[macrodome2]

Sarasota or Venice. People will tell you Venice is just old people, but that's not true and it has really good schools. Besides old people spend money on their pets.

[zpearl.dvm]

Originally Posted by runswithscissors

How are you going to buy a Veterinary practice without knowing where there are some for sale? It's not exactly a common occurrence.

Are you new veterinarians or do you have experience?

Advice is the same regardless of your occupation : look for the best school district you can find where you can find a job before moving here.

I agree with the Jacksonville area - I was a dog walker/pet sitter there and had a booming business even though the spending habits are different for veterinary care versus pet sitting care. Plenty of people spend a fortune on pet sitting or dog walking even when they are not as good about Veterinary Care. But there are plenty of good clients for veterinarians up in that area. Of course you have to determine if there's a demand and a couple places have been around for a very long time i.e. at Ponte Vedra

Steer clear of college cities like Tallahassee that market definitely postpones or declines procedures in Veterinary Care routinely.

.

The decision to move to Florida will be based on what practices become available in the cities we're most interested in. We definitely will not be moving prior to finding a practice. We plan on staying in Ohio for the next 2 years while we search for the right fit. You are right though, that we likely won't be able to find the most suitable school districts until we have a better idea of where we're going. At this point, I'm just surveying everyone's opinions.
Thanks for the tip about Jacksonville. Jacksonville, I believe, is the largest city in Florida. Any idea if any of the surrounding neighborhoods have much of a "small town" community feel? That's one of the things I love about the current city I'm in... Blue Ash is a really family-friendly neighborhood outside of Cincinnati. We like it here but Florida is closer to family and I'm not too big on the snow season haha.

[Runninglikethieves]

Originally Posted by Bette

Delray Beach

My best friend lives there.

He lives like basically on the border of Delray and Boynton.

If he lived across the street on the opposite side, his address would be Boynton Beach. The neighborhood he lives in is nice, only about a 5-10 minute drive from the beach. He owns his house and the house right next door, which he rents out. The only reason I wouldn't wanna live there is because I LOVE to surf and that part of Florida is the worst part for surfing, as it's blocked by the Bahamas.

It's also close enough to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, although traffic can be brutal sometimes. Not so bad in the Delray area, just if you're headed down to Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

[gypsychic]

Sarasota would tick all your boxes. Some of the best schools in the state here, not to mention several colleges. Beautiful award winning beaches. And plenty of wealthy people who cater to their pets.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by zpearl.dvm

The decision to move to Florida will be based on what practices become available in the cities we're most interested in. We definitely will not be moving prior to finding a practice. We plan on staying in Ohio for the next 2 years while we search for the right fit. You are right though, that we likely won't be able to find the most suitable school districts until we have a better idea of where we're going. At this point, I'm just surveying everyone's opinions.
Thanks for the tip about Jacksonville. Jacksonville, I believe, is the largest city in Florida. Any idea if any of the surrounding neighborhoods have much of a "small town" community feel? That's one of the things I love about the current city I'm in... Blue Ash is a really family-friendly neighborhood outside of Cincinnati. We like it here but Florida is closer to family and I'm not too big on the snow season haha.

If you live in the beaches communities of Duval - Atlantic Beach, Jax Beach, Neptune Beach (which have better schools than the mainland) or Ponte Vedra Beach/St. Augustine, they all have small town community feels. AB, JB, and NB are distinct municipalities with their own mayors/police forces. JB is more of a party atmosphere while AB and NB are more low key/beachy feel.

You really don't have to go into the main part of Jacksonville at all other than to do clothing shopping and/or go to places like Costco. I live in the area and can do most of what I need in the beaches zone without ever going "over the ditch" as they like to call it. I know they just opened a new pet ER in south Jax Beach recently so I think there is a demand for pet care out here.

[fxea1410]

I'm a lic RE broker in the Tampa Bay area. Maybe I can help.

[Mgordon18]

May I suggest you look into Palm Coast. It meets just about everything you mention in your post. It's a relatively new coastal city, established in 1999. 19 miles of uncrowded, pet friendly beaches, some 20+ miles of canals, the intracoastal waterway, 125 miles of interconnected hiking/biking/jogging trails, very good school system (12th best in Florida), affordable housing, only 30 miles to both Daytona and St. Augustine, 60 miles to Jacksonville and about 1 1/2 hours to Orlando. It's a relatively safe community, lots of beautiful parks, great restaurants, free music concerts all year, diverse population, easy to get around, convenient shopping, boating, fishing, 7 golf courses, named one of the best cities in Florida, etc., etc., etc.

[Ben Barbosa]

No offense but Palm Coast has become a NY Ghetto. Since about 1998 tons of lower class people moved from the outer Burroughs of New York like Queens, Brooklyn to Palm Beach and turned it in to a New York Ghetto. Stay away unless you like pushy lower class people from the New York City area.

[thaifood]

A great way to see what's up in Florida.
https://www.reddit.com/r/floridaman

[Ben Barbosa]

I meant Palm Coast (Not Palm Beach). Sorry!