Clearwater area residents here?

[SlightlyGoofy]

if there are any Clearwater/Largo residents on the boards would you please help me with information about possibly moving to your area? I promise to behave, really I do.

We spent some time before our Disney trip in that area and I think I have fallen in love. We have lived in our present home for 35 years so it is a bit daunting thinking about moving to a totally different environment. I know I will have to give up all this snow and cold and deal with different varmints but I am willing to teach this old dog some new tricks. Especially love the one where I can be at Disney in such a short time frame and far more often!

Thanks a bunch, Slightly Goofy

 

[phorsenuf]

if there are any Clearwater/Largo residents on the boards would you please help me with information about possibly moving to your area? I promise to behave, really I do.

We spent some time before our Disney trip in that area and I think I have fallen in love. We have lived in our present home for 35 years so it is a bit daunting thinking about moving to a totally different environment. I know I will have to give up all this snow and cold and deal with different varmints but I am willing to teach this old dog some new tricks. Especially love the one where I can be at Disney in such a short time frame and far more often!

Thanks a bunch, Slightly Goofy

What would you like to know? I moved here in March from New Hampshire. I love it here!!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

phorsenuf, i do beliee that you and I could be best friends as your page shows you are nearly as demented as I.

We would be moving from Indiana, a fairly cheap state to live in, to Florida which I am guessing would not be quite as cheap and are considering a resident owned mobile park near the new Community Center. It seems perfectly located for my needs. My husband has a chronic condition that will leave him in very bad health at some point. We live in a huge home and I desperately need an easier lifestyle so that I can take care of him without killing myself and leave enough for our Disney obsession.

I have a great interest in libraries, Broadway plays, intelligent conversation and weight loss. My husband has no hobbies except loving to talk, eat and fresh batteries in his remote.

Any information or comments that you would care to give me would be much appreciated. What things do you like, what do you dislike, what surprised you the most? I cannot afford to make a mistake in a move but I feel in my heart that this is where I am called to be. Have already made friends in the area and have two people to visit in nursing homes. Now to find small children to read to.

Thank you so very much, Slightly Goofy

 

[phorsenuf]

phorsenuf, i do beliee that you and I could be best friends as your page shows you are nearly as demented as I.

We would be moving from Indiana, a fairly cheap state to live in, to Florida which I am guessing would not be quite as cheap and are considering a resident owned mobile park near the new Community Center. It seems perfectly located for my needs. My husband has a chronic condition that will leave him in very bad health at some point. We live in a huge home and I desperately need an easier lifestyle so that I can take care of him without killing myself and leave enough for our Disney obsession.

I have a great interest in libraries, Broadway plays, intelligent conversation and weight loss. My husband has no hobbies except loving to talk, eat and fresh batteries in his remote.

Any information or comments that you would care to give me would be much appreciated. What things do you like, what do you dislike, what surprised you the most? I cannot afford to make a mistake in a move but I feel in my heart that this is where I am called to be. Have already made friends in the area and have two people to visit in nursing homes. Now to find small children to read to.

Thank you so very much, Slightly Goofy

Hehe....yeah, I could use a friend. Not sure where the new community center is though. I live in Clearwater but up by Safety Harbor, in fact across the street from me is SH. I love my location though. Very convenient to anything I need or want to go. I'm renting here so my expenses have been cut. Car insurance I think is the same. Electricity for us is less, water a little more. All in all I find our living expenses a wash. I still have to get use to sales tax as we didn't have that in NH.
The mobile home parks around here range from eh to really nice. A lot of then are 55+ plus communities though and we're not quite there yet. But there are some heck of a deals to find out there!
Tampa is a very easy trek to get to and they have some great museums and playhouses. Ruth Eckerd Hall is right down the street from me and they have some great acts there as well.
I don't miss the cold at all. It was taking a toll on my health which is a big reason for us moving south. The summers of course get very hot and humid but there always seem to be a nice breeze here and going to the beach is just wonderful.
I love going over to Disney to fart around. It's an easy drive. I'd love a Disney buddy.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Here is a link for the Chamber of Commerce. It has a bunch of information.

http://www.clearwaterflorida.org/

Largo has a Cultural Center that has a bunch of different type of productions.

http://www.largoarts.com/

 

[LargoLori]

Largo has a new community center located right behind my neighborhood. We have lived in Largo for 10 years and love it. I will help any way I can.

Lori

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Wonderful! I can always count on my Disney buddies whenever I find myself in a quandary. Thank you all!

phorsenuf, one can never have enough friends, especially of the Disney persuasion. I am thinking that NH is probably more expensive than IN but am also thinking that it will be a near wash. Insurance is cheaper here as I pay $500 a year for my car insurance and have heard that insurance is a lot more in FL because of weather and such. I was much taken with how easily I was able to get around because I am famous for my lack of directional skills. I think you live near my sister as she lives near Ruth Eckhard Hall.

Mom2Ashli, when we were there we visited the library and Cultural Center and were much impressed. The library had books I had never read and trust me that is rare. The park we are looking at is near that area. Thank you for the links.

LargoLori, we will be neighbors as I am checking out Colonial Village. My husband would be able to walk to the new Community Center. He has issues so it is important to find a place where he can have a level of independence in hopes that I will be able to have a bit too. If you happen to know anything about that park I would surely appreciate the info. Moving from an 18 room house in a small town after living here over half of my life to a mobile home, park and not knowing a darned thing about them is a bit daunting. For myself I am 100% gung ho but I have to make wise choices for the sake of my husband as well.

Happy New Year to you all and thank you once again, Slightly Goofy

 

[Belle0101]

I'm feeling a little envious. If I promise not to bring my DH, my 2 kids and my 6 dogs can I come too?


I don't know anything about the park you've considered but when my great-grandmother moved to St. Petersburg, FL from IN it was to a mobile home park. It was geared for those 55+.

She enjoyed it there. She bought one of those adult tricycles and would ride around the park, over to the community center, visit the neighbors. It was really good for her because up here, northern IN, she stayed inside once the weather started changing, plus she didn't drive. Having that little bit of independence and better weather was great for her.

She absolutely loved having an orange and grapefruit tree in her yard too. You can't have that up here.

Where she was at there was a couple that still drove and they would check on some of the more housebound people. Really nice people. They would take people to the store too - grocery and pharmacy - if they couldn't drive.

I don't know if all that is the norm or the exception but it seemed like it was it's own little community there.

Best of luck to you and DH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Belle0101, you could bring your husband to keep mine company and I just love kids but part of the reason I am looking at that park is the fact that I have a bad phobia about dogs and none are allowed. I am NOT an animal hater just scared to death of anything with fur. Not alligators or snakes or bugs though, thankfully.

My husband is a lot older than I am and because of his problems I do all the work and am weary. I plan to get one of those three wheeled bikes. Doubt I could get him to ride it as it would take effort and he is allergic to any sort of thing that looks anything like work but I would enjoy it.

I am thinking that he could walk to the Park Community Bldg or the new Community Center and that coupled with smaller home would mean that I might have time to actually get out and talk to real people, without a keyboard!

I already have two people to visit in nursing homes and am likely to be the person who drives others to the grocery and such as I do here. Only thing missing is finding a venue for my true love, helping children learn to love to read.

All in all this seems like my version of heaven on earth and you all are confirming my thoughts.

Only thing is that I know nothing about resident owned mobile parks, or any mobile parks at all. Would anyone know what I should be looking out for?

Slightly Goofy/Linda

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I plumb forgot the most important thing, being able to go to Disney for the Flower & Garden shows and concerts, Food & Wine and concerts as well as after Thanksgiving for the Christmas decorations and such. AND any old time in between that I darned well feel like it!

SG/Linda

 

[LargoLori]

Hi SlightlyGoofy, I drove by the Colonial Village today and it appears very nice. Just make sure that it is residents owned and over 55. My parents have been in a park over 20 yrs in St. Pete and have really enjoyed it. Colonial Village is right next door to the community center. The park may even have a back gate which would be very convenient.

The park is also located close to shopping and restaurants. The only draw back I could see is one of the entrances is on East Bay which is a very busy street. It does however have an entrance off a side street. Hope this helps,

Lori

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

LargoLori, that is so very kind of you and I wish I had told you that I had just spent a couple of weeks there checking things out. I love the location and knowing that there are folks like you nearby makes it even better. You are a special person.

it is resident owned and I was taken with how nice it was as well as convenient to the library, Cultural Center, new Community Center as well as a shopping center across the road and Ulmerton seems to be a main shopping street very near by I love the location. My husband will be bedridden at some point and I need a place where I can get to the grocery and such and be back in little time as I am his sole caretaker.

Do you know if you are in a flood plain? I am checking the maps and it seems to be on the verge and I am thinking that they surely would not have built a CC in a flood plain as they cannot be as um 'what is the word" as they are here locally. Have you ever had to evacuate? If I had to go to Disney I would not mind but I am betting that the roads are mighty congested when such happens. Insurance must be a bunch.

Seems your electric rates are a whole bunch higher than here but surely downsizing to about 1,000 sq ft from 3500 might make a difference.

Love the snoopy neighbors there as each place we stopped to look at someone came to check on who we were and that was just fine by me. Saw that a snoopy neighbor saved a whole bunch of people in Largo the other day. That restaurant is one we were hunting for on Thanksgiving Day! Amazing things that happen and thankfully those poor folks will be better off. I hope.

SG/Linda

 

[LargoLori]

No problen. It wasn't even out of my way. The location is very centrally located. That's one big plus about our area.

We are zoned non evacuation however, all mobile home parks evacuate first. We have never had to evacuate but my parents did have to one time. That was for Charlie and the storm ended up coming in further south of us.

Electricity and homeowners is very high. The price you pay to live in paradise...lol

It does pay sometimes to have snoopy neighbors. I heard that restaurant is still open.

 

[LargoLori]

And one of the best things about our area is that it is only 90 minutes from WDW. I am packing right now for a 2 day trip.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

LargoLori, I am thrilled for you. How old are your children?

Have a wonderful time and make sure to leave a bit of fun for the rest of us who hope to join you real soon..

I will save the rest of my questions for after the holidays.

Hugs and have a blast! SG/Linda/akaGrandma

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Hi there new friends! Now that the holidays are over I am sure everyone has everything packed up, house clean and are all rested up for the coming year. Yeah right!

phorsenuf, might I ask you if you had any trouble finding a doctor and such? My husband is on Medicare and we also have private insurance. I have heard that having only Medicare is a problem. We have BCBS/Anthem which I think is a pretty well known company.

I am in charge of making the decisions and I am so afraid of messing up. Confidence, Linda, confidence.

Belle, I already live in my own little world so I think I might fit in just fine down there.

LargoLori, are you back home and did ya have any fun? Hope you were not in that near riot at the monorails.

Hope none of you were affected by the water main leak. There is a lot of that going on everywhere but we live on the same grid as the police and fire department so we are fixed up in a big hurry.

Happy New Year and hoping next year I am celebrating it down your way.

Slightly Goofy