is celebration affordable

[Prichard]

From Crystal River to Ft. Walton Beach there are hundreds of thousands of acres of "old Florida". Try Inglis or Yankee Town for example. Also, North of Leesburg. West of Jacksonville (except Ft. Walton and Panama City). North of Okechobee to Kissimmee.

[Prichard]

From Crystal River to Ft. Walton Beach there are hundreds of thousands of acres of "old Florida". Try Inglis or Yankee Town for example. Also, North of Leesburg. West of Jacksonville (except Ft. Walton and Panama City). North of Okechobee to Kissimmee.

There are only a small handfull of "Celebration" type communities. Hey, I don't like living in HOA communities either. But, I'd rather there be these kind of places that draw up-tight people with nothing better to do than spy on their neighbors like magnets so that I don't have to deal with them in my neighborhood. On, and one other thing - If I recall, those Stepford Wives were beautiful and quite pleasent. So what if they were robots?

[tallrick]

It's good to know there's still some of real Florida left that hasn't been pushed out to make room for horrible planned communities. There's something really creepy about a place all built at once to contrived standards. I have not been to Celebration personally, but have seen planned communities like Weston, where there are endless amounts of cheaply built stucco buildings to sour the landscape. For a nice town I would go to Labelle or Arcadia where a variety of structures existed. Actually my ideal city would be 1950's Miami where it was not too expensive and scenic. Coral Gables is a lot more beautiful than Celebration, but is a nightmare of rules and regulations.

[pianogal]

Perhaps planned communities with HOA rules and regulations aren't for everyone, but I thank God I'm in one. My sister's story is a nightmare. She and her husband purchased 5 acres in the country outside her hometown and built their dream home. A large Victorian filled with original mill work, doors, leaded glass windows, fireplace surrounds etc. they had rescued from old estate homes. They then spent mega $$$ building estate columns for the drives and a brick fence enclosure for their backyard with the pool and pool house that is a smaller version of the main home.

They poured their life and money into this home for 16 years - finally getting it all done to their satisfaction. Two years ago the 35 acre property adjacent to theirs went on the market. After having spent so much money to build their dream home they didn't have the money to purchase the land even after they found out it was being purchased for a Trailer Park. You can imagine what has happened to the value of their dream home - not to mention what they have to look at right beside their home on a daily basis. They want to move, but they can't get out of their home what they have invested in it.

[tallrick]

I would think with high-density trailers next door their value would have skyrocketed up! But with 5 acres wouldn't the trailer park be out of view? A 6 foot chain link fence topped with barbed wire does wonders to keep the trailer trash away. Also once moved in who would want to sell? I would be running down to the property tax assessor's office to get them to lower my assessment and start saving $$$$$. Stay put. put up a fence. plant lots of trees and cacti and poison oak and enjoy your home, that's my theory. I would rather have low property values and use the savings in tax money for a nice fence and home improvements. Also save up some money and maybe buy back the tralier park after it's destroyed in a future hurricane.

[luvthatmouse]

I am in Celebration. We moved here 2 and 1/2 years ago from up North. We closed on our 1/1 condo in June 2005 and paid $148,900 for it. You can get a 1/1 for around $195,000 today. 2/2 for $250,000. Nice pool/workout room/tennis courts too. The community is really nice. Tons of walking trails, lots of restaurants (a new deli, Starbucks and pizza place/Italian restaurant just opened.) You will pay a lot in property tax and condo fees for a bigger place. Some single family homes are listed at $329,000 now- not too bad for the area. Lots of wildlife and nice neighbors. Too many vacation homes and not enough full time residents but that is all of FL pretty much. Lots of events in the downtown-art festival this past weekend. 5 minutes to WDW property!

Looked all over Central FL and this was our favorite! Oh-the HOA does not really do anything. They may warn you but it is mainly your neighbors asking you to keep the place looking nice. Helps all our property values. Drive around you will see decorations, political signs, creative porches, etc.. Many different styles of homes.

[luvthatmouse]

Just one more thing. We still have a lot of green space here thank God. They kept many mature trees, woods, preserves, lakes. This weekend while out biking, we saw TONS of birds (wild turkey, storks, Blue Heron, Egrets, bald eagle, etc..) an otter, 5 deer, gators, a caymen, turtles, several hawks, and a huge owl in the woods near our condo. Many people own dogs here and we have dog pots all over with bags to pick up after them. We have seen a baby panther in the woods and my parents have a silver/gray fox in their woods as well as deer.

[jhlcomp]

cil - love it, love it.

Oeeee, tallrick gets me all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking of how his pearls of wisdom drips off his fingertips. Aren't we all ever so grateful not to have to live inside this black hole of venomous negativity.

There, said it and I am not taking it back. :-)

[autumnlee]

Originally Posted by autumnlee

I hear how great the schools are in celebration but do they have any affordable housing for the average person. I mean 300.000 or under

no