[adventuregurl]

Is there a place in FL that has historic (character) type homes with a walkable town?

If you could live anywhere in FL (or the surrounding area), keeping the needs above in mind, where would you go?

I am early 50's, and the job comes with me so I can virtually live anywhere.

I would like to be somewhat close to (but not right in) a larger city and airport.

thanks!

[jambo101]

St Augustine?
https://www.google.ca/search?num=10&....1.RbrRPy2u7Lo

[adventuregurl]

Thanks, I know about St. Augustine and wondered if there were any other places that met the criteria.

[Crane's Rooster]

Mt. Dora, Leesburg, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Downtown Orlando, Downtown St. Pete, Punta Gorda, Sarasota, Gainesville. Those are all I can think of but I'm sure there are plenty I'm missing.

[TD*]

I would say St. Petersburg definately.

You have access to Tampa and the whole bay area, and both airports.

[Sunnydee]

Mount Dora comes to mind. I walked it while doing my search for a retirement city.

[kyle19125]

Fernandina Beach. It's within a 45 minute drive of downtown Jacksonville and 30 minutes from Jacksonville International which offers surprisingly frequent service and nonstop flights to NYC, DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami and Atlanta.

Fernandina Historic District | Amelia Island Living & Travel eMagazine
Riverfront Enclave: Historic Old Town Fernandina | Amelia Island Living & Travel eMagazine
Jacksonville International Airport

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Mt. Dora, Leesburg, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Downtown Orlando, Downtown St. Pete, Punta Gorda, Sarasota, Gainesville. Those are all I can think of but I'm sure there are plenty I'm missing.

Good list. I guess it all depends on what size town OP wants, and budget. Some of these places are more expensive than others, and also does she want to easy driving to beaches or not.

I personally live in Sarasota, and love it here. Has a charming vibrant downtown, completely walkable with everything for entertainment and daily living and easy access to beaches. If not here I would choose downtown St. Pete. On the other side of FL, St. Augustine would be my third choice. All based on my own preferences of course. Suprisingly, there is a completely different look to many of these suggestions. Sarasota and St. Pete have more of the old Mediterranean style architecture and tropical landscape (and a bit warmer temperatures), while St. Augustine and Fernandina being further north have a more Victorian look and different foliage and more cold snaps.

So as I said, it all kind of comes down to what one is looking for.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Mt. Dora, Leesburg, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Downtown Orlando, Downtown St. Pete, Punta Gorda, Sarasota, Gainesville. Those are all I can think of but I'm sure there are plenty I'm missing.

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Good list. I guess it all depends on what size town OP wants, and budget. Some of these places are more expensive than others, and also does she want to easy driving to beaches or not.

St. Augustine and Fernandina being further north have a more Victorian look and different foliage and more cold snaps.

Excellent point and worth noting that Mount Dora, Leesburg, Winter Garden, Gainesville, Winter Park and downtown Orlando aren't especially "Florida-like" either with a lot of more northern-style architecture and foliage plus the freezes/cold snaps a fairly frequent occurrence in December/January/February. One has to look from Sarasota southward on the Gulf Coast and even further south on the Atlantic Coast (cooler water), from Port Saint Lucie southward, for a more sub-tropical environment. The OP might want to consider Delray Beach, Venice, Naples or Stuart if criteria extends more in that direction.

[Robyn55]

There is no place in Florida that's truly 100% walkable in terms of your not needing a car to do a lot of things. Unless you enjoy using crummy public transportation systems when it's 90+ degrees in August .

You might take a look at the Riverside/Avondale/San Marco areas in JAX. There's a lot of pretty interesting architecture in those areas. OTOH - unless you're big into rehabbing old places - and like to deal with fussy preservation boards - I'd rent instead of buying. I'm not big into "This Old House" kind of stuff - so - when I moved to this metro area - I didn't move there. But it might be your cup of tea.

Take a look at this (although it's out of date and perhaps makes us look better than we really are):

JOURNEYS; 36 Hours | Jacksonville, Fla. - New York Times

Robyn