Raleigh to Jupiter with children? (Jacksonville, Tampa: renting, townhome, best school districts)

[BornInFL]

LOL! Who hasnt?

[lindquist22]

Very interesting thread - just read all of the comments. I currently live in the Orlando area and have been looking for quite awhile to relocate due to increasing crime and mediocre schools. I've researched Austin (Cedar Park and Round Rock) and Dallas (Frisco & McKinney), TX, Franklin and Murfreesboro, TN, Lake Mary and Jupiter, FL as well as Tampa (Wesley Chapel/Trinity and Lithia), and Jacksonville (Ponte Vedra, Orange Park/Eagle Harbor). All of these cities had great schools (on paper), some had lower crime than others. Everyone had something good to say and of course lots of people had something bad to say about these places.

I just spent Thanksgiving with my cousin in Jupiter (they technically live in PBG but right on border of Jupiter) - this is our 3rd or 4th stay with her and for those short visits, we love it. BUT - her family is much wealthier than mine - they are able to send their two kids to private school and they are both involved in tennis and golf (we're talking over 500 trophies each). They definitely enjoy the good life!

We could probably afford a nice townhome in Abacoa or a SFH in the Heights, I'm just not sure life would be so much better for us there than here - spending more money on a rental and not able to afford much of anything else???!

I honestly still don't have a clue where we'll go, if anywhere (far). I work from home, so thankfully, I can go anywhere. What keeps me in this area (i.e. looking at Lake Mary not far from here) are good friends and familiarity (though I see my friends maybe 3-4x per year b/c we're all busy). What keeps me in Florida in general is family (my cousin), the weather (I don't mind the humidity at all) and no state income tax (self employed).

Somebody mentioned earlier they were renting their house out in Jupiter (with a pool) - how much are you renting it for and when? I might be interested... LOL!

Anybody have any advice for me? I know it's all up to me but I am really, really stuck!!!

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by lindquist22

Very interesting thread - just read all of the comments. I currently live in the Orlando area and have been looking for quite awhile to relocate due to increasing crime and mediocre schools.

I'd reassess why you're moving.

Unless crime has repeatedly affected your family or lots of people you personally know, your worry there is probably unwarranted. The fact that you're hearing about (and maybe you're just recently more aware of this for some reason) people who have been crime victims on your local newscasts/in your local papers doesn't suggest that you or your loved ones are likely to be crime victims. Per the stats on City-Data, Orlando's crime index has actually remained fairly static for the past ten years, with the peak year being 1999.

If you know a lot of people who have been crime victims recently, then you should take a closer look at the behavior of the victims. There may be things they did that put them at greater risk.

No matter where you move, you're going to hear about nearby violent crimes on your local news--there simply aren't areas of the US (and certainly not within the range of any network television station market) where there are no murders, rapes, etc.. So if that's sufficient to give you an impression of increased danger, you're not going to escape that.

As for schools, if your kids are doing less than satisfactory, you need to look at what's going on with them and get involved with their lives in ways that you encourage a love of learning. No school will be good if your child doesn't have the right attitude about it, and no school can stop your child from having the right attitude about it if the love of learning starts at home. I can go into much more detail about how to do this, but we could easily write a book about it, so it can be a long discussion.

If the concern instead is that your child might not get into the university(ies) of their choice if they do not go to the right grade schools, it's unfortunately no longer the case that graduating from particular grade schools is more or less a shoe-in for particular universities. University admission especially at the "elite" schools has become far more competitive than that, and factors other than the schools attended have far more weight. You can research just what various schools are looking for from candidates, but also keep in mind that the university your kids attend should be based on what they're interested in. Different schools are better for different things, and where your kids went to grade school often might not make a lick of difference for admission into particular universities and particular programs.

Sometimes we can be dissatisfied with our lives--maybe we're not even sure why, and we start to blame this on where we're living. We figure that if we could just move, things would be better. I don't think that's a good motivation for moving, as the problems usually lie elsewhere. We need to try to change our perspectives, not our locations. It's a far better idea to move when we like where we are now (geographically and in life), but there is some alternative or additional attraction or draw to the other location.

[BornInFL]

"Per the stats on City-Data, Orlando's crime index has actually remained fairly static for the past ten years, with the peak year being 1999."


How about the record broken in 2006? And I'm pretty positive that has already been surpassed. Orlando is more dangerous now than ever before. If you get out and talk to folks, this isnt the same Orlando. Please stop trying to debunk every negative aspect or crime situation a FL city may have... we do have some crime ridden cities.


34 murders as of late july in 2006 gets national attention, and it is worse this yr. article from 2006----->http://www.wesh.com/iteam/9573306/detail.html

[LarrisaLou]

Maybe Tungsten_Udder is simply trying to let people who read this post know that Florida isn't all gangs and blood-thirsty criminals.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by BornInFL

Please stop trying to debunk every negative aspect or crime situation a FL city may have...

Ditto re my statements. I made a factual statement about the crime index per the City-Data stats. Are you claiming that I'm incorrect, and per the City-Data stats, the crime index for Orlando hasn't remained relatively static for the last 10 years with a peak in 1996? It's not as if we have to go far to double check this.

[lindquist22]

Hi there Tungsten_Udder,
Thanks for your comments! I may have given the wrong impression - I definitely do not HATE where I live - I rather like it here most of the time. Crime has also not repeatedly affected my family or friends either except for a break-in in the morning across the street from me (they had dry cleaning hanging on their front door - apparently a dead give-away that people are not home). I do remember distinctly the change in the news about dead people (through violence) suddenly daily vs before and my neighbors noticed it, too. It was quite dramatic a couple of years ago. Not sure how that would not affect the crime stat #s but it was a definite change as to how it was one day vs the days that followed.

We've lived in this particular development for almost 4 years now and it's changed a lot during those years. The first couple were nice, people were neighborly, there were association events, etc., but the last two years it all stopped and people have moved out and neighbors don't know each other. As I mentioned, I'm not horrified with the school but I believe there are better options.

Also, my kids are A students and love to learn - that's the problem - they are not being challenged enough. I can give them all the extra work in the world, it does not make up for 6+ hours at school where they are not being challenged. I also would prefer them to be surrounded by other (high) achievers vs. low achievers. Therefore, I will keep looking into other schools and visit them and find out from other parents what their experiences are. As far as universities, I'm just now beginning to think about that... I do know that both of my girls are athletes and will hopefully carry on with that through-out their school years - depending on how far they go with tournaments/competitions, that might help them get into a school of their choice as well as their academic efforts.

Perhaps if I had bought this house, I would make due and find other ways to make it work. The fact that I rent and I can move anywhere is a tempting situation and allows me to improve my situation if I feel it requires it. That doesn't mean, of course, that the grass really will be greener, but at least we will check out some other options. We'll see where it will take us... We still have a lease here until the end of June 2009.

[SoFLMom]

You have to make at least $150k/yr to be pretty comfy in Jupiter. It is a great area in many respects, but also has major drawbacks. It is infiltrated with rude northerners who think they own the place in the "season." We live in a neighborhood by the beach (why else would anyone want to live in Jupiter?) and we have pretty much been run out of here by the old farts that live around us. We are the ONLY people with kids here and they hate us. We also have a Golden Retriever that they hate as well. Anyone who hates little kids and Goldens has something wrong with them. Kid hater + Golden hater = *******. No way around it. I would REALLY suggest Tequesta if you are looking for family friendly/laid back. It is really nice with churches, parks etc. Jupiter is a little more uppity. But the amount of old people all over S Fl is insane. I would love to live in NC. My husband is an attorney and would have to take another bar exam. Yuck.
Making friends for adults can be tricky here I think. I was born and raised here so I know everyone, but for a new person you would need to do something to get yourself out there. You could join Junior League or many of the WPB charity groups, but then you would be surrounded by a lot of snobbish people. Since there is a lot of money in this area it can be very snobby. I would stay where you are, mainly for your kids sake. Kids here feel entitled and are spoiled for the most part. I was and now I want to move so my kids don't grow up the way I did.

[lindquist22]

The whole entitlement thing is what I fear but believe me, it's almost everywhere... I think it's quite possible (unfortunately) a generational thing...

We'll really have to think about and research what we will do! We may just ending up staying in the vicinity after all.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by ababypilot

Just made the big move from WPB to Raleigh last month. My husband and I were both born and raised in FL. Much like you, we found ourselves ready to leave son after the birth of our daughter. Too much crime, too expensive, way over-crowding in ho-hum public schools with classes that are over-flowing with far too many students unable to speak English. The list goes on.

Anyway, so far our auto insurance here is literally about half of what it was there, our electric bill is less than half of what it was, the weather is amazing. People are actually nice. Really nice.

I sure don't want to come off as 'dogging' Florida...but ...there were enough reasons to decide to up and leave the only place I ever called home. We couldn't be happier with our decision to move to Raleigh (well, technically Wake Forest). We don't have the social life or friends here that we had in FL, but that will come with time.

Best of luck in choosing your next home.

: )

That's where I'm headed! (Wake Forest) I can undersand what the OP are saying about wanting a change. We feel the same way. It's not like we don't like FL, just ready for change. Is there a reason why you picked Juniper? There are plenty other beaches. At least if you were more up north, say Jacksonville, you'd have more of the seasons. IN S. FL, it stays hot all the time. That's the only thing I don't like about FL is that it stays too hot for too long. I must say the beaches are beautiful though.