Help space coast! (Palm Bay, Bell: neighborhoods, theater, schools)

[Granny Sue]

OK, I seem to hurt some itty bitty feelings with my question....it was a ligitamate one....

Redneck means different things to different people.

So sorry I "acted" offended. Carry on.

[floridaorbust]

Wow Lets drop the drama

And thank you to all who answered my question. We are just unsure of where we want to live. Any info is always appreciated.

[jennyspfl]

VIERA is absolutely the best spot in Space Coast, in my opinion!! Great Schools, new shopping/dining areas, baseball stadium, new gated housing communities, low crime rate, etc...! I would personally stay away from Palm Bay and Cocoa, but recommend you check out Viera, FL if you are looking for a well-planned, family-friendly community with growing amenities!!

[jennyspfl]

I live in Viera now and had absolutely NO problems with flooding even with Tropical Storm Faye that dumped all that water over us last year. We sat high and dry! Plus, we are not even required to have flood insurance in my location (even though we still do have it...and i would recommend it to anyone living near any coast of Fl). We live right on a wooded preservation that can never be cut down for building and have a view of the water. There is so much wildlife surrounding us (deer, birds, critters, etc..) and my community is not so 'cookie cutter' as many of the others. West of I95 does not have as many trees and homes are very similar-looking, but if you look around a little bit there are wonderful communities with a lot to offer in the Viera area! I would highly recommend it! If you are intersted, you should call Lori Nartates at Viera Realty. She helped us find our home when we relocated here and was a pleasure to work with!! I would recommend her to anyone!

[floridaorbust]

we did take a drive around Viera. The lots seemed a bit small. Would really like a 1/2 acre or more.
One of the hurricanes went through this past summer and we did hear that Viera was flooded. What area was that? Are there larger lots? We liked the homes due to the fact they had 3 car garages. Need that for our cars and motorcycles.

[ginamarie88]

does anyone have any information about living in titusville? I know nothing about Brevard County, and would like to have opinions of some good places to relocate. thanks all

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by floridaorbust

Thanks Beckerd I was not going to answer the question. I'm sure they have a dictionary in the home.

So your an Indiana native? You do understand the "wonderful" winters we have in the area.

We probably have driven by the Melbourne Village area. We also like Merritt Island. It has the "old" florida feel. When we went down in June we visited the Viera area. The houses are expensive and squeezed in. I also heard they had a major flood with one of the Hurricanes. Guess they built some of these homes on a flood zone?

Your not the only person that has warned us about Cocoa. Got the same response about Palm Bay and Ft Pierce. Vero sounds like a decent area.

thanks for your help.

Melbourne Village is a 700 people community with self sufficient living and lots of hoops to jump through. Basically anyone buying a home there has to be accepted to live there. Lots are large, homes mostly a little older than at a lot of the communities.

West Melbourne used to be the redneck area in the 80s but has gotten more yuppy like-no cow pastures in town now. LOL Best line overheard in W. Melbourne at a youth football game when volunteering in 2010....... Parents from Merrit Island and West Melbourne sitting in bleachers. Man from MI got angry about what woman cheering for W. Melbourne team was saying. They started arguing. He told her to shut up and quit using the noisemaker she had or he would go to his car and get his gun. Without blinking an eye in a very Southern drawl she responded. " honey child, you're in West melbourne,now, don't cha know we don't have to go to our cars to get a gun, we carry them in our purses" He backed oiff.

Viera is Northern living with Palm trees in your yard. Sort off a yuppy type place. Not a bad place though. Always have to check for fees charged in addition to price of home that way. Schools good, stores in the area, but people who come to shop in Melbourne area complain how far they have to get to our stores even though it is just 10-15 miles. Some residents tend to think they are better than working class people in other communities even though it is still pretty working class community with all the apartments and condos. Still in the 30 year or younger community so have to wait and see if crime catches up like in most towns 50-100 years old. I would consider Sun Tree area over Viera, myself. Might want to consider Windover Farms area of melbourne for larger lots.

Palm Bay.....depends on where you live, but most homes built from the 1990s just like Viera. Some smaller, some million dollar homes. More affordable-but only a few areas with 1/2 acre lots. Crime----actually by statistics one of the safest cities in Brevard County. It is a very friendly, caring community where you do know your neighbors and kids can play outside and walk to school in a lot of districts because sidewalks built for safety of the kids. PB is acually a quiet sleeping community even though people who do not live here tend to generally bad mouth it.

Cocoa can be rough on the West side of US1 by 520, but it does have some beautiful homes in some areas too. If I were going to live up that way, I would look into homes on the river or out west on 520 out in the country before you get to 528. From there it is just a hop skip and a jump to get to Orlando for stuff to do over there.

Malabar/Grant definitely more of a redneck area, not much for kids to do without driving into Melbourne. Can have bigger lots and horses. Sort of redneck if you want to label except for maybe the houses along the river. Good people live out that way. <g> Some parents put their kids in some Indian River County schools because about as close as the Melbourne/Palm Bay schools. Some areas low lying and flood-most people out in country homes have at least one vehicle with 4-wheel drive and larger wheels to get into work. Our friends built a 3 ft. block wall around their pool to keep flooding water from getting into their pool area.

Can't go wrong with any of the beach towns, but I am a beach person. Main drawback is the years with hurricanes which call for evacuation. It can get expensive to go inland every storm over a cat2 and possibility of damage. Insurance is higher for the most part and harder to find.

Titusville, have friends up there and love some of the communities and homes. I am also a space nut so makes it easy to see rockets. Only beach acess is the National Seashore so kind of a long drive to get there, but well worth it when you do. They closed a school up there but there is some building going on again. As safe as anywhere else in Brevard County. Same school district so same curriculum and quality in the schools basically.

People like to be elite and think their town or city is better or safer etc, but the whole county is where you will live. You basically will consider the county your home, not just the town where your house is if you really live here. For example today I will probably be in 4 or 5 different towns just to get done what I have planned for today. I live in one, work in another, doctor in another, bank in another, hitting the beach in another. Even if you live in one town your kids may be bussed to another for school or you can choose to take them to a different school if they are accepting students.

As for flooding.....you are coming to live in Florida. Brevard county has marsh areas and is the starting spot for the St Johns River that flows North. There are very few sewer systems down here and ditches and canals are used to keep communities from being under water. If we get 10-20 inches rain in a day there may be some flooding in almost any community. PB seems to have areas that flood every few years. Fill is brought in to make the lots higher so houses are above the flooded sreets. People not realizing the importance of the canals, swales, and ditches fill them in or don't get them maintained like is needed and then neighborhoods have a problem. It took about a month from the time I called city to dig our swale so water would flow instead of backing into our yard because a neighbor filled in a spot on the empty lot between our houses to park his truck. Look at flood maps when deciding to buy. Also look at flood pictures on U-tube for Tropical Storm Faye and the hurricanes from 2004. Flood insurance is higher than it used to be.

When they built the government and school board buildings out in Viera, the buildings flooded on a regular basis. They have pumps that control the water now to keep it out. Anywhere where you see a canal, pond or lake in a neighborhood can flood if we get normal amounts of rain during the year and then tropical activity in the fall. We have been under drought conditions for several years until this year, so flooding has been minimal for a few years. Usually homes stay dry and just the roads and lower lots flood. It usually goes away within hours. 4 example during Hurricane Jeanne the parking lot at K-Mart in Palm Bay had about 3 foot of water in it, but gone the next day. If your in an established community and someone builds a new house on lot next to you they may bring in fill to make a higher lot for their house to sit on which can then make your lot more likely to flood. It is sort of just normal for Florida.

BTW heading up to the midwest this week-moved here from Chicago area over 35 years ago and would never move back, this is home. Looking forward to some Italian Beef and pizza though. <g>

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

Palm Bay.....depends on where you live, but most homes built from the 1990s just like Viera. Some smaller, some million dollar homes. More affordable-but only a few areas with 1/2 acre lots. Crime----actually by statistics one of the safest cities in Brevard County. It is a very friendly, caring community where you do know your neighbors and kids can play outside and walk to school in a lot of districts because sidewalks built for safety of the kids. PB is acually a quiet sleeping community even though people who do not live here tend to generally bad mouth it.

Please, show me where the million dollar houses in palm bay are. I am really curious

[SanyBelle]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Please, show me where the million dollar houses in palm bay are. I am really curious

5141 Dixie
Palm Bay, Fl 32905
3 Bedroom, 3 Bath, 3 Car Attchd Garage
$1,199,000.00 MLS# 656252

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Please, show me where the million dollar houses in palm bay are. I am really curious

Had not checked MLS since last week but one of the one's I had been thinking about when I posted was this one.... I think the price dropped this week, though even though the mls site isn't showing it yet.

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