[DBinMA]

I see tons of posts with people asking about where they can live without a car and then a slew of contradicting answers follw and well, mostly the question doesn't get answered. Mostly, I think because people have such different life styles that the question can be hard to answer.
Anyway, here's my situation and a little background. I'm looking to relocate someplace warm for health reasons. I'm going through a divorce which has and will leave me pretty screwed financially and credit wise. I'm going to be a woman living alone so a reasonably safe area is important to me.

I don't drive and have lived the past 10+ years in Western, MA in a town with ZERO useful public transportation, walking distance to nothing. I have counted on rides and spent a lot of time wasting my time because I couldn't where I needed/wanted to go. It was a decision I dealt with so that my kids could go to the school we wanted them to go to. That being said just about anywhere will be an improvement.

I'm looking for a mobile home park, where I can get to a handful of places either by walking or public transportation. A grocery store, maybe a hair salon and if I could get to a couple of stores or a cafe that would be exciting. Throw in a mall and I might consider it paradise but certainly it's not a necessity. I would of course also need to be able to get to a job, but I will cross that bridge once I can narrow down a county or city. I'm in customer service, so I'm pretty flexible there as well.

So given my very limited expectation of public transportation, does anyone have any suggestions? I'm also not necessarily tied to Florida, it has just been suggested by more than one person, so feel free to be broad in your suggestions.

[kyle19125]

Given your initial criteria I would urge you to check out Clearwater. It's pretty safe overall though I would urge you to avoid mobile home parks in general given the typical demographic and potential issues with violent weather, and focus on apartments which are fairly affordable (less than $600 a month). Clearwater has a very extensive bus system that's pretty reliable and given the city isn't that large, many areas of town are walkable in terms of easy access to stores/restaurants/etc.

Bus Schedules

[doom1001]

I'm not in the know for suggesting a mobile home park but having traveled to other states including Mass. I know there can be a lot of areas that are pretty limited as far as having nearby amenities such as grocery stores and might have limited public transportation.Why are you looking for a mobile home park,I would say if you look for apartments you will have thousands of options and most will be in areas with public transportation that can get you anywhere you want to go.I would say look at the major cities to have the most options of nearby shopping,transportation and availability of apartments.

[DBinMA]

Well, I'm looking for a mobile home park for a couple of reasons. Most are more dog friendly than apartments (even apartments that allow pets usually charge more, either up front or monthly or in some cases both). My credit is also an issue. I have done some looking and there are very few places I've seen that don't run a credit check.
I've seen some pretty cheap mobile homes, mostly fixer uppers that I could buy outright and then have a reatively small lot fee every month. Hopefully it would just be a stepping stone. When I first moved back to Mass. after being away for a bit we bought a mobile home and it was a pretty nice park. Not at all what you see on tv LOL
I do know that the Florida weather does provide an additional challenge.

[CravingMountains]

It sounds like life is in a rough spot for you right now. Are you sure up and moving across the country is a good idea? Especially considering Florida is one of the states ranking worst for public transportation options. Not a single city in Florida has a bus system as efficient as to what you will find up north. You will struggle to find what you are looking for.

[allenk893]

Someone said clearwater? Are you kidding me? At least recommend somewhere that has RELIABLE public transportation. I recommend the palm beaches as I have personally lived in these areas without a car and took the PalmTran bus. Delray, Boynton, or West Palm will do. I lived in Boynton Beach literally right across from the mall. Ironically there was a mobile home park next to it as well. We had everything right at our finger tips. The bus stop was at the mall, Walmart was across the street, and we walked and took the bus everywhere.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Someone said clearwater? Are you kidding me? At least recommend somewhere that has RELIABLE public transportation. I recommend the palm beaches as I have personally lived in these areas without a car and took the PalmTran bus. Delray, Boynton, or West Palm will do. I lived in Boynton Beach literally right across from the mall. Ironically there was a mobile home park next to it as well. We had everything right at our finger tips. The bus stop was at the mall, Walmart was across the street, and we walked and took the bus everywhere.

And you're familiar with Clearwater's public transit how??? Clearwater/Pinellas County has quite reliable public transit and a large population that utilizes it daily. PSTA utilizes "real time" GPS features that allow computer/smart phone access to arrivals and departures and helps maintain accurate schedules. Furthermore due to Clearwater's lack of sprawl, most areas are convenient to shopping centers or a mall. There are dozens of mobile home parks in Clearwater, all are within a block or two of a commercial district. Attached below is a map link to Publix (grocery store) locations in Clearwater. The Gulf-to-Bay Plaza, Beckett Lake Plaza, LaBelle Plaza, Clearwater Plaza and Tri-City Plaza locations are walking distance to a good number of the mobile home parks.

http://store.publix.com/publix/cgi/s...=8&mapx=&mapy=

[DBinMA]

Originally Posted by CravingMountains

It sounds like life is in a rough spot for you right now. Are you sure up and moving across the country is a good idea? Especially considering Florida is one of the states ranking worst for public transportation options. Not a single city in Florida has a bus system as efficient as to what you will find up north. You will struggle to find what you are looking for.

Yes life is rough for sure right now, but I'm scrappy and I'm sure it will turn around. The Northeast is expensive, especially areas with good transportation that are safe. The cold causes me a lot of pain due to some health issues and honestly there's not much that I have to hold me here. If life is going to be rough, I can at least hope to be warm and non painful.
I'm not sure given my current financial situation that anything I can afford is going ideal. Sometimes that's the way it goes. I'll keep looking and reasearching and I really do appreciate everyone's input. Thank you!

[CravingMountains]

Originally Posted by DBinMA

Yes life is rough for sure right now, but I'm scrappy and I'm sure it will turn around. The Northeast is expensive, especially areas with good transportation that are safe. The cold causes me a lot of pain due to some health issues and honestly there's not much that I have to hold me here. If life is going to be rough, I can at least hope to be warm and non painful.
I'm not sure given my current financial situation that anything I can afford is going ideal. Sometimes that's the way it goes. I'll keep looking and reasearching and I really do appreciate everyone's input. Thank you!

Well then, just one more thing. If you do find an area that is livable through public transit means in Florida I can pretty much guarantee that it will NOT be in a safe area. The bus routes are usually along the rougher lines in town as those are the people that need the transport the most. You won't find good schools are ideal neighbors in those zip codes.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by CravingMountains

Well then, just one more thing. If you do find an area that is livable through public transit means in Florida I can pretty much guarantee that it will NOT be in a safe area. The bus routes are usually along the rougher lines in town as those are the people that need the transport the most. You won't find good schools are ideal neighbors in those zip codes.

Who are you people and why do you keep posting such nonsense? My example of Clearwater for instance does not entail living in unsafe/rough parts of town if utilizing public transit. I mean have you actually been in Clearwater??? My guess is no with such an asinine statement.