Tarpon Springs vs. Jupiter area

[TriMT7]

Parts of North Palm Beach and Juno Beach have that "old Florida" feel.

Wellington, West Lake Worth is suburb central. Hobe Sound is very old Florida feeling.... but it can be 40 mins + to commute to downtown West Palm. (aint much going on there either!)


Northern Jupiter/Tequesta typically has older neighborhoods with that more "authentic" feel.

What is your budget for housing, and what kind are you looking for?

[mr. finney]

Thanks Tri, looking to rent right now, hopefully buy in a year, who knows what my budget will be then, but probably somewhere between $175K and $225K, or less if possible. Single family home.

[Kevin from Tampa]

I guess I'd answer that by saying that Jupiter is so small that it's not really possible for it to have an area/neighborhood that has a distinct "feel" to it, really.

There is literally no where in Jupiter/Tequesta where you would be unsafe walking alone at night. You could probably fall asleep with money hanging out of our pockets and a "ROB ME" sign on your neck in the middle of Indiantown Rd, and not have a problem.

The Abacoa area is nice.

You wouldn't like the town square area (any area that has a numbered street is town square). It's the lower rent area, as is Limestone Creek. But even those areas are safe.

I don't know that "old Florida" really exists anymore in that area...maybe Hobe Sound...a little...depends on what you mean by old Florida.

No place in that area is really walkable except Abacoa, and that's all new.

[mr. finney]

I don't know about Limestone Creek being safe, LOL! I drove down one of those streets by accident (they're all dead end streets, too!) and all I could think was "Uh oh, I shouldn't be here!" But then again, I made it out just fine, so maybe I was a little hasty with my "neighborhood profiling." Good tip with the numbered streets thing, thanks. And actually I didn't care for Abacoa at all; there's no yard and all the houses/condos/townhomes look the same. Nice amenities though. What do you mean when you say no place is walkable but Abacoa? You mean because of the lack of business to walk to, within walking distance? If so, that's not what I mean when I say walkable; I mean, are you safe out walking.

Thanks for the good info!

[Kevin from Tampa]

Limestone Creek...yeah, I guess you could say that if Jupiter has an "unsafe" area, that's it...but really, it's not that bad and it's out of way, small, etc. When I was a kid, anywhere around what is now just east of the interstate was called "West Jupiter" and was where black people traditionally lived. Among the less-genteel people, it had another, less-than-politically-correct name as well. Not many people who now live in Jupiter know it, but Jupiter was a pretty "southern" town (for Florida) until fairly recently. Jupiter even had a "colored" beach up until the late 60s. Parents of my friends would tell me about things like that. The formerly colored beach was the area from the inlet south to the edge of Carlin Park or so.

The numbered streets area...the "Jupiter Townsquare" as it sometimes referred to (I think the "modern" title is Pine Gardens)...is not bad, just trashy...I hate to run it down because it's actually where I grew up...but it's just kind of low rent-ish.

But in terms of safeness for walking...Jupiter is about as safe as it gets...although I guess you have to watch traffic now on some roads, like Indiantown.

I miss Jupiter in some ways...I didn't know it growing up, but it was an idyllic place to grow up in the 70s and 80s. I used to swim with dolphins in the Loxahatchee River as a kid and I didn't know that was unusual until I grew up.

[mr. finney]

Thanks for the insight Kevin. I'm going to take another look at the area this weekend and I'll let you know if I have any other questions.

[mitka]

Florida is simply a very high crime state.
It is very difficult to find a decent place to live near the ocean.
The warm weather and the water draw all of the trash right in.
The reason that Northern Palm Beach county is a better choice is that they take crime a bit more seriously and their tax rates are substantially higher. The tax the trash out.
As for areas that have a small town feel, don't fret, they won't have it long.
No matter where you pick, it will change. Simply because others of a similar mindset seeking the same, will invade the area. There goes the neighborhood.
Property is so dirt cheap all over the state that is possible to make a pick, whiff on it, and simply choose again. That will not change anytime soon. The entire state was overbuilt. Couple that with no jobs, makes it ripe for real estate picking.
If you worry too much about the little stuff, you miss a great buying opportunity.
Jump right in, it is the only way to do it.