[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by wgericke

We have three kids under the age of 7, my husband is an elementary teacher. Where is the best place to live in Florida. Houses around 190,000,low crime, best schools, east coast vs. west coast. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!: Oh and of course a short drive to the beach......

Consider Port St. Lucie, on the East coast between West Palm Beach and Melbourne. There are still houses available on that price range if you can be satisfied with fairly modest house.

I have always liked the East coast better than the West coast -- a bit warmer in the Winter because of the Gulf Stream and quite a it cooler in the Summer because of off-shore breezes. My Mom lived in St. Pete, and I could always tell the difference when we traveled back and forth.

Port St. Lucie is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation; in 2004, the Census Bureau declared it the fastest growing city. It's now up to about 150,000 population. The amazing thing is that it has been awarded the "Safest City in Florida" for cities over 100,000 for something like 6 years in a row -- this is about as much a low crime area as you will find, anywhere.

The schools are keeping pace with the growth -- it seems there are new schoold popping out of the ground all the time. There is a belief that the schools in Martin County, the next county to the sourth, are better than St. Lucie County schools. After 34 years in this area, and having sent 2 kids through the puplic schools here, I have to disagree. The quality of education is great, and there are more International Baccaluareate graduates in St. Lucie than there are in Martin. Of course, as you r husband is well aware, the quality of education is very much dependent on the effort of the parents. If your kids want a good eduication, they can get one, here. My kids both graduated from private colleges after their St. Lucie County education, one of them from Stetson University, arguably the toughest academic college in Florida (Rollins College also likes to make that claim).

The beach is not exactly a short drive; Port St. Lucie is slightly inland, and the closest bridges across the Indian River Lagoon to the ocean are about 10 miles.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

[Delilah]

Teachers should definitely consider moving to the non-coastal cities in Florida or north Orlando as was previously suggested. I have been a Realtor for several years in North Miami-Dade & Broward County. I, myself, am considering a move to Clewiston, Florida. There are many new home projects being built. The area has a wholesome town quality. It is just off of Southern Tip of Lake Okeechobee. The best part is that it takes 45 minutes to get to Fort Myers, 45 minutes to Fort Lauderdale & 45 minutes to Wellington. So if you need to commute to a large city, you have 3 major options. You can definitely find a 3 bedroom for $190K in Clewiston.

[Milabs]

Stay away from Lee County...you can't afford to buy a house there on a teacher's salary. They are talking about building a subdivision of affordable housing just for the teachers.

[kellygirl]

The Treasure Coast is the best!!! The last remaining paradise on the Eastern Seaboard. I live in Jensen Beach after spending 22 years in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale and love it. I know schools down here will even help get you into a house for $1 down (last year program, maybe still available) if you take a teaching job at their school. We are desperate for good teachers!!!

Pt. St. Lucie/Stuart/Jensen Beach/Palm City areas.

100 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale and about the same south from Melbourne.

Good luck!

[kellygirl]

P.S. Jensen Beach High School is the best in the state!!!

[Central Florida Resident]

I would recommend you look at the central part of the state.

Prices are rising here, but there are plenty of teaching jobs, and the beach is closer than you might think (about 45 minutes away).

One area to consider is Deland, Florida. While prices are rising, there are still some bargains to consider. There are plenty of teaching jobs in the local county, and it is a college town.

Good luck

[Buckeye Fan]

Originally Posted by kellygirl

The Treasure Coast is the best!!! The last remaining paradise on the Eastern Seaboard. I live in Jensen Beach after spending 22 years in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale and love it.

Pt. St. Lucie/Stuart/Jensen Beach/Palm City areas.

Turns out i'm going to be living in Jensen Beach and not Vero Beach now. I am moving down in 1 week and starting a company with my brother, Jensen is closer to where all our work will be. Do you have anymore info about the area? I got a condo at Portofino and have heard it's a nice place to live...any truth to that? I'm just looking to work hard and have some fun on the weekends. Anything fun to do in the area for a guy who is halfway to 50

[Dee2e]

Originally Posted by sunshine girl

What you are asking for is a tall order for Florida. You can have some of those wishes, but good luck finding all of them in one place. Low prices yes, but low crime also, I doubt it. Usually the lower priced areas are also the areas that sometimes are not maybe considered the best areas to live, especially w/young kids. Short drive to the beach, depends on your definition of short. Usually the closer to the beach, the pricier. As in mininimum of 1/2 mil and up. I'm west coast, never lived east side, but more population on east side.West coast prices have risen dramatically over past 3 years. Nice houses 3 years ago cost maybe 125,000, the same houses now are close to 250,000. And those are older, smaller houses. I love Florida, don't get me wrong, but you really need to research more before you jump. There are areas that might be good for you, but they are more inland. Just research more, and narrow your choices down a bit, then ask around. I'm in Sarasota and can tell you about this coast between Tampa and Naples. If you need more info about this area, I'd be glad to tell you what you want to know. But it's not what I would call cheap here. Ahh, the price of sunshine!!!

Deltona is not far from the ocean and has great housing buys! It's a growing area, housing is reasonable, and there's lots of nearby shopping.

[FloridaNative71]

Having grown up in the Acreage, I can give you a kids point of view (even though I'm 34 now). My family moved out there in 1978 right on Royal Palm Beach Blvd. Life as a kid out there was great. There are
- Plenty of woods to run around in.
- Great places to "be a kid" (ride bikes, skateboard, ride four-wheelers, etc).
- Organized sports abound.
- Since the Acreage is "new", (First became popular in the early '80's with a second popularity boom in the mid '90's; It was originally a Civil War Era Cattle Ranch), most of the recreational and school facilities are new.
- Rural Setting. (The population a year ago was said to be around 50,000 but with the large lot sizes you don't have the "crackerbox" effect.

The only bad thing that I can remember about growing up there was being bussed 30-45 minutes to school. (I remember going to Palmview Elementary School WAY downtown West Palm Beach.) But that isn't a problem anymore down there. It really was great growing up there.

Now for the Acreage from adult viewpoint;
- It is expensive. (but not really compared to the rest of Palm Beach County).
- Even though it has a country atmosphere (which is great), you are in the city, and you have the traffic to prove it.

Other areas you might look at; (all on the East Coast)
- Stuart
- Jensen Beach
- Port St. Lucie
- Vero Beach

I'm not familiar with the west coast so I can't offer any opinion one way or another. I, myself, reside in the middle of the state in Lake Wales. It is about an hour away from Orlando, Tampa, and Vero Beach. Clearwater Beach is about an hour and a half away. Any shopping experience you might want (within reason) is within a half hour. We have a Super Wal-Mart, Home Depot, major mall, and are home to Historic Bok Sanctuary. It is a small town of approx. 14,000 but growing quickly. Crime is not too bad. We had a couple of armed robberies last year but they caught the guy. Home prices are around 175,000-200,000 for nice, 3/2 homes. If you like outdoor activities, there are plenty here.
Good luck!

[lulu]

Teachers, cops, nurses...are the top 3 profession's finding housing problems in S. Florida. They can't even afford a condo. It's come out in the paper quite a bit. The county is even thinking of putting up mobile home communities to help them with housing problem or we are going to lose them all. Can one imagine this??? No cops in S. FL?? or a nurse with the shortage as it is?? or a teacher to teach? The last I read was that this in fact had taken place in the keys...to help the cops. The poor Keys, I feel so sorry for the decent hard working people there. Most people there it's like, shut business, put up shutters, take down shutters, grab belongings, the kids, the dog, the cat, get in the car, move inland, go back open up, etc. etc...over & over again every time a hurricane threat is announced. that's why loads of people there stay put & put there destiny in Gods hands. It gets quite tiresome... All the while they are losing money. Most mom & pop business' down there are coming in Monday mornings to find that 2-3 workers haven't shown up. Cause they packed up & left! Can't blame them, but I just wonder what will become of all of this???