Narrowing down our future community

[jcswoop]

I will! I've done a lot of research on builders and have never heard a bad thing about "Mr sunshine". He's honest and the quality is outstanding. I post occasionally and he has always replied with no opinions. There are other quality builders out there as well. Be sure that you are comparing similar home packages as they vary greatly.

[jetdoc3037]

Originally Posted by SJNE17

we went thru this same search & criteria as the op, and are same age range (40's). i personally love punta gorda, its small (REALLY small!) town charms, and its boating community. came so close to pulling trigger there on a few occasions, but it wasn't meant to be. there's no beach within a 45 min.+ drive, which despite all the hand-wringing, was a deal killer for us (well, it was for my wife, i could take or leave the beach).

after a few years of seeing every town that was of interest on east & west coasts, we ultimately settled on st. pete beach, and couldn't be happier. downtown st. pete is awesome. vibrant, multitude of unique dining & culinary options, as well as culture & sporting events. much much more broad & diverse age population, from young to old, which makes for a more interesting dynamic. st. pete proper is a bigger city with all that entails, both good & bad. where we are, out on st. pete beach, we walk to the beach (a couple of blocks) and have boating right out our front door. it's got the small town community feel, very much like a vacation town but with all the perks of 5-10 minute drive to get literally anything you need once across any of the 3 access bridges nearby.

must say the one thing we love the most is the color of the water where we are (both the canals and the gulf) vs. charlotte harbor and the bsi/pgi canals. it's blue, as in really blue. some days it's greenish blue, some days its bright sky blue, some days it's a little murky after a storm but still blue-ish and it clears up within a day or two. that view aspect alone is really something special, makes it all worthwhile.

haven't had a chance to experience the inshore (or offshore) fishing yet, but there's a lot of it. just as the beach was my wife's requirement, good fishing and boating access was mine. we're 10 min from the gulf, either with bridge or no bridge access (two different inlet options). there is a ton of inshore fishing options and some amazing out of the way places (shallow shallow draft boats a must).

good luck in your search.

100% agree with you...we love it up that way. We really love how the water is blue all over St Pete up to and including the Gulf, where down here in Punta Gorda the harbor water reminds me very much of the Chesapeake Bay.

[Karen and Jim]

Originally Posted by Pau Hana Daz

Curious as to why you'd say this. Are you familiar with SGC? SGC is quiet and friendly and has a bit of a high end rural feel yet it's still close to stores and amenities. It's true that there are sections that are a bit of a boat ride from the lock and harbor due to no wake zones, but not all of it is. I'm in the northern sailboat access section and am only about 12-13 minutes from the lock (including no wakes). A big advantage of SGC is that the water here is brackish (mainly fresh, especially in summer), and an added bonus is that the lock eliminates tidal fluctuations so there're no issues with dock tie ups and such.

Yes it's a run by water to the gulf, but the quick and easy access to the harbor and the West Wall make it well worth the trade off (especially for me since I'm a fly only fisherman and don't care to troll or bottom fish). If you do want to go to the gulf and the ride to/through BGP is longer than you want, it's only a quick (15 minutes) trailer run to ramps in Placida/Cape Haze for faster gulf access.

On second thought, forget everything I said - It's getting too crowded here...

YES!!!! It IS wayyyy toooo crowded here now, and getting MORE crowded!!! Please go elsewhere!