Are There Any Senior Mobile Home Parks in Tallahassee? (Tampa: renting, insurance)

[smarino]

We recently discovered senior mobile home parks and it's been pretty neat! Very affordable, quiet and safe. Property taxes are nearly nothing as it isn't considered real property, and many of the parks are gated.

We''re considering moving to either Tallahassee or St Pete/Tampa (I know, odd choices but there it is) and I've only found 2 senior parks in Tallahassee. Both are in the boonies and we like to get around on public transportation, so we may have to cross Tallahassee off the list, as we did Gainesville. Am I missing something? Are there parks there that I am not able to find on a web search? The thought of spending big money for a site built home and paying lots of taxes isn't going to work, nor do I like the idea of renting.

[JAS]

TLH isn't a senior-oriented community as some other areas of Florida may be. I can't think of any senior mobile-home parks, and anything out in the boonies as you stated will not have public transportation.

TLH is much different than Tampa/St. Pete. Sure, there are seniors in TLH as you would find in other towns of its size, but it doesn't have a relocated retiree population like some parts of central/south FL.

[Jimrob1]

There have been several articles marketing Tallahassee as a retirement location to out of state retirees. "Where to Retire" is the name of one of the magazines and there have been other publications also rating Tally as a great place to retire. Unfortunately the target retiree seems to be the more affluent one. The one buying a home and driving a car and their golf cart. I did not see one senior park mentioned in these articles on Tallahassee. So I imagine as you found with so few parks in the area maybe you should look elsewhere.

Senior mobile Home parks are all over Central Florida. Just outside Tampa in the Eastern suburbs there are several large ones. Public transportation would be so limited it would be a waste of your time trying to make it work. In many areas it is non-existant. Try Lakeland, Fla between Orlando and Tampa about 100,000 pop self contanined city and has public bus service which is pretty good. There are senior parks in that community and region and a mixture of retirees and other ages. It is not a college town but I think USF is building a suburban campus. Lakeland is basically a suburb of Tampa. It might be worth some research since with a mobile home you don't want to be to close to the coast. With the storms and wind getting insurance on a mobile would be difficult that close to the ocean. Also the closer you get to the water the more you would pay for space rent. There is a large senior park right outside of Tampa, called Strawberry Ridge in Valrico, but again no bus service. Many parks are somewhat inland as I imagine that keeps the costs down rather than coastal properties. Public transit in Florida is pretty bad. That is why I mentioned Lakeland since it is one of the few smaller cities that actually have decent bus service.

Good Luck.

[WellShoneMoon]

As a senior living in Tallahassee, I have to say that public transportation is terrible to nonexistent. I'm within the city limits, and I'd have to walk a mile just to get to a bus stop. Then the buses run generally once an hour. It's just sad.

[smarino]

Thanks for the info. It confirms what I was finding on the web. I thought of Lakeland, but it might feel like a huge senior Disneyland w/ it's demographics, and it wouldn't be a good fit for us politically as we're oldish liberals. We may go look at St. Pete, although the economy looks pretty bad there. I agree, insuring a mobile home would be VERY expensive. We priced it when we were in Galveston. The best thing to do is buy an older, inexpensive home and just replace it if it is totaled. Really. It's cheaper. I'm beginning to think the Tampa/St. Pete area is a good bet, as it has plenty of senior parks and good public transportation. .

[Jimrob1]

Your correct on Lakeland as far as its politics. It always seemed strange to me with Fla and politics. With so many that move into the state one would think it would have more moderate politics. More of a live and let live environment, yet many areas are not. I think Lakeland is a nice area, but I find Lakeland and its region to be extremely conservative and rather religious. If thats one's thing thats fine, if not they may feel out of place. Its demographics actually are mixed. There are many younger people living there its far from being dominated by retirees. Unfortunately its crime rate is rather high for what the areas population numbers are.

If your going with The Tampa St Pete area and the public transit is going to be on your criteria then go with St Pete. Really Tampa's bus system is very inadequate and would not fit your needs. I can't imagine where one could live where that bus system would be considered and option. South Tampa comes to mind but I doubt area has Mobile Home Parks.

If you base your area on bus service I think St Pete has the the better bus system and its a more urban area that make transit more adequate. Its more dense and thats probably the reason. Although if you lived in the Clearwater area and wanted to go to downtown St Pete it could take quite a while.

You will figure it all out. Maybe you will go with Fla or maybe you will find it doesn't meet your criterias. Either way finding ones place can be a journey. Good Luck.

[TallyPain]

JAS, you have no clue about the city. There are thousands of laid back seniors in Tallahassee.

[JAS]

Originally Posted by TallyPain

JAS, you have no clue about the city. There are thousands of laid back seniors in Tallahassee.

No clue? I lived there the first 23 years of my life, I have family and friends there, and I visit every few months. You're right, I'm not familiar with the city at all.

I guess you've never been to communities in central and south FL that are geared towards retirees. The original post was about senior mobile home parks (presumably those marketed or even legally reserved for residents over agee 55, for example) -- if I'm so clueless, then please tell everyone where they are located since I obviously don't know the city.

I never said that there weren't any senior citizens that live in TLH, but it is not a snowbird town by any means.