Palm Bay, Florida Questions

[mamamary]

Hi. I noticed recently there was a thread about Palm Bay, Florida. From what I gathered, for the most part it seemed like it wasn't the greatest area.

Well DBIL and DSIL plan on moving to FL around June. DBIL just told my DH yest. that they are looking in Palm Bay, FL. Their son will be going to a school (I believe in or near Orlando - Winter Park maybe). So they thought Palm Bay would be a good place to live. Of course I immediately thought of the DIS and how I think some people didn't think it was the best place.

So.....If anyone can give info. or point me maybe to a website that would give unbiased info. I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

[mamamary]

bumping.... anyone????

 

[RadioNate]

Palm Bay isn't near Winter Park. It least not close enough to go to school daily unless you are talking about colleges. There are a few colleges in Winter Park.

I don't have anything unbiased but it seems that Palm Bay is usually the butt of the joke so to speak. I do know they are on the news here in Orlando a lot.

I don't think I'd move there.

That said, Palm Bay is big, the population exceeds 100,000. Median household income is about 40k, which I think is on the low side.

 

[mamamary]

Palm Bay isn't near Winter Park. It least not close enough to go to school daily unless you are talking about colleges. There are a few colleges in Winter Park.

I don't have anything unbiased but it seems that Palm Bay is usually the butt of the joke so to speak. I do know they are on the news here in Orlando a lot.

I don't think I'd move there.

That said, Palm Bay is big, the population exceeds 100,000. Median household income is about 40k, which I think is on the low side.

Yes - it is a college.

Thanks for the info. Will pass it along.

 

[Belle Amy]

As with a lot of smaller cities, there are good and bad neighborhoods. I used to live in Palm Bay and we lived in a safe community. I'm not sure why people would say Palm Bay is that bad, it certainly wasn't the city that we talked about when discussing a "shady" town. Palm Bay isn't all that big, it's just south of Melbourne and north of Vero Beach, both much larger cities. Much of the area is rural and certainly doesn't have a high median income like Vero Beach, which has a lot of country clubs on the barrier island. Palm Bay is about an hour and a half from Winter Park, where Rollins College and Full Sail College are located, among other schools.

If they are considering the area and the distance from Winter Park, but have heard bad things about Palm Bay, they may want to consider Melbourne or Viera, both of which have many beautiful gated communities and are about 15 to 20 minutes north of Palm Bay, closer to Winter Park.

 

[LisaR]

I just read an article last week that listed the top 10 cities in the US with the fastest housing depreciation and Palm Bay was #1. Of course, I won't be able to find the article for the life of me now.

 

[Disney Doll]

Funny you should ask this...we just left that area literally this morning. DSIL lives in Barefoot Bay, which is the town next to Palm Bay.

According to DSIL & DBIL, it is not the gretaest town. That being said, all the times I have been down there and driven through it, it didn't seem bad to me. There were some sections that may have been a bit "seedy", but nothing terrible. Then again, I grew up in a fairly large city, so "seedy" doesn't faze me much. What I usually see are some nice houses and developments, in addition ot the seedier areas. They say there are a lot of drug dealings in Palm Bay.

Of course, DSIL & DBIL pretty much think if you aren't living in Barefoot Bay, there's no real reason to live in Florida! They will tell you the negatives baout pretty much every town other than theirs, so I don't know how unbiased their information about Palm Bay would be.

 

[Allie G.]

I just read an article last week that listed the top 10 cities in the US with the fastest housing depreciation and Palm Bay was #1. Of course, I won't be able to find the article for the life of me now.

I believe I saw that article in Forbes. However, there was a HUGE problem with the article in that it lacked in facts. The population number was WAAAY off to the tune of about 400,000 people. Also the median price for homes seemed off even with the downturn.

That said, you couldn't pay me to live in Palm Bay. My mom lives there and I lived there for a couple years during high school (but luckily was zoned for a school other than Palm Bay High). Yes there are some nice areas. The problems is that the nice areas are surrounded by not-so-nice areas. Also a former-felon is mayor (rights restored by our previous Governor). It's not a place that gives me warm, fuzzy feelings.

I like the Viera/Suntree area. But both of those are not convenient to Winter Park (in my opinion).

 

[mamamary]

Thanks for your replies everyone. DBIL isn't too concerned about Palm Bay. He said every area has a bad spot or two. We're originally all from New York so maybe we're a little used to some rough patches. They plan on selling their house here in MD and outright buying a house in FL and being debt free. I was looking online and the home prices there are so cheap I cannot believe it. I'm a little concerned for them finding jobs but DBIL may be able to transfer his job so that's not too bad.

I'm actually excited to have someone in FL (not too far from Disney) that we can visit - (if you know what I mean )

 

[Allie G.]

But it's not a bad spot or two. It's more like a good spot or two. If he insists then stick to Bayside. Still you are surrounded. The traffic is terrible. Crime is pretty bad. And it attracts the weirdos in the area. Around here when we hear a strange news story we say, oh it must be Palm Bay. And it usually is.

The houses are cheaper for a reason. And some areas don't have city water and sewer. People lost their homes to fire last year because of not having adequate water.