Would you weigh in on BLOUNTSTOWN, FL? (Tallahassee, Panama City: RV park, sales)

[truckmen]

Hello all,

My wife and I are starting our search for a residence in Florida. I have dropped a pin on the area around Blountstown, FL just as a kind of starting point. What do you all think of that area as a possible retirement location?

Ralph

[TD*]

I mean, its a typical small town.. Not much of anything going on there. I would recommend, you look closer to a real city.

[JAS]

It is in the middle of nowhere. About an hour or more drive to Tallahassee. If you want an extremely small town with limited medical, shopping ... anything ... then it would be OK; otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.

Lots of fishing, hunting, and trees in that area. Nothing else.

[bayou91]

I'm going to agree with what everyone else said. Blountstown is pretty random. If you want to live in a far out, small town I'd look into Crawfordville because it's at least closer to the beach and Tallahassee.

If you don't care about being close to the beach, then maybe look into Thomasville, Georgia. It's just under an hour north of Tallahassee and has a really nice downtown shopping/restaurant area.

Is there a specific reason why you like Blountstown? If you tell us more about what you're looking for in a place to retire, we may be able to give better suggestions/opinions.

Edit: I voted "bad" in this poll only because I think Blountstown is just so random. Not only random for the entire state of FL, but also random for the entire area of the panhandle.

[bayou91]

Hmmm, after thinking about it for a few days, if you like small towns that are also near a beach then check out Niceville, Apalachicola/St. George Island, and Panacea/Alligator Point.

If you don't care about a beach then there are tons of other places! I recommended Thomasville, GA in my previous post because it's a small town with a lot of charm/character.

[truckmen]

Hello TD*, JAS and bayou91!

Thank you for the replies.

Yes, Blountstown is a bit random. We have friends to the west and we also like St. Augustine to the east but of course, St. Augustine is quite a distance.

My wife and I are looking to stay far away from the crime of the bigger communities even if it means requiring to drive a distance to travel for things.

We are not averse to a place closer to the beach and those communities you'd mentioned, bayou could very well do. In fact, my wife would be thrilled to be closer to the beach (and I've heard several times how nice the beaches are here).

In the meantime, we've been speaking with an RV park in Fountain, FL and are planning a trip in January to finalize a place.
I think what we will be doing is purchasing a 5th wheel before Febrary to place in a quiet RV park for a season or two. As we spend more time getting familiar with the area, we can begin our search for a more-permanent winter home including purchasing an acre or 2 in or just outside of a smaller community. For now, Fountain may be a good location in that it is <30 minutes from Panama City. So for now, Blountstown is a vague destination. I Also like the idea of being close to the Apalachicola National Forest. We do not hunt nor do we ever fish (just too busy with my antique car restoration hobby) but we like nature.

Georgia is not on the radar for us; one large reason for coming to Florida is the state income tax liability (read that - lack thereof), and for at least the next 10 years, I'd like to consider this my primary residence. When not there (and not traveling the country with the 5th wheel) we make our summer home in Maine. I've done the math and even when factoring in the extra 2 percentage points in sales taxes we'd be paying while living in Florida over our current Maine tax rate of 5.5%, we'd save substantially.

And then, of course there is a warmer weather. :-)

Ralph

[JAS]

You mentioned antique cars -- there is an Antique Car Museum at the intersection of I-10 and Hwy 90 (Mahan Drive) to the east of Tallahassee if you're in the area.

[Gary Cook]

Blountstown is really out in the boonies. There is a very small hospital, and very limited shopping. One hour to Tallahassee or Panama City. I'd look at Wakulla County, Panacea has a nice campground Holiday Park that is on the riverfront and is 30 minutes to Tallahassee. Good seafood and other resturants are close.

[truckmen]

A quick update to all who've submitted.

First, thanks to all for the input.

My wife and I have indeed gotten down to this part of Florida last month (February) and for now have signed a lease on a space at an RV park in (of all places, Fountain) for our temporary winter home. We now have a presence to scout the area in more detail.

I suppose I will miss some of the more active life in the larger communities but for now, my main concern is to obtain security, privacy as well as peace and quiet. So far it looks like we attained that for now. Yes, it's true, we are driving at least an hour in 2 directions for more variety in shopping. We just plan our trips to cover most bases. Other than that, we drive somewhere else anyway to enjoy what those places have to offer. So, we have white sandy beaches an hour or so away and far enough from there to not deal with the crime; and we have Tallahassee where I need to get to an airport every 3 or 4 weeks for my job.

The only other issue is with my antique car restoration hobby. That issue has not been addressed as of yet.

Ralph