Kids are gone? Well then eff it, why not give South Beach a look see? Great restaurants, great entertainment, not that much more expensive once you’re go in a few blocks, everything is within walking distance, outside of Ybor City up in Tampa it’s about the only “neighborhood feel” I’ve had that reminded me of Chicago.

and with the possibility of a Miami base opening up, not a long drive at all.

I never would have thunk this five years ago, but the more time I spend in SoBe the more I wish my kids were already college bound.

I have heard lots of people saying to stay away from South Florida. I will have to check it out for a day or two and see how it feels. Thank you for the advice.

born and raised in mia, living in orlando since 2002, miami is way over priced, the people are rude and the traffic is a nightmare. if you stay off i4 the traffic in orlando is not even in the ball park of south florida. if you want beachy living there are plenty of options within a 90min drive of mco.

Can anyone chime in that lives the Port Orange area?

I lived in Port Orange for almost 3 years and just moved to Daytona Beach proper last year. Port Orange is a nice town with really good convinces nearby if you live in the fly-in community or like us, around that immediate area. The biggest thing is Port Orange is just now getting out of price for the average man like a lowly regional pilot such as myself, but should be no problem on major pay. We moved to Daytona because of this as we had to upgrade the size of our home for more little ones. The biggest downside is the traffic. When we moved there, the whole county was 60,0000 people. In just a few years we have grown to 72,0000 O_O.
Daytona is a little cheaper and yes a little rougher. That being said just stay away from Holly Hill and you'll be fine. It is going through a revitalization effort right now and is getting better at a snails pace.
In short, happy little metropolitanish town with conveniences and better everything, EXCEPT for traffic and col, chose Port Orange.
Don't rule out Daytona Beach though. Look up Grande Champion and LPGA for nice safe communities in Daytona Beach if you want way less traffic and a little more affordable mortgage.
Also, coming from Daytona, once you cross to the beach side, the further south you go the better it gets, with Ponce Inlet being the best.

Two or three years ago I would have absolutely agreed with you, but uhh...have you been to sobe since the pandemic hit? It is hood rat central down there right now. I made the mistake of going for dinner recently for the first time in three years (south of 15th area) and the place is unrecognizable compared to what it used to be. Again super rough crowd and everywhere reeked of weed.

The more trendy tourist and local crowd has largely vacated sobe and moved into proper Miami in places like Wynwood and Brickell, which are both absolutely lit by the way. Also Las Olas up in Lauderdale, while having a strong white yuppie vibe, is quite nice and exponentially more clean/safe compared to sobe.

If you are okay with the luxury condo/apt scene instead of a single family home, and want safe walkability to restaurants/bars/shops, then Brickell and Las Olas just can't be beat IMO. There isn't really anywhere else in the state of Florida that will provide that for you, except maybe Tampa or West Palm.

Yes because it is essentially a tropical New York City.


It is my dream one day to live at the Spruce Creek fly-in community:

Spruce Creek Fly-in Airpark Information, Real Estate, FAQ's Spruce Creek Airport

If you like the master plan Truman show type check out Lakewood Ranch on the Northeast side of Sarasota or Nocotee which is between Jax and St Augustine.

Lakewood ranch? enjoy the i4 hell.....references posts above for the 4 hour commute from Bradenton.

done the sarasota-orlando drive more times than i care to remember, its a terrible drive.parts of i75 and i4 are parking lots. im in east orlando now and looking at moving to cocoa/merrit/viera in the next 12-18 months.