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Pleasant Port St. Lucie, Florida (population 165,000 in
metro area), nestled along the St. Lucie River, started in the mid-1950s
as a planned retirement development, and today the city seems to have many
satisfied residents. It is primarily a middle class
community, located roughly 115 miles southeast of Orlando, and has been
recognized as the safest city of its size in Florida with a crime rate below the national average.
It is home to a
number of smaller planned communities, including lovely Tradition, an all-ages
development with a 1950s-era ambiance that has been named one of the top
master-planned communities in the country. The population in
Port St. Lucie tends to skew slightly older than the national average,
with 23% age 45 to 64, and 19% age 65 or better. Before the
Recession, this southeast Florida coastal community was one of the fastest growing cities
in the nation, exploding by 90% during the last decade. Today, the
average cost of
living is approximately 15% below the national average, and the median
home price is $105,000, down nearly 25% in the last year alone.
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Port St. Lucie is known for golf, with the
large, gated PGA
Village, recognized as one of the "75 Best Golf Resorts in
North America" by Golf Digest, and the PGA
Learning Center both located here, along with a dozen other golf
courses within a short drive. The city is also the Spring
training headquarters of the New York Mets, and more than 40
public access beaches are nestled up and down the Port St. Lucie
coast. The Treasure Coast Symphony holds
concerts at the Sunrise Theatre in nearby Fort Pierce, and
fitness and dance classes are offered to retirees through the
city's parks and recreation department.
Port St. Lucie Medical Center, an award-winning 229-bed acute care facility
with nationally recognized surgical programs, and Martin
Memorial Medical Center in nearby Stuart (10 miles) provide very
good medical care. Public transportation is provided
by Community Transit and Treasure Coast Connector.
The weather is hot and humid in the summer and mild in the
winter. It's Florida.
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| Port St. Lucie home prices rose rapidly from 2000 to 2007, but then the housing market started to collapse. The median
home price in 2007 was $215,000. Now it is 52%
less. Port St. Lucie County has the 18th highest foreclosure rate in the state,
and while that is not good, it is a big improvement over a year and a
half ago
when it had the second highest rate in the state.
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The city has initiated a Neighborhood Stabilization Program and has
been allocated $13.5 million in federal funds to help combat the
foreclosure problem. Port St. Lucie's Action Plan states that it
is using the money for "the acquisition, rehabilitation
and resale of foreclosed homes (to income qualified buyers) in order
to stabilize neighborhoods that might otherwise experience declining
home values." As of now, the program seems to be
helping stabilize Port St. Lucie's housing market, and real estate
bargains can be found throughout the city.
While Port St. Lucie has a lot going
for it, it is no stranger to hurricanes.
Up until 2004, this area had not been hit by a hurricane in nearly
50 years. Then it was hit by Hurricane Frances and Hurricane
Jeanne in 2004 and then by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Damage
was minimal, but home insurance rates spiked and remain high
today.
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Port St. Lucie is a rather low-key,
welcoming city with lots of recreation opportunities,
good medical care, a very low crime rate, affordable
housing and generally content residents. The
foreclosure situation is still a problem but seems to be
stabilizing. Three
hurricanes in rapid succession and high insurance rates,
however, are things to consider if thinking of retirement
here.
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