Thinking of moving to WPB

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by ibausfa

Hey,
I too am considering relocating to WPB. I live in Philadelphia now. I like the city and the surrounding area here, but I'm just sick and tired of the "northern attitude"

Where do you think most of the people that live in the nice areas here are from?

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by Spincycle

What about Jupiter and PBG are those nice areas? Conducting an exploratory search on move out of NJ, maybe to FL (Jupiter or PBG). Someone said taxes are high in Delray, but what about taxes in Jupiter and PBG? Does Jupiter and PBG at least have a little night life?

Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens are generally nice areas.


There are also plenty of nice places IN West Palm Beach, but it's a different vibe and feel than "North County."

[Pebbs78]

Originally Posted by NorthJersey

My other fear is the HURRICANES!!! (and I dont mean the bowling team..lol Any Honeymooner fans out there?) How do you Floridians deal with the high winds? Any advice would be much appreciated.

It's not the high winds to fear, but the high insurance rates. The market is much different than in 2001. If you decide to buy, 2x check to see how much your homeowner's insurance will be. My mother's 250K home costs $5500 each year to insure, and that's not including taxes. Now State Farm is wanting an additional 47% increase. Make sure you can foot the bill before you decide to buy, because taxes + insurance can end up costing nearly $10K per year, (or $193 per week) depending upon where you decide to live. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

[PalmBeach1]

I recently moved from CitySide in West Palm Beach up to Olde City in Philadelphia. I lived in CitySide for the past 2 years and I loved every minute there. Dollar for dollar you cant get a better deal. It's gated and safe and the perfect location. You can rent a 4 bed, 3 1/2 bath, 2 car garage for like $1,600!!! It's awesome. I now have a 1 bedroom condo in Philadelphia and its almost as expensive as the 2,800 sq. ft. house in CitySide, crazy!!! I would definitely take a visit and look at CitySide if I were you. Yeah there is a little sketchy neighborhoods around but seriously, CitySide is a gated neighborhood with 24 security on golf carts, at the gate, and walking around. It's close to the beach, close to I-95, close to anything you need to get too.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Pebbs78

It's not the high winds to fear, but the high insurance rates. The market is much different than in 2001. If you decide to buy, 2x check to see how much your homeowner's insurance will be. My mother's 250K home costs $5500 each year to insure, and that's not including taxes. Now State Farm is wanting an additional 47% increase. Make sure you can foot the bill before you decide to buy, because taxes + insurance can end up costing nearly $10K per year, (or $193 per week) depending upon where you decide to live. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

If she is paying that, way too high. Tell her to have the wind loss mitigation report done (free or $150) and it will be reduced. I am with State Farm, my home is worth close to $600K but dwelling coverage is around $390K and I pay $2400 per year. Please check it out

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by Bette

If she is paying that, way too high. Tell her to have the wind loss mitigation report done (free or $150) and it will be reduced. I am with State Farm, my home is worth close to $600K but dwelling coverage is around $390K and I pay $2400 per year. Please check it out

I agree. I have a friend who is buying right now, and for his house he's buying $385k, he was quoted at around $1500.00 - $2000.00.

People have to shop around regularly!

[Eskimo822]

Originally Posted by Spincycle

What about Jupiter and PBG are those nice areas? Conducting an exploratory search on move out of NJ, maybe to FL (Jupiter or PBG). Someone said taxes are high in Delray, but what about taxes in Jupiter and PBG? Does Jupiter and PBG at least have a little night life?

I don't know about the taxes, but PBG and Jupiter are both nice places. I actually lived in PBG before moving to West Palm about 7 months ago. They both have a little night life. Jupiter has Abacoa, which is shops and restaraunts with apartments upstairs. They have karaoke some nights, but not much in the way of dancing. You wouldn't have to live just upstairs from the bars, Abacoa is a small area surrounded by pretty nice suburbswith apartments and single family homes. You have to look a little harder for a night life in Gardens. Again, you can find bars, sports bars and some more upscale, but I only know of one place to dance there, and I've never been. Downtown at the Gardens is a nice shopping center with upscale bars and a nice movie theatre. There is also a Whole Foods there which I think is a nice thing to have close. Even if you dont get into the nightlife in Gardens or Jupiter you're not too far from West Palm.

[TiredOfSFL]

I moved here with my 2 children 11 years ago, from Dover, DE, and although almost everything cost more I thought it could work for us. I thought most of WPB was beautiful, green/flowery all year-round (loved them palm trees!), we'd only need one wardrobe instead of 2, I'd "never" have to drive in snow or ice, etc, Also, since I'm Latina I was thrilled to find more of my ethnic foods here, listen to Latin music on the radio and be able to watch "Univision".

However, things do not stay static and the constant influx of people from all over the place eventually caused my little piece of paradise to change. Maybe my personal circumstances had a lot to do with my struggles but the fact is that the cost of living rose and that was NOT good. To makes matters worse I had no social life, found it hard to connect with people; someone explained to me than in places like this where people come and go a lot, many people keep their distance and while polite they don't want to get close - same stuff I'd encountered in Dover, an air-force town where I had heard the exact same thing being said!

Eventually stress ended up making me sick. At that point I had the option of moving to Huntsville, AL but I still liked WPB enough to stay; in recent years have wondered if I made a mistake... After 3 hurricanes in 13 months and already tired of 8 months of summer each year, a little cold weather and even some snow don't seem so bad anymore. Ah, even my palm trees are not a joy anymore: in preparation for the hurricane season they're all trimmed down so much they look pitifully bare. I've also developed an allergy to mold and central a/c has proven VERY bad for me so those 8 months seem like an eternity to me! So, I can no longer find anything to enjoy about being here and can't wait to leave, just wish it would be easier to do!

Of course, I realize the circumstances are different for everyone but the moral is that a lot of things should be considered before making a big move as it's always a trade-off - we leave behind some "bad" things and get some good but the "catch" is that some new "bad" comes attached to the new good. The important thing is that for who we are the good really outweighs the bad!

With that said, I wish you the best with your plans.