[JTEMT-B]

Good morning y’all.

I’m looking to move to Florida from Missouri in the next few years. I believe it’s the perfect place for my family and I. (My parents and I, Single 24 yo male.) I’m going down there this summer and I need to narrow down my choices of places to check out. What I’m looking for besides the weather and the beach is a place that FEELS like home. (Subjective, I’m aware!)

I’m from the suburbs of St. Louis, and I’m not a fan of big city life. I don’t like nightclubs or museums; I just like to go to the comic book store and the local music shops for fun. My county has a population of 385k, and I’d be fine going somewhere smaller than that, but it’s not a requirement. I just don’t want to live anywhere as crowded as South Florida.

So I’ve done my research over the past couple years on where I’d like to live based off job opportunities.

The panhandle has always been my favorite. Destin/FWB/Niceville and PCB have been top of my list for awhile. Love the North Florida landscape and the beaches. My issue with these areas are that aside from Destin and Niceville, the panhandle has a lot of really run down areas. A lot of the shops and homes in FWB, Pensacola, and PC/PCB look old and dilapidated. I really don’t like that. Destin is very upscale, but I’m really not sure about the community. Like I said, I want to live somewhere that has its OWN people and feels like a home to me. Niceville seems great, but has very few amenities. The mid bay bridge charges going to Destin would probably rack up pretty big as well living in Niceville.

Flagler Beach/Ormond Beach seems to be like a giant beach suburb. I LOVE that. The population of Volusia County is pretty high, but Ormond seems like a good balance between small town and good amenities. The housing prices are very cheap, and there’s a lot of new construction going on here. The beaches aren’t as anywhere near as nice as the gulf coast, but they seem clean and well maintained. Also, EMS is run by a private service here; and I’m not a fan of working for private companies vs. county run services. So that is a small downside for me.

Pinellas and Manatee County. Pinellas county seems crowded to me. I’d really only consider living on one of the small islands south of st pete beach. They have some good priced homes there. Manatee county seems to be a pretty great place to be. Lakewood Ranch reminds me a bit of where I grew up, but nicer. My only problem with there is that my mom wants to live near the beach, and the prices of homes on Anna Maria, Longboat, or Siesta are ridiculously high. I wouldn’t let my parents live in Bradenton either, because I’ve heard it’s really dangerous. They have a great paying EMS service though, and the weather is really warm!

What are your guy’s thoughts on these areas?
Thanks for the input.
- Jake

(The places in black are where I could move to.)

[beach43ofus]

I went to Jr High & High School in N. St. Louis County. I left there to attend college (in SE Florida), then left Florida after graduation (mistake #1) and went back to Stl, then returned to FLA (SW FLA this time) 5 years later. I've been in and out of Florida (mistakes #2 &#3) since, but now I'm here for good in Southern Sarasota County near Venice.

I've lived in Boca Raton, St. Pete, Tampa, Bradenton, and Southern Sarasota County. I visited many places in Florida, sometimes for a month (Panama City Beach, Bonita Springs) at a time to get the feel for it, but only passed through Flagler/Ormand Beach area. I stayed a week in Palm Coast 2x, but that was 15 yrs ago and it felt too remote.

SE FLA has become overcrowded, and the traffic on I-95 is awful. I wouldn't live South of Jupiter anymore.

We really considered Panama City Beach/Santa Rosa area (Wild Heron community), but it was hard to find cinder block construction, and I wouldn't buy a frame home in a Hurricane zone. Destin's too crowded...its a zoo each Summer. They wanted way too much $ for the frame homes, and we just couldn't find many gated community's with block.

They also have very limited public parking & restrooms in the Panhandle. They have Thousands of "beach access points" but nowhere to park, or restrooms, so unless you live walking distance to the beach, what good are all the access points? The private beachfront owners are in a war with visitors claiming the beachfront property is private property, so not open to the general public. They put up signs saying private property, and its a huge tussle there to be decided in the courts. We loved the beaches there (more natural w/ tall Dunes) that we could gain access to, and the low property taxes of Walton County, but the other things I mentioned above sent us to SW Florida instead. I guess you get what you pay for..low taxes...insufficient public beaches.

I'll discuss SW Florida in a later post, the family's waking up, and its Christmas Day. For now, I'll just say Southern Sarasota County is my favorite area, South of Laurel Road, all the way down to the County line with Charlotte County, and West of the Myakka River.

[popcorn247]

Check out Port St. Joe area.

[kyle19125]

Northern Pinellas County isn't as crowded as the rest of the county and was the last part of the county to develop. I would suggest checking out the north end around Tarpon Springs and unincorporated East Lake along the East Lake Road corridor. It's about 20 minutes to the beautiful beaches at Honeymoon Island.

[JTEMT-B]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

I went to Jr High & High School in N. St. Louis County. I left there to attend college (in SE Florida), then left Florida after graduation (mistake #1) and went back to Stl, then returned to FLA (SW FLA this time) 5 years later. I've been in and out of Florida (mistakes #2 ) since, but now I'm here for good in Southern Sarasota County near Venice.

I've lived in Boca Raton, St. Pete, Tampa, Bradenton, and Southern Sarasota County. I visited many places in Florida, sometimes for a month (Panama City Beach, Bonita Springs) at a time to get the feel for it, but only passed through Flagler/Ormand Beach area. I stayed a week in Palm Coast 2x, but that was 15 yrs ago and it felt too remote.

SE FLA has become overcrowded, and the traffic on I-95 is awful. I wouldn't live South of Jupiter anymore.

We really considered Panama City Beach/Santa Rosa area (Wild Heron community), but it was hard to find cinder block construction, and I wouldn't buy a frame home in a Hurricane zone. Destin's too crowded...its a zoo each Summer. They wanted way too much $ for the frame homes, and we just couldn't find many gated community's with block.

They also have very limited public parking & restrooms in the Panhandle. They have Thousands of "beach access points" but nowhere to park, or restrooms, so unless you live walking distance to the beach, what good are all the access points? The private beachfront owners are in a war with visitors claiming the beachfront property is private property, so not open to the general public. They put up signs saying private property, and its a huge tussle there to be decided in the courts. We loved the beaches there (more natural w/ tall Dunes) that we could gain access to, and the low property taxes of Walton County, but the other things I mentioned above sent us to SW Florida instead. I guess you get what you pay for..low taxes...insufficient public beaches.

I'll discuss SW Florida in a later post, the family's waking up, and its Christmas Day. For now, I'll just say Southern Sarasota County is my favorite area, South of Laurel Road, all the way down to the County line with Charlotte County, and West of the Myakka River.

Thanks for the reply! Venice seems affordable. How’s the traffic going to Bradenton? That’s where I’d be working. (24 hours on 48 hours off)

[kyle19125]

As someone your age Venice is not a place I would recommend. The average age in Venice is 68 years old, statewide the average is 34. Eventually like St Petersburg that will reverse trend, but probably not for another 20-30 years. The drive to/from Bradenton would be about an hour each direction during normal weekday commute hours.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by JTEMT-B

Thanks for the reply! Venice seems affordable. How’s the traffic going to Bradenton? That’s where I’d be working. (24 hours on 48 hours off)

No good from Southern Sarasota County to Bradenton. You need Manatee County, but try to stay out of Lakewood Ranch proper to avoid all the CDD fees. Also, be careful with flood zone designations anywhere near the Braden River. I think Sunshine Rules would know a lot more than I do about Manatee County. I lived there 25 years ago, so my info is partially outdated.

[JTEMT-B]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

No good from Southern Sarasota County to Bradenton. You need Manatee County, but try to stay out of Lakewood Ranch proper to avoid all the CDD fees. Also, be careful with flood zone designations anywhere near the Braden River. I think Sunshine Rules would know a lot more than I do about Manatee County. I lived there 25 years ago, so my info is partially outdated.

Is CDD like homeowners association fees? I used to live in a villa community that charged $300 a month for those.
Manatee County doesn’t look like it has a lot of good real estate near the beach.. My parents have a 450-550k budget for a home and they want to be within a few miles of the beach. I can’t find anything of that sort in manatee. I’ve found homes in Volusia that have ocean views for that price range, but the beaches aren’t on the same par as the gulf coast. Based on that, I’m not sure how I feel about manatee county in general.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by JTEMT-B

Is CDD like homeowners association fees? I used to live in a villa community that charged $300 a month for those.
Manatee County doesn’t look like it has a lot of good real estate near the beach.. My parents have a 450-550k budget for a home and they want to be within a few miles of the beach. I can’t find anything of that sort in manatee. I’ve found homes in Volusia that have ocean views for that price range, but the beaches aren’t on the same par as the gulf coast. Based on that, I’m not sure how I feel about manatee county in general.

Manatee County is not the place for them. Try Nokomis. CDD's are in addition to HOA fees, so are a whole new layer of costs. Avoid if possible.

[JTEMT-B]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Manatee County is not the place for them. Try Nokomis. CDD's are in addition to HOA fees, so are a whole new layer of costs. Avoid if possible.

Osprey, Nokomis and South Sarasota look nice. How is the crime in these areas? I just found a house two miles from siesta key near Gulf Gate Estates that was affordable!
I’d probably only live with my parents for a year and I’d get my own place; So I don’t care about the crime personally, but they need to live somewhere safe. I can’t always be around to keep an eye on my parents when they’re out and about, and I don’t want to be that dude kicking in my parents door with my rifle every time they don’t answer the phone!
Sarasota looks like a nice, clean little city to live in! It’s pretty close to Bradenton as well, which is cool!

Thanks again for the info guys! This is very helpful!