The good and the bad of Venice (Sarasota, North Port: insurance, homes)

[alfbroker]

You were right to consider Venice. It's one of the gems on the west coast. 95% of it is beautiful and safe. There is an older area in South Venice where there is small cheap homes with well and septic on small lots. Don't buy there. Buy in the 95% that's nice. If you buy a $50,000 home you will living where crime is more likely to happen no matter where you buy in Florida.

Sarasota all the way down to Rotonda is nice. Stay away from North Port and Port Charlotte. Be careful of taking advice from anyone who has thousands of reasons ($$$$) for you to buy in a certain area and may not have your best interest in mind.

Spend some time on the ground checking things out for yourself with your own eyes. Or rent until you are sure you want to live there. There are lots of people stuck with $200,000 mortgages on a place worth $90,000 that wish they had rented first. Don't be pressured into making a big mistake, huge price increases aren't going to happen anytime soon.

[nphomeowner]

Stay away from North Port? Oh my, I wasn't aware that I bought a home in a bad area! Maybe I need to quit walking my dog by MYSELF or quit being friendly with the neighbors, they might be mass murderers???

It's so unfair to say stay away from any certain area, we LOVE it here and wonder why people have opinions like this?

[gettinoutofjersey]

Originally Posted by nphomeowner

Stay away from North Port? Oh my, I wasn't aware that I bought a home in a bad area! Maybe I need to quit walking my dog by MYSELF or quit being friendly with the neighbors, they might be mass murderers???

It's so unfair to say stay away from any certain area, we LOVE it here and wonder why people have opinions like this?

yah, agreed. we bought where we did in englewood and if not here i would have no problem considering north port or port charlotte. both of those towns have some places i would stay away from but on the whole they are both great. port charlotte has some real nice water front properties

[surferguy]

I would look in North Port or Port Charlotte, but I think Venice is as far South as we need to go. Our family will by Siesta Key and work wise, who knows.

Really what I am looking for is a quiet, sleepy, little beach town that we can ride our beach cruisers to the water, great local vibe, and no worries like we had in Carlsbad. One of the most important things to me is to be able to give back to the community by organizing beach cleanup's in collaboration with the Surfrider Foundation and so on.

You folks are all awesome that post in this thread. Help's a ton!

[nphomeowner]

If you want a quiet little sleepy beach town then Englewood or Venice would probably fit the bill for you nicely!

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I would look in North Port or Port Charlotte, but I think Venice is as far South as we need to go. Our family will by Siesta Key and work wise, who knows.

Really what I am looking for is a quiet, sleepy, little beach town that we can ride our beach cruisers to the water, great local vibe, and no worries like we had in Carlsbad. One of the most important things to me is to be able to give back to the community by organizing beach cleanup's in collaboration with the Surfrider Foundation and so on.

You folks are all awesome that post in this thread. Help's a ton!

That's a terrific plan. If you are interested in giving back to the community through beach clean up's you might also be interested in a few other programs Sarasota county has as well as the turtle watch program: Sarasota Bay Estuary Program - Sarasota, Florida - Preserving Sarasota's Water Heritage for the Future (http://www.sarasotabay.org/tourism-responsible.html - broken link)

Sarasota County Resource Proctection

[alfbroker]

Originally Posted by gettinoutofjersey

my point above was that venice is a large area to sum up as being all bad, good or old.

surfer guy, you might want to look at englewood along the water. not manasota key, thats priced pretty high. taxes are reasonable. englewood like every other town has its good and bad areas. the only way you will find a town or area that is perfect is when all the houses go for a high price like say 800K plus and there are high taxes. thats the only (almost) 100% way to keep the trash out. but then do you really want to live there with all the stuck up, snobby better than you people? been there, done that.

North Port and Port Charlotte have no character compared to Venice. No downtown, just miles of tacky strip malls and too many stop lights that force you to sit there and look at them. They built 1000's of cheap new homes in North Port during the boom. You'll see 100's of the same model over and over except now many of them are in foreclosure. No real sense of community in either place. Neither North Port or Port Charlotte has a beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Port Charlotte has a river beach that's a waste of time.

Englewood is nice and has a historic but very small downtown. OK beaches too. It's a nice place if you eat dinner at 3pm and are asleep by 8pm because that's when the town closes.

Venice has a vibrant historic downtown right near the beach, festivals held there. It has many unique beach areas, bike path many miles long going to the beach. Sarasota has character, art, culture also and Siesta Beach that was voted best beach in the US a few months back. Prices are half off or better in desirable areas. It would be a smart move to buy the best you can afford as close to the real beaches as possible. That's where the value will jump when things get back to normal. They can always clear more scruff inland and build another North Port or PC but they can't make more Gulf Beach.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

That's a terrific plan. If you are interested in giving back to the community through beach clean up's you might also be interested in a few other programs Sarasota county has as well as the turtle watch program: Sarasota Bay Estuary Program - Sarasota, Florida - Preserving Sarasota's Water Heritage for the Future (http://www.sarasotabay.org/tourism-responsible.html - broken link)

Sarasota County Resource Proctection

THANK YOU!

Loggerheads are my favorite little dudes.

[FringedNFab]

Originally Posted by alfbroker

North Port and Port Charlotte have no character compared to Venice. No downtown, just miles of tacky strip malls and too many stop lights that force you to sit there and look at them. They built 1000's of cheap new homes in North Port during the boom. You'll see 100's of the same model over and over except now many of them are in foreclosure. No real sense of community in either place. Neither North Port or Port Charlotte has a beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Port Charlotte has a river beach that's a waste of time.

Englewood is nice and has a historic but very small downtown. OK beaches too. It's a nice place if you eat dinner at 3pm and are asleep by 8pm because that's when the town closes.

Venice has a vibrant historic downtown right near the beach, festivals held there. It has many unique beach areas, bike path many miles long going to the beach. Sarasota has character, art, culture also and Siesta Beach that was voted best beach in the US a few months back. Prices are half off or better in desirable areas. It would be a smart move to buy the best you can afford as close to the real beaches as possible. That's where the value will jump when things get back to normal. They can always clear more scruff inland and build another North Port or PC but they can't make more Gulf Beach.

I know a few people who've bought or rent in North Port, because the sprawling affordable housing they have would've cost them triple up in Sarasota for something as nice, not everyone wants to live in a tiny 1960's outdated/or even refurbished ranch when they could have brand new, or near new. That is why people like NP. And it's still close to area beaches within minutes. Either direction down there too! Sure North Port's not near as built up as Sarasota but I'm sure they would have more had the recession not affected everything these past few years. It's an up and coming town I think. And being centralized to busier cities is a plus for a lot of people and attractive. Because not everyone wants to live right in a congested city, maybe just go to work in one. I think they keep North Port a nice, clean town and take care of what they do have through there. Don't judge it just by driving down Rt. 41.

Sarasota also has price to go along with everything they got.

[nphomeowner]

Originally Posted by FringedNFab

I know a few people who've bought or rent in North Port, because the sprawling affordable housing they have would've cost them triple up in Sarasota for something as nice, not everyone wants to live in a tiny 1960's outdated/or even refurbished ranch when they could have brand new, or near new. That is why people like NP. And it's still close to area beaches within minutes. Either direction down there too! Sure North Port's not near as built up as Sarasota but I'm sure they would have more had the recession not affected everything these past few years. It's an up and coming town I think. And being centralized to busier cities is a plus for a lot of people and attractive. Because not everyone wants to live right in a congested city, maybe just go to work in one. I think they keep North Port a nice, clean town and take care of what they do have through there. Don't judge it just by driving down Rt. 41.

Sarasota also has price to go along with everything they got.

Yep, EXACTLY why we bought in North Port. We do not LIKE hustle and bustle and we did not WANT another OLD fixer upper, we left that up North. We have a nice new home that we are proud to call our own. We are close enough to everything, beaches, shopping and even Sarasota if we choose to go there which we RARELY do. We really do like it here.

I find myself getting upset at the negative North Port posts then ask myself why? What do I CARE if someone doesn't like it? We do and bottom line is, that is what matters!