Talk to me about Melbourne

dollfinn19

I think we have a few nesties who live/have lived there.  DH has applied for a job in Melbourne.  I have a friend who works at the place where he applied....and he has passed the resume along and recommended DH.  So, fingers crossed!  In the meantime, I'm researching....(passing the time). 

What areas should be avoided when looking for a house?  What's a good site for home searches?  This one?  http://brevardaccess.com/mls/index.html

TheyCallMeLiz

Sorry, I'm of no help to you. Never lived there. My brother lived fairly close, in Merritt Island. I hope you are considering renting first.

4cats4us

I grew up down there, but haven't lived there since I went away to college (many years ago!)  My parents and brother still live there, so I go back several times a year.

Where will your DH be working?  It's a pretty small town, not really any culture, 1 shopping mall, not much night life. 

I would avoid most areas south of hwy192 (the main drag), the further south you go, the "worse" it gets. Anything west of ~Wickham Rd is considered "West" Melbourne, and is the country/redneck area.  If you can find anything over on the beaches (Indialantic, Melb Bch, Indian Harbor Bch) it is much nicer.

I do know that the economy is very repressed down there now.  With the Shuttle Program ending, a LOT of people lost their jobs, so there are a LOT of empty stores and restaurants around.  You can probably get some really good deals on real estate!

All in all, though, it is a pretty area... with great weather, nice beaches, and <1 hour to Orlando!

 Good luck, and feel free to ask me any questions! 

mon.petit.chou

I'm in Merritt Island, which is around 30-45 minutes north of melbourne. I don't get down there too often, so I don't have a lot of specifics. I will tell you that compared to where I live, it seems like a bigger town. I do know they have the best (IMO) farmers market in the county.

I don't think it's a bad place to live. We've seriously considered it, but it would put my drive to work at about an hour and I'm just not sure I want to do that. We were actually looking at West Melbourne because we'd be able to get a house on a bigger lot (1+ acre). If you go a little north to Suntree/Viera, there are some really nice areas there. Viera is the newest community in the county - it's got the most yuppie feel to it. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just the best word I could think of to describe it. It's got the newest shopping center, and the neighborhoods are all new, each with their own park, things like that.

When looking for real estate, I use http://www.brevardmls.com/. Just click on "public site".  

If you have any other questions, I can try to help, I just know a lot more about north and central brevard county than south. And if you had come here talking about moving to Titusville or Port St John, I'd probably be trying to talk you out of it But Melbourne is pretty good I think. Oh, and like PP mentioned, it's not a bad drive to Orlando, which is pretty nice. We go there at least once a month.

dollfinn19

Thanks ladies.  It's nothing we're considering quickly.  I was just passing the time and wanted to look at houses and research the area a bit.  He only just applied, but I have a friend there who's pushing for him pretty hard....so hopefully, we'll hear something soon!  All things considered, we're just looking for a change.  He's been out of work for 4 months now, it's his 2nd job loss in a year.  I'm pretty sure my company is closing in the next couple months.  I'm ok with living in a more "rural" area that's close to a big city.  Being closer to a big airport for travel...and Disney are making it more and more appealing for sure!