[Lyn Halter]

Vero Beach is in Indian River County. It is known for it's high end real estate and so is Port St. Lucie. I recommend you look them up at their county sites. They are both between HWY 95 & US 1 which is a coast road. Both places have a lot of retired people. Most jobs are in service industry because they are not industrial towns but retirement cities. Wages are low all over Florida but there is great need in medical fields. The citizens volunteer & help in the community quite a bit. I've been looking to buy property in both places but the prices have been more than I want to pay.

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by Lyn Halter

Vero Beach is in Indian River County. It is known for it's high end real estate and so is Port St. Lucie.

Not sure what you call high end real estate; Port St. Lucie has a lower median house price than almost any other large city in Florida, certainly much lower than either Vero Beach to the North, Stuart to the South, or anything in Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties. Most of the people moving to Port St. Lucie are from further South, because the housing is so much more reasonable up here.

Originally Posted by Lyn Halter

I recommend you look them up at their county sites. They are both between HWY 95 & US 1 which is a coast road.

US1 is not a coast road in Port St. Lucie; it is almost 10 miles inland. A1A is a coast road; it is on Hutchison Island on the east side of the Indian River Lagoon. Interstate 95 is about 7 miles west of US1, Port St. Lucie is located pretty much between them (although parts of it spill both east and west past both highways). The Florida turnpike runs right through the middle of PSL.

Originally Posted by Lyn Halter

Both places have a lot of retired people. Most jobs are in service industry because they are not industrial towns but retirement cities.

There was a time, about 25 years ago and longer, when PSL was a retirement town. It is now a thriving city of almost 150,000 people, with a median age of about 34 years old. It has won repeated awards as the safest city in Florida for it's size, and Allstate Insurance just named it one of the safest cities in Florida in terms of automobile accidents. Many of the jobs are in service related industries, but most are construction-related. A manufacturer of electrical components has just announced (this morning's newspaper) that they will be opening a new plant in PSL with wages averaging $26 per hour; there will be only 150 jobs at first, but more will be coming, The Burnham Institute is considering PSL for a new bio-meidcal research facility. There are at least two major boat manufacturing plants in the area. More industry is on the way. Unemployment is low and jobs are plentiful.

There are alot of misconceptions out there about Port St. Lucie. One of the reasons is because it has grown so fast; the PSL you knew a couple of years ago is not the PSL of today. I've been here 34 years and have seen it grow from 330 residents to almost 150,000. I owned a business here. I know what I'm talking about.

The reason the housing prices are so moderate compared to similar areas is because there is so much vacant land approved for development. Port St. Lucie has the 2nd largest land area in Florida; only Jacksonville, which consists of all of Duval County, is larger. PSL has over 115 square miles within the city limits. Most of it has already been developed into residential lots for single family homes; well over 70,000 lots have already been developed and served by hundreds of miles of paved roads and utilities.

[THughes]

Try Palm Coast. Low crime and now low cost for homes.

[Summerbreeze]

I live one town over from Port St Lucie. I don't like it there. But I don't like crowds. There are way too many people there, and the projection isn't looking good for the future as far as population and schools. It has tons of families though, so you may like that. I personally don't like it. But it depends what you're looking for. They are having some big company moving in there and it's a big thing, and they have the new "Tradition" home site there, which is very beautiful. I would really check it out though all the way around before actually making the move. Jensen beach is very nice and borders it right on the water. It's quaint and a beautiful little town. Work commute would only be like five mile... but more for time because of the traffic. Hope you have a good move, and everything works out for you.

[tlv0428]

Originally Posted by sebastia

We are looking to move to florida and have chosen five cities to explore: Melbourne, Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie, Sebastian and Margate. We would love to know which city is best for jobs, a low crime rate, cost of living, and generally a good place to live with a small family. We would also like to know which parts of the cities are the best in which to live(if you know) and any comments about apartment rentals. We are looking to move this summer and will visit FL this next month. We would appreciate any comments. Thanks!

My family and I live in Sebastian, FL and work in Melbourne, FL. To me Sebastian is a wonderful town to raise a family. The schools are wonderful, crime rate is low. Not far from Orlando, FL and West Palm Beach. Only 4 hours to The Keys, 3 Hours to the West Coast of FL so even though Sebastian is a small little town you are not far from fun things to do. You have the river to go fishing and boating, the Inlet to the ocean only miles from home. Malls are only a 15 minute drive.

[KeysDreamer]

Originally Posted by THughes

Try Palm Coast. Low crime and now low cost for homes.

Left Margate, FL 10 yrs ago and would never go back. Too congested and expensive and it's only gotten worse.
Moved to Palm Coast and don't regret it. Home prices have definitely come down. Very nice community for raising kids.

[gjensen]

We love living near Melbourne, Fl on the beachside in Indian Harbour Beach. Unfortunately, we need to move back to Michigan to help care for our grandkids,

We own a lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bath pool home only 2 block form the beach. Please take a look at our listing http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/200-Atlantic-Blvd_Indian-Harbour-Beach_FL_32937_M59973-35127?source=web

[tonya100]

Originally Posted by Judes

Florida is a lovely state. But don't think it is cost effective to live here. The apartments are becoming harder and harder to find because so many of them are turning into condos. Development is going on all the time. Insurance is EXTREMELY expensive and very hard to get. The cost of living is not less than up North unless you are from New York City or Washington DC areas. The pay scale for jobs here is about 1/2 what it is up North, but the rent and food costs are probably the same. Very expensive to live here! I would at least try to live inland in a smaller town! The winters are lovely here and summer is HOT and HUMID! Traffic is horrible, especially between October and April. I live on the west coast and I guess it's considered one of the more expensive areas, so I would suggest you look more toward Crystal River or Mt Dora. Both are lovely little towns, but jobs will be hard to come by there. Good luck with your journey!

your right Judes it is very expensive to live here espically in southwest florida,I will be moving soon due to foreclosure.

[amiles32]

I wouldn't recommend moving here unless you have a job already lined up. My husband and I relocated here a little over 3 months ago and we have not had one job offer as of yet. We've been on tons of interviews and I mean TONS but so far, no response. I currently work from home part-time so thank goodness we have that income and my husband is on unemployment but it will be ending soon. We currently live in Orlando, near downtown and I wouldn't recommend ANYONE move to this area. The traffic is horrible, it seems more ghetto than I've ever seen, which is not expected when you think of Orlando and the attitudes of people overall are just rude. If things don't pick up, we won't be living here once our lease is over.

[yamahastar]

The only answer you've received so far that makes any sense is from amiles32. I can't imagine why people who don't live in Florida want to tell you where you should live. Jobs are as scarce as hen's teeth. Moving to Florida should be your fantasy right now, not a reality unless you are in a field where you can get a job and then you move where the job is, not where you think you might want to live. You also need to understand what the quality of life is here during hurricane season - understand evacuations and what happens if you don't leave when you are told to, etc. The person who told you Ocala is lovely doesn't live in Ocala. Just like any place, some of it is nice, but the recession has really taken its toll on poor Ocala. You should visit, and have jobs and do a ton of research before you even think about moving here.