Floridians. Need info on best areas of Florida?

[kaysmommie]

Hello,
I probably should have posted on the community board but I do spend time on this family board. I wanted to ask anyone who live in Florida what are the best areas for families with small children to move to. We are considering possibly moving to FL. I just want to make sure I pick a safe area with good schools and a nice neighborhood for the kids. I did look at Gainesville and it looks nice but not sure about the subdivisions. I like the idea of being further south near the ocean or Disney, but I have heard not good things about central Florida (sister in law lives there) as far as crime and traffic and not the best schools. I also like the looks of Sarasota and Ft. myers. It is definately something I would have to narrow down and look more into. We live in TN now (from NJ shore) and we like it but we like warmer weather and I'm addicted to disney. Thanks for any and all opinions.
Nichole

 

[perdidochas]

Hello,
I probably should have posted on the community board but I do spend time on this family board. I wanted to ask anyone who live in Florida what are the best areas for families with small children to move to. We are considering possibly moving to FL. I just want to make sure I pick a safe area with good schools and a nice neighborhood for the kids. I did look at Gainesville and it looks nice but not sure about the subdivisions. I like the idea of being further south near the ocean or Disney, but I have heard not good things about central Florida (sister in law lives there) as far as crime and traffic and not the best schools. I also like the looks of Sarasota and Ft. myers. It is definately something I would have to narrow down and look more into. We live in TN now (from NJ shore) and we like it but we like warmer weather and I'm addicted to disney. Thanks for any and all opinions.
Nichole

I live in Pensacola currently, and have lived in Miami in the past. If being close to Disney is important, the Gainesville area is probably good. It's also a bit safer in terms of hurricanes than the coasts. I would recommend looking into the Fort Pierce area/St. Lucie County area. It is close to Disney (maybe an hour and a half) and isn't quite so congested as further South. If Disney is an important thing, the Panhandle (which I personally think is close to paradise) is probably a little far (Pensacola which is at the end of the Panhandle is about 7 1/2 hrs from Disney).

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

I can tell you that if you have small children, do not consider Lake County. The schools are atrocious.

 

[Tinkerbell424]

Ocala.It's very big and in SOME area's can be very rural but in others it's like really nice.But the only thing is they have had problems with racial things up there,I used to see how some kids like did something to a black school driver or something.I might be mistaken though,so please dont qoute me

Anyway,south florida is starting to get kinda crowded and a little expensive,but Plantation Florida is nice.It is also only 45 minutes away from the ocean and about 3 or 4 hours away from Disney World.

 

[laceemouse]

Well, Florida has gotten pretty expensive all over, and the closer you get to the ocean the more expensive it is. You also have to worry about hurricanes. As to the school issue, you need to look at individual schools, not just school districts. In a huge district you can have great schools, mediocre schools, and awful schools all together depending on the area each school is in. I guess you are not worried getting a job as you are willing to consider all options, I would think jobs in places like Gainesville (unless you teach college) and Ocala (unless you raise horses) are pretty rare. Much of Florida is service industry driven, which means the jobs pay very low based on cost of living.

 

[lillygator]

We live in Sarasota and the housing is pretty expensive, not to mention that pretty much no one here is writing homeowner's.
Have you thought about Lakeland? It's a nice town and sort of centrally located. About 30 min from Disney.

 

[lillygator]

and Gainesville is definitely a college town. Not sure if you care about that or not.

 

[tmarquez]

Check out Brevard county. I grew up there, moved away and went to college etc. Then came back to raise kids. There are a lot of choices (inland, on a river, on the ocean). It's close to Disney (45 minute drive).

Schools are good, there are many options there too. You can choose which school your kids go to. There are regular schools and magnet schools.

Crime is not bad. Of course there are bad areas but it's like that everywhere.

Any questions, let me know.

 

[kaysmommie]

DH job is tranferable to many areas, so not really a problem. We are just looking for a nice family friendly area with good schools. Where is Brevard county? Also where is Lake county so I can avoid that. I like Sarasota just not sure about housing prices, might be a tad high as want to idealy stay under $300,000 or right around at most. Thanks for all your replies.

 

[tmarquez]

DH job is tranferable to many areas, so not really a problem. We are just looking for a nice family friendly area with good schools. Where is Brevard county? Also where is Lake county so I can avoid that. I like Sarasota just not sure about housing prices, might be a tad high as want to idealy stay under $300,000 or right around at most. Thanks for all your replies.

Brevard is in central FL on the east coast. Mostly famous, I guess, for the space program.

 

[ukwildcat]

If you like Sarasota, but the housing prices scare you, you might consider North Port. It's about 20 - 25 miles south of Sarasota. Still reasonable as far as housing is concerned. And you are still in the Sarasota County school district. From what I can tell, North Port has good public schools. We moved here about 3 years ago. It has really grown on me. The growth has been nice. Development has been good. Plus, we're about a 2 hour drive from WDW. And not too far away from Sarasota that you couldn't go up there if you needed to. All our doctors are in Sarasota. PM me if you have more questions.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Not from Florida but have relatives who have been in Cape Coral for 20 years and they love it there.

 

[kaysmommie]

Thanks!

 

[lovinpoohbear]

We have been looking at the area Palm Coast. Friends moved down there last year and love it. Very quiet and they said good public schools. It is about 20 minutes from Daytona Beach. (Palm Coast is about an hour from Disney)
Go to www.realtor.com For about 200k you can get a very nice brand new home. Quiet area/safe/good schools are important to us too!!!

 

[diz8297]

I'm thrilled to see this thread-we wanna move down too from RI!!
So thanks to everyone for sharing!!

 

[kaysmommie]

We have been looking at the area Palm Coast. Friends moved down there last year and love it. Very quiet and they said good public schools. It is about 20 minutes from Daytona Beach. (Palm Coast is about an hour from Disney)
Go to www.realtor.com For about 200k you can get a very nice brand new home. Quiet area/safe/good schools are important to us too!!!

i found it on the map, it's south of St. Augustine and north of Daytona. Do you know which schools and neighborhoods are good by chance? Looks really nice there and it's north so if a hurricane comes I can leave quickly.

 

[Stephres]

I grew up in Tallahassee, spend the summers in Ocala and then moved to Pensacola and now we live in Palm Harbor (a little north of clearwater). I loved Pensacola but it is a far drive to Disney. Palm Harbor is an excellent area with lots of families, good schools, close to the beach and an hour and half from Disney. We really love it here. Good luck!