Florida advice (vanity)

[freepertoo]

Mods, this is such a vanity! Please move or remove as you see fit, if necessary. Could use some moving to Florida advice. Retiring in a few years from the DC, Maryland area. Have looked at Ocala because of the cool 55+ communities there, but the crime rate is scary. Also looking at Lake Mary and surrounding area. Costs are a lot less than in Maryland, and I admit to being a pathetic Disney junky. Advice, Floridians?

[Joe Boucher]

The builders involved in the Villages are about to pull out,
Turning costs of parks, roads, water and sewer treatment etc over to home owners.
Costs will rise

[FamiliarFace]

Not sure all that you’re looking for, but I’m originally from Gainesville. It’s just north of Ocala. While I haven’t lived there for zillions of years, most of my family is still there or in Central Florida. GVL has grown up plenty, and has a decent amount of outdoor activity. Hospitals there are very very good because of the university nearby. It’s easy to get to Disney when you want. Most of my family goes several times a year. There are lots of bike oaths, jogging trails in many areas. There are many lakes in neighboring towns that might bring great recreation and relaxing. One of those little communities might be just what you’re looking for. We may be retiring ourselves in the next ten years, so we will be looking to a move too. Those little outlying communities are where I’ll be starting.

[STARLIT]

If you or anyone retiring with you have any kind of breathing problems (Mine is Asthma) Orlando is one of the worst places to live. My last vacation in Orlando was a NIGHTMARE! There is no constant breeze in Orlando or around and Asthmatic Bronchitis would be a big threat as that was my nightmare from that area.

My parents lived in Melborne several years back and they really liked the area. Don't know about the area now. When our family visited the Space Center and Disney wasn't a bad drive.

[4FreeSpeach]

Actually the rooftop lounge at The Weyvern Hotel is a spectacular place to watch the sunset over Charlotte Harbor. Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda is a quaint collection of shops with restaurants at the end of the pier that have spectacular views of Charlotte Harbor. Port Charlotte, next door to Punta Gorda is very affordable. Boca Grande, about 45 minutes to the West of Punta Gorda on the Gulf is a very nice very upscale island (with a toll bridge that limits problems) with nice beaches and a lot of famous conservative folks as residents.

[DugwayDuke]

The Army brought me here to work on missile programs back in the seventies. Loved the work and the area. You could consider the Huntsville area. It’s not anything like the image you might have of Alabama. It’s a creation of the space and missile programs.

The population of Huntville is about 188K. The greater Huntsville area is around 400K. More than 61,000 people work in Huntsville’s aerospace and defense industry, at more than 300 companies and federal agencies. The Huntsville metro area has the highest per capita concentration of engineers in the country. It is ranked third for computer, science and technology workers. Huntsville has over 20,000 engineers. In Madison, AL (bedroom community), 57% have at least a four year degree.

There are three lakes within a two hour drive that are ranked in the top 100 for bass fishing. Hunting is plentiful. Property is relatively cheap. Existing construction, maybe 75/square. New construction under 100. Two universities.

[sailor76]

Read an article a while back stating that The Villages is the STD capitol of the USA.

Yep, it's true.

After being here 10 years, I'm fixin to leave FL. With almost 20 million people here and growing, it's gotten too crowed for my tastes.

While the weather good about 6 months a years, the Summers are punitive. With the influx of snowbirds the traffic in the winter can be terrible. Also keep in mind that most of SE FL is a 3d world rat hole, and much of inland FL is a ghetto.

Now, if you've got the wherewithal to live right on the water you can insulate yourself from a lot of the other problems, but it won't be cheap.

And don't forget the people here. FL is the biggest flake magnet I've ever lived in, and it seems you can't trust anybody.

Florida, no income tax and free Hurricanes!

[sten]

I’ve had a place in clearwater FL for the last 20 yrs, so hopefully i can offer some assistance. before that, i spent 10-15 yrs in the washdc area (NoVA, PG county, and annapolis areas plus dewey beach on the weekends).

florida offers many different life styles depending what you’re looking for. if you’d like the extremely quiet life, Top of the World outside ocala is very nice. It’s close enough to be convenient, but located away from the seedier sections of ocala. it’s also very close to an excellent hospital, Monroe Regional, if that’s a concern. There is also excellent bass fishing in the area, if you’re into that. personally, i prefer to be closer to the coast for the ever present breeze and frequent evening storms that cool everything off.

if you’re looking for a bit more action, the coast from sarasota up to clearwater can be more interesting. definitely more people, which means traffic can be hectic (nothing for a dc native), but there is the beach... some of the worlds finest beaches can be found here. deep sea fishing, various beach activities, sports venues, and many dining choices can be found within a 10+ minute drive. there are also two international airports right here (TPA and PIE), making it easy to jump a plane to anywhere (ocala is about 90min+ to an airport)

as for orlando, it has many attractions but it’s situated in the middle of the state making it exceedingly hot in the summer (very little wind). i prefer to drive to orlando when i want and live elsewhere (it’s 2 hrs from most places in FL)

Miami is a different pace with a south american/cuban flavor. south beach and coconut grove are interesting, but the crime has been increasing from what i’ve heard.

if you want to get crazy, there are the keys. island life and living at the southern tip of the US (and beyond) can be interesting. loads of drinking, beach activities, deep sea fishing, scuba, and a quick hop to the islands via cruise lines out of miami (60-90min to miami over the bridge).

on the east coast, the ormand beach area is very nice. fairly quiet and a quick shot to daytona. you also get the breeze and crime isn’t too bad.

of course you could always get crazy and come to the state for a month and spend some time driving around and checking it out. one thing to remember... july and august are the WORST time of the year weather wise, as they are the hottest months. but unlike up north, the rest of the year is perfect. then again, for real estate, i believe they are the best months for the buyer.

one thing to remember is that incomes vary wildly in the state. there are some areas that are very low income while others are very high end. then there’s everything in between.

hopefully this babble will be useful. drop me a note if i can be of further assistance

[Afterguard]

We have been Fleming Island residents for a long time. I’d rather keep it to myself, but EEGator is right, it’s a great place to live. Overwhelmingly conservative but the real estate market is pretty hot and there is a lot of growth going on, so that may change, as it has in other areas of Florida. (When we built here the only significant store on the Island was the Publix, the only restaurant was Whitey’s Fish Camp, and CR-220 was still a two lane.) You would be welcome here.

[sten]

Stay out of ponds and other bodies of freshwater.

i second this.

something northerners aren't aware of. 90% of the fresh water in florida has a gator. don't go swimming or dangle your feet off a dock (i've seen people do it... it was close)

[DugwayDuke]

Thought I would do this in two posts.

As I said, we seriously considered moving to central florida about five years ago so we researched the area. We scheduled a 10 day trip to spend time at several facilities. We ultimately decided against florida and decided to stay where we were. We never took that trip but I did contact several people who had moved there and spent hours on the phone.

I guess the main reason we decided not to move was this. We learned that many who do move decide they really miss their old home towns. We looked at the properties for sale and decided that this is an area where buying is easy and selling is hard.

One of the major reasons we considered moving was the golf. If you’ve seen the villages commercials, you’ve seen the “play free for life”. Well, that isn’t exactly what you might think. The villages are built around nine hole golf courses. You get to ‘play free’ there. The big boy courses, are not ‘free for life’. BTW, you don’t always get to ‘play free’ on the par threes either. Whether you get to play depends upon demand and how long since you played last. Kind of like a ‘duty roster’.

We found a house here in Huntsville that is across the street from the only 27 hole country club here in Alabama. I have my own cart and can play anytime I want.

Now, we don’t have all the facilities that the Villages offer. We can’t drive to the grocery store in our golf cart. We can walk to seven different places to eat including the club. We just decided this area was good enough and it wasn’t worth the risk of trying an area so far away.

I do recommend you visit several of the facilities in central florida. They are fantastic. We drive by them a couple of times a year (we drive to florida for the cruises) and we often wonder, ‘what if’.

Two last thoughts.
You need to visit at least twice. Once in the ‘low season’, summer, and once in the high season, winter. It is my understanding that the population varies widely and the temperatures do too.
When we drive to florida, we see a constant stream of travel trailer, RVS, goosenecks, etc. In the spring, they are travelling north. In the fall, they are travelling south. There are a large number of folks who move back and forth. That should tell you something.

Wish you luck. If you have specific questions, let me know.

[Captainpaintball]

The builders involved in the Villages are about to pull out, Turning costs of parks, roads, water and sewer treatment etc over to home owners. Costs will rise

If you go to comment #53, it appears the owners seem to be the ONLY ones pulling out around there!

[impactplayer]

Mount Dora is a wonderful, small-town city close enough to Disney (we have a neighbor who commutes their daily), with a great church community. It is located between Orlando and the Villages, so you can share the advantages of each. We also moved from the DC area (Baltimore) - get in touch if you decide to visit.

[nicolezmomma]

22 years ago my husband and I left NOVA for Tampa and settled on St. Petersburg - a small town in a big metropolitan area with lots to do. Running or walking along the bay is beautiful.

From our experience, definitely rent for a year before you buy. We would have made a lot of mistakes if we didn't have a home base to explore from and find an area that fit our lifestyle.

We also have a farm in the Gainesville area to get our fill of the country when we've had enough of city life. That area is very nice as well.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure of finding your new home. Florida is a beautiful state.

[Zirondelle]

Destin and Navarre! Very safe and very conservative areas!

[Joe Boucher]

Both currently are experiencing toxic algae blooms in their waterways.

[BullDog108]

You could get lost in the Ocala forest, stumble upon a meth lab and get your face eaten off...

Lol. True dat...

[freepertoo]

My grandmother lived in Tarpon Springs, but last time I was there, I was six years old.

[Islander7]

I currently live in Sebring and was going to suggest you check out this area. We are 1 1/2 hours from: Disney World, Tampa - St Pete, an hour from Port Charlotte - Punta Gorda, Sarasota and 3 hours from the keys. We're an hour from Lake Okeechobee with world class bass fishing.

Sebring is a great little town with little crime, lots of churches and solid conservative citizens. Lots and lots of golf courses in the area. We have an active little theater with quite good acting, South Florida State College is just up the road in Avon Park. The preforming arts center there has regular concerts. Wildstein Center

I'm a native of Mississippi, so the heat is not much of a problem to me, is actually not as bad a MS summer, just lasts longer. Would be the same as the DC area.

This is the official website: Sebring

The banner photo of the city pier at sunset is one of mine.

Sebring, Florida Looking southwest from a commercial airliner. Lake Jackson, Lake Sebring, Dinner Lake

[Mustard]

I left Anne Arundle county 9 years ago and never looked back. I bought a house in Sebastian located in rural Indian River County on FL’s Atlantic coast, one hour south of Melbourne and an hour north of Ft. Pierce. The county has one other town, Vero Beach. My requirements were easy ocean access via an inlet (avid offshore fisherman) laid back, decent surf (Sebastian Inlet) low traffic/crowds and access to amenities. I’m 90 minutes from W. Palm and 90 minutes from Orlando.

Do yourself a favor and when exploring places to live, do it during the season (Jan-April) so you can get an idea of how crowded it can get. We did 3 trips to NE FL, W FL and SE FL before we found this gem of an area.

Good luck to you!!

[Rockingham]

I am a lifelong Floridian and am familiar with most of the state, but especially from Gainesville south to Orlando and Kissimmee. Here a few comments that may be helpful.

Given the choice of Ocala or Gainesville immediately to the north, I would take Gainesville, with special consideration for Archer and its new and affluent nearby developments SW of Gainesville. The advantages of that area include: proximity to the University of Florida, with its entertainment and cultural attractions; and proximity to Shands Hospital, which is one of the best medical facilities in the state.

If you want to be closer to Orlando, consider Mount Dora and Tavares in Lake County, which are about an hour NW of Orlando. They are picturesque old small towns near large lakes and with a burst of new development around them that provides big box shopping. Tavares even has a bustling recreational seaplane port on Lake Dora.

As for crime, you might review the FDLE crime stats. To a remarkable degree, there are differences in crime rates between Florida's counties and even between nearby cities. This reflects the demographic details of the populace and different levels and quality of policing.

Winter Park, which is just north of Orlando, is affluent, almost entirely white and relatively low crime due to a strong and active municipal police department. My 80+ mother lives in WP in a retirement apartment and is constantly on the go to movies, plays, art shows, concerts and the like in complete safety. Heathrow and Lake Mary are not separate cities but are upscale suburban developments north of Orlando and are generally safe.

Other parts of the Orlando area vary in their crime risk depending on the usual factors of location security, demographics, and time of day. As a general rule though, the further south one goes in the Orlando area, the greater the risk of crime.

Yet even many areas near Disney are safe, such as the community of Celebration that Disney developed. It is of course expensive but is pleasant, walkable, and with an award-winning design. Celebration is worth a visit at least, especially if you include a meal at the Columbia restaurant.

Notably, the development of Baldwin Park between Orlando and Winter Park offers a close in design and walkable commercial amenities similar to Celebration. So far as I know, it is safe and would no doubt be less expensive than Celebration.