[RebeccaVF]

I’m a single Florida native (Miami) currently residing in St. Johns. Kids are grown and in college and I’m selling our home in the suburbs. Macular Degeneration runs in my family. My only surviving parent and older siblings are all blind. I’ve seen firsthand how this disease steals your independence. I want to relocate to area where I can walk to restaurants, coffee shops, etc. It is extremely important to me to find a place to live where I will not have to depend solely on individuals or a vehicle to survive or have some form of a social life.
I was in Italy and France last year and loved the cities and villages. I just wish I could find something similar in Florida.
Thank you for any and all of your suggestions

[kyle19125]

Florida isn't known for being pedestrian friendly, or walkable. Offhand there are a couple of areas that come to mind however. Check out downtown Winter Park, which feels more like New England than Florida. Another walkable town (coincidentally New England in feel) is Mount Dora.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Park,_Florida
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Dora,_Florida

[gypsychic]

Sarasota is one of the few cities in Florida with a beautiful, self-contained, walkable downtown. We have many Europeans who have moved here or live part-time as well. It would depend on your budget, places right downtown and within walking distance can be expensive.

On a smaller scale, St. Augustine fits that bill within the Old Town area, but is not quite a self contained as Sarasota's downtown is, and it is also expensive right in the downtown.

Venice might also be a good choice, very small safe town, a very cute clean downtown, also walking distance to the beach. With it's Venetian architecture, it does resemble a European village a bit.

Hope this helps!

[doggiebus]

OP have you looked at The Villages?

[MittensRomney]

Some parts of Dunedin/North Pinellas aren't too shabby. Tarpon Springs has a beautiful downtown, but it is a little pricey and you would still need a car to get to more commercial establishments like walmart, etc.

[ChrisA70]

Celebration....

[roaring-rox]

This area is very quaint and charming...there are nice apartments within walking distance of downtown.

Was just visiting today and that is one of my criteria also, that I can walk to cool restaurants and shops, etc.

Was looking at one place called Sienna Apartments...nicely renovated apartments and one of the coolest coffee shops called Kahwa Coffee is only one block away. Downtown is within walking distance too with a lot of interesting restaurants and art galleries/museums, etc. People ride bikes alot in St. Pete (in that area anyway).

There are gorgeous tree shaded streets and the bayfront is beautiful with a lot of Mediterranean homes besides other quaint styles.

Other cities mentioned are good too, just happen to have been visiting St. Pete a lot lately and taken with it. Also, today I noticed how laid back traffic was in St. Pete downtown compared to other places.

[Coconut1]

You should really think about heading back to Miami.

Besides having very walkable areas, you also have rail, air and bus transportation services.

Try looking at Coral Gables, South Miami, Brickell, or Downtown. All are along the Metrorail route and thus provide access to other areas (for example, if you live Downtown, not only do you have everything Downtown has to offer, but you can also hop the Metrorail down to Dadeland for big box retail, the mall, or South Miami also for shopping, restaurants, etc.) the same goes for getting off at Coral Gables. The Coral Gables Trolley is free and runs on weekdays. You can that that to the Miracle Mile. Should you need to get the the airport or hospital, Metrorail stops (or in the case of the airport, will stop once the connection is finished being built) both those places as well.

The other place I could think that is compact enough to where public transportation really isn't a huge concern is Key West, although it's much more isolated and more expensive.

Back in Miami, Miami Beach, and Surfside are also nice places to live, but you have no access to the Metro.

The South Florida area is very walkable, contrary to what people on here say. Check out Walkscore.com and plug in potential addresses. Having a form of mass transportation is also a major benefit because although walking is great, there are times when it's just not function, i.e.- you want to go to Best Buy or some place and it's 6 or 7 miles away.

Having two cases of macular degeneration in my family, I know it is a horrible disease. Good luck to you in the future, I hope all turns out well.

[queen elizabeth3]

depending on your budget sunny isles beach, florida, is city where you do not need a car/ city buses take you all over/ take a look

[Rabflmom]

Not sure how European it feels, but maybe Melbourne Beach? It is just a small town, but there is a library, a grocery store, some restaurants, surf stores, etc all within a couple blocks of each other. There is a park near the river that towns people old and young tend to hang out in. You see families and retirees playing horse shoes and sitting around talking etc. It would be an easy place to walk to a lot of places if you could find an apartment or house close to the only intersection with a stoplight. Many of the businesses including a fancy restaurant in town are all within a few blocks of there. There is a nice city park on the beach too(same area) . If I could afford it, it is where I would live. Don't know if there is a doctor, dentist, eye doctor, etc. within walking range though.