Thinking about moving to Punta Gorda (Tampa, Cape Coral: big house, to buy, construction)

[Big House]

Cool. Congrats! Keep posting!

[nodoubt63]

what's the average rental prices there? it's just me and i'm a student so i don't have lots of money, i don't need any thing big or fancy. also what colleges are nearby. do they have public transportation there? any info is greatly apprecaited.

[Messing About]

For houses, questionable neighborhoods seem to be in the 600's per month.
Better areas can be had for 7-800.
Nice little place in my neighborhood for 900 with a pool.
Waterfront homes seem to rent for about 1200.

[nodoubt63]

Originally Posted by Messing About

For houses, questionable neighborhoods seem to be in the 600's per month.
Better areas can be had for 7-800.
Nice little place in my neighborhood for 900 with a pool.
Waterfront homes seem to rent for about 1200.

thank you

[macsof10]

yes, I too am moving soon to Punta Gorta. I have visited that area and it is really nice. That marie 3 does not know what she is talking about.

[TamRE]

Originally Posted by nodoubt63

what's the average rental prices there? it's just me and i'm a student so i don't have lots of money, i don't need any thing big or fancy. also what colleges are nearby. do they have public transportation there? any info is greatly apprecaited.

Here is a list of rental sites you can search for properties. The MLS will give you a good idea of price ranges.

Rental Ads

MLS Search - http://myfloridahomesmls.com/
Ebay Classifieds – http://www.ebayclassifieds.com/
Florida Rental Ads – http://www.floridarentalads.com/
Real Rentals – http://www.realrentals.com/
Rentals.com – www.rentals.com
Rent Range – www.rentrange.com
Sarasota Herald Tribune - http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Sun Herald – www.sunnewspapers.net

There is no public transportation. You would have to call Dial a Ride. The local college/schools are Edison State College in Punta Gorda, Charlotte Technical Center in Port Charlotte, Southwest Florida College in Port Charlotte, State College of Florida in Venice. Otherwise the closest colleges would be in Ft. Myers or Sarasota.

[Ret67]

I see no one has posted here for some time. We moved to Punta Gorda after having lived on the water in Port Charlotte 12 years ago. Boy are we sorry. Punta Gorda used to be a nice quiet retirement community, but now it is being pushed by the County and City as a tourist destination. They have developed and continue to attempt to increase commercial activity at the local airport and now Punta Gorda has commercial jets flying low over the housing areas. Not only does this make a lot of noise, the jets drop black soot on everything. During tourist "season", which runs from mid November to May all prices at local markets and restaurants are increased making it very expensive to go out, even if you are willing to fight the traffic and crowds generated by this tourist mentality. Be prepared for 1-2 hour waits if you want to go to dinner later than 5:00. The traffic at times is literally bumper-to-bumper. Let me just say that Punta Gorda, Florida is no longer retirement community oriented, it's now about how much money the local merchants can make on the tourists to the detriment of the permanent citizens.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Ret67

I see no one has posted here for some time. We moved to Punta Gorda after having lived on the water in Port Charlotte 12 years ago. Boy are we sorry. Punta Gorda used to be a nice quiet retirement community, but now it is being pushed by the County and City as a tourist destination. They have developed and continue to attempt to increase commercial activity at the local airport and now Punta Gorda has commercial jets flying low over the housing areas. Not only does this make a lot of noise, the jets drop black soot on everything. During tourist "season", which runs from mid November to May all prices at local markets and restaurants are increased making it very expensive to go out, even if you are willing to fight the traffic and crowds generated by this tourist mentality. Be prepared for 1-2 hour waits if you want to go to dinner later than 5:00. The traffic at times is literally bumper-to-bumper. Let me just say that Punta Gorda, Florida is no longer retirement community oriented, it's now about how much money the local merchants can make on the tourists to the detriment of the permanent citizens.

This thread is soooo OLD. Its from 2008 - you had to dig really deep to retrieve it.

Ha ha ha! This is the funniest post I've read in a long long time! Thanks.
Sorry for your misery!!

1.) One airline (there is only one airline, and its a small one - Allegiant Air - check it out) it flies into Punta Gorda about once a day, and thats only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jets have to come in one direction due to the orientation of the runway which is not toward Punta Gorda or from, it is more from Cape Coral and Burnt Store area almost parallel with the remote end of town (not in the town itself). So the noise is really not an issue.

2.) Jets do not dump ash and soot. They are not coal fired train engines that fly those jets. IF SO then the little Punta Gorda airport would be covered with "soot" which it is NOT.

3.) The rush hour for dinner is over by 6:30. If you go out after that most places have little or no wait - most of the year. If need be, you can make a reservation. During snow bird season, December, January and February, you might have to wait till 7:30, then you can choose your seats.

4.) more than 1/2 the year, (May - December) the restaurants serve 2 for 1 deals and 1/2 price bottles of wine, and are cheap! Half the price to go out down here compared to most cities. During the later spring, summer, and fall, restaurants are starved for customers. They do charge normal pricing from December to the end of April, but it is still cheaper than most other parts of the country. Snowbirds come after Thanksgiving (almost Christmas), and leave after Easter (mid April). They have a big Block Party in town to celebrate the departure.

5.) Traffic - you can fall asleep in the middle of Rout 41 at 9:30 and night and sleep comfortably undisturbed till about 6:00 AM the next morning. Traffic does increase on 41 and 75 during rush hours, but all the other streets and roads around town are NOT busy.

6.) There are only a couple worthy hotels here in PG, hardly sufficient to be a "tourist destination". And the only tourist traps here are Fisherman's Village, and Laishley's (both have mediocre food as discussed here about a 1000 times), and are hardly worthy of more than a day trip.

7.) Punta Gorda is a great retirement community, but it is so much more. There are millions of things to do here and take advantage of as a resident, as Many of us have covered here many times.

[krnfitz]

We are planning on Wintering there. Last year we visited over Thanksgiving. We visited overnight -- friends on Anna Maria - when we headed back to PG. -- we heaved a sigh of relief as we left the hectic congested traffic of the Bradenton/East Manatee area and entered the PG area. We will find out this Winter the travails of the area but at this point it looks pretty good!

[MikMal]

Right on, Big house! Glad you set the record straight.