[gmfitter]

Have not been on this board in a while. Re-asking a question. My wife and I (mixed race couple) plan to retire in 2-3 years. Florida is on the top of our list. We are obviously getting too old to put up with a lot of B.S.

Where would you reccomend we look. We like both coasts, are in our early 60's, are not opposed to
55+ communities (even though I have been told they can be clickish) and plan on renting for at least 6-12 months before we buy.


I welcome all sincere opinions.

[bbronston]

Can you be a bit more specific in terms of what you would like and what you want to avoid? Also, you might include info on your budget.

[jwolfer]

If either one or both of your are retired military consider near some of the military bases (Jacksonville, Tampa, Brevard County, Pensacola) some will caution you about the South etc but I know a few interracial couples around Jacksonville. They are all retired miliarty and wanted to be close to NAS Jax for Hospital, commisary etc

They are very happy here. No problems with being interracial, its not 1955.

[REWitch]

I actually just wrote up a blog post about the 10 Best Retirement Communities in Florida. The funny thing is, some of the best communities to retire to are not strictly 55+. I wanted to find the best places for people that wanted an active retirement.

You can check out the entire post with links to each community here: https://www.realestatewitch.com/best...ities-florida/

Here are a few of the communities i mention on the post:

Top Retirement Community in Tallahassee

Southwood

The winner for best retirement community in Tallahassee is Southwood!

While not strictly a 55+ community, Southwood has all the amenities and perks that an active retirement requires.

The thing that really distinguishes Southwood from other destinations for retirees is it’s focus on nature walks and parks.

In fact, there are over 1000 acres of greenery, including a mini 123 acre “Central Park.”

There are bike and walking trails that connect all the parks. The focus at Southwood is on the outdoors.

The community is anchored by the Southwood “Town Center”, which is home to restaurants and shops.

SouthWood Golf Club

SouthWood wouldn’t be a top Florida community without a world-class golf course.

When the course was built it was named one of the top 35 New Courses in America by Golf Magazine. In 2012 the course was voted Best in Tallahassee by Tallahassee Magazine.

The Fred Couples course is tournament ready but can accommodate players of all skill levels.
SouthWood House

The SouthWood House was built in 1865 and has been totally renovated for weddings and corporate gatherings.

The SouthWood house architecture screams traditional Florida plantation with it’s rocking chairs on the front porch and the old oak trees covered in Spanish moss.

The 5 cottages on the property are great for housing out of town guests or anyone that wants to experience SouthWood before purchasing a home in the community.
SouthWood Art of Living Program

The community has an “Art of Living” director that coordinates fun cultural activities in the community throughout the year. The director also makes sure that new residents feel welcome in SouthWood and helps them get acclimated to living in Tallahassee.

In a nutshell, SouthWood is an extremely welcoming community with tons of fun activities for an active retirement.

If you are considering retiring in Tallahassee, the SouthWood community needs to be on your list.


Best Retirement Community in Pensacola

Nature Trail

I have to admit, this one was tough to find, but boy was it worth the search.

Nature Trail is exactly what it sounds like—a community focused on nature and they really have thought every detail through here.

The utilities are underground, which in my opinion should be a national law!

The clubhouse at Nature Trail is affectionally called “The Lodge”. It’s a great building with a homestyle feel to it. The Lodge houses all of the communities amenities like pools, fitness center and tennis courts, playground and rooms for meeting.

Nature Trail is not a strictly 55+ community, but there are certainly plenty of residents that are retirement age living here.


Best Retirement Community in Melbourne / Viera

Indian River Colony Club: A Military Retirement Community

The winner for the top retirement community in the Melbourne / Viera area is The Indian River Colony Club. The Indian River Colony Club is an active, military retirement community located in Viera, Florida (although it has a Melbourne address).

The motto of the community is “A Place Patriots Call Home.” Indian River Colony Club is steeped in Military tradition and has predominately former military residents—although anyone is welcomed to live there.

Indian River Colony Club has all the amenities you would expect including pool, fitness center, tennis courts and banquet hall for events.

IRCC is nature-focused and it even has a pond which is great for fishing (catch and release of course!)

Keep your mental skills sharp with a game of poker or bridge (there are groups for that too).

There are theater, art, and even a chorus group that you can get involved with to explore your creative side.

A Really cool perk of living in Indian River Colony Club is the RV and boat area that guests and residents can hook up to with sanitation disposal, cleaning and restrooms. Your out of town friends will LOVE that they can come visit and hook up right inside the community.

The Viera VA clinic is close by which is great for military retirees that want to be close to care.

Indian River Colony club is definitely the top 55 and over community in the Melbourne / Viera area, especially for former military.


Top Retirement Community in Sarasota

Lakewood Ranch takes the crown as the best retirement community in Sarasota, FL.

As far as master-planned communities go, Lakewood Ranch is one of the largest in the nation sitting at an impressive 17,500 acres in size.

The Ranch was built with sustainability in mind and has been one of the largest green-certified communities in the nation. Every home is built with energy efficiency in mind.

This community is so big, it needs two clubhouses to accommodate residents—the main clubhouse and a new building known as “clubhouse east.”

There is a tennis center with a pro shop and 18 lighted courts and a huge fitness center that is over 10,000 sq. ft with personal trainers on hand to help guide your workouts. Work on your lap time in the olympic pool or sign up to take a water aerobics class to stay in shape.

Clay bird shooting enthusiasts will love the Ancient Oak Gun club inside of Lakewood Ranch. The club has 28 covered shooting stations and plays hosts to many shooting competitions including the 2016 Florida Sporting Clays State Championship.

Both beginners and pros are welcome at the Ancient Oak Gun Club.

Sarasota Polo Club at Lakewood Ranch

Polo is an exciting team sport played on horseback with the objective of driving the small white ball into the other team’s goal using a long wooden mallet.

Keep in mind, this is all while your horse is charging ahead at full speed!

This sport from 6th century Persia is played Sunday afternoon at the Sarasota Polo Club at Lakewood Ranch. Outside of the sport itself, there are tons of fun activities going on game day like picnics, Clydesdale wagon rides and tailgating (yes even the polo crowd knows how to have fun!)

Parks and Trails in Lakewood

3,500 of the 17,500 acres at Lakewood Ranch have been set aside and preserved as parks, lakes and other nature habitats. There are over 150 miles of trails and sidewalks and 8 dedicated community parks for residents to get outside, get some exercise and enjoy the beauty of the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Heron’s Nest Nature Park inside Lakewood even has two lakes that residents can fish and boat on.

Retirees looking for outdoor activities will be right at home at Lakewood Ranch.

Shopping / Dining

Lakewood Ranch has two shopping / retail centers: Main Street and Town Center.

Main Street has everything from mom and pop shops to fine dining restaurants and high end condos to a 6 screen movie theater.

Town Center is the biggest shopping plaza in Lakewood ranch with over 200 retailers with a mix of local small business and big box retail stores.

There are a number of smaller shopping plazas sprinkled throughout the community. No matter what you’re looking for you are sure to find it very close by when you live at Lakewood Ranch.

Health Facilities and Healthy Living

If you’re considering choosing Lakewood Ranch as your retirement community, you’ll be comforted to hear that Lakewood Ranch has top notch medical facilities right inside the community.

The Lakewood Ranch Medical Center is a 120 bed full service inpatient and outpatient clinic and the Lakewood Ranch Women’s Center specializes in the specific healthcare needs of women.

The Windsor at Lakewood Ranch is a 80 bed assisted living facility for seniors that need a bit more attention than in-home care can provide.

Outside of the doctor’s office, The Healthy Living Organic and Natural Market is fully stocked with herbs, supplements, and fresh produce to power you through your golden years.

Lakewood is no doubt one of the best retirement communities in Florida.

[kyle19125]

I'd recommend even though not on the coast checking out Gainesville. It's regularly mentioned as a top retirement town due to the fact it has plenty of amenities as a college town (U Of Florida), isn't overly congested, is affordable, has excellent health care options and in your instance would find it quite progressive as a mixed race couple. Gainesville on average is one of the most educated cities in Florida and one of the most "blue" as well.

[gmfitter]

Originally Posted by bbronston

Can you be a bit more specific in terms of what you would like and what you want to avoid? Also, you might include info on your budget.

We would like to avoid high crime areas, places where we question the service in restaurants, stores etc.
Being from NY/NJ area no one really notices us when we walk down the street or go out for dinner. Now
we live in Texas. No overt signs of intolerance, but we still get looks. One instance of standing at the bar of a crowded restaurant for quite a while and having people walk in and go to the bar and get served right away. We left.


We would rent for a while to get the feel of the area and then look in the $250k and under range for a single family home. Kind of prefer the west coast, but have heard the east coast is a bit more "progressive". Also, I have heard that in Florida, the farther north you go, the more "southern" it gets. I have my own interpretation of what that phrase means.

[Restrain]

Honestly, you will find less racism than you will see in the northeast. I see multi-race families down here every day, no issues. Perceived racism seems to be more where the party interprets everything as racism as opposed to actual racism.

[bbronston]

gmfitter, I live on the gulf side near Sarasota. We have many mid-west transplants here but we also have many from the NE. I suppose everyone's experience is different but I have the general impression that the gulf side of the state tends to be more laid back and the Atlantic side tends to be more like the NE. I grew up in Ohio and in New York so I understand the differences...lol. The north and central parts of the state tend to be more agricultural and small town-ish. It's not very surprising, really, since I95 runs down the east coast and I75 runs down from the mid-west. Again, since I have only lived on the gulf side, and only visited the east coast, these are my personal impressions with nothing objective to back it up.

I can't comment on your questions regarding acceptance (or lack thereof) because it's one of those third rail types of things, legally, for real estate agents plus I've never lived that experience. Speaking generally, though, I would be surprised if you experienced much/any of that around here but that could very well be my ignorance talking.

Addressing the real estate questions, you can find homes under $250K here but they will most likely be smaller or older for the most part. For research, the public side of our MLS is Florida Homes for Sale direct from MLS so you can see what you get for the money. For judgment regarding "safe" areas, I would suggest that you use a website like C-D or www.crimemapping.com where you can see recent crime reports directly from the policing agencies in the area. I think the best way is to look at the MLS first, find a home that looks interesting for the money, then plug the address into the crime report website to see what the area is like. I find that even in the quietest areas, there's always something going on so it's more a matter of degree and severity for me, rather than the raw number of reports, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, if you have questions about this area, there are other forums on C-D that are a bit more targeted or you are welcome to ask me here.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by gmfitter

Have not been on this board in a while. Re-asking a question. My wife and I (mixed race couple) plan to retire in 2-3 years. Florida is on the top of our list. We are obviously getting too old to put up with a lot of B.S.

Where would you reccomend we look. We like both coasts, are in our early 60's, are not opposed to
55+ communities (even though I have been told they can be clickish) and plan on renting for at least 6-12 months before we buy.


I welcome all sincere opinions.

Your age bracket is perfect for Sarasota - lots of us here in that age group, and most are active, healthy and fun loving, and yes; tolerant of everyone (as long as you are nice person, lol Seriously, this area has people from all over the world and all over the country that have moved part or full time here. That is one of the things I love about it. Some of our realtors here can post areas in your price range once they know more about what you would like in a community.

You might also check out St. Pete.

[gmfitter]

Originally Posted by Restrain

Honestly, you will find less racism than you will see in the northeast. I see multi-race families down here every day, no issues. Perceived racism seems to be more where the party interprets everything as racism as opposed to actual racism.

thank you