best city or area (Sunrise, Fort Pierce: theater, organic, live in)

[rox011]

I keep noticing most people that have reponded to my post like Stuart better then Vero. What would be the biggest reason Stuart would be better then Vero Beach? Do many people commute to Vero Beach from Stuart? I also wanted to ask if anyone has heard or can recommend the subdivision called Oakmont in Vero Beach?

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by rox011

I keep noticing most people that have reponded to my post like Stuart better then Vero. What would be the biggest reason Stuart would be better then Vero Beach? Do many people commute to Vero Beach from Stuart? I also wanted to ask if anyone has heard or can recommend the subdivision called Oakmont in Vero Beach?

No, it's an hour away and absolutely no reason to do that. I'm waiting for all the Stuart people to answer your question.......don't everybody jump in at once, now LOLOL....

Stuart is more crowded, with a population density of "average" compared to Vero's "low". It's only freaking 6 sq miles too. With 16000 people stuffed into it LOL. It's part of Port St Lucie MSA (metropolitan statistical area) so you have the crowds from PSL using Stuart and it's water access.

No way. Nothing's "wrong" with Stuart per se, but absolutely ridiculous for anyone to tell you to commute there. VERO is a beautiful place and anyone lucky enough to be able to live on the barrier island will tell you so.

Go read about the traffic and bridge controversy in Stuart. NONE of that here in Vero. We blink our traffic lights yellow all summer here at night.

Just do google images on Vero to see it. Especially the 25 million dollar mansion(s),

I dont know that section but if it's Oakmont Park Estates I know the area. It's a central location easy to get to the beach in minutes..shopping nearby. Nothing wrong with that area but you really need to come here and see things. And certainly dont buy just rent for now.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by rox011

I keep noticing most people that have reponded to my post like Stuart better then Vero. What would be the biggest reason Stuart would be better then Vero Beach? Do many people commute to Vero Beach from Stuart? I also wanted to ask if anyone has heard or can recommend the subdivision called Oakmont in Vero Beach?

Stuart is too far to commute to Vero Beach.

I would prefer Stuart over Vero because as a non-retired person, there is more going on. Living in Stuart (the greater Stuart/Martin region) you are very convenient to the cultural, shopping, and travel opportunities afforded by the Palm Beaches, with the small town feel but still good amenities of basically all of Martin County, which is I believe the second "wealthiest" county in the State, based on household incomes of residents.

Again though, not very convenient to commute all that way to work. A shorter commute is INVALUABLE. It's why I live 5 minutes from work but have much smaller accomodations than would i could get elsewhere for the same $! HATE commuting though, so it was well well worth it.

Really, you should take a few days and visit all different areas along the Treasure Coast and see what suits YOU the best. What amenities do YOU need to be happy? Can you find it all in X location?

[floridaorbust]

Originally Posted by Denise in Fla

Find it hard to believe from Melbourne to Vero is an hour and 45 min. I drive from Brevard county to Stuart in an hour and 15 min.

our friends live in Palm Bay. It takes us, at least, 45 minutes to get to their home. We live in Vero Beach.

[floridaorbust]

We became Vero Beach residents June 10th. And loving it. My husband and I were not looking for the "big town" feel. So this is perfect. The beaches are clean and not overly crowded. Tons of shops, grocery and restaurants. Our home has a pool, so its like our own oasis Nothing is Utopia. But we are pretty close Our friends live in Palm Bay. Decent area. But we are happy with our move. Good luck to you. It took us 1 year to find the right location and home. Initially we were looking at Titusville, Mims and Merritt Island. Ended up in Vero

[rox011]

Thanks for the replies. My husband commutes 40 miles to work each day and it's taking a toll on him. I think we'll be better off staying in or near Vero Beach. As for amenities, we just like going to dinner and maybe catching a movie. I checked Indian River Mall and that works for us if we need to go shopping. We currenly live in a small town 35 miles from Atlanta (Dacula Ga) considered N Atlanta but we never go to the city unless we visit the museums and the aquarium. I think we'll be fine in Vero. I did notice negative comments about the crime in Ft Pierce. Is there any area in Vero Beach to avoid?

[seeriously]

Vero Beach Mall currently has 17 vacancies. It's depressing. We trek to Melbourne or the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens for real shopping.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by rox011

I think we'll be fine in Vero. I did notice negative comments about the crime in Ft Pierce. Is there any area in Vero Beach to avoid?

Well not really "bad" but less desirable yes. Some parts around Oslo are sketchy and some parts bordering Gifford, a contiguous area around 43rd. Although Oslo has a huge stretch of nothing but cattle farms and is awesome in that regard. It's the intersecting streets that you have to really investigate.

For the most part imo:

-the barrier island is all gorgeous....up by the mall is nice and suburban with plenty of choices, a little north of it where floridaorbust moved is great with open farmy stretches mingled with smaller developments, and a couple larger....out a few blocks from the mall west....near 95 is sorta "commercial" although there are some ok "neighborhoods" it's not my choice of area...halfway between the mall and i95 there are some nice neighborhoods but the road (20th aka Rt 60) is under a major construction project so I'd avoid living there now.....Rt 1 area is a little hectic and can have some sketchiness but nothing of concern,....although I bought right on Rt 1 and love it....then Vero city center you have some blocks great and others with some deferred maintenance and some random problems due to the influx of unscreened renters. This one is all over Florida though. By city center I mean like where the electric company and city hall are.

Driving up and down 4th, 8th, 12th which go east to west and intersect 58th where the stores are, you see a huge mix of neighborhoods meaning some older, some brand new, some modest some lux, and several farmettes.

It's very eclectic here. And peaceful. Like I said our traffic lights on many streets are on yellow blink in the summer.

You have to drive around OR pick something guaranteed like the beach/barrier island if you're moving blind...which isn't a great idea. If you drive around you'll see it. Like some blocks you see a goof put up a carport with 4 metal poles and canvas top. First time I've seen that.

I will pm you my two realtor's names. They are trustworthy and long termers. They both live in neighborhoods I chose.

Basically, even the blocks with lower income housing look pretty normal. And there is nothing like long standing public housing except for in Gifford which is being renovated alot and looking much better. Although you see some older shacky type houses there too....again NOTHING like in other more well known counties or places like Bartram Village in WPB, or Riviera Beach PBC.

There are railroad tracks running down Rt 1 (as there are in WPB too) and the trains disturb some people. They run about 3-4 times per day, smallish cargo trains. Occasionally you hear the horn in the early am and if that bothers you then go west to the mall area around 58th or nw out 66th where floridaorbust is. BUT DECIDE IN PERSON NOT ON THE INTERNET LOL.

It's hard describing places to people especially not really knowing what is acceptable or not for them. I'm picky and say aside from some deferred maintenance or avoiding streets with sex offenders, nothing in Vero is "bad".

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by rox011

Thanks for the replies. My husband commutes 40 miles to work each day and it's taking a toll on him. I think we'll be better off staying in or near Vero Beach. As for amenities, we just like going to dinner and maybe catching a movie. I checked Indian River Mall and that works for us if we need to go shopping. We currenly live in a small town 35 miles from Atlanta (Dacula Ga) considered N Atlanta but we never go to the city unless we visit the museums and the aquarium. I think we'll be fine in Vero. I did notice negative comments about the crime in Ft Pierce. Is there any area in Vero Beach to avoid?

The mall also has strip center stores all around it. Everything you can think of from pet stores, to Marshalls, Target Lowes, HD, Pier 1, Best Buy, Walmart 24 hrs a block away, Sams, Cvs, Walgreens, hair places, Michaels....your typical shopping centers.

The only thing I say about the mall is yes, it's modest by Northern terms, like the Macy's is smaller cuz it's only one level. They have no upscale dept store like Nordstrom, Banana Republic, Cole Haan... but Dillards there is nice and also in FL you want some seasonal Florida type clothing like Dillards has. The Vero Beach outlet stores do have Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, BCBGMAX, Bose, Calvin, Dooney, JCrew, Lauren, Tommy Hil....but I always forget to go there ha ha.

My only real complaint is the handbags LOL. For some reason, I cannot find anything I like here (OR IN JACKSONVILLE btw)....so I drive to Palm Beach Mall, yes, for that. Also if you like, say, a certain cosmetic counter it may not be at the smaller dept stores. Big woop lol.

Essentially if you need "something" you can find it but it may not be something you're wild about. Like I wanted a suit for work and they only had like, 4 and all in dark wintery colors and heavy fabric.

There are not any of your junk stores like Hot Topic and stuff but there's a Talbot. And a food court. And chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesday. Aside from the "normal" restaurants you'd go to that are privately owned all over Vero Beach. They could use some more popular places like Cheesecake Factory, a Whole Foods, stuff like that but it's getting there as the west develops.

[runswithscissors]

I was at your husband's Fed Ex all last year! I was working on a project with NJ people. I could almost walk there from my house at Grove Isle on Rt 1!

That's about 15 minutes from the mall area door to door tops, I'd say. THAT's a tricky area to live in. Meaning the random blocks of really nice or really nothing special. So as soon as you can come here you'll decide ...it'll only take about 2 days tops of driving around. But the MSA is LARGE.

Probably up where floridaorbust lives is too far unless you love the open spaces and farm type feel. I like it. It's probably more like a half hour (tops). BUT there's no "commute" worry whatsoever. Never traffic to speak of even in high season unless you're stuck behind a back hoe on Rt 1 while they're re-doing the lanes. He's on 8th and 4th street turns into Indian River Blvd on the Intracoastal which is the way to the beach. About 15 min from work.