Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Ocala
 [Register]
Ocala Marion County
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-12-2017, 10:39 PM
 
5,687 posts, read 7,119,561 times
Reputation: 4326

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pdm56 View Post
Great comments by all and pretty spot on. I can only add a few things. My husband and I are originally from CT but have lived in NC, CA and now Ocala. I wanted to move back to the east coast to be closer to the grandkids who live in CT plus CA was too expensive to retire in. My cousin talked us into moving to Ocala and while we did tons of research I feel we may have made a mistake. The good things: we live in Trilogy Ocala Preserve on the NW side. It’s a very nice community and Shea builds a good home however we pay approximately $415 in HOA fees per month up from the original $409 and will end up $462 at full build out. That’s pretty expensive. In addition they are nickel and diming us to death for activities. The club is way too small and we don’t even have a meeting room. We looked at On Top Of the World and Stonecreek but the residents were the most warm and friendly here. I prefer to not live in an HOA however the crime rate is very high here so I just feel safer here. While we are a semi gated community it does offer some protection. Look on the NeighborhoodScout website. Ocala is rated a 4....100 is the best. We took a course at OTOW for 13 weeks put on by the sheriffs department and it was a real eye opener. They said they were down 44 deputies in Marion County. I also volunteered at the sheriffs department for awhile. There’s also an App that you can download that acts as a police scanner. After about a month or so of listening to it we had to turn it off. It was too depressing and sad. Too many drug crimes, people in bad health and some even waving guns in the air. We have been here for 2 years and as long as you don’t go to the gas station at night you probably won’t encounter any problems but don’t let anyone fool you. The crime is bad here.

We love our home and we have really nice neighbors but don’t see myself in Ocala long term. The horse farms are beautiful but so many people are destitute, are uneducated and live in some of the worst trailers I’ve ever seen in my life. I guess it’s all what your used to. I never saw anyone living in a rusted out, moldy trailer growing up. I feel badly to see so many people with so little. I agree with the others about Gainesville. Seems like a much better place to live. Nearby Newberry looks nice as well and is a much safer place to live.
Wow, those HOA fees are off the hook. Is the community condo? What do you get for that money? Seems like Ocala Palms or Quail Meadow would have been a better deal, no?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-18-2017, 07:33 PM
 
Location: Ocala, FL
14 posts, read 23,693 times
Reputation: 42
Kmarc-the fees are high but we are a very new, modern neighborhood. The other places are much older. Your HOA fees include basic cable, all yard maintenance and water outside plus your activities fee. That’s use of the pool, gym, clubhouse, dog park, fit pod, some free and some fee based fit classes, bocce, horseshoes, tennis and pickle ball courts, etc. we have a walking golf course but there’s a fee to play. Its a really beautiful Club but is small and yes we don’t always feel like we’re getting that much value for the dollar however many people have left Ocala Palms and Stonecreek to come here because the people here are genuinely nice and friendly and it’s easy to make friends. Not so at some of the other places. We did a stay & play at Stonecreek before we bought at Trilogy and we were snubbed the 3 times we ate in the restaurant. Not a place for us. Even stranger, many people never use any of the facilities but pay high fees anyway. Almost forgot, we have 1 story homes from approximately 1400 sq ft up to approximately 2000 plus sq ft. Don’t remember exactly. They are starting to build villas on the property as well.

Last edited by Pdm56; 12-18-2017 at 08:25 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-18-2017, 09:21 PM
 
5,687 posts, read 7,119,561 times
Reputation: 4326
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pdm56 View Post
Kmarc-the fees are high but we are a very new, modern neighborhood. The other places are much older. Your HOA fees include basic cable, all yard maintenance and water outside plus your activities fee. That’s use of the pool, gym, clubhouse, dog park, fit pod, some free and some fee based fit classes, bocce, horseshoes, tennis and pickle ball courts, etc. we have a walking golf course but there’s a fee to play. Its a really beautiful Club but is small and yes we don’t always feel like we’re getting that much value for the dollar however many people have left Ocala Palms and Stonecreek to come here because the people here are genuinely nice and friendly and it’s easy to make friends. Not so at some of the other places. We did a stay & play at Stonecreek before we bought at Trilogy and we were snubbed the 3 times we ate in the restaurant. Not a place for us. Even stranger, many people never use any of the facilities but pay high fees anyway. Almost forgot, we have 1 story homes from approximately 1400 sq ft up to approximately 2000 plus sq ft. Don’t remember exactly. They are starting to build villas on the property as well.
Thanks for the info, this is all good to know. I met a lady from Stone Creek today and she was very nice, but there was also a little bit of a hint that she might have thought we were a little beneath her, which was odd because where we came from people were never like that, maybe because the community had all income levels.

I'm learning a lot about the different 55+ communities here, there's quite a bit to choose from. I'm not committed to living in a 55+, but it does seem that they do provide a bit of safety. Where we live, no one is getting in that gate unless they live here or their name has been left with the gatekeeper.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-03-2018, 09:36 PM
 
Location: Northern California
4,398 posts, read 2,881,899 times
Reputation: 8084
Quote:
Originally Posted by freidenbach View Post

We have liberal politics but do not insist on a blue city. In fact, we're getting pretty darn weary of the fundamentalist left. We actually live in a 4000-person town right outside Corvallis where people used to work in the timber industry, and we feel quite at home there.
Hello Friedenbach.... I'd like to get your thoughts on some aspects of life in Benton County... but you're not reachable by direct message; is there another way to contact you? Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Ocala
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top