I hear nice things about the Villages.
Consider how close you would be to a good hospital if you need it. Fifty miles can be a long way when you’re sick.
The traditional retirement places in Florida aren’t that close to the best hospitals.
Central Florida is great....if you like lots of bugs and poisonous snakes, and oppressive heat and humidity for most of the year :)
Visit Punta Gorda and Venice on the southwest coast. Both are charming, quite safe and there’s plenty to do. Stay at the Wyvern in Punta Gorda. You can walk to the restaurants and pubs.
http://www.usa.com/florida-state.htm
Brevard County (melbourne area,military retirees) or Volusia county (Port Orange,Ormond).
Lots to do, decent medical.
Worked both areas and down to Broward for ATT.
Both on my short list for a spring 2017 move
I just retired to SW Florida to Cape Coral which us near Ft. Myers. I’m from the Jersey Shore area and wanted to live near the coasy. Some beautiful v geaches, great fishing down here. Although the heat is more oppressive than I imagined it would be.
Stay away from Miami, Ft lauderdal and Boca Raton. South Florida is an animal pit although the home of the Tea party south Florida is a horrible place to live. I personally like the West coast. Id suggest spend ass much time here on vacation before moving...use you own judgement.
I live in a 55+ community part time and the rest of the time I spend in Colombia SA. Ive found if you hang out with old folks you get old...just my opinion
Naples West coast great beaches quiet
Polo Park - Davenport
At intersection of 192 and 27.
Close to Disney but not too close.
Places like Naples in season are crazy crowded.
Screw Florida. Come to North Carolina. :-)
Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island are nice. 45 min. to Disney, but right along the coast. Close to Cape Kennedy and the rocket launches and beautiful beaches.
My fav is Cocoa Beach—housing on MI is not to bad in cost.
Good luck.
I recommend Wakulla county which is directly below Leon county where Tallahassee is located. I’ve bought six pieces of rental property there and plan to move there when I can. It is rural and will remain so because of the percentage of land owned by the government as forests; 67% if memory serves. It is a short 30/40 minute drive to a first rate hospital or a small airport. There is probably a retirement community if you look. It is a short drive to excellent beaches and boating. Best of all...trees everywhere you look. Darned little concrete. Very nice folks and friendly atmosphere.
Went through the same drill about five years ago. Finally decided just to move next to a country club here in North Alabama. Haven’t regretted that but sometimes still wonder.
Couple of suggestions.
-Before you move there, take some time, not just a week or two, but a couple of months and lease a house there so you can really experience the situation. I hear leases are usually available.
-Consider this, many people move there and then move back because they miss their old homes and families.
-Don’t lock in on Central Florida. I know the 55+ communities are nice but there are other options. For example, visit the DelWebb website. You’ll find they have properties all over the South East. In fact, they will be opening a new one just south of Nashville in 2017.
Not sure if you are male or female and have a spouse.
If you are a single female and not a ‘club joiner’ be careful about isolation in these ‘villages’. Otherwise, SunCity Hilton Head is a great gated community and its more upscale subdivision; Riverbend. Close to Charleston and Savannah with water access and plenty of golf courses. But there are a few alligators.
Stay out of ponds and other bodies of freshwater.
I’ve lived in Ft. Launderdale, Sarasota and currently in Brandon outside of Tampa....
Where you want to retire really depends on what you like to do or plan to do and what activities you enjoy....
All the advice I can give you is stay away from the Broward county going south...for about 100 different reasons...
If you fish get ready to convert some of your tackle to Salt Water....
If you ski put them up for sale...
Every major city has traffic problems...
If you are a veteran and plan to use the PX services on base...Tampa area is great because of MacDill air base...
Last but not lest, Florida ihas a topical climate, hire a good pest control company... You will need one...
Greetings from Tarpon Springs...
Just notched my fifth year July 1st.
Sarasota is absolutely beautiful. Expensive and traffic can be a little heavy in winter.
Villages area nice but not a whole lot to do.
I moved to lithia. Equal distance to tampa, sarasota, orlando (1 hour). Love it here. Bought 4 acres. Lots of farming and ranching.
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.
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