moving to southwest Florida

[debvic]

Down near Naples east of 75 is Golden Gate estates. I believe all lots/homes are one or more acreas and it may be something for you to check out if you like the rural feel. I did not look into it more because we didn't want to move that far down.

[SoFLGal]

A total of 213 cities were overpriced, and Naples, Fla., was deemed the most insane, with 84% of homes valued over a fair market price, according to statistics compiled by National City Corp. and IHS Global Insight.

America's Most Overvalued Cities

NEFLSEGA-It seems like you're narrowing your search down to a pretty good area looking at your needs.

[mr&mrssunshine]

areas of rotonda can be very rural, we have one neighbor and they are 3 blocks down. wildlife incloudes bobcats, racoons, a panther (allegedly) wild pigs, a couple of tortoises that fight like hell...you get the drift.

yet only 10 mins to Boca grande beach, 15 to Port Charlotte and North port shops/restaurants etc.

only thing i cant help on is schools

[gettinoutofjersey]

we have not had the experience of the charlotte county schools, only what we have been told by others that live here that have said the sarasota county schools are much better. we live on the border so we could have sent our kids to either one. i have 2 in venice middle school and one of them is going to venice high next year. we went to the freshman orientation and they said that they are in the newsweek top 100 schools in the nation. like i said we have no first hand knowledge of the charlotte county schools and had to make a decision based on what others said. so far they are happy in the schools after the first month. the middle school is much cleaner and the staff more cordial and upbeat than what we left in NJ.

[GPH]

Well, gettinoutofjersey, we are the "occasional vactioner from up north" and when we do visit, we always says hello on our morning walk or bike ride.

[kremlack]

Gotta get a comment in here. It's always pointed out that the median age in the Venice area is 68. Sort of sounds like the whole town is made up of "old codgers"... and yes, we do have our share of those but so does every other FL town. As a Venice resident, I can assure you we DO have younger people here too! And, we have excellent schools and beautiful beaches! Venice gives you lots of value for your housing dollar and it's conveniently located between Sarasota and Port Charlotte. Just my opinion but I don't think you can go wrong with Venice, Nokomis, Osprey, Englewood or North Port.

[TechichiChihuahuas]

This is so helpful I do online research for areas but local input is the best! I'm also making the move to this coast b/c I heard hurricane-wise it's a better choice.

I want a more suburban-rural feel. I'm 28 and I am not into going out for late nights, grilling with a beer in the backyard is my idea of fun!

I have dogs, any suggestions on an area that is dog friendly? I show them so I have a large amount (chihuahua's so a smaller breed) but an area that is more townie over houses right on top of each other would be perfect! I know Pinellas County just changed their laws to be very unfriendly to hobby breeders (which kills the show folk not the backyard puppy mills)

Gettinoutofjersey-that area sounds wonderful, I want friendly people, easy going laid back people, not like New England!

[habajaba]

We started looking in Naples & Marco Island because that's where we used to vacation. Once we started looking for schools, we kept looking further north until we found what we were looking for. That was Bradenton Christian. The public schools down in Collier and Lee County seem to have real issues. I imagine a lot of it has to do with the proportion of retirees to school aged kids.

Golden Gate Estates is just plain SCARY. It's a bizarre mix. You'll see a $500,000 house that looks astounding. Right next door is a crack house (seriously). The nice houses have high walls and security cameras out at the street. I'm not sure how anyone can sell houses in there! I guess that's the only way to get a nice house in the area. Because, like SoFLGal mentioned, the area is overpriced.

If you wind up looking a little further north, I'll put in a good word for East Manatee county. I'm not sure what regulations are for breeders here, but the whole area is very dog friendly. The area is also a great mix of suburban and truly rural. We love it here!