We moved from Arizona, which is a fine place to which you can retire, to Florida, primarily because I really wanted to be near the ocean. So we live in a coastal community in a region that is called the Treasure Coast, consisting of Vero Beach (where we soon will be living), Fort Pierce (where we live now), Port St. Lucie and Stuart. We chose this area because it was on the East Coast -- which we decided we wanted -- and it was not overly built up, retaining at least a few vestiges of Old Florida. We were not going to move near Orlando. The traffic is miserable and unless you are living a planned community, it just doesn't strike us as an attractive place to be. (And it's not the presence of the theme parks that turns us off. We're Disney season passholders).
Also, I am not a fan of much of coastal Florida because of the relentless line of high-rise condos that line many of the beaches. We had friends who were first-time visitors to a beach on the north central east coast. It got to be noon and they noticed everyone leaving, and asked why. Turns out the sun goes behind the high-rises, and the beach is left in mostly shade. Sorry, that is not my idea of fun. Nor is it my idea of proper zoning, but that's another discussion
So we live in a 55+ community in a smaller town that has a fabulous farmer's market right on the waterfront. There's a state park where I've seen manatees, dolphins, pelicans catching fish, tortoises and a variety of other wildlife, some human, and the beach is crowded maybe 10 days a year. We're moving to Vero, which is a larger town with better shopping, because we've decided that 55+ park living is not for us. That's another discussion, and if you want to know the pros and cons of it, PM me and I'll tell you both.
Where we live, because buildings are lower and there are fewer big ones, the shade problem is nonexistent. Medical care is suspect here, because hospitals are small, but we can get to Orlando or West Palm Beach if we need more sophisticated stuff. We also noticed that while properties are considerably cheaper here than in AZ, the cost of food is not, and the quality of fruits and vegetables is lower. My theory is that because there are only two major supermarket chains here (as opposed to four where we lived in AZ), they can pretty much do what they want, price-wise. This may not be a consideration for someone moving from CT.
