West Palm Beach County vs. Sarasota area (Tampa, Boca Raton: HOA fees, crime)

[NJcanuck]

Forgive me if this is in the wrong section.

My family and I are considering relocating from the Toronto area down to Florida. My parents recently moved to Sarasota, but they're empty nesters, we, however, are in our 40s and have 2 kids who are tweens and a nine year old. A long time ago I used to live in NJ, but I can't say that I would enjoy going back to that particular culture at this point. Our background is Russian/Jewish, so I was hoping to find an area that has a somewhat similar demographic (not Sunny Isles, though), just somewhere where we could make new relationships both for us as adults and for our kids. Work-wise, my husband tends to look at remote opportunities, though having local work is a plus as well.

Somewhere suburban but within driving distance to fun things (right now we're about an hour [with traffic] out of downtown Toronto, so we don't live in it, but can go to theaters, or just into a proper city if we want to, it's also pretty diverse with many different restaurants, stores, cultures all around us, but I've never felt unsafe, unfortunately, traffic and weather suck).

Any opinion on which area would be better for a family such as ours?

Thanks.

[Swimmom32]

It depends on your price range? you can check out Boca Raton, Delray Beach or other parts of South Florida....Boca has very good schools as we were happy with the elem and HS middle was just OK....We are moving to the Tampa Area this time around we lived in Boca for 4 years and we really enjoyed living there...Tampa is very different than South Florida and a very different Vibe...Sarasota is beautiful

Good Luck to you and your family

[NJcanuck]

Thanks. Price range will probably be around 700-800K. I don't know yet. It seems that Florida is not as expensive as Toronto, though the exchange rate is an issue at this point for sure. I'm more concerned with HOA fees that seem to be the norm down here. I'm still not sure whether a gated community is created for the purpose of maintenance free living, for safety reasons or for some other reason.

I wasn't really considering Tampa, mostly South Sarasota or possibly Lakewood Ranch. I was more concerned with demographics, and as realtors in the States aren't allowed to share that information about a neighborhood, it makes finding an area that much harder when one's not specifically attached to a job in a specific place. :/

[Enigma777]

Depends on your cultural leanings.

Palm Beach County has more of a northeastern vibe (i.e., liberal). Sarasota is more midwest (i.e. conservative).

These are, of course, generalities. I'm from the New England/New York area and never really took to Sarasota.

Objectively speaking, religiously and ethnically, the population in southeast Fla is much more Jewish and diverse than in Sarasota, which is more 'white bread' Christian.

[NJcanuck]

Originally Posted by Enigma777

Depends on your cultural leanings.

Palm Beach County has more of a northeastern vibe (i.e., liberal). Sarasota is more midwest (i.e. conservative).

These are, of course, generalities. I'm from the New England/New York area and never really took to Sarasota.

Objectively speaking, religiously and ethnically, the population in southeast Fla is much more Jewish and diverse than in Sarasota, which is more 'white bread' Christian.

I've been unable to find figures re: younger Jewish population in the Sarasota area. PBC seems to have a large Jewish population, and generally a younger population. So I figured that our chances of finding new friends ther is higher. Is that a correct assumption?

As for the vibe, I like that everyone is so nice and friendly in Sarasota, how close is the east coast vibe to actual NYC?

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by NJcanuck

Thanks. Price range will probably be around 700-800K. I don't know yet. It seems that Florida is not as expensive as Toronto, though the exchange rate is an issue at this point for sure. I'm more concerned with HOA fees that seem to be the norm down here. I'm still not sure whether a gated community is created for the purpose of maintenance free living, for safety reasons or for some other reason.

I wasn't really considering Tampa, mostly South Sarasota or possibly Lakewood Ranch. I was more concerned with demographics, and as realtors in the States aren't allowed to share that information about a neighborhood, it makes finding an area that much harder when one's not specifically attached to a job in a specific place. :/

some of my husband's co workers live in Lakewood Ranch and love it..I mentioned Tampa just because that is where we decided to move too..Sarasota is too far for us for what we need..but again South Florida is a whole different beast so to speak.....in your price range you will have no problem finding a nice house in South Florida and yes the HOA'S are very high depending on the developments....and some are country clubs that you must buy into like memberships...

Good Luck

[NJcanuck]

Originally Posted by Swimmom32

yes the HOA'S are very high depending on the developments....and some are country clubs that you must buy into like memberships...

Good Luck

Thanks. We'll definitely try to avoid the country club communities, as I don't think we need that. Can you tell me your opinion on the reason for the gated communities? Why did they come about in the first place? Does it have anything to do with crime/safety? Or is it more for convenience?

[OptimusPrime69]

Originally Posted by NJcanuck

Thanks. We'll definitely try to avoid the country club communities, as I don't think we need that. Can you tell me your opinion on the reason for the gated communities? Why did they come about in the first place? Does it have anything to do with crime/safety? Or is it more for convenience?

In Boca, it's more about the amenities they offer and the feeling of exclusivity.
It's funny to me, because more often than not these gated communities are located in some of the best and safest neighborhoods in the state. So, it's not because they are trying to keep out crime, because in Boca...there isn't much.

[NJcanuck]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

In Boca, it's more about the amenities they offer and the feeling of exclusivity.
It's funny to me, because more often than not these gated communities are located in some of the best and safest neighborhoods in the state. So, it's not because they are trying to keep out crime, because in Boca...there isn't much.

are there any particular communities or areas that you could recommend that are not country clubs and don't care about status? some place that has families with 10-12 year old children and professional parents, but not those who care what type of car you drive or what kind of purse you carry

[Swimmom32]

I must chime in about crime..Boca does have alot of crime, and even in the gated communities there are crimes committed, when we lived there people always told us its a sense of False Security but I still think its safer than NOT having a gated community just my opinion...Crime however is ALL over Florida...We don't have this much Crime here in NJ where we live...

OP we are jewish and yes there are a lot of jewish people in South Florida....I am not too sure about Sarasota area for us it didn't matter...