USA Today Names Palm Coast 2nd Best Florida City To Move To

I echo TR’s comment, having lived here for 34 years, Palm Coast no longer offers the lifestyle that brought me here. It have become very crowded to the point where the road system has reached its maximum capacity to handle the current traffic load.
As stated by the previous poster there is an unresolved issue with homes being flooded by adjacent homes being built at significantly higher elevations, and the runoff is flooding adjacent properties. After four months of complaints to the city council, it’s apparent the council is paralyzed regarding taking corrective actions. The storm drainage is in dire need of maintenance as it has be neglected for 24 years, subsequently every time it rains streets get flooded, homes and yards get flooded.
I don’t know where the researcher got information but most of the city’s on that list are the least desirable city’s one would choose to live. Tampa for example is significantly over crowded, has a high crime rated and the entire city is dealing with a rat infestation they don’t seem to get a handle on. As for Daytona Beach it is a low income city, plagued with crime, and as a consequence the police department is rude and very disrespectful to its citizenry and visitors alike. I avoid that city at all costs.
As stated by the previous commenter, to which I agree. There are no good employment opportunities here other than fast food, small retail, and corner store jobs encompass the vast majority of available jobs, not providing sufficient income to manage a family. Residents here don’t expect that to change anytime soon as the city has established a long time anti-business reputation.
Currently we are 30million dollars short on read resurfacing, our water treatment system is showing signs of age for failure of regular upkeep.
As a whole, Florida ranks 2nd nation wide for homeowners insurance cost. The figure the article quoted was $1,700.00 which is the national average, yet across the board rates are generally 2 – 3 X higher than that which includes Palm Coast. Auto insurance is also a concern, having a clean driving record myself, and not logging more than 5,000 miles/year with a single vehicle having full coverage and moderately insured limits, my annual premium is $3,000.00/year, significantly higher than neighboring states where rates are 1/2 that of Florida.
If you’re seriously considering a move to Florida, think again, and do some very serious due diligence as Florida in general is not the place it was even 10 years ago. With 1/4 million people who relocate here every year it’s driving up the cost of homes to outrageous highs approaching nearly $400,000.00 for a typical home. Florida is no longer affordable, cost of living is very high, property taxes are on the rise as are water rates which run about $100.09/month for a family of two.
Although I love the weather here, I’m seriously considering leaving Florida and moving to Tennessee where I own acreage and could build a home at far less living cost than here.
So all in all this article was very poorly researched, I’d be willing to bet that the writer did not even visit Florida before writing this article as the inaccuracies abound.

I completely agree with all the
Comments.
I have lived here for 22 years.
And it is completely different.

Palm Coast is planned Urban Development aka a PUD. Its a city designed to have up to 200k people and we are at 100k. All the complaints about high cost are from retirees. They are on fixed incomes and I get it. But planning for increases should always be in your budget. I hear complaints about high utility cost and some people in Palm Coast have no idea and complain about everything. I have lived in South Florida where my water/sewer bill was 250.00 to 300.00 a month with an irrigation system. In Palm Coast I pay 165.00 a month which is reasonable. I have a new home and pay 1100 dollars a year for insurance. The homes that have high insurance cost are the older ones so do your due diligence. The roads are not over crowded as some say. They want it like it was 20 to 30 years ago when no one was around. Its fairly easy to get around the city. I was born in a northern city with bad traffic so Palm Coast traffic complaints are crazy imo. The flooding they are talking about happens sometimes but what they are not telling you id it always did flood because they never did there due diligence when they bought there home. All of Florida is a filled in swamp. So look at flood plain maps. I recommend the F section of Palm Coast its one of the oldest sections in the city and is very nice. The goverment issues they are complaining about are no different than anywhere else. The sherriff here is approachable, friendly, engaged and takes no mon sense, hence low crime rate. Its a great place to live. Also notice the ones who are complaining are not leaving? Are they ? That says it all. I love it here and have lived in multiple cities here in Fl and two other states on the east coast and by far this place is awesome ! So check us out and do all your due diligence and don’t just listen to the complainers because in reality they don’t want you here ! I am a retired Florida LEO and this city is very nice compared to others. Jobs are not as abundant but with a short 30 min drive to Daytona or 45 min to Jacksonville you will be fine.