24yr old moving to North Port. Advice?

[DaGoose]

Originally Posted by ArmyChief

............However, most of us like the elbow room and less traffic from snow-birds.

Which is precisely why the wife and I chose North Port. During the winter months traffic is at a crawl just about everywhere else. North Port has a good mix of both retirees AND young families, much less traffic and great parks. Few North Porters work in North Port but it's not to far to drive to the surrounding towns and cities to work. Yes, it's a little slower and laid back but if you want shopping, great restaurants, night life, beaches and things to do you're only minutes away from it all. Lower housing costs, less traffic, quieter neighborhoods and more room to breathe seems like a fair trade off. Not to mention not living in a flood plain.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Oh - I see the part where he asks about jobs - but he still must be fairly well off being 24 yrs old and be shopping for houses without a job - I guess he will pay in cash.

Yes, North Port is boring for 20 somethings but great for families and retirees as the goose says - its nice and country and only 25 minutes to great beaches.

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by StepHome941

You seem to continue to want to bash on North Port, Sunshine, while ignoring the fact that budget problems are county wide for all of Sarasota County, which by population is dominated by the unincorporated areas with Sarasota zip codes.

Sarasota County will exhaust budget reserves by 2016

North Port is at least moving in a positive direction as the new Commissioners who will only have been on the job 1 year come November, are doing as they promised during the campaign which is reducing the budget and being fiscally responsible. As mentioned, we are the only City in the region that is rolling back taxes but unfortunately this will be offset by the irresponsible governance of our Sarasota County Commission. It should also be noted that the City of Sarasota has serious problems with unfunded pensions too and will be raising taxes on her residents not rolling them back, so City residents will take a double hit, between the city and the county problems. I am not saying that North Port does not have issues, every city and county in America do, but you are painting a bleak picture of North Port and ignoring that Sarasota and Sarasota County have even bigger issues than we do.

The original poster was asking about the city of North Port, not the city of Sarasota. If he had asked about the city of Sarasota, I would have mentioned negatives such as the latest budget (city taxes are going up), the homeless situation in the downtown area and the bleeping red light cameras they have placed on many of the intersections -- along with the good things about the city of Sarasota such as St. Armands Circle, the bay front parks, the beaches, downtown Sarasota, culteral offerings, etc. A balanced picture.

If he had been asking about Siesta Key I would have waxed poetic about the public beaches but also brought up the new elephant in the room - flood insurance and how the changes to the flood insurance program by Congress last year will financially impact buyers in flood zones going into the future. (That topic is worthy of a whole separate thread.)



Often on this forum when the topic of North Port comes up, the people asking for information will get the "chamber of commerce" version of the picture from certain posters. The people seeking information look at the populations of the cities of Sarasota and North Port and assume that because the populations of Sarasota and North Port are similar that the two cities must be as well. That is an incorrect assumption. As I have mentioned before, I have some friends that moved to North Port and love living there. I know 2 other couples that moved there, hated it and moved on. I think the couples that moved on did so because they didn't do enough research on North Port before they bought there, and it did not live up to their personal expectations of what North Port would be. I also think the couple that bought in North Port and are happy there are so because they did do their due diligence up front and understood the ins and outs of community in which they were buying.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

We know nothing about the O.P. - he can buy a home on his own and does not seemed worried about finding a job - he might be a trust fund baby - who knows?

Yes, because independently wealthy twenty somethings just flock to the nightlife, fun, and singles life that is North Port.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules

The original poster was asking about the city of North Port, not the city of Sarasota. If he had asked about the city of Sarasota, I would have mentioned negatives such as the latest budget (city taxes are going up), the homeless situation in the downtown area and the bleeping red light cameras they have placed on many of the intersections -- along with the good things about the city of Sarasota such as St. Armands Circle, the bay front parks, the beaches, downtown Sarasota, culteral offerings, etc. A balanced picture.

If he had been asking about Siesta Key I would have waxed poetic about the public beaches but also brought up the new elephant in the room - flood insurance and how the changes to the flood insurance program by Congress last year will financially impact buyers in flood zones going into the future. (That topic is worthy of a whole separate thread.)



Often on this forum when the topic of North Port comes up, the people asking for information will get the "chamber of commerce" version of the picture from certain posters. The people seeking information look at the populations of the cities of Sarasota and North Port and assume that because the populations of Sarasota and North Port are similar that the two cities must be as well. That is an incorrect assumption. As I have mentioned before, I have some friends that moved to North Port and love living there. I know 2 other couples that moved there, hated it and moved on. I think the couples that moved on did so because they didn't do enough research on North Port before they bought there, and it did not live up to their personal expectations of what North Port would be. I also think the couple that bought in North Port and are happy there are so because they did do their due diligence up front and understood the ins and outs of community in which they were buying.

I consider your descriptions to be balanced and informative. Keep them coming.

And I agree with you there should be a thread on flood rates.

[ArmyChief]

Originally Posted by blueherons

Yes, because independently wealthy twenty somethings just flock to the nightlife, fun, and singles life that is North Port.

Really?..where..lol

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Don't you know that North Port is the new jet setter hot spot? Its all been kept pretty secret so I cant reveal anymore....

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

Don't you know that North Port is the new jet setter hot spot? Its all been kept pretty secret so I cant reveal anymore....

haha (LOL from the old days)