Moving to SW Florida (Sarasota, North Port: fit in, big house, neighborhood)

[drblank1]

Hi, I just found this website it seems very helpful so I thought I'd post a thread to my dilemma.

My wife and I are in the process of selling our house in Cincinnati and will be moving to Florida. We are in no hurry as I can live anywhere I want and be able to keep my job. We are VERY interested in the area between Sarasota and Ft. Myers because it seems not to be very built up and "country-ish". We want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and live somewhere peaceful and quiet. We are also avid boaters and are looking for a house with salt canal/gulf access. My son and I like to fish too and it would be great to be able to go into the backyard and put a couple of lines in the water. We have been doing research and like the South Gulf Cove area and Punta Gorda Isles. We also like Pirate Harbor.

We have visited SGC and it seems OK although the canals are more brackish than salt water because of the lock. We have not been to PGI or PH.

Our dilemma is that I am in my 40's and my wife in her 30's and our children ages range from teen-agers to a baby. We are greatly concerned that these areas are mostly retirees/snowbirds. We currently live in an affluent neighborhood with families and children of all ages and want to keep it that way for our kids. But we also desire to be on a salt canal with quick access to the gulf.

Does anyone know if SGC, PGI, or PH are family or retiree oriented?

Also, are there other developments in the area that might fit our criteria?

Because we are in no great hurry, we also have the option to buy land and build so any suggestions on waterfront neighborhood with land would be also helpful.

We would not like to spend more than $500k so Casey Key is out.

Thanks in advance

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by drblank1

Hi, I just found this website it seems very helpful so I thought I'd post a thread to my dilemma.

My wife and I are in the process of selling our house in Cincinnati and will be moving to Florida. We are in no hurry as I can live anywhere I want and be able to keep my job. We are VERY interested in the area between Sarasota and Ft. Myers because it seems not to be very built up and "country-ish". We want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and live somewhere peaceful and quiet. We are also avid boaters and are looking for a house with salt canal/gulf access. My son and I like to fish too and it would be great to be able to go into the backyard and put a couple of lines in the water. We have been doing research and like the South Gulf Cove area and Punta Gorda Isles. We also like Pirate Harbor.

We have visited SGC and it seems OK although the canals are more brackish than salt water because of the lock. We have not been to PGI or PH.

Our dilemma is that I am in my 40's and my wife in her 30's and our children ages range from teen-agers to a baby. We are greatly concerned that these areas are mostly retirees/snowbirds. We currently live in an affluent neighborhood with families and children of all ages and want to keep it that way for our kids. But we also desire to be on a salt canal with quick access to the gulf.

Does anyone know if SGC, PGI, or PH are family or retiree oriented?

Also, are there other developments in the area that might fit our criteria?

Because we are in no great hurry, we also have the option to buy land and build so any suggestions on waterfront neighborhood with land would be also helpful.

We would not like to spend more than $500k so Casey Key is out.

Thanks in advance

Big House lives in PGI so he can probably answer most of your questions from a residence point of view. Here's my point of view from an outsider-if I had to guess I would say that PGI is probably 70% retires and 30% non retirees. Now this is just an educated guess.

I moved from the Charlotte county area to Sarasota county for the schools. Not that Charlotte county's is "bad" it's just I preferred the Sarasota county schools. I'm not a huge fan of the Lee county school system (Ft. Myers).

So, if you were to stick to Sarasota county you would have North Port (which has very little gulf access), north Englewood, Venice, Nokomis, Osprey and Sarasota.

If you look at the subdivisions in Sarasota county that you may be able to pick something up under $500K you have:

Englewood: Englewood Isles, Overbrook Gardens, Eden Harbor,
North Port: Duck Key
Nokomis: Dolphin Shores
Venice: The Island of Venice
Osprey: Sorrento Shores, South Bay Yacht & Racquet Club (maybe)
Sarasota: Phillipi Gardens, Aqualane Estates (maybe)

Truthfully, I can't think of a subdivision that sticks out in my head that has a large number of kids and also has gulf access/canals.

[Peter the Brit]

Look at Sorrento Woods, which has a community boat dock into Shakett Creek and Shakett Island both in Nokomis as well.'

[Big House]

Originally Posted by drblank1

Hi, I just found this website it seems very helpful so I thought I'd post a thread to my dilemma.

My wife and I are in the process of selling our house in Cincinnati and will be moving to Florida. We are in no hurry as I can live anywhere I want and be able to keep my job. We are VERY interested in the area between Sarasota and Ft. Myers because it seems not to be very built up and "country-ish". We want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and live somewhere peaceful and quiet. We are also avid boaters and are looking for a house with salt canal/gulf access. My son and I like to fish too and it would be great to be able to go into the backyard and put a couple of lines in the water. We have been doing research and like the South Gulf Cove area and Punta Gorda Isles. We also like Pirate Harbor.

We have visited SGC and it seems OK although the canals are more brackish than salt water because of the lock. We have not been to PGI or PH.

Our dilemma is that I am in my 40's and my wife in her 30's and our children ages range from teen-agers to a baby. We are greatly concerned that these areas are mostly retirees/snowbirds. We currently live in an affluent neighborhood with families and children of all ages and want to keep it that way for our kids. But we also desire to be on a salt canal with quick access to the gulf.

Does anyone know if SGC, PGI, or PH are family or retiree oriented?

Also, are there other developments in the area that might fit our criteria?

Because we are in no great hurry, we also have the option to buy land and build so any suggestions on waterfront neighborhood with land would be also helpful.

We would not like to spend more than $500k so Casey Key is out.

Thanks in advance

Hey drblank1,
Welcome to the board! You will find this board very helpful especially when / if you are looking for a house in SWFL.

I looked for months and months, and did tons of research. I recently bought a house in PGI, and many of the things you stated sound very familiar to what I was looking for.

I started asking on the Florida forum first because I didn't know where PGI fit in. In any case, I started a thread, and asked questions the whole time I was going through the process. The link below is that thread, and it will connect you to my summary. You ought to read through it and you will get a good sense of what issues you need to think about. It should save you a lot of time, and energy!
http://www.city-data.com/forum/showt...41106#poststop

If you have any specific questions feel free to DM me. In anycase, I am settled in now, and love it! I run out to the harbor and fish all the time.
PGI has a lot of elderly, but it is younging up. There has been and continues to be quite a bit of turn over, and younger people are moving in all the time.

There are a lot of cool activities going on all the time! They have musicians playing in Gilchrist park all the time. The had a huge block party this year (kinda honoring the snowbirds leaving) which was just awesome. They had the Florida Internationa Air show at the airport, and the Blue Angles came, they've had the International Art show at Laishley's Park, and the Peace River Seafood Festival, among other things. You are a half hour to all the greatest beaches SWFL has to offer. It is centrally located to a lot of things, and has maintained that historical small SWFL town feel! All the chain stuff is near by, but outside of the town itself.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Peter the Brit

Look at Sorrento Woods, which has a community boat dock into Shakett Creek and Shakett Island both in Nokomis as well.'

Yeah, I was thinking Shakett Island as well but it's doubtful you'll find anything under $500K there.

And Big House-what the heck is younging up anyway? Looks like you're making up a new vocabulary

[movin-on-up!]

"younging up"

LOL!!!!!

[Big House]

Originally Posted by movin-on-up!

"younging up"

LOL!!!!!

What! ! ? ?
Younging up, is what you beautiful ladies do in front of your mirror sometimes! and it what I do when I'm watching you!

Also all you girls have this ability "younging up" right after my first beer! It is amazing! But I never tire of it!

[mr&mrssunshine]

Big House was a retired drinker- but he came out of retirement after 5 minutes and is now 'younging' it up at any bar he can get in to !!

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Big House

What! ! ? ?
Younging up, is what you beautiful ladies do in front of your mirror sometimes! and it what I do when I'm watching you!

Also all you girls have this ability "younging up" right after my first beer! It is amazing! But I never tire of it!

Haha, love the clarification. Obviously another Bighouseism. I almost was tempted to go to dictionary.com to look it up

[Big House]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

Haha, love the clarification. Obviously another Bighouseism. I almost was tempted to go to dictionary.com to look it up

I'm offering private vocabulary lessons at River City Bar and Grille - Anyone can come!