Moving to Melbourne, FL (Palm Bay, University: apartments, crime rate, house)

[coolgoose25]

Hi all,
I am a resident of Texas. My wife and I along with our 3 month old daughter are planning on moving to Melbourne, FL.

1. Is this a safe place to raise a family? (in relation to Crime rate and all)
2. I know my daughter is only 3 months, but we will be searching for schools pretty soon - because it will be a permanent move. So how are the school districts in and around Melbourne?
3. Are the ISDs hiring around that area? My wife is a teacher.

Your answers and opiions will be much helpful, because this will be a big move for me and my family. Appreciate you all in advance

[debclark]

If you are concerned about schools, look to live either Beachside (Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach and Satellite Beach) or in Viera/Suntree. Those are the areas with the highest-ranked schools. When we moved here three years ago, schools were are main issue, and we have been very happy living in Indialantic.

These areas are also very safe and family friendly.

Finding a teacher job might be a little tough. Given the ongoing budget cuts to education, schools are cutting back where they can and there is competition for any job openings. I would say it would be difficult to find a job, but maybe not impossible.

[jdoty]

It probably depends on what your wife teaches. The schools here are all county wide. Living in Melbourne, if the Brevard district isn't hiring I'd check Indian River County and Osceola County schools also. And the local private schools of course.

Brevard Count Schools are some of the best in the state, but I don't have any kids yet so I haven't paid too much attention to which ones specifically are better than others.

[coolgoose25]

Thanks a lot for your replies. I visited Melbourne this weekend. The place is beautiful.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by debclark

If you are concerned about schools, look to live either Beachside (Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach and Satellite Beach) or in Viera/Suntree. Those are the areas with the highest-ranked schools. When we moved here three years ago, schools were are main issue, and we have been very happy living in Indialantic.

These areas are also very safe and family friendly.

Finding a teacher job might be a little tough. Given the ongoing budget cuts to education, schools are cutting back where they can and there is competition for any job openings. I would say it would be difficult to find a job, but maybe not impossible.

Since they closed one of the charter schools here in Palm Bay, I would think that the county will look toward the teachers that have lost their jobs there to fill some of the vacancies and the increased number of students in some of the schools when the 600? kids from the charter enroll in other schools.
School starts in 8 days so most vacancies are filled, but there may be teachers added in the first month if the projected increase in students is larger than expected.
Almost every elem school in Brevard county is an A school so the choices are pretty good. Look at the web site to determine what type of school you want you r children attending. We have magnet schools that stress the maths and sciences, schools noted for their music and drama, etc. There also a lot of charter schools and church oriented schools in the county, too. Don't know how well the salaries compare to county schools, though.

[Slopfrog]

Good luck with a teaching position. If your wife teaches high school she might be able to get a job. She can totally forget about teaching in an elementary school. My girlfriend graduated in 2008 and still has not been able to get a teaching job. Heck, there are hardly any crossing guards any more!

You will find that Florida does not value education. That's because state politics are dominated by a bunch of ultra-conservative tea partying old people that don't want to give one red cent to educate anybody. The only thing they want is their social security and medicare to keep coming, and for the hospitals to stay open. Maybe a few bland restaurants too, as long as they are open for dinner by 4:00 pm.

As for Melbourne, there are some bad areas. You will definitely want to avoid the University Blvd area. Some areas off Aurora Rd are pretty spotty too. For the most part you will be able to tell a bad neighborhood here pretty quickly. By the way, traffic can be very bad, especially on a Friday afternoon for some reason.

You'll probably end up looking at homes in Palm Bay as well... that area is very spotty and known for poor city services. Less than half the town has water or sewer, and many of the roads are borderline undriveable in the far flung residential areas. There are not many police for the number of citizens and criminals. Traffic can be absolutely terrible and red light cameras infest this place. Their favorite thing is to get people who don't slow to a FULL stop when turning right on red. You can have a meth house right next to a very nice house. Still, prices are dirt cheap here and there are nice streets to live on with some privacy.

[NickK]

Hi, I lived in Melbourne for almost 4 years when I went to school at FIT (which is on W University Blvd).

Its a really great place, its cheap too which is very nice. I never once felt in danger while I lived there but of course I wasn't walking around at 2am... I don't know anything about the schools, but I'm sure you'll like it.

[Slopfrog]

Originally Posted by NickK

Hi, I lived in Melbourne for almost 4 years when I went to school at FIT (which is on W University Blvd).

Its a really great place, its cheap too which is very nice. I never once felt in danger while I lived there but of course I wasn't walking around at 2am... I don't know anything about the schools, but I'm sure you'll like it.

Sorry Nick, but if you felt totally safe at FIT I don't think you were accurately assessing the situation. The University Blvd area, just across Babcock Street, is extremely crime ridden, and many crimes have been perpetrated against FIT students over the years. This is particularly true in the Southgate Apartments.

Some hood rat even murdered an FIT security guard on campus in the Botanical Gardens a few years back.

[TestEngr]

Hi Cool, we just moved here so I have done a lot of looking around. My kids are in high school - just as an example - Before we came I saw a sheet that said Viera high had 2,500 students. When we went in near end of last year they said it was over 3,000. When we talked about registering they said this year it might be 3,500. Wow quick increases, the HS where we came from had 800 only. We did not move to Viera area ultimately. But it is what we were being sold on heavily.

I do not consider all melbourne safe at all. My car was attacked by an aggressive panhandler at a gas station when I did not had over the cash. My kids were in the car at the time, I just ended my fill and headed out. No police around to help though. So that was a rude introduction to the area for me. Some areas do seem safer. Basically I would say new developments look safe, older not so much.

Good luck with the job situation for you and your wife.

[southernflfolk]

All towns have crime-Palm Bay is larger so more of it-just being honest. It is not the town but the size and the rapid increase. The schools however are awesome. there is B.C.C campuses in Palm Bay, Melbourne, and all over Brevard county. Public schools for the most part are very strict There is some awesome private schools(my children graduated at Brevard Christian) in W Melbourne about 15yrs ago. My granddaughters go to Sebastian High school. So it is up to you to decide how fast of an increase in population you want to move to. The Palm Bay area will not be able to grow much more than it already has over the next 10 years due to the land now open still. Sucks to me (I love the country so cannot stand it there now it grew so durn fast). North Melbourne and Viera will continue to expand pretty much within a short time and North-! Constantly EXPANDING Within I say the next 5 years. Sad but true.