[nomad1991]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I'm kind of unclear as to how you arrived at that summary of a metro area of over 6 million other than somehow interpreting time spent in South Beach with the overall vibe. The Miami area is full of desirable family neighborhoods. Coral Gables, Pinecrest, South Miami, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Aventura in Dade County and in Broward County there's Weston, Parkland, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Cooper City and Davie. A bit further north in Palm Beach County look at Boca Raton, Wellington and Jupiter as stand out areas...all with excellent schools. If you're looking for warmer weather year-round and classic ocean waves/beaches it's where you want to be and suggest further research before eliminating over misconception.

Originally Posted by wizrap

Another thought is St. John’s County just south of Jacksonville. Loads of new construction in your price range, especially in the Nocatee development. St. John’s Town Center has every store imaginable. The St. John’s beaches are also so beautiful and relatively undeveloped too.

Another poster recommended Viera in Brevard and I think that’s worth a look too.

Added both to the list! I will really be putting some miles on the car checking all of these areas out

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by wizrap

Another thought is St. John’s County just south of Jacksonville. Loads of new construction in your price range, especially in the Nocatee development. St. John’s Town Center has every store imaginable. The St. John’s beaches are also so beautiful and relatively undeveloped too.

Another poster recommended Viera in Brevard and I think that’s worth a look too.

I concur with Jacksonville which if not already the new housing hot spot in FL soon to be. Your value for the dollar is significantly better and the public schools in the three surrounding suburban counties (St Johns, Nassau and Clay) are top 10 in the state of 67 school districts. You'll find the retailers you're after with three Whole Foods stores, two Trader Joe's and soon to be a third Costco in St Johns County. The beaches are beautiful and much less commercialized than the rest of FL as well, check out Ponte Vedra Beach! https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mi...!4d-81.3573754 While it is extreme NE Florida and can get cold in the winter (like six to eight weeks) the geographic benefit is a plus in my opinion with close proximity to places like Savannah or Charleston, and the elimination of three to four hours of drive time just to exit the state.

[FL_Expert]

Based on everything you’ve said I think Palm Beach County is your best bet. I’d look at Wellington and Jupiter.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

Based on everything you’ve said I think Palm Beach County is your best bet. I’d look at Wellington and Jupiter.

I do too given the CA to FL transition to begin with.

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by EscAlaMike

"Driving 45 minutes for eggs" is not the case anywhere in Florida's suburbia. If a new development is built, you can bet that there will be a new Publix within 5 minutes of it in no time.

Amazing that even with "supply line" problems, a new Publix gets built about ninety seconds after a subdivision is 50% completed. Must be the remarkable Florida sunshine!

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

I recommend the Nokomis/Laurel area. There’s quite a bit of new construction around 681, they have good schools, you’ll be 10 minutes from the beach, and you won’t be too far from Sarasota.

Northern Pinellas is great too, but it’s just harder to find new construction. There are a few smaller new neighborhoods though so you might be able to find the right home there.

I 2nd this motion^^^

[gypsychic]

I would check out the Lakewood Ranch area of Sarasota/Manatee. New builds, great schools, and close proximity to all the stores you want. Easy access on the interstate to Tampa. Not too bad of a drive to the beaches. I believe it ticks all your boxes. Sarasota has all the stores and amenities of much larger cities.

[nomad1991]

Thank you all for the great help. I just returned from a weeklong trip with the family to scope out the southern part of Florida. (I have follow up trips to Sarasota, PBC, and Jacksonville area planned as well). I took a look at Ft Myers, Naples, Coral Gables, Miami Shores and Coconut Grove but ran out of time because of poor planning to make it up to Palm Beach County (There are a few recommended areas in PBC that I will check next trip)

Luckily, our trip coincided with some pretty high temperatures in SWFL and we were just fine, so I've ruled out the summers being a big issue. I made a point to tour as many new build communities as possible as well as mix in more established areas (Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Shores). We definitely felt that Miami was a little too fast for us and a little crowded (prices were also very high for older houses).

We then swung over to Naples and Ft Myers to check out some of the taylor morrison esplanades and really liked a couple of floor plans they had but we definitely noticed the "seasonality" of the area in that it was relatively empty. Ft Myers has a TM (esplanade lake club) community that is phenomenally close to a lot of good retail and RSW but when we did a little searching we noticed that the area definitely leans older(nothing bad about this just a fact). I realize that there is a large contingent of folks who winter in florida but we definitely are trying to find a spot where more people are living there full time and raising their kids. (I checked out a couple of private schools/public schools and just based on the class sizes it is clear there are not that many young families around.)

My wife really liked the areas we saw but felt that we needed to also visit these other areas before making any decisions.

Based on this I was hoping to narrow my search for my next trip (Planning on flying into Tampa then driving Sarasota -> Jacksonville) Palm Harbor, Lakewood Ranch, Wellen Park, Skye Ranch, St. Johns County are on my list to visit. Wanted to check in to make sure I am not missing anything.

Thanks again all!

[silverct9a]

Agreed - If greater access to Costco, Whole Foods and other higher end stores is important (both places I love) then you should highly consider South Florida, more specifically Palm Beach or Broward counties (in your case). If you seek greater amenities and the prospect of having outposts from other world renowned areas setting up in your local area excites you, then this is where you want to be.

Also, there’s much more to Miami than just partying

Originally Posted by sinatras

As for Costco and Whole Foods, those are not as plentiful here in Florida as they are in California so your options will be limited. And they are even fewer on the West Coast of Fla. Just go to Google Maps, zero in on the beachy areas on east and west coasts with Costco/WFM locations, and focus on those.

[Sunshine Rules]

Lakewood Ranch does have somewhat of a younger demographic than some of the other places you've mentioned. The schools are sought after, but what I think attracts a lot of people to this particular master planned community is that there are loads of options for activities, groups, sports for all ages available as a LWR resident. You don't have to settle for socializing just within your immediate community.

Here's a link to their current list:
https://lakewoodranch.com/connect/events-list/