Moving to North Port, any advice?

[SoFLGal]

I think I mentioned this before, but there are a lot of kids that live in Lakeside Plantation and in Charleston Park. Lakeside is definitely not a retirement community. The poster dt3sabo lives in Lakeside, has a few kids and he says he is very happy

[keywestcouple]

I just want to say that my husband and I decided to move to North Port back in January of this year. After 3 months of negotiations we ended up in a home with well water in the Biscayne/Price area. Our house is 3 years old, is a 3 BR/2 BA/2CG, has a pool with solar heat and a very nice sized lot. We paid almost half of what we would have paid for a similar home in Columbus, Ohio. After discovering this forum and reading posts from January until March I was just sick to my stomache and scared to death that we had made a bad decision. It seemed that the few people we knew who lived here were telling us very positive things; but the posts on here were 98% negative.

We have now been North Port residents for 3 short weeks. My husband got a great job the first week after going on ONE interview, it is a skilled trades job, it is in the local area and it does pay very well. The neighbors are very nice people and every single one of them say they feel 100% safe in this neighborhood and even would leave their doors unlocked without being worried.

We have talked to everyone we can about the schools and will be enrolling our son in kindergarten for the fall. We have heard 99% positive things regarding the school from the people who live here; not the people on these forums.

Overall we are extremely happy with our decision. Like anyplace in the world; your town is what you make of it. There is so much to do here if you just get out and do it. Lots of area festivals. We are "outdoors-type" people so the boating, fishing, golfing, beaching, hiking, camping...stuff is right up our alley. We are within a few hours drive to a TON of great stuff and can take a weekend trip to anywhere in Florida including the Keys.

We visited Boca Grande this past weekend and as we layed there looking at the gorgeous aqua colored water we reminded ourselves that we are not on vacation; we live here and we love it!!!!!!

If you are a "northerner" considering moving to North Port, please feel free to email us at keywestcouple@gmail.com and we will gladly share any information we have with you. It was difficult to find much online for North Port.

[SoFLGal]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, keywestcouple. Welcome to the neighborhood

[Carbondated]

Congratulations on your move.
After 3 weeks, I doubt anyone would view their new area with anything but rose colored glasses.
However, I do sincerely hope that your honeymoon period with the area lasts for a long time. And that the views of people who have seen the negative changes (drugs/crime/gangs) in North Port and the multiple high profile kidnappings/murders don't discourage you.

[demogirl50]

I live up the other side of Biscayne by the Library and would not move for the world.We have been here 5 years.Came over for the weekend to see my brother and his wife,my husband seen a job he wanted called .He started that Monday I went home and packed up the house and have been here ever since.We were living in Hollywood.

Originally Posted by keywestcouple

I just want to say that my husband and I decided to move to North Port back in January of this year. After 3 months of negotiations we ended up in a home with well water in the Biscayne/Price area. Our house is 3 years old, is a 3 BR/2 BA/2CG, has a pool with solar heat and a very nice sized lot. We paid almost half of what we would have paid for a similar home in Columbus, Ohio. After discovering this forum and reading posts from January until March I was just sick to my stomache and scared to death that we had made a bad decision. It seemed that the few people we knew who lived here were telling us very positive things; but the posts on here were 98% negative.

We have now been North Port residents for 3 short weeks. My husband got a great job the first week after going on ONE interview, it is a skilled trades job, it is in the local area and it does pay very well. The neighbors are very nice people and every single one of them say they feel 100% safe in this neighborhood and even would leave their doors unlocked without being worried.

We have talked to everyone we can about the schools and will be enrolling our son in kindergarten for the fall. We have heard 99% positive things regarding the school from the people who live here; not the people on these forums.

Overall we are extremely happy with our decision. Like anyplace in the world; your town is what you make of it. There is so much to do here if you just get out and do it. Lots of area festivals. We are "outdoors-type" people so the boating, fishing, golfing, beaching, hiking, camping...stuff is right up our alley. We are within a few hours drive to a TON of great stuff and can take a weekend trip to anywhere in Florida including the Keys.

We visited Boca Grande this past weekend and as we layed there looking at the gorgeous aqua colored water we reminded ourselves that we are not on vacation; we live here and we love it!!!!!!

If you are a "northerner" considering moving to North Port, please feel free to email us at keywestcouple@gmail.com and we will gladly share any information we have with you. It was difficult to find much online for North Port.

[AnotherDayInParadise]

Congratulations, Keywestcouple!

[countrysoul4]

Keywestcouple, as with any place anyone lives taking safety to heart is critical even in North Port

with another poster mentioned about the murders and kidnapping- those happen in North Port too

a couple of years ago there was a man driving around the bus stops in a white van trying to snatch children at one time he was the bus stop closest to us- Even here it is not safe for them to walk Sad but true
Don't let this discourage you though, North Port is beautiful, we are moving back this summer. Good luck!

[BobZ51]

The North Port (Sun Herald news) news paper is readily avaiable on line and it's free!!!! Police activity is regularly included! Crime in North Port is no different than elsewhere ( except there are a lot of vacant houses, many of which are somewhat isolated)

Bob in NY