[mom/wife/nurse]

Hello,
Thank you SO much to anyone reading and offering suggestions.

I am looking to relocate to FL this summer. We currently live in Columbus, OH, have sold our home and will move between May and July this year. I have a kindergartener and an infant. I am a newly graduated (ie - haven't worked in my field yet) registered nurse. I am licensed in Ohio but can transfer the license to Florida. My husband is a small business owner. We are in our mid-late 20's.

I have done some research and come up with a list of cities that statistically should be family-friendly but I am looking to get some insight from people who live (or have lived) in FL. We have visited several times and have enjoyed the feel and peace of the Florida Keys most of all, but I don't think this is the best place to raise children - so I'm not really considering that area for our move.

Some cities that have come up in my research are:
Boca Raton, Cooper City, Coral Springs, Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale (west of the FL turnpike), Hunters Creek, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Key Biscayne, Lakeland, Longwood, Naples, Niceville, Orange Park, Oviedo, Riverview, Saint Petersburg, Sarasota, Wellington, Weston, Windermere, Winter Springs

Insight into any of these cities or specific neighborhoods in these cities would be great. Suggestions of any other city/neighborhood is welcome and appreciated as well.

I imagine my wish list is similar to what other parents would list as well:
Quality neighborhood schools
Nice weather
Low crime
Homes with a median price somewhere around $200,000
Reasonable cost of living
Not a big city... rather something with a suburban, community feel
Child-friendly - parks, activities, events, etc
Would be great to be within 30 minutes or so of a nice family-friendly beach
Close to some shopping and dining
Proximity to hospitals, care centers, nursing homes would be great. Looking for somewhere willing to hire a new-graduate nurse.

We are looking for something around $200-250k. A 3 bedroom would be fine, but a 4 bedroom is preferrable. My husband has experience remodeling homes so a house with "potential" would be fine. We are open to renting for a short time as well.

Thank you so much!

-Meghan

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by mom/wife/nurse

Hello,
I imagine my wish list is similar to what other parents would list as well:
Quality neighborhood schools
Nice weather
Low crime
Homes with a median price somewhere around $200,000
Reasonable cost of living
Not a big city... rather something with a suburban, community feel
Child-friendly - parks, activities, events, etc
Would be great to be within 30 minutes or so of a nice family-friendly beach
Close to some shopping and dining
Proximity to hospitals, care centers, nursing homes would be great. Looking for somewhere willing to hire a new-graduate nurse.

We are looking for something around $200-250k. A 3 bedroom would be fine, but a 4 bedroom is preferrable. My husband has experience remodeling homes so a house with "potential" would be fine. We are open to renting for a short time as well.

Thank you so much!

-Meghan

It wasn't on your initial list but you might look into Palm Harbor and East Lake which is NE of Clearwater and NW of Tampa on the north end of the Pinellas County peninsula. The schools are excellent (look up the Palm Harbor University HS and East Lake HS districts), there are plenty of nice homes in your price range, it's very child-friendly, within 30 minutes of some of the best beaches in the world (Clearwater Beach and Honeymoon Island) and close to a number of hospitals and other facilities. For what it's worth this area tends to attract more from the Midwest versus the Northeast in terms of transplants, so you might find it friendlier (like I did) than the east coast.

[mom/wife/nurse]

kyle19125,
Thank you very much, I will add Palm Harbor and East Lake to the list and do some research on that area now!

[RMD3819]

What kind of small business?

I can help with Naples-plus my wife is an RN. She graduated three years ago and had no problem finding a job, nor did any of her classmates. There are two hospital systems here-four hospitals total, plus plenty of SNF and the like.

Schools-poor reputation unless you go private.
Child friendly-not really. The economy and political machine revolve around tourism and wealthy retirees. They closed the indoor roller skating rink and opened up a bingo hall in its place.

It will fit the rest of your criteria more or less.

Read my post describing Naples. A lot of people found it helpful:

//www.city-data.com/forum/naple...l#post14807112

[sue503]

I don't live in Florida at the moment; but I did live in Weston for 4 years before moving back to Ohio. I loved living in Weston. My children were 8 & 10 when I moved there. They were very happy with Country Isle's elementary school and Tequesta Trace Middle school. It took us about 15 - 20 minutes to the beach. Every thing that we needed was close. Also there is the Cleveland Clinic there for work for you. Not sure if you will find much in your housing budget there though. Not sure of the market at this time. The other area you might want to consider is Sarasota. Much slower pace than Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area. My family will be moving back to Florida within the year and we are looking west coast for that very reason. I've also heard that Sarasota has good schools. Haven't done alot of research on that since I no longer have school age children. Over the last several years my husband, daughter & I have spent ALOT of time in many different area's of Florida to decide where would be the best place for us and have determined that we prefer the Sarasota area. It is very family friendly, close to the beach, we have always felt safe while there. We do rent a place in Venice. I am also a nurse and there seems to be alot of job postings in that area. Good luck with your move.

[mom/wife/nurse]

RMD3819,

He currently owns a few pizza shops and also works in advertising.

The info regarding your wife is helpful. In Ohio, nursing schools have popped up everywhere and the area is FLOODED with new grads. Reportedly, thanks to the uncertain economical state of our country, many nurses who were expected to retire, decided to continue working. Many RN new grads here spend 1-2 yrs in a job search. Often, you cannot even secure an interview without having a minimum of 1-2 yrs of RN experience. Actually, a local news channel just aired a story on that topic last week. Very disheartening.

Our kindergartener is currently enrolled in a small private school at a cost of about $6k/yr because our neighborhood school is not... ideal. Is the private school cost there similar? We hope to find a home in an area where she can attend a quality public school, but I suppose private school is an option.

Thank you for the link to your Naples post, I will check that out.

sue503,

Thank you. That's one extra point for Weston and Sarasota! A friend of mine who lives in Ohio has parents in Sarasota and is always raving about it. I just wonder about the # of retirees? I'm not sure if they "rule" the area there or not. I worry that retirees would be reluctant to pass new or renwel school taxes in their neighborhoods?

[TD*]

check out Tallahassee. great for raising families

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[RMD3819]

Nursing-New grads will start at bout $22 hour base at either hospital system.

Hubby-does he want to open a pizza shop? What does he want to do? This is a flag because it will be tough to survive with only one income-unless you have loads of cash or some other income.

Schools-I don't have current information. My kid graduated in 2003 and at that point I was paying about $5K/year.

Retirees-you are not going to escape them unless you move to a small rural town away from the coast.

[Crane's Rooster]

Well if you're looking for that more tropical beach feel you're not going to find that in Oviedo, Longwood, Hunter's Creek, Windermere or Winter Springs. I certainly do not mean that in any bad way, I live in Central Florida near these areas and love it here, but just in a realistic way. There are little to no palm trees or tropical plants naturally here, what we have are mostly old oak trees with Spanish moss. The point I'm making is, if you wanted the keys, you won't find that here. That being said, this is still a great area to live and you can easily get to the beaches and tropical areas in very doable drive times. But if you want to be in a more tropical environment I would recommend the Space Coast (Brevard County). Great coastal environment, good schools from what I hear and near enough to Orlando and the major medical campus to commute (although it would be near an hour commute, although Lake Nona medical city would be much closer).

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by mom/wife/nurse

Hello,
Thank you SO much to anyone reading and offering suggestions.

I am looking to relocate to FL this summer. We currently live in Columbus, OH, have sold our home and will move between May and July this year. I have a kindergartener and an infant. I am a newly graduated (ie - haven't worked in my field yet) registered nurse. I am licensed in Ohio but can transfer the license to Florida. My husband is a small business owner. We are in our mid-late 20's.

I have done some research and come up with a list of cities that statistically should be family-friendly but I am looking to get some insight from people who live (or have lived) in FL. We have visited several times and have enjoyed the feel and peace of the Florida Keys most of all, but I don't think this is the best place to raise children - so I'm not really considering that area for our move.

Some cities that have come up in my research are:
Boca Raton, Cooper City, Coral Springs, Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale (west of the FL turnpike), Hunters Creek, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Key Biscayne, Lakeland, Longwood, Naples, Niceville, Orange Park, Oviedo, Riverview, Saint Petersburg, Sarasota, Wellington, Weston, Windermere, Winter Springs

Insight into any of these cities or specific neighborhoods in these cities would be great. Suggestions of any other city/neighborhood is welcome and appreciated as well.

I imagine my wish list is similar to what other parents would list as well:
Quality neighborhood schools
Nice weather
Low crime
Homes with a median price somewhere around $200,000
Reasonable cost of living
Not a big city... rather something with a suburban, community feel
Child-friendly - parks, activities, events, etc
Would be great to be within 30 minutes or so of a nice family-friendly beach
Close to some shopping and dining
Proximity to hospitals, care centers, nursing homes would be great. Looking for somewhere willing to hire a new-graduate nurse.

We are looking for something around $200-250k. A 3 bedroom would be fine, but a 4 bedroom is preferrable. My husband has experience remodeling homes so a house with "potential" would be fine. We are open to renting for a short time as well.

Thank you so much!

-Meghan

You can mark Coral Gables, Boca Raton, Key Biscayne, Jupiter, Fort Lauderdale and Naples off your list. You will not find a home in your budget in any of those towns. In some of them, you will not find a 2/2 home for under $500,000. I'd be surprised if you could find a four bedroom in Coral Gables for under one million.

I think you REALLY need to dig deeper and do some more research.

The more desirable a city, the more expensive.