Crime in Indian River County (Orlando, Pembroke Pines: real estate, apartments, city hall)

[technomage]

Hi, for those that live in Indian River County, do you find this map to be accurate:

https://crimegrade.org/safest-places...ver-county-fl/

I find it odd that there is a lot of "yellow" in rural areas. I know it's proportional to population, but I currently live in a rural area in NJ and it's all green around me, so I'm not sure what to make of this crime map.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks.

[HarryWhom]

Crazy map. Indian River Shores ? Extremely quiet, very affluent. Maybe it's the help stealing the silverware. The dark green areas are basically uninhabited. You'd do better to ask people on this board. I came here from South Jersey. The map for there is a little better but still suspect.

[technomage]

HarryWhom, thanks for your reply! I was suspicious of this map for Florida, but it was very accurate for my area of Central NJ, so I wasn't sure what to think.

My wife and I plan to move within the next year or so and I'm trying to narrow down places, so I will be posting on this board with some criteria soon.

Thank you again!

[JenaS62]

Originally Posted by technomage

Hi, for those that live in Indian River County, do you find this map to be accurate:

https://crimegrade.org/safest-places...ver-county-fl/

I find it odd that there is a lot of "yellow" in rural areas. I know it's proportional to population, but I currently live in a rural area in NJ and it's all green around me, so I'm not sure what to make of this crime map.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks.

Hello. I am from south Jersey and moved to Indian River county in 2000. Although rapidly changing, Indian River county is still very safe compared to other areas in FL. Most crime is theft like car break-ins. If you stay away from areas like Gifford, you should have no worries. Keep your cars locked. I have never in my 23 years here felt unsafe.

[technomage]

I know I should post this in the Brevard county forum (which I will), but I'm curious if the opinion (regarding low crime) about lower Brevard County (e.g., Malabar and Grant-Valkaria) is the same as for Indian River County.

Right now, those are the two main areas we're considering to move to because it's within a reasonable distance from Pembroke Pines, where my family lives.

We basically are looking to rent the first year so we can see which areas we like and then buy something with the following criteria:
* Relatively rural (we live on 4 acres in central NJ "horse country" with a preserve behind us, so something similar would be great though we don't need quite as much land)
* Access to stores within 20-30 minutes (which is amazing considering we live in farm country and yet we have a health store within 15 minutes)
* Low crime
* Reasonably low population (our current population density is 150/square mile)
* Reasonable standard of living (not run down)
* Not in the more dangerous type of sinkhole areas
* We don't need to be near the beach
* We're not sure if we will buy land and build a house or buy a house, but we don't want to spend money on a mortgage so we'd prefer not to spend more than 400K. We don't need a big house, just two bedrooms of the right configuration.

We actually love our place in NJ, but not New Jersey itself for a number of reasons, among which is the outrageous cost (e.g., NJ state taxes, property taxes).

Any thoughts on some places that fit the bill above would be appreciated? It doesn't have to be in Indian River or Brevard County, but lower down seems to be too expensive and going much further north is a bit too far away from family (trying to keep it in the 3 hour or less ball park), so that's why Indian River County and lower Brevard county seemed to fit the bill. I guess some suburbs of Orlando would also fit the bill, but I know less about them and am concerned about overpopulation there.

Thanks for any feedback or thoughts.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by technomage

I know I should post this in the Brevard county forum (which I will), but I'm curious if the opinion (regarding low crime) about lower Brevard County (e.g., Malabar and Grant-Valkaria) is the same as for Indian River County.

Right now, those are the two main areas we're considering to move to because it's within a reasonable distance from Pembroke Pines, where my family lives.

We basically are looking to rent the first year so we can see which areas we like and then buy something with the following criteria:
* Relatively rural (we live on 4 acres in central NJ "horse country" with a preserve behind us, so something similar would be great though we don't need quite as much land)
* Access to stores within 20-30 minutes (which is amazing considering we live in farm country and yet we have a health store within 15 minutes)
* Low crime
* Reasonably low population (our current population density is 150/square mile)
* Reasonable standard of living (not run down)
* Not in the more dangerous type of sinkhole areas
* We don't need to be near the beach
* We're not sure if we will buy land and build a house or buy a house, but we don't want to spend money on a mortgage so we'd prefer not to spend more than 400K. We don't need a big house, just two bedrooms of the right configuration.

We actually love our place in NJ, but not New Jersey itself for a number of reasons, among which is the outrageous cost (e.g., NJ state taxes, property taxes).

Any thoughts on some places that fit the bill above would be appreciated? It doesn't have to be in Indian River or Brevard County, but lower down seems to be too expensive and going much further north is a bit too far away from family (trying to keep it in the 3 hour or less ball park), so that's why Indian River County and lower Brevard county seemed to fit the bill. I guess some suburbs of Orlando would also fit the bill, but I know less about them and am concerned about overpopulation there.

Thanks for any feedback or thoughts.

Indian River County is growing slower than South Brevard County. The spread seems to come in thousands of houses/apartments being built in a short amount of time. Population since pandemic probably up 20,000 + in South Brevard. They even talk of moving Palm Bay City Hall South to the area around the new I-95 interchange off Babcock Street. There are some "horse communities" in Grant/Valkaria and an area South of Palm Bay called Deer Run but $400,000 might not fit. Do you have horses? There are rules about how big a lot and distances from your house and others for stables etc.

Mls for Brevard
https://search.spacecoastmls.com/hom...ate&boardId=83

Deer Run area

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...un_Palm-Bay_FL

[HarryWhom]

I'm sorry to say that real estate is getting rather expensive in the area. 400k is at the low end for the type of property you're describing. You may find a few attractively priced listings but there are so many things to consider when looking at Florida housing. The age of the house, type of construction, plumbing in the slab, grade and elevation, drainage, sewerage, roofing and wind mitigation, insurability, etc., etc. Do a lot of research.

[technomage]

Rabflmom, no we don't own horses, but we do love seeing them. Our next door neighbor used to board horses and it was great to see them next door.

I also forgot to mention in my criteria that we don't want to be part of any homeowner's association.

Thank you both for the information. Yes, I've been doing quite a bit of research and will continue to do so. That's interesting to know about population growth in lower Brevard county. I wonder what is keeping population under control in Indian River County?

How about western Vero beach or Fellsmere? Let's raise the cap on buying land+ prefab house or buying house to 500K. Do any of those fit the bill? Of course, I was also considering Sebastian, but it's population seems a bit high for what we're used to.

Thanks.

[jaxrivers]

Originally Posted by JenaS62

Hello. I am from south Jersey and moved to Indian River county in 2000. Although rapidly changing, Indian River county is still very safe compared to other areas in FL. Most crime is theft like car break-ins. If you stay away from areas like Gifford, you should have no worries. Keep your cars locked. I have never in my 23 years here felt unsafe.

Gifford has some of the most expensive housing in the county.

Currently topping at $10 million.

Why do people make blanket statements? The OP is obviously not going to move to the the TINY TINY 1 sq mile of underprivledge part of Gifford and even THEN, there are good housing options and community participation for everyone there.

This is a problem especially when people ask questions never even having been here.

[technomage]

Originally Posted by jaxrivers

Gifford has some of the most expensive housing in the county.

Currently topping at $10 million.

Why do people make blanket statements? The OP is obviously not going to move to the the TINY TINY 1 sq mile of underprivledge part of Gifford and even THEN, there are good housing options and community participation for everyone there.

This is a problem especially when people ask questions never even having been here.

How is the crime rate in Vero Beach in general? I can't rely on that crime map as people here have said it's flaky. I'm assuming there are some nice places in Western Vero beach where one can own an acre or two and the population density is reasonably loow.