[Thinking of moving]

I am considering Flagler County for a move. I am in NJ now but the lower cost of living in Florida is becoming more and more attractive. I have read up a lot and know I do not want to go to South Florida and from what I read northwest does get more harsh weather.

I hear Jacksonville crime is high and Daytona is very tourist like as well as overpopulated so I figured Palm Coast is somewhere between them. I have read a lot of postive and negative. How is the area down there? I have seen someone stating the "R" section is I guess somewhat lower class, is this true or just one incident? What are the better areas?

If you think the Palm Coast area is not a wise move what about something like Ormond Beach?

Thank you for your input but please realtors keep you answers to yourself.

[nancyL]

Can I ask where you have read up on these places? Has it just been the internet or have you looked elsewhere and if so, where have you looked?
Thanks!
NancyL
Sorry I cant help you, Im looking for info myself- I have a no choice move to Jax coming up this summer.

[FLPL75]

don't let the few folks that have issues scare you. These boards are great and offer different points of veiw. but remember the folks that post here are a very small % of the population. It seems that those that are really unhappy are the most vocal. Also keep in mind that an online persona is just that.
I would not base my future lifestyle on comments made online from people you don't know.
Visit the areas you are interested in, speak to the people that live there.
If I believed everything I read on the Atlanta boards the last thing I would be doing is moving there. Instead I made a visit spoke with people that lived in the areas we were interested in. Spoke with people my husband will be working with. A friend of mine made a great suggestion if you want to see what your neighbors are like go to the grocery store or walmart.
Jax is not the high crime city some would like you to believe.
First it is one of the largest land size cities. So the different areas are pretty spread out.
We have our problem areas but they seem to be in the Northwest part of the city far from where you are looking nancy.
Karla

[Thinking of moving]

Nancy

I have read on various, including this one, bulletin boards and forums regarding the different areas in Flordia and have pretty much resigned myself to Northwest Florida. That area has not been hit by any major disaster weatherwise in many years.

Jacksonville's crime has risen and is higher then the national average, you can see that here:

Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

You can also see here that other then robbery, Jacksonville has even New York City beat by a landslide on how much crime they have.
Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

I know Jacksonville is where I would most likely be working if I went down there which is why I was looking into Palm Coast or Ormond Beach for a more suburban setting as well as a safer community to live. A friend showed me this website:

FDLE Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators

which now really has me nervous. It seems the area in Palm Coast I was mildly interested in has quite a number of sex offenders as neighbors. Certianly do not want my kids around that atmosphere.

Well nothing is invested yet, this is just a pipe dream and some wishfull thinking but I am going to have to take a trip down there to see what it is really like.

[RedWingsFan]

I just recently moved to Ormond Beach. We have also considered Palm Coast as we are looking to buy a home. However, I find it to be too rural for me. There's just not a lot there. They have plenty of houses but not a lot of amenities. My husband likes it though so everyone has their own opinion.

I really like Ormond Beach though. It's very nice here, housing is nice and there are lot of stores, restaurants, etc. I also really like Port Orange. As far as housing goes I think I like Port Orange a little better. The houses seem a little more spread out and the neighborhoods seem a little nicer.

I think Palm Coast may be really nice someday when it's more built up. They are working on building a new towncenter with shopping. But it could take a while and right now it's kind of out there in the middle of nothing. At least that's how it feels to me.

[corba]

All that Florida has going for it is the nice weather. Choose wisely before permanently moving from New York or New Jersey to Florida. You may make a choice that you will regret. Florida is very overcrowded. Although the housing market has leveled out in the last year, real estate agents have spoiled everything. Every other person you meet is a real estate agent, so you can figure that out for yourself. Real estate is a ruthless field and from my personal experience, unethical in many cases. Use extreme caution.

Although the winters are nice down here, the summers are brutal with heat and humidity. Floridians cope with the heat by staying inside all the time. You may as well stay inside up north in the cold as inside down here in the heat. Too many Floridians that I talked to advised me not to move.



Also, the level of hostility is very high amongst drivers. Too many people carry guns (legally) on their person or in their cars. Not good for my own peace of mind. I can imagine the slightest highway altercation with these hostile drivers could result in a shooting. We were considering moving to Florida permanently but fortunately we lived here for six months before deciding not to.

Corba

[RedWingsFan]

You are where I was just a couple of months ago, trying to decide between Jacksonville, Palm Coast or the Daytona area.

We went for the Daytona area. Let me tell you my thoughts:
Jacksonville - colder weather, more crime, not a "tropical" feel

Palm Coast - dead. It's rural. Lots of trees and not much else. Most of the subdivisions we drove through didn't even have sidewalks. There's very few businesses out there. And I couldn't get even one radio station to come in! It's very rural, much too rural for me.

Daytona area - keep clear of anything in Daytona Beach itself (or Holly Hill). It has more crime, lower class areas, bad areas, etc. But around Daytona there are some nice areas. Ormond Beach is nice but by far the nicest area around is Port Orange. It's a bit higher class, very clean, lower crime, excellent schools. The area is not that touristy, unless it's maybe bike week or spring break. Otherwise it doesn't seem like it to us.

In my opinion I like the Daytona area the best, specifically Port Orange. It's nice, all the things I wrote above and is close to everything Daytona offers. (Also stay away from Deltona, DeLand, etc. those places are no good).

[RedWingsFan]

P.S. I forgot something big... the pay here is NOT good!!! Basically it goes for all of Florida, but especially in the Daytona and Flagler areas. This week in the paper it said that the average job in Flagler county pays $29,000 and the average job in the Daytona area pays $30,000. It's true. My husband got a job in his field making more than $10k less per year than where we last lived. The pay stinks.

[whitecap]

I've lived in several different areas in the U.S. because of my job. But the one place I loved more was living in Port Orange, FL. You're close to the beaches of Daytona but far enough away from Daytona's crazy special events (bike week, spring break, daytona 500, etc.) Even John Travolta lived in Port Orange for several years, he moved to Ocala so he can land his plane on his very own runway. Port Orange is great for raising a family. Excellent library, police force is the most courteous I've ever encountered. Home prices are still not that bad compared to rest of the U.S. The only drawback is that Port Orange is becoming a boom town. Population has risen dramatically . I've lived in Los Angeles, Tulsa, NY and now in Pittsburgh, PA. (believe it or not Pittsburgh is kind of a nice place too. I was very surprised) but Port Orange is my favorite and I will definitely retire there one day.

[Mike98WS6]

I'm going to be living in Palm Coast for good in 3 weeks. I've been there plenty of times as well as through much of Florida. Palm Coast for me has everything I need. I'm am relocating my job down there with my same NY pay. I work for the Post Office. I've lived in NYC all of life and all I want is peace and quiet. I guess hearing gunshots go off ramdomly growing up you get sort of used to it. But as u get older it get's played out. As far as the R section or any section for that matter there's good an bad in every area of Florida. That's how it is all over.