Sarasota or Jupiter?

[Cardiff by the Sea]

You are posting in the Sarasota forum so it is unlikely than many here know anything about a development on the other coast.

[mx313]

Originally Posted by tzais01

In 2013 we were wondering where to retire and were around 50, so older than you, but many of our wish list items mirrored yours so I'll provide some input. We're from Lake Mary, a suburb of Orlando. We always liked traveling to South Florida, particularly for shopping and hopping on cruises out of the many ports. However when looking for a place to live, we eyed the Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter areas.

We found that homes were much more expensive than in Sarasota/LWR and the homes we looked at were cookie cutter and much less square feet than we wanted to downsize to. In our price range the homes were roughly 1700 square feet. We liked the Abacoa development. Jupiter used to be a small town but like most places has changed over the years. On the East cost, it seems like Miami is just growing north and is not stopping. Similar to Orlando, we did not feel a lot of friendliness in the neighborhoods. I know that is a very general statement, but after living in Orlando, Longwood and Lake Mary for my whole life, I can tell you that due to rapid growth and the transient nature of the area, neighbors pretty much kept to themselves.

We had not spent much time on the West coast at all but liked the appeal of being close to Tampa because of the professional sports teams it has, shopping, and access to a major airport and a cruise port. For that reason, we centered in on Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch. We ended up in Esplanade Golf and Country Club in LWR and it was the best decision. Because it's new and many people are coming from somewhere else, it's a very tight knit and friendly community. We are close enough to beaches, and can very easily go to hockey, football and baseball games in Tampa/St. Pete.

I-75 and area traffic is nothing like you have on I-95.

I feel there is much more a small town laid back vibe here. You'll find tons of outdoor activities here as well as a plethora of wealthy clients for your Financial Services business.

I know this is an old post but it came across my radar...how do you like the Esplanade after some time?