[MNIA]

My Husband and I are planning on heading down to FL from MN for a couple weeks at the end of March. Our trip down is for us to start investigating areas (cities and neighborhoods) we are interested in purchasing our second home at. We are in our mid-30's, with zero kids now or ever, own a healthcare company which at this point will stay HQ in MN with our employees. Our interests include, the Vikings , listening to live music both national and local, safety, our dogs, and supporting mom and pop shops. We currently live in Uptown in Mpls which is very walkable ideally so will the city we venture to in FL.

Based off the the posts I have read (thanks for all the great information). Our current plan of attack on our exploration trip is flying into Tampa and flying back through Fort Meyers.

My must see cities/neighborhoods are:
Old NE St. Pete
St. Pete beach area
Hyde Park/SoHO
Sarasota
Ft Meyers

Please let me know if I am missing any cities you would recommend for us to consider, as well as any specific neighborhoods in the above listed cities or missing cities that may "fit our bill" .

This year we will hopefully lock down our desired area. Next year our plan is to spend 3 months in that area prior to considering purchasing.

Thank you!!
Samantha

[RMD3819]

Winter only residence or a year-round place to vacation?

Housing budget? House or condo?

Look at Fort Myers Beach while you are here.

[Sweetbottoms]

Ur better seeing naples as opposed to ft myers. It's kinda scummy Naples is geared more towards tourists and is MUCH cleaner. You can do trolly rides and tin city and downtown Naples . Downtown ft myers is just abbunch of empty buildings.you can drive down gulf shore blvd and see the megan mansions on the beach or u can see ft myers beach with it's tattoo parlors and kids on spring break boozing it up

[MNIA]

Thanks for the responses. We will be there primarily in the winter. We will be looking for only a house, our dogs are Newfoundlands (water rescue dogs).

Our budget for the house is $400,000.....we are not in a hurry. The purpose for this trip is to find a city/neighborhood we want to try out next winter.

Good to know about Naples..... we will still stop in Ft. Meyers for spring training (Twins) not so much to look for places to live. I never thought about Naples, my mom's aunt and uncle used to live there so I have this pre-conceived notion about it. Quick question, is Naples becoming a bit ummm less retirement-like? Is there an active night life?

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by MNIA

Thanks for the responses. We will be there primarily in the winter. We will be looking for only a house, our dogs are Newfoundlands (water rescue dogs).

Our budget for the house is $400,000.....we are not in a hurry. The purpose for this trip is to find a city/neighborhood we want to try out next winter.

Good to know about Naples..... we will still stop in Ft. Meyers for spring training (Twins) not so much to look for places to live. I never thought about Naples, my mom's aunt and uncle used to live there so I have this pre-conceived notion about it. Quick question, is Naples becoming a bit ummm less retirement-like? Is there an active night life?

It is becoming less retirement and much more geared towards younger families . The Naples CHildrens MUseum is opening in a few weeks , we now have a water park , teco arena is a few exits away where you can see shows concert hockey games etc. There r usually free jazz concerts in cambier park during season and so on. Ft myers is crime ridden ! During Christmas they had a shooting at the mall where someone blew off 50 rounds of a high power assault rifle in the Edison mall parking lot. For more bang for ur buck you can even do Estero. It's beautiful , cheaper than Naples and perfectly situated between Naples and ft. Myers it's geared towards family and a lot of the younger people r moving there

[brrgrl]

As a recent transplant from Minnesota, I can tell you that you're going to have a tough time finding a place here that's like Uptown. Hyde Park, Old NE & parts of Sarasota are probably the closest you'll find. You may want to check out Dunedin (walkable, but more small town). South Tampa is another area to investigate. Post to the Sarasota, Naples & Tampa Bay sections, as you will get more detailed replies with regard to specific neighborhoods.

Tampa Bay has more live music and national acts than you'll find in Naples or Fort Myers. Sarasota has its fair share of both - a plus for Sarasota is that it's a pretty easy drive to get to Tampa Bay.

Outside of Fort Myers, you'll have a hard time finding fellow Twins & Vikings fans, although there seem to be plenty of Packer backers here (I thought I'd escape them once I moved to Florida!).

Good luck!

[IAm_FloridaBorn]

Clearwater Beach
Tarpron Springs
Downtown St. Pete
Sanibel Island
Channelside (Tampa)

[MNIA]

Thank you all!

brrgrl...after reading the posts about Old NE, Sarasota, and Hyde Park I thought they would be the most uptown like...thanks for validating my thoughts. We will add Dunedin to the part of our Clearwater trek. Great idea on posting this to the different sections!! Lastly, Packer Fans....ugh

[RMD3819]

One thing about the dogs-many HOAs have restrictions about the size of dogs and many will not permit fenced yards. Check those restrictions before you buy.

Young snowbirds-you will be a rare breed here.

[MNIA]

Thank you for all of the information....below is our trip plans so far, feel free to add any additional areas that we should spend some time at.

1. Clearwater and Clearwater Beach…..3 days, 1 to unwind , 2 to tour
Dunedin

2. Tampa…….. 2 days
Hyde Park
So/Ho
Channelside

3. St. Petersburg Beach……2 days (meeting with realtor number 1)

4. St. Petersburg……… 4 days (meeting with realtor number 2)
Old NE
Crescent Lake

5. Sarasota……….. 4 days (meeting with realtor number 3)
Laurel Park
Bayfront Park

Thanks!
Samantha