[CA to FL]

Originally Posted by della terra

I was in your position last April. My husnband and I visited Sarasota and Jupiter, and we were much more impressed with Jupiter. My husbands family has a vacation home on the gulf coast, so I've spent more time there and found Jupiter to be exactly what we are looking for. In April 08, there were literally 2, 3 or 4 for sale signs on EVERY block - there were many more foreclosures and homes for sale in Sarasota than in Jupiter. Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens are much more affluent, and there is more shopping, better restaurants etc. Sarasota is beautiful, but seems a bit seedy and run down in some areas. The gulf coast is great to visit, but for raising a family Jupiter gets my vote - we'll be moving this summer.

After reading all of the posts and doing our research, we are leaning toward Jupiter but keeping an open mind about Sarasota. Our visit in 3 weeks will help us decide between the two. It looks like we might be moving around the same time as our current plans having moving the first week in August.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by CA to FL

After reading all of the posts and doing our research, we are leaning toward Jupiter but keeping an open mind about Sarasota. Our visit in 3 weeks will help us decide between the two. It looks like we might be moving around the same time as our current plans having moving the first week in August.

Let me know how it works out for you! What ever you choose, I'm sure it will be the best fit for you, and that is the way it should be. Either way - good luck! I would definitely give the SWFL area, particularly the Siesta Key area a good look! I know you like to golf, and I like to play, but haven't gotten my bearings on that yet. I do like to do some boating and fishing, and I don't think that the area for that can be beat. Not to say the fish don't bit on the Atlantic Side though.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by Big House

I know you like to golf, and I like to play, but haven't gotten my bearings on that yet. I do like to do some boating and fishing, and I don't think that the area for that can be beat. Not to say the fish don't bit on the Atlantic Side though.

Palm Beach County is the golf capital of America (Mr. Nicklaus himself has a home in North Palm Beach), Stuart, Florida is known as the Sailfish capital of the world for those that like sport fishing!

[Big House]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Palm Beach County is the golf capital of America (Mr. Nicklaus himself has a home in North Palm Beach), Stuart, Florida is known as the Sailfish capital of the world for those that like sport fishing!

I expect that the fishing is great all over Florida. If you fish fresh water and bass is your game. I think you'll love Florida. Like I said I don't know much about the Atlantic Side, but will check it out it is only a couple hours across the state if I trailer my boat. I like all the species varieties over on the Gulf Side.

[CA to FL]

I again wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions and comments. I promised an update so here it goes. My family have been in FL for over a week and we have really enjoyed it. Per the suggestions on the board we visited both the Jupiter and the Sarasota areas as well as a quick trip to Disney.

JUPITER- We drove around the city over and over again. We drove down all of the major streets and many of the smaller streets and residential neighborhoods. We went to church on Sunday at Calvary Chapel Jupiter and loved it so much that we went back that night. We went to the beach a couple of times and loved the warmer water and lack of crowds. We didn't even miss that green foam floating on the water that we have in the 50 degree water in CA. We went out to 7-8 different restaurants. and at least 10 different stores. We found the service to be very good and the people to all be very friendly. We took a tour of Jupiter Christian School and we were very impressed at the organization and structure of the school while still allowing the kids to be kids and enjoy themselves. We met with a realtor and visited about 10 homes in different neighborhoods. We also visited a couple of country clubs and other golf courses which all seemed very nice. Even the older homes and parts of town seemed to have a high pride of ownership. Overall the city seemed to be exactly what we were looking for. It was clean, well maintained, little to no traffic, nice people, and beautiful beaches. The town also had a very safe feel everywhere that we went.

SARASOTA- We drove around the city about two full times (major streets). We also visited many of the different neighborhoods around the town. We took a tour of Sarasota Christian School. It seemed very cluttered, not very organized, and just not quite as nice as JCS. There also seemed to be many maintenance issues at the school. I will say that the staff at the school were the friendliest of all the people we met in FL. We went to a couple of beaches and they were very nice and not crowded at all. The sand at Siesta is amazing! We went to many different restaurants and stores including a mall. Overall the people of the town were friendly but not quite as much as Jupiter. From the time we drove into town, we noticed that the city seemed very dirty. The landscaping is not very well maintained anywhere in the city other than around the country clubs, resorts, and a few commercial buildings. Even most of the residential properties outside the clubs just seemed like they were not maintained well. There was also alot of litter throughout the city. Many of the buildings seemed like they needed paint, landscaping, etc. This town just didn't seem like it had the same pride of ownership that we saw in Jupiter. We also went to church at Calvary Chapel Sarasota and the service was very good. The congregation seemed like the happiest bunch of people I have seen anywhere. The Founder's Club is a very nice community / golf course and would be our choice of residency if we were to move to Sarasota. There was definitely more traffic in Sarasota than we experienced in Jupiter. We learned quickly to stay away from the tourist roads as much as possible but we still encountered more traffic than we would prefer. Finally, there were many rougher areas of the town that made a feel a little unsafe.

Overall, there was no difficulty in deciding where we want to live if we move to FL. Jupiter had everything that we were looking for and we feel like we would be very comfortable calling it home. Over the next couple of months, I am going to be making plans as if we were moving to Jupiter in August. As doors open and close, I am confident that we will make the right decision on whether or not to relocate. I will post our decision when it is made. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have about our visit.

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Palm Beach County is the golf capital of America (Mr. Nicklaus himself has a home in North Palm Beach), Stuart, Florida is known as the Sailfish capital of the world for those that like sport fishing!

Have you ever been to Myrtle Beach?
They have a huge number of courses and may be the most in any county in the country. (?)

Noticed the majority of your picks were on the gulf side.

Make sure you take a look down in the Venice area. You will be a short drive to the best beaches in Florida, easy access to Disney, Busch, etc.

Jupiter is very nice but the gulf side has more to offer.

[Big House]

Hey CA to FL,

Thanks for the update! I haven't been to Juniper but it sounds great. I'll have to check it out now. Maybe we can get a round of golf in sometime! Although I look like I can play - I'm not that great. Good things for handicaps - Right? LOL

Enjoy thinking about the possibilities, and options, and I hope that you move goes smoothly!

[SoFLGal]

Thanks for posting your experiences in both places! Sounds like you did quite a lot on your visit over here. I agree, I think the Founders Club would be your best bet if you did decide on Sarasota.

I've been to the other coast but I don't think I have visited Jupiter. Are you going to be visiting Jupiter again before you move over? Were you able to see anything else in either city, i.e. Mote Marine, Jungle Gardens, etc. (not sure what kind of things there are to do in Jupiter). If not, maybe you could schedule that for your next trip.

I'm just curious how the home prices compare. Were the homes pretty comparable in both places for what you get-amenities, square footage, etc? I always thought that the east coast was a bit more expensive but I could be wrong.

Glad you had a great trip! Give us another update when you come back over

[gypsychic]

Thanks for the update - I was just thinking about you and whether you made your visits. Somehow, I figured you would prefer Jupiter. I haven't visited Jupiter but perhaps Sarasota seemed "dirty" or "unmaintained" compared to that town. Contrariliy, I find Sarasota clean and beautiful, although it does have its bad parts. About the landscaping - Sarasota is a "green" town, and many residences and businesses have "Florida friendly" yards which may tend to look more "wild" to people who are used to those carpet-like lawns (which are becoming a thing of the past). This is a good thing, as Florida is in a water shortage, and will have to cut back even more very soon. Something to keep in mind.

Anyway, All of us have different preferences, so glad you found yours and there is no question about it for you!

[CA to FL]

I decided to wait a week to reply to everything at once.

1. Myrtle Beach- One of the main reasons for leaving CA is for tax purposes. South Carolina has a 7% if I am reading the charts right which is almost as bad as CA. FL has 0% which will give me about an extra $100k per year in my pocket vs. CA. The other main reason against Mytle Beach would be the crime rate. It is more than double Sarasota and around 7-8 times as high as Jupiter.

2. I will most likely be visiting Jupiter one more time in May or June. We will most likely spend a week or two there and find a rental home. Although I would prefer to purchase, I think that home prices will continue to drop substantially for at least another 1-2 years. I will buy at that time.

3. Homes in the Sarasota area were much better priced per square foot given the same conditions (age, distance to beach, golf community, materials in house, etc.). I would estimate a house in Jupiter that is $1.5M would be $1M in Sarasota. I hope that helps.

4. I appreciate the informaiton about Sarasota being a green city. It does help me to better understand the condition of the landscaping throughout the city. I guess I would prefer not to live in a green city based on what I saw.

Thank you all again for your help, ideas, and suggestions. We are proceding with our plans to move from CA to FL in August. CA is currently headed toward a crisis and they can't even pass a new budget. They are currently planning about $13B in tax increases this year but I will be happy to take my family and our $100k per year donation away from CA.