a "competition", and this is not the case. This is not a "were better" post but more of my experiences type of post. My wife and I worked here most of our adult years, and have raised 4 children here. All received quality educations (thru HS) and are either in college, graduate school or serving in the armed forces.
Martin Co. presents a unique living environment (whole-isticaly speaking). Opportunities such as affordable housing, work, educational, recreational, and natural resources are available for residents. I believe this area represents a balance rarely found anywhere, not just in Florida, but regionally. With that said... it would seem a natural question is "how come"?

Certainly anyone can find objective qualities but one must experience the subjective attributes to become a "home town". One poster noted housing cost as being higher, and that is correct. I suppose the same question must be ask (again)... "how come"?

[DeltaDart]

Martin County is one of the more conservative counties in all of Florida, Stuart is okay but nothing to scream about or write back to your mother about. Yeah, it's not like Jacksonville were I was once, getting woken up at 1:00AM by a bunch of......" gold toothed inner city, at-risk-youths" shooting at each other! But the place is rather dull with not much to see or do, the locals vary in personality with a growing number of young women with really rotten attitudes; the mean spirtedness from "Port Fierce" starting to spill over into here. Hard economic times turns the place into an example of sorrow and desperation but hopefully things will get better soon. And the locals wouldn't know what to do or how to react if a HobbyTownUSA store opened up around here! God forbid, right?!

What else? Oh yeah, the public access channel, MCTV 20, is extremely boring! I understand it's public access but there is a certain sort of grassroots fun that can be found with that type of medium. Usually you can find really entertaining low-budget shows, not so on MCTV 20 which has strict, conservative rules against anything odd or creative. Sad but true. It's not too bad here in Stuart or Stumbleton, as I think it should be called, but I look farward to the day I can to move out of here to some place a lot more interesting. Waaaaay out west, maybe.

One other thing, be very aware of the Martin County Sheriffs department. I have nothing against local law enforcment but they are very, very militant and I have heard many chilling horror stories from some of the long time resisdents. But come here are find out for yourself, Stuart is way better then Boca Raton! That city is a bloody abortion!

[mattib28]

I am in the process of trying to move to Stuart Florida from NJ w/ my girl we are 27...her parents live there and I just love the area...As a person that like to be outside and the hot weather I dont think theres a better place...I love being on my boat and waverunner!! From what I can tell there is a great mixture of people between natives and transplants from nj, ny, and pa...The only problem that I can forsee is that she is a teacher/ coach and has a good job up here and Ive heard mixed reviews on the job market for teachers in FL right now! Does anybody have any insight into the teaching market????

[Denise in Fla]

Originally Posted by DeltaDart

Martin County is one of the more conservative counties in all of Florida, Stuart is okay but nothing to scream about or write back to your mother about. Yeah, it's not like Jacksonville were I was once, getting woken up at 1:00AM by a bunch of......" gold toothed inner city, at-risk-youths" shooting at each other! But the place is rather dull with not much to see or do, the locals vary in personality with a growing number of young women with really rotten attitudes; the mean spirtedness from "Port Fierce" starting to spill over into here. Hard economic times turns the place into an example of sorrow and desperation but hopefully things will get better soon. And the locals wouldn't know what to do or how to react if a HobbyTownUSA store opened up around here! God forbid, right?!

What else? Oh yeah, the public access channel, MCTV 20, is extremely boring! I understand it's public access but there is a certain sort of grassroots fun that can be found with that type of medium. Usually you can find really entertaining low-budget shows, not so on MCTV 20 which has strict, conservative rules against anything odd or creative. Sad but true. It's not too bad here in Stuart or Stumbleton, as I think it should be called, but I look farward to the day I can to move out of here to some place a lot more interesting. Waaaaay out west, maybe.

One other thing, be very aware of the Martin County Sheriffs department. I have nothing against local law enforcment but they are very, very militant and I have heard many chilling horror stories from some of the long time resisdents. But come here are find out for yourself, Stuart is way better then Boca Raton! That city is a bloody abortion!

Have to agree with you about being dull, that's why we moved.

[stevep111]

Well just drive the speed limit and keep your mouth closed so your gold teeth don't show and you will be ok. This whole area is quiet. Just the way it was ment to be. If you want crazy go south of PGA blvd and you will get crazy

[m5*]

it is a small town and that is 100% the feel that it has. i lived there for 12 years and loved it. great schools and great friends were made, i go back all the time.