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I have been searching through city-data forums (thank goodness for them) and I have found many helpful posts. I feel like I've learned more about where not to go...but I really need advice as to where my family may fit in. I will do my best to fill you in....
Age: My husband and I are in our mid-30's (I like older family communities though, not retired older, but a blend would be nice)
Children : 2 (ages 6 & 8) + Cooper (med size dog) SCHOOLS IMPORTANT
Walkable (important), FRIENDLY, SAFE, family communities, Suburban (semi-urban or near, not in the middle of, a city or smaller town center with family friendly amenities)
Employment: My husband is an IT professional making 65k and will temporarily continue with his current employment, remotely, until a local and stable position arises. He also does contruction/carpentry. I am a stay at home mom & Home schooling.
Looking for single family 3bdrm min...price range 150k...unfortunately its what we can afford
Want to be 5-10 miles away from the beaches and "at least" a 1/2 mi. from other bodies of water.
**Have a child with autism who will wander at any given opportunity and extremely loves the water!
We are from North Jersey and live/rent in an Urban environment...a small portuguese community...not the best but being portuguese...we fit right in...lol...however we hardly ever walk further than a few blocks because of fear of what may happen. We drive to the suburban areas for walks, parks/playgrounds, dog parks, shopping etc. One of my children has special needs and attends an out of district school (now home schooled - Im a para professional and ABA trained) and my other child attends a very decent lottery school in our city. Our reason for moving is for the beauty of nature in a safe, affordable and WARMER environment. We love the outdoors and unfortunately we are stuck indoors most of the time due to very cold temps, snow, ice, or we are sick with colds/flu due to these crazy temps. I think I could take it if I were single...but my days are all about doing things with my children and I am tired of having to look for indoor activities/places. We want to be out in CLEANER air, a garden in our yard, swim (outdoors) more than 2-3 months a year!
Anyway, my reason for choosing south SW FL. is because of the following:
(1) I plan to spend much time on the beaches and simply outdoors. I have been to Clearwater and fell in love the the beach. The warm waters, beautiful sand and, most of all, the gentle waves. I have a child with Autism who has little to no sense of danger and will go into any waters. In Jersey the beaches are fun but dangerous waves for young children...we are practically hand tied to when at the beach...which is no fun for us. When visiting Clearwater last year, it was the first time I let his hand go and allowed him to be free in the water. It was also the first time that I had no anxiety while at the beach.
(2) I want to be as far away from nuclear plants as possible. Florida has one at Crystal Springs which recently shutdown (permanently) due to damage...and a couple of Nuc Plants on the SE Coast along with higher and stronger waves, so those areas are ruled out. There is possibly going to be a NEW Nuclear Plant Building Project in Levy County, also up the Gulf.
(3) Researched Florida's Sink hole maps..grounds are a lot more stable in the SE and SW (but since SE is ruled out...that leaves me with the SW. Perhaps S.Central but read it was hotter and driving to either coast would be quite a ride.
(4) Air Quality is much better in the south than North FL. Nice caribbean feeling too.
I am so drained with all of the research...I hope you guys can help. I found some related posts but no quite and some were from some time ago. May be things changed. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Bom Dia Joana! My wife, her name is Joana and we're portuguese too! We're from CT and looking to move down to FL as soon as we can. I can't really comment on sw florida but, you being a fellow "porkchop", I'm sure you have heard of Palm Coast. Given your requirements, it seems meets everything you want, except that its in ne florida. When we went down to florida, we stayed in orlando and decided to go up to palm coast for lunch. All we kept seeing on RTP commercials were portuguese restaurants, construction businesses and Amaral Custom Homes in palm coast, so we decided to go check it out. Honestly, we were really pleasantly surprised. If a portuguese community is important to you and your family, then it's a good option.
We ate lunch at "taste of portugal" restaurant and we saw flyers for Amaral Custom Homes, and since we were already there, we went to their office to check it out. Amaral took us around palm coast, showed us the town, and then showed us some homes he had for sale, and gave us his perspective on living in palm coast. He said that in the 30 years he had been living and building homes in palm coast, he had only been hit by 1 tropical storm, no hurricanes. The homes he had for sale were great! The cheaper houses that he had for sale were 1600 or 1700 sq. ft., 3 bed 2 bath, covered pool, garage, & stamped driveway. The master suites were HUGE, and you can not beat the price.
Palm Coast is nice because you are less than 1 hour from Jax, and about a 1/2 hour to St. Augustine, and Daytona. The Portuguese club in palm coast is really nice as well.
Bom Dia! Thanks for your reply..I was looking into St Johns and St.Augustine area. I'm going to look more into the areas u mention...not my favorite region but I guess being less prone to ddisaster iss a big plus.
I have been searching through city-data forums (thank goodness for them) and I have found many helpful posts. I feel like I've learned more about where not to go...but I really need advice as to where my family may fit in. I will do my best to fill you in....
Age: My husband and I are in our mid-30's (I like older family communities though, not retired older, but a blend would be nice)
Children : 2 (ages 6 & 8) + Cooper (med size dog) SCHOOLS IMPORTANT
Walkable (important), FRIENDLY, SAFE, family communities, Suburban (semi-urban or near, not in the middle of, a city or smaller town center with family friendly amenities)
Employment: My husband is an IT professional making 65k and will temporarily continue with his current employment, remotely, until a local and stable position arises. He also does contruction/carpentry. I am a stay at home mom & Home schooling.
Looking for single family 3bdrm min...price range 150k...unfortunately its what we can afford
Want to be 5-10 miles away from the beaches and "at least" a 1/2 mi. from other bodies of water.
**Have a child with autism who will wander at any given opportunity and extremely loves the water!
We are from North Jersey and live/rent in an Urban environment...a small portuguese community...not the best but being portuguese...we fit right in...lol...however we hardly ever walk further than a few blocks because of fear of what may happen. We drive to the suburban areas for walks, parks/playgrounds, dog parks, shopping etc. One of my children has special needs and attends an out of district school (now home schooled - Im a para professional and ABA trained) and my other child attends a very decent lottery school in our city. Our reason for moving is for the beauty of nature in a safe, affordable and WARMER environment. We love the outdoors and unfortunately we are stuck indoors most of the time due to very cold temps, snow, ice, or we are sick with colds/flu due to these crazy temps. I think I could take it if I were single...but my days are all about doing things with my children and I am tired of having to look for indoor activities/places. We want to be out in CLEANER air, a garden in our yard, swim (outdoors) more than 2-3 months a year!
Anyway, my reason for choosing south SW FL. is because of the following:
(1) I plan to spend much time on the beaches and simply outdoors. I have been to Clearwater and fell in love the the beach. The warm waters, beautiful sand and, most of all, the gentle waves. I have a child with Autism who has little to no sense of danger and will go into any waters. In Jersey the beaches are fun but dangerous waves for young children...we are practically hand tied to when at the beach...which is no fun for us. When visiting Clearwater last year, it was the first time I let his hand go and allowed him to be free in the water. It was also the first time that I had no anxiety while at the beach.
(2) I want to be as far away from nuclear plants as possible. Florida has one at Crystal Springs which recently shutdown (permanently) due to damage...and a couple of Nuc Plants on the SE Coast along with higher and stronger waves, so those areas are ruled out. There is possibly going to be a NEW Nuclear Plant Building Project in Levy County, also up the Gulf.
(3) Researched Florida's Sink hole maps..grounds are a lot more stable in the SE and SW (but since SE is ruled out...that leaves me with the SW. Perhaps S.Central but read it was hotter and driving to either coast would be quite a ride.
(4) Air Quality is much better in the south than North FL. Nice caribbean feeling too.
I am so drained with all of the research...I hope you guys can help. I found some related posts but no quite and some were from some time ago. May be things changed. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Sorry so long
You might consider looking a bit further north even at the southwestern edge of Jacksonville in the Bartram Park, Durbin Crossing and Julington Creek area where very nice attached housing townhomes in the 1700-2200 square foot range can be had for around 150K. The schools are top-notch (St John's County Schools are top-ranked in the state) and a safe area. The southeast section of Mandarin (in Jacksonville, just to the northwest of Bartram Park) provides very good schools in that sub-district, with single family homes in your price range.
I have been searching through city-data forums (thank goodness for them) and I have found many helpful posts. I feel like I've learned more about where not to go...but I really need advice as to where my family may fit in. I will do my best to fill you in....
Age: My husband and I are in our mid-30's (I like older family communities though, not retired older, but a blend would be nice)
Children : 2 (ages 6 & 8) + Cooper (med size dog) SCHOOLS IMPORTANT
Walkable (important), FRIENDLY, SAFE, family communities, Suburban (semi-urban or near, not in the middle of, a city or smaller town center with family friendly amenities)
Employment: My husband is an IT professional making 65k and will temporarily continue with his current employment, remotely, until a local and stable position arises. He also does contruction/carpentry. I am a stay at home mom & Home schooling.
Looking for single family 3bdrm min...price range 150k...unfortunately its what we can afford
Want to be 5-10 miles away from the beaches and "at least" a 1/2 mi. from other bodies of water.
**Have a child with autism who will wander at any given opportunity and extremely loves the water!
We are from North Jersey and live/rent in an Urban environment...a small portuguese community...not the best but being portuguese...we fit right in...lol...however we hardly ever walk further than a few blocks because of fear of what may happen. We drive to the suburban areas for walks, parks/playgrounds, dog parks, shopping etc. One of my children has special needs and attends an out of district school (now home schooled - Im a para professional and ABA trained) and my other child attends a very decent lottery school in our city. Our reason for moving is for the beauty of nature in a safe, affordable and WARMER environment. We love the outdoors and unfortunately we are stuck indoors most of the time due to very cold temps, snow, ice, or we are sick with colds/flu due to these crazy temps. I think I could take it if I were single...but my days are all about doing things with my children and I am tired of having to look for indoor activities/places. We want to be out in CLEANER air, a garden in our yard, swim (outdoors) more than 2-3 months a year!
Anyway, my reason for choosing south SW FL. is because of the following:
(1) I plan to spend much time on the beaches and simply outdoors. I have been to Clearwater and fell in love the the beach. The warm waters, beautiful sand and, most of all, the gentle waves. I have a child with Autism who has little to no sense of danger and will go into any waters. In Jersey the beaches are fun but dangerous waves for young children...we are practically hand tied to when at the beach...which is no fun for us. When visiting Clearwater last year, it was the first time I let his hand go and allowed him to be free in the water. It was also the first time that I had no anxiety while at the beach.
(2) I want to be as far away from nuclear plants as possible. Florida has one at Crystal Springs which recently shutdown (permanently) due to damage...and a couple of Nuc Plants on the SE Coast along with higher and stronger waves, so those areas are ruled out. There is possibly going to be a NEW Nuclear Plant Building Project in Levy County, also up the Gulf.
(3) Researched Florida's Sink hole maps..grounds are a lot more stable in the SE and SW (but since SE is ruled out...that leaves me with the SW. Perhaps S.Central but read it was hotter and driving to either coast would be quite a ride.
(4) Air Quality is much better in the south than North FL. Nice caribbean feeling too.
I am so drained with all of the research...I hope you guys can help. I found some related posts but no quite and some were from some time ago. May be things changed. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Sorry so long
Hello, I see this post is a few years old. I'm moving to to Florida in the panhandle. My son is 10 years and has autism. We are in search to move anywhere with a good school for autism after what I've experienced living in the state that I'm in school comes first. I use to live in Florida a long time ago and want to come back this time with a family. Any luck with any autism schools there? Does anyone know of an autism school in FL?
Hello, I see this post is a few years old. I'm moving to to Florida in the panhandle. My son is 10 years and has autism. We are in search to move anywhere with a good school for autism after what I've experienced living in the state that I'm in school comes first. I use to live in Florida a long time ago and want to come back this time with a family. Any luck with any autism schools there? Does anyone know of an autism school in FL?
Only 2 weeks old!
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Thanks for your reply..I was looking into St Johns and St.Augustine area. I'm going to look more into the areas u mention...not my favorite region but I guess being less prone to ddisaster iss a big plus.
