Advice on locations to scout (appliances, new house, neighborhood)

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Nancy in Nokomis

They are building like crazy and ruining the area - in 2 years it will be a total mess - wait until then.

Developers payoff the local politicians for the highest density possible that their money will buy, and that starts the downward spiral.

When multi-story apartments and condo's arrive, the neighborhood decay hastens, traffic becomes unbearable, and bikers/pedestrians start getting killed. When the high-rise condo's proliferate, in come the homeless hoards. Then paid parking everywhere kills the local retail, and empty storefronts begins scaring homebuyers away. Ultimately, it winds up like Detroit...a bankrupt slum. I lived in Detroit and saw it all happen.

It's all just a matter of how fast it all occurs. Cleveland is mid-life. Downtown Sarasota is 1/3rd life since bikers and pedestrians are getting run over by cars, the high rises are proliferating, and the homeless people are becoming a problem.

I'm usually a very positive person, and not this negative, but that is because I'm so positive that this has become the American way. It's an undeniable cycle of corruption, and the majority loses, and a small minority profits. It happens fastest in the nicest and/or most desireable places. Much slower in less desireable locales.

The developers' and local pols bond must be broken. All zoning issues should be voted upon by the local residents, not the local pols. That is the cure. Voting for the pols in hopes that they will protect the neighborhood has failed miserably. Time for a new system. Perhaps a rotating citizen council too large to be corrupted, and rotated too often to become corrupted. Randomly selected for a 1 year term. Kind of like Jury duty.

Sorry to steer of topic, I'll likely get spanked by the mod, but I couldn't help myself. I apologize for speaking my mind. Its still one of the best places to live in America..for now. I think 2 years from now is overly pessimistic, I'll guess 20 years from now Downtown SRQ is in decline, and it's spreading outward from there. I'm safe down in Southern Sarasota County for ~40 more years.

The odds of my solution becoming reality...1%.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

I guess I am being dramatic but I have never seen growth like this and I am from NJ - I saw my hometown ruined and do not want that to happen here. In season the roads are hell and every day there is an accident on 75 - and when there is only two road around it 41 and Honore and they get crowded too - the roads are not keeping up with the growth. Since traffic is already bad what happens when all the thousands of new homes are occupied? I fear what will happen when the next hurricane evacuation happens.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Nancy in Nokomis

I guess I am being dramatic but I have never seen growth like this and I am from NJ - I saw my hometown ruined and do not want that to happen here. In season the roads are hell and every day there is an accident on 75 - and when there is only two road around it 41 and Honore and they get crowded too - the roads are not keeping up with the growth. Since traffic is already bad what happens when all the thousands of new homes are occupied? I fear what will happen when the next hurricane evacuation happens.

Sorry to beak the bad news to you Nancy, but it will happen here, it's just a matter of how fast. 10 years from now, Nokomis will look like more like Gulf Gate. Every large tract of land west of I-75 will be built out.

I saw it all happen to Boca Raton. In 1980 Boca had fewer than 50,000 residents, and now it has 100,000, and that doesn't include ~50,000 Snowbirds. In season, Boca now has 3X the population it had in 1980. You can hardly drive up and down US 1 in season. The East-West roads are a mess too, like Glades Rd. When I go back there, I don't even recognize most of it. The same is already happening here.

The more desireable the location, that faster it gets ruined. Sarasota is every bit as desireable today as Boca was 40 years ago.

Fortunately, the Hurricane season typically ends before all the Snowbirds arrive. September is the most active month in Florida for Huricanes, and few Snowbirds return before October 1st. The official end of Hurricane season is Oct 31st, so if we got a late storm, your evacuation fears could come true.

If you buy a newer home with the latest Hurricane codes, 5+ miles inland, and in the best flood zone designation, few trees near your home, & underground power lines, you can ride out Cat 1,2, & 3 if you are properly prepared, and avoid the mass exodus. That's our plan. I realize a Cat 3 can rapidly become a Cat 5, but that's unusual, and forecasting has improved.

All the growth is why we decided to buy a bit further out than we really wanted to. 10 years from now, Southern Sarasota County will be mostly filled in with no large tracts of land left, and it will be time for us to consider moving again to get out of the Suburban sprawl.

So far as the original question of "advice on locations to scout" the OP needs to assess how much tolerance they have for crowded places, and traffic. Then, factor in above normal population growth, and try to pick the population density area sweetspot looking 10 years out for the population density lifestyle they prefer.

[techie_g]

By the time all of this so-called scary stuff happens, many of these posters will be deceased. Then you don't have to worry about traffic. Many posters here also won't be on any digital device or driving a vehicle either unless it's in the nursing home bus, a wheelchair or a gurney. All of this handwringing seems a bit odd given the realities of living. life.

[beach43ofus]

The Op's are 50 & 53 now, about my age. 40 years out, we'll all have self driving cars, so 90 years old, and still driving isn't such a stretch. We might even have self-flying cars. Life expectancy's keep increasing too, so 40 years from now, a person who is 90 might be today's 80, for some of those of us who take very good care of themselves.

I don't want to be here in this Urban jungle 40 years from now though. I know what it will be like, and look like.

[Gulf coast jon]

All your concerns about growth - "it's just an acorn". Look, there will always be people like you that want to start their retirement in a new construction zone. I think that is living in a shytehole. But you do you.

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Sorry to beak the bad news to you Nancy, but it will happen here, it's just a matter of how fast. 10 years from now, Nokomis will look like more like Gulf Gate. Every large tract of land west of I-75 will be built out.

I saw it all happen to Boca Raton. In 1980 Boca had fewer than 50,000 residents, and now it has 100,000, and that doesn't include ~50,000 Snowbirds. In season, Boca now has 3X the population it had in 1980. You can hardly drive up and down US 1 in season. The East-West roads are a mess too, like Glades Rd. When I go back there, I don't even recognize most of it. The same is already happening here.

The more desireable the location, that faster it gets ruined. Sarasota is every bit as desireable today as Boca was 40 years ago.

Fortunately, the Hurricane season typically ends before all the Snowbirds arrive. September is the most active month in Florida for Huricanes, and few Snowbirds return before October 1st. The official end of Hurricane season is Oct 31st, so if we got a late storm, your evacuation fears could come true.

If you buy a newer home with the latest Hurricane codes, 5+ miles inland, and in the best flood zone designation, few trees near your home, & underground power lines, you can ride out Cat 1,2, & 3 if you are properly prepared, and avoid the mass exodus. That's our plan. I realize a Cat 3 can rapidly become a Cat 5, but that's unusual, and forecasting has improved.

All the growth is why we decided to buy a bit further out than we really wanted to. 10 years from now, Southern Sarasota County will be mostly filled in with no large tracts of land left, and it will be time for us to consider moving again to get out of the Suburban sprawl.

So far as the original question of "advice on locations to scout" the OP needs to assess how much tolerance they have for crowded places, and traffic. Then, factor in above normal population growth, and try to pick the population density area sweetspot looking 10 years out for the population density lifestyle they prefer.

[joshan]

great replies and things to think about. Thank you all so much for the replies!

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Gulf coast jon

All your concerns about growth - "it's just an acorn". Look, there will always be people like you that want to start their retirement in a new construction zone. I think that is living in a shytehole. But you do you.

1) I'm not retired yet because I choose to continue working for the fun, and challenge, of it. The money piling up is just a side product.

2) New construction zones make it easier to meet new friends. You know, other humans some talk to & hang with.

3) Your "This Old House" opinion is duly noted, but new houses are selling like hotcakes in this forum area. If a Cat 4 hits, you'll wish you had one because the only hole you'll see will be the huge one that used to be your 20 year old roof.

4) "But you do you" I'm sorry, I cannot understand pre-school English,or Pig Latin!

Yet another hapless jab misses the mark. I was right...it was just a darned Acorn.

I hope things turn around for you Jon. Best wishes

p.s. when the big one comes, you can stay at my 160+ mph fortress.

[techie_g]

As I attempted to articulate, most of you won't be around to worry about 40 years out. You'll be dead or an invalid, and that's just a fact of life. I doubt statistically that you'll have excellent mobility either, enough to be concerned about traffic and development. That too is a probable reality. Additionally, very few of you will be bantering back and forth on this or other websites either, which should be an accepted observation about the future. It seems silly if you're say over 53 or so, and think you're going to have the same narrow concerns about the area when you're over 90 years of age, if you make it that far. Silly indeed. That's life, and the reality of your time left on the planet. Thinking otherwise is delusional. Some will be bed-ridden, some may not know what year it is at all, some still active, but all never the same. These are facts based on reality. And finally, no one shall take their piles of cash with them either....ever.

[joshan]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

The Op's are 50 & 53 now, about my age. 40 years out, we'll all have self driving cars, so 90 years old, and still driving isn't such a stretch.

I have a Tesla Model 3, it already self drives about 80% of the time