Ahh PSL , wouldnt you know it. No Lie! three hours after posting my below comment my mother called me
and informed me that her home had been broken into. Guess where? PSL!!!! Cleaned the place out.

Im sorry but the facts are PSL has turned into a complete dump! I have lived in Saint Lucie county all my
life, I will tell you first hand I DO NOT FEEL comfortable here anymore. Its a complete rat race now.
Even in the saint lucie west areas, stopping at a gas station feels like your in compton or something.
Every other car is occupied by some trashy wanna be thugs with some kind of ignorant music blaring
out of the windows. Random shady looking characters posted up out side stores and zooming up and
down the streets on bicycles. I do not have children yet but when I do I can bet you they wont be growing
here.

I bought a home recently in the Gatlin area coming back here from Martin County, I was absolutely horrified
within the first few months, and I was in denial about my decision being wrong. But the facts are this place sucks. Its only getting worse. Another real estate boom? Yea thats just what we need here is more homes
and strip malls. Drive awhile through Port Saint Lucie, it will make your head spin. Block after block of countless stucco homes and strip malls. Its one big maze. There is so many forclosed homes block after
block. I can stand on my back porch at night and literally hear smoke alarms beeping from dying batteries
from surrounding unoccupied homes. Every empty lot , parcel, corner ect has a for sale sign on it from some
yuppie trying to flip it. There is zero natural beauty left in this county ZERO! Its all been bulldosed. But lets
build some more right? How much is enough? Do we want the problems of the counties to the south?

PSL is different to Jupiter . You have options of living in quiet areas ,as yet not built up, like the Becker Road area ,which by the way , now has direct access to I95 and the Tunrpike. St Lucie West is all gated communities with shopping, movies, and restaurants. Tradition is a town within a city; ever growing with business opportunities, shops and restaurants . Medical facilites are coming out west with an eventual hospital at Tradition. There is plently of golf at St Lucie West which has 2 courses and of course PGA with 8 or 9 courses. The Club Med area has 2 courses if you like being closer to the beach; Aegis, Liberty Medical , the Torrey Pines institute also a new movie company are all here with jobs to spare,
Our IRSG college is one of the best in the state...... and so it goes on.....Port St Lucie is growing and has had growing pains , if you look around you will see we have not stopped putting the infrastructure into place and WE ARE READY FOR THE NEXT REAL ESTATE BOOM!
I've been selling homes here for 16 years and it is definitely NOT A DUMP! We are 77 Sq miles coming together to eventually form one of the largest cities on the Treasure Coast.

Homey1
I just bought a home in PSL this past December. Like all towns & cities you have good and bad areas. Just do your homework. I will tell you since you have children I would not move to PSL unless I planned on putting them in private school. Saint Lucie County School System is so screwed up they bus you children all over the County into Ft. Pierce even if you have a School in your back yard they may not be able to attend it..
This being said Martin County Schools are better. But the housing prices are also much higher.
God luck in your search.
If you want a great realtor let me know.... I have / had a great one who is now a dear friend...

palm beach county and south is a dump...I know PSL very well, and while i don't think its great; I would hardly call it a dump. you want to see some bad areas, go take a ride through areas of lake worth, boynton, delray, hallandale, hollywood..anywhere in broward or miami dade and you'll get a good idea of a dumpy area. PSL is hardly a dump, but 20 years from now i would hate to see it how it turns out, the people who live in the counties south of st lucie are slowly migrating north and its getting worse, don't let anyone kid you on that fact....I am NOT a realator like other posters i will tell you straight up how it is down there. I lived in that area and south florida for over 20 years.

Homey,

The best and most reliable source of information will not be gleaned from mother or other peoples impression of the area.

Our recommendation is to plan a summer vacation to visit the area with your family in an effort to create your own impression of the location. You know your personal criteria best and have the ability to see beyond what others cannot.

Additionally, any major move should be construed as much as possible as a family undertaking. You may be suprised at the insight that a 5 & 6 year old will be able to provide with their simplistic approach that is not clouded by grown up issues.

Start planning your trip today.......

Best wishes,
The Eckler Team

Thank you all for your answers. I am planning on coming down for a visit some time in the next 6 months. I haven't been to PSL since I was a kid except for a few years ago to go to the PGA golf complex , which is a fantastic asset to the area, for sure.

Both Mike and Gabe have given you great answers! Port St Lucie is a diverse area--average home prices start at $100K and go on up to well over $500K.

I agree with Gabe..I think the majority of people living in PSL are happy and satisfied with the area. I can honestly say that I have never had anyone tell me that they were selling their home in Port St Lucie because they felt the area was a "dump" and they didn't want to live there any longer!

If you haven't been there, I agree with Mike...you need to come visit and see for yourself.

Debbie Redditt, CRS, ePRO
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Prudential Florida Realty
772-486-4306 cell
dredditt@comcast.net

Homey1, The best solution is to come down and visit Port St Lucie, and the Treasure Coast and see if it suits You!

Homey1,

What is an acceptable neighborhood for you is really a matter of personal preference. By law and ethics, I can't comment on which neighborhoods I think are not acceptable or acceptable, and it really is personal preference.

If you search the Internet, you'll find a wealth of information about Port St. Lucie. I have a number of links on my website (address below) Some good, some bad. All I can tell you is that there's thousands of people that live in Port St. luci and I think most of them are quite satisfied.