Sebastian and Sebastian Inlet

[EasyCheeze]

the inlet is awesome for fishing but i never stay overnight just day trips

[TerriW58]

Originally Posted by CoventryDude

My in laws live just north of Sebatian (Barefoot Bay) and we visit every March during our kids Spring Break- we've been going for 10 years, now.

My family LOVES Sebastian. Everything familyof8 said I say +1 to. It's relatively quiet, full of natural beauty, and is generally a pleasant place to visit.
If my wife and I could find our lines of work in the area we'd probably relocate from New England to Sebastian.

Eating at Captain Hirams is our annual tradition, it is the equal of the better seafood places up here (I'm going to try Squid Lips this year, too).

It's close to Vero and Melbourne, and some beautiful beaches along Rte 1A are nearby. My boys like to use their metal detector along the coast, looking for Spanish gold!



(I joined just to post that-Sebastian is great)

Now if anyone can point me to web design and financial services jobs (non-sales) in the area, I'll move down there!

Well, now that my husband just retired from the fire department, we'll probably begin looking up around Sebastian for a new home. Like familyof8 said, the hectic pace in South Florida is not working for us anymore; you can't have a high quality of life when you spend most of the day battling ungodly traffic just getting from one place to the other. There are a few other locations in Florida (as a native who still loves her home, moving out of state isn't an option) that we're considering----Naples and perhaps Deland----but everything I've read on here about Sebastian sounds so close to what we're looking for. Familyof8's description of the things there are to do strongly resonated with me. My husband and I love to ride our bikes, spending the day in parks or at the beach and I'm into photographing birds, animals and Florida wildlife. If there are also areas in or near Sebastian where I might be able to get back into horseback riding, that would be another major selling point for me.
CoventryDude, I also know how good those seafood restaurants are in New England; my relatives originally hailed from Rhode Island and we'd eat in those places whenever we would visit. So, if you say that Captain Hiram's rivals the New England restaurants, that's the ultimate compliment.

[CoventryDude]

Originally Posted by TerriW58

Well, now that my husband just retired from the fire department, we'll probably begin looking up around Sebastian for a new home. Like familyof8 said, the hectic pace in South Florida is not working for us anymore; you can't have a high quality of life when you spend most of the day battling ungodly traffic just getting from one place to the other. There are a few other locations in Florida (as a native who still loves her home, moving out of state isn't an option) that we're considering----Naples and perhaps Deland----but everything I've read on here about Sebastian sounds so close to what we're looking for. Familyof8's description of the things there are to do strongly resonated with me. My husband and I love to ride our bikes, spending the day in parks or at the beach and I'm into photographing birds, animals and Florida wildlife. If there are also areas in or near Sebastian where I might be able to get back into horseback riding, that would be another major selling point for me.
CoventryDude, I also know how good those seafood restaurants are in New England; my relatives originally hailed from Rhode Island and we'd eat in those places whenever we would visit. So, if you say that Captain Hiram's rivals the New England restaurants, that's the ultimate compliment.

Terri, thanks! I'm in RI myself, not sure if it shows on screen....ETA now it does!

I've been going through the picture threads wondering why we don't move LOL

My neighbors winter in Vero Beach, but it's a much differnet town than Sebastian, based on my limited exposure to Vero.

[Motherof6]

Originally Posted by familyof8

Definitely do not miss the crazy hectic S Florida pace! Lived there for twenty years and don't miss it. Life can be pretty hectic with six children of all ages but can you imagine how much more crazy it would be if we worked for the city!??! Yuck!

Hi Familyof8,
I'm also a family of 8 looking to relocate to your area, could you tell me about the schools, environment, neighborhoods, anything that comes to mind....I'm having a very difficult time deciding exactly where to go with my family
thankyou
Daniela

[floridasandy]

go online and read our local paper, http://www.tcpalm.com.
you can find a lot about an area by reading the paper in terms of safety, politics, development, etc. sebastian is a great town in my opinion, but again it is laid back and not for everybody.

[familyof8]

Originally Posted by Motherof6

Hi Familyof8,
I'm also a family of 8 looking to relocate to your area, could you tell me about the schools, environment, neighborhoods, anything that comes to mind....I'm having a very difficult time deciding exactly where to go with my family
thankyou
Daniela

Hi Daniela-
Check out the Sebastian Chamber for free relocation info... they have always sent them to people looking in to the area. Sebastian You may also want to check out the city government site at cityofsebastian.org
The area is quiet but there is much to do if you love the outdoors and exploring. The schools are considered very good and have quite a few accelerated programs for students in IB and AP classes and several charter and magnet type schools where they specialize. You may want to take someone else's insight here though because we homeschool our younger 3 still with the eldest 3 already graduated college. This area is an amazing learning environment. Oh, they also now have a satellite IndianRiverStateCollege program here located on Main Street.
There are plenty of activities for the kids too- all sports including a fast growing competitive swim team for kids age 4-18+ (treasurecoastswimming.com) at the local pool facility and golf for all at the municipal golf course. Too much to tell.
Housing prices are wonderful right now and there are bargains everywhere, maybe not as many as earlier in the year but still some great ones- rents are very reasonable and sometimes ridiculously low. There are 3/2's and 4/2's renting for 1000- 1300 that are newer homes and cheaper if you thinking a couple miles closer to 95. Check tcpalm.com
Sebastian would be considered a very laid back town and people do not seem to like too much change here when it comes to growth. Protecting the river (Indian River Lagoon) is high on most people's thoughts as our way of life here seems to revolve around it's beauty. Vero is a close neighbor as well as Palm Bay and Melbourne but Vero would be considered the closest- Vero is busier then us (they have a regular mall and an outlet mall if that's any indication) and you will see many Vero and Sebastian residents sharing each others environment. For theatre, art, shopping, and such - most of us head to Vero but Sebastian could be changing with the expansion of it's major throughfare (Sebastian Blvd- SR512) and major chains eyeing a piece of lower cost real estate for future growth. Close enough to 95 for most of us to be comfortable with that. NIMBY exists here too. If you look at an overview map of the area, you can see the concentration of homes closer to the river on each side of 512 and furthest from I-95- that would be Sebastian Highlands. If you look closer to I-95, that area is actually where Vero Beach (Vero Lake Estates -much closer to Sebastian then to downtown Vero), Fellsmere, and Sebastian meet. I know... it seems Vero has annexed residential all over the place- Sebastian is mostly preserves, river, wetlands, marshes, parks, and such and Fellsmere is a mixture with a high industrial, farmland, acreage area. Sebastian was the largest in population and size a couple of years ago and I do not think that has changed much even though it seems different because so much of Sebastian is undeveloped or preserve area. We definitely have horse country too- in Sebastian and just south of the main highlands area of Sebastian is parcels with orange groves, horseland, farms (organic ones too), and the back door from Sebastian to Vero. This area is actually considered Vero (you'll see Winter Beach and Wabasso closer to US1 bordering this area)
I'm tempted to pull out the map and do a YouTube presentation of it. HA! There are definitely many people who love this area.
The one thing to consider before moving here is where you are working. There are many people here who commute with the 95 and US1 corridors their path to work. Sebastian is their haven. With the science industry developing, it seems that may be something the future holds for jobs in this area and of course, the river. We have your Walmart, Home Depot, and such but that is as big town as we get... like I said, I think the 512 expansion may change that a bit in the future. I hope not too much.