What can you tell me about a place called Northern Passage in Tequesta?

[PNWGuy]

One needs to clearly define what "not so great" exactly means, it is so subjective.

[jgreco5]

I'm sorry I have to disagree, all of the public elementary schools in Jupiter are great. The middle schools are nothing to write home about, luckily Palm Beach County has a great magnet program.

If you are looking for waterfront you may want to consider a small waterfront community just outside of Jupiter like where I live, its called "Paradise Port". The homes are older and sort of a mixed bag, you have $400-$4M homes. It is located Palm Beach Gardens. I like it, because all of the homes aren't cookie cutter and there is no HOA. We often go paddle boarding out of our canal (less than 5 mins out) or kayaking out into the intracoastal. Nothing like it! We even had a manatee family last week!

That being said, North Passage is lovely, just out of the way from lots of things like others have mentioned here.

[Slowrunr]

We just moved into North Passage about 4 months ago. I love it there. People are so friendly and it is a good mix of young and old. Of course you are going to find a few that complain about everything but that happens everywhere. They also just started up a boat club to encourage more social activities. We dont have any schoolage children, but the Martin County schools are ranked high. Also I think you cant beat the price for owning a home on the water. We dont own a boat yet but cant wait to get one. Our neighbors all just hop on their boats and out they go, very convenient having a dock behind your house. The river is beautiful and it's a nice ride to the intercoastal and sandbar. I think Tequesta is just a nice, really laid back little town. It's not that bad of a drive to the stores or restaurants and Jupiter has great dog friendly beaches and lots of activities. We lived in Abacoa for 3 years and feel very fortunate that we moved here. As someone said there are no sidewalks but I'm out walking our dog everyday and have had no issues. The one street Water Oak is a little tight but the kids play there and people walk, run and bike .... As I said there will always be one or two that complain! We are in our mid 50's and active and it has been a good fit for us. They also have a clubhouse, pool and tennis courts that are well maintained and the HOA fee is under $200 per month. Hope this helps.

[TayLee2]

Well... it sounds great to us. We love the fact that its a gated community. The pool looks beautiful and everthing looks very well maintained. Looks like they have their own gym too. I think we would like it there. I didn't like to hear about the bugs and the shallow brown water. Guess your right about some people will find things to compain about. Some are telling us to look in Abacoa. What are your thoughts since you lived there?

[Slowrunr]

We have mixed feelings on Abacoa. It is a well maintained community and there are many groups to join and they do plan lots of fun family events. I think it is very nice for young families, there are a ton there with kids. Have lots of candy to hand out on Halloween
People for the most part are friendly. We just lived on a "strange" street in Martinique with some unfriendly neigbors and lots of rentals, plus our house backed up to the townhomes so it felt very cramped (inside and out... our house was just too small). Our neighbors in the townhouses were nice! I would check it out, but try to find a home that has a nice yard with some space and try to see if there are families around your age on that street. Martinique seemed to have had more foreclosures than other neighborhoods in Abacoa. We are now renting our house there to a nice couple that just had their first baby and they really like it.
The downtown area of Abacoa is just okay, lots of bars with a younger crowd in the evening (we sometimes wondered if a lot of them were 21) We like Rooneys there and still go back sometimes for trivia on Thursday nights. A lot of the businesses left when the economy went bad (even the Starbucks)! Hopefully it will turn around. The stadium is great for spring training games. We always felt safe there and enjoyed biking in the neighborhood or walking through the greenways (lots of turtles). It is convenient to get to the grocery stores, restaurants and shops on Indiantown Rd. and it's a 15 minute drive down to PGA (Gardens Mall, Downtown, movie theater, Whole Foods, stores and many restaurants). Our HOA fee is around $725 a quarter and that includes lawn care and basic cable. Hope this helps some ... I would check it out. It is a safe non gated community with many young families, we just picked the wrong house and street!

[TayLee2]

Slowrunr.. I sent you a private message

Thanks for the info. If anyone has any info on the public schools that are zoned for North Passage please let me know. Are there any canals or streets in North Passage we need to stay away from? People also mentioned that there are more bugs? Could that be true?

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by TayLee2

Slowrunr.. I sent you a private message

Thanks for the info. If anyone has any info on the public schools that are zoned for North Passage please let me know. Are there any canals or streets in North Passage we need to stay away from? People also mentioned that there are more bugs? Could that be true?

Pull up an aerial photo and then pan 200ft west of the river.... See all that green shrubbery, those are state protected mangroves that grow in/around the water and when you see an abundance of those then you will have an abundance of bugs especially at low tide. No see-ums are tough, smaller than a flea and frequent biters and yes then can and do fly through typical screens.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by Slowrunr

We have mixed feelings on Abacoa. It is a well maintained community and there are many groups to join and they do plan lots of fun family events. I think it is very nice for young families, there are a ton there with kids. Have lots of candy to hand out on Halloween
People for the most part are friendly. We just lived on a "strange" street in Martinique with some unfriendly neigbors and lots of rentals, plus our house backed up to the townhomes so it felt very cramped (inside and out... our house was just too small). Our neighbors in the townhouses were nice! I would check it out, but try to find a home that has a nice yard with some space and try to see if there are families around your age on that street. Martinique seemed to have had more foreclosures than other neighborhoods in Abacoa. We are now renting our house there to a nice couple that just had their first baby and they really like it.
The downtown area of Abacoa is just okay, lots of bars with a younger crowd in the evening (we sometimes wondered if a lot of them were 21) We like Rooneys there and still go back sometimes for trivia on Thursday nights. A lot of the businesses left when the economy went bad (even the Starbucks)! Hopefully it will turn around. The stadium is great for spring training games. We always felt safe there and enjoyed biking in the neighborhood or walking through the greenways (lots of turtles). It is convenient to get to the grocery stores, restaurants and shops on Indiantown Rd. and it's a 15 minute drive down to PGA (Gardens Mall, Downtown, movie theater, Whole Foods, stores and many restaurants). Our HOA fee is around $725 a quarter and that includes lawn care and basic cable. Hope this helps some ... I would check it out. It is a safe non gated community with many young families, we just picked the wrong house and street!

Very good/accurate synopsis! Only thing to add, the death of Abacoa Town Center is the lack of parking, especially after the apartment/condo conversion took place (they assigned spots to the new condo owners). Starbucks had a few parallel spots on Main St yet a full store 1/3 of a mile away with hundreds of regular spots available..... No brainier there

[TayLee2]

Oh wow. Sounds like lots of bugs at low tide. I guess the bug thing is heavy anywhere on the water.