Questions about Spruce Creek for actual residents

Islandbrah

Islandbrah

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Islandbrah
My wife and I spent yesterday at Spruce Creek with a realtor. I really like the community. My biggest concern is small children and young families. Are there a lot of children in the area? I have a 15 year old and a 10 month old. We are planning on having one more. How about a mom’s social group? My wife is 31 and I am 42. Neither of us work so community social activities would be important since we are leaving our friends on the Gulf coast. We currently live on a golf course in Cape Coral. All of our neighbors are older and there are no children in our neighborhood to speak of. I’m looking for that place where there are 10 bicycles in the yard because the pack of kids are over swimming or playing outside. Kind of like when I was a kid. We loved what we saw but didn’t see many kids in the 3 hours we were there.
 
Islandbrah said:
My wife and I spent yesterday at Spruce Creek with a realtor. I really like the community. My biggest concern is small children and young families. Are there a lot of children in the area? I have a 15 year old and a 10 month old. We are planning on having one more. How about a mom’s social group? My wife is 31 and I am 42. Neither of us work so community social activities would be important since we are leaving our friends on the Gulf coast. We currently live on a golf course in Cape Coral. All of our neighbors are older and there are no children in our neighborhood to speak of. I’m looking for that place where there are 10 bicycles in the yard because the pack of kids are over swimming or playing outside. Kind of like when I was a kid. We loved what we saw but didn’t see many kids in the 3 hours we were there.
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Those days are gone for kids. Even up here in NY where there are kids everywhere. They don’t go out since social media is the only way they know how to interact.

And yes get your kids out of Cape Coral. Lived there over 20 years ago and it was a horrible place for kids. I doubt it has changed.
 
I spent two days visiting Spruce Creek in mid February.
Never saw any kids the whole time I was there.

Tim
 
Islandbrah said:
... Neither of us work so community social activities would be important ...
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By choice?

Not poking the bear, we have the ability to not work if we wanted to, but couldn’t stand the thought of not working at all.

I get being full-time volunteers, but in your demographic, your situation is a unicorn. We’re close in age and have 2 grown, college complete adult kids (1 Army officer, 1 teacher) and it’s difficult enough for us to find couples we can relate to.

I couldn’t imagine doing it if we were financially independent, too.
 
If you want your kids to grow up around other kids, find a new development of normal cookie-cutter homes in walking distance of a good elementary school. Once the neighborhoods 'grow up', the age distribution of kids becomes so heterogeneous that you don't get that 'pack of 10 bycicles'. Neither a golf course development nor an airpark is prime territory to find gaggles of kids.
 
TommyG said:
Those days are gone for kids. Even up here in NY where there are kids everywhere. They don’t go out since social media is the only way they know how to interact.

And yes get your kids out of Cape Coral. Lived there over 20 years ago and it was a horrible place for kids. I doubt it has changed.
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Really? My son is 15 now and he has always been outside and running with his friends. He has flown planes with me, rode motocross when he was young, fishes and been into bikes and skateboards etc. He has never been the one just to sit and look at a ipad or video game. All his friends are out running around also. They always have.
So your kids just sit in front of video games and their phone? LOL!
 
I must admit, I'm having trouble getting past the part where neither one of you have to work...envy on my part!

I can't speak for "Spruce Creek" as I have no clue where that is, however I live in a 13 year old edition of around 280 homes. Everyone had a 1/2 acre or more. 10 years ago there were lots of strollers. And now it's a nice mix of young couples and lots of pre-teen and teenagers. I have 4 neighbors where there's often a pile of bikes or 2..7 kids hanging in a group. My daughter is 10 and had 3 great neighborhood kids..and she isn't even in our school district.

We also have some pretty strict covenants which can drive anti-establishment types crazy. But then again, in the last 13yrs there's never been a junk car, junk boat or junk trailer sitting outside - so it looks darn nice and not dumpy.

I would think you would want a newer edition (15yrs or newer) of homes that aren't over high middle class prices...in the Twin Cities that would be $380K... $525K. Homes around 3800sqft to about 4500sqft. And near a quality school district (in our case Wayzata, Minnetonka, Edina, Eden Prairie, Chanhassen).

If you are very wealthy and move in a edition of $800K (or more) homes i suspect you're going to be mixed with lots of empty nesters and/or people without so many kids around.

15yrs old is a tough age for a kid to move.

Since you don't work you can always open enroll your oldest and drive him to a high end school. That might give you some flexibility on finding a younger, lively edition in a district that isn't your first choice.
 
Most people who raise kids have to work longer than you two in order to afford the indulgence of owning an airplane and living in an air park. That's probably why you will likely find the owner demographic is older than you, and the kids are long out of the nest and doing something more "urban" with their lives away from the parents.
 
TCABM said:
By choice?

Not poking the bear, we have the ability to not work if we wanted to, but couldn’t stand the thought of not working at all.

I get being full-time volunteers, but in your demographic, your situation is a unicorn. We’re close in age and have 2 grown, college complete adult kids (1 Army officer, 1 teacher) and it’s difficult enough for us to find couples we can relate to.

I couldn’t imagine doing it if we were financially independent, too.
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We have a 10 month old so we aren’t just sitting around. Our situation is unique and I’m thankful for it. I fish a lot and dive sometimes. IF I chose to live there I’d have a plane out back in a hangar and I can sure peel off the days in a shop. I could find activity groups in the area. Looking for the like demographic in any community is the real unicorn.
 
We were looking at Spruce Creek because it is 4 hours from here and an easy day trip. My wife won’t live up north due to the winter. I don't blame her I grew up in SWFL. I would consider TX, NC, GA, FL, TN, SC. That SE US area. Oh, and coastal. Gotta be near the beach. I like that you can drive on the beach in Daytona and New Smyrna Beach. With the baby, and not living directly on the beach or on the water anymore, it makes beach days more enjoyable. Ease of use. Short winter is ok. No snow dumping everywhere and digging cars out and the like. If it cant find a fly-in I’ll need to find a local airport that I can actually get a hangar at. KFMY is on a 5 year wait list. Would also need a decent sized city nearby for entertainment and large airports for vacation flights.
 
Residential airparks in general skew older, think retirement or pre-retirement age. Probably because pilots are older in general, but also because the houses and lots tend to be larger than starter home size, and also tend to be a bit more rural than the 'burbs (with many exceptions, of course).

You're smart to visit and get a feel for the sense of community, and how your clan would fit in.

Also, kudo's to you for not having to work; good on you for wanting another child at 42. I turned 41 when our first was born (hes now 3.5) and the thought of going through it again was tough to stomach. It ultimately didn't (or hasn't) happened, but I've mentally prepared myself for the granddad jokes that I'm sure to hear years from now...
 
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Yeah, I’ll be the old guy at high school graduation. Wife wants another so hopefully within the next 12 moths I’ll be done.
 
Islandbrah said:
Yeah, I’ll be the old guy at high school graduation. Wife wants another so hopefully within the next 12 moths I’ll be done.
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Makes sense. If my wife were 9 years younger I'd probably be in the same boat :) Thankfully we all fit nicely in a Cessna 182.
 
Yeah that’s my other problem.. which plane to buy. If the oldest goes off to college and doesn’t fail to launch then we can stay 4 seat. I’m actually in the active hunt for something. It’s almost as hard as finding the right place to live.
 
I can't imagine you're going to find many, or any, residential air parks that are full of kids and families. The demographics simply don't work. Think about it: pilots make up a very small percentage of the population. I'm guessing something far less than half of that number actually own an airplane. Best data I can (quickly) find shows that the average age of a private pilot is just shy of 50. So now you need to find (a) pilots younger than average, (b) who own an airplane, (c) who have the means and career mobility to live at an airpark, many of which aren't exactly centrally located to big(ger) cities. If you want a neighborhood full of families, you're probably better off finding a nice new suburban development that's as close as humanly possible to an airport (there are a bunch of those in Kansas City).
 
That’s why I was hoping that Spruce Ceek would be different. 1500 homes only half have hangar/taxiway access. The rest are on the golf course or woods setting. Was hoping that maybe with shush a mix and the size we would find atleast a dozen or 2 among 1500.
 
TommyG said:
Those days are gone for kids. Even up here in NY where there are kids everywhere. They don’t go out since social media is the only way they know how to interact.
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Where are you in NY? Here in the capital region, the communities where there are families with kids usually see groups of kids out together. I live in Albany proper, where we have great parks that are teeming with kids in the evenings and weekends.
 
I would think a modest middle class neighborhood is where you want to look. Stay away from neighborhoods geared toward retirees.
 
Not to derail the thread, but I'm almost 52, and I can't wait to retire. I HATE sitting at a desk, staring at a computer all day, and punching a keyboard. But, it pays the bills. Tried to do real estate for a couple years because I was so sick of IT, but picked one of the worst years to get into it (2005, right as the market was crashing) and had to get back into IT.

The day I turn 65 (or earlier, if I can swing it), I'm done. Forever. No more office buildings, commute, desk jobs, computers, stupid bosses, customers, runaway projects, etc. I don't care how bored people say they would be in retirement and they still have to do a little work, I am 100% sure I will NEVER be like that. If I could quit today I would and never look back. Throw the laptop in the trash, shred all my notes, delete all my LinkedIn connections, and say goodbye to the 9-to-5 world forever. Can't wait.

Anyway, back to regularly scheduled programming... I could see myself living in an airpark if it weren't that I love living in the mountains/foothills with plenty of privacy from neighbors. I hate having a view of neighbors right next to me, and I haven't seen an airpark yet (at least in Colorado) that didn't have unobstructed views of neighboring houses. So, probably not for me, although I like the concept of an airpark itself.
 
LoneAspen said:
Anyway, back to regularly scheduled programming... I could see myself living in an airpark if it weren't that I love living in the mountains/foothills with plenty of privacy from neighbors. I hate having a view of neighbors right next to me, and I haven't seen an airpark yet (at least in Colorado) that didn't have unobstructed views of neighboring houses. So, probably not for me, although I like the concept of an airpark itself.
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I still have a 3 acre lot in TN at an airpark. No neighboors to see if you build on the back of the lot. Hangars are T-Hangars, one mile from the lot. The view from the back of the lot is of a national recreational area (think park). Here is the community: http://bsfairpark.com

Tim
 
tspear said:
I still have a 3 acre lot in TN at an airpark. No neighboors to see if you build on the back of the lot. Hangars are T-Hangars, one mile from the lot. The view from the back of the lot is of a national recreational area (think park). Here is the community: http://bsfairpark.com

Tim
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The web site returns an error “too many redirects”?
 
I recently sold my place at the creek. There are kids, and it's kid friendly. There is a parent group focused on things for kids to do.

That said, There are not that many kids. Pilots and golfers tend to skew older and that keeps the numbers below average.

And I couldn't disagree more with the posters that kids don't get out and get active anymore. When I look at my kids, I don't know how they survive with their pace of life. They never slow down and are way more active than I remember from my kid days....
 
TCABM said:
By choice?

Not poking the bear, we have the ability to not work if we wanted to, but couldn’t stand the thought of not working at all.

I get being full-time volunteers, but in your demographic, your situation is a unicorn. We’re close in age and have 2 grown, college complete adult kids (1 Army officer, 1 teacher) and it’s difficult enough for us to find couples we can relate to.

I couldn’t imagine doing it if we were financially independent, too.
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You need a hobby. :) I admire your work ethic and thank you for continuing to support the Social Security Administration.
 
Lachlan said:
You need a hobby. :) I admire your work ethic and thank you for continuing to support the Social Security Administration.
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Making money is my hobby ;-).

Seriously, I have a few other things that keep me occupied as well and I enjoy them all.
 
LoneAspen said:
Not to derail the thread, but I'm almost 52, and I can't wait to retire. I HATE sitting at a desk, staring at a computer all day, and punching a keyboard. But, it pays the bills. Tried to do real estate for a couple years because I was so sick of IT, but picked one of the worst years to get into it (2005, right as the market was crashing) and had to get back into IT.

The day I turn 65 (or earlier, if I can swing it), I'm done. Forever. No more office buildings, commute, desk jobs, computers, stupid bosses, customers, runaway projects, etc. I don't care how bored people say they would be in retirement and they still have to do a little work, I am 100% sure I will NEVER be like that. If I could quit today I would and never look back. Throw the laptop in the trash, shred all my notes, delete all my LinkedIn connections, and say goodbye to the 9-to-5 world forever. Can't wait.

Anyway, back to regularly scheduled programming... I could see myself living in an airpark if it weren't that I love living in the mountains/foothills with plenty of privacy from neighbors. I hate having a view of neighbors right next to me, and I haven't seen an airpark yet (at least in Colorado) that didn't have unobstructed views of neighboring houses. So, probably not for me, although I like the concept of an airpark itself.
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Wow I am 24 and already feel this way LMAO. Guess I got a long ways to go!!!! Misery loves company ehhhhh?
 
CC268 said:
Wow I am 24 and already feel this way LMAO. Guess I got a long ways to go!!!! Misery loves company ehhhhh?
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At 24 you have a lot of years ahead of you until retirement. I've been thinking I could retire in three years for the last 11, so who knows when it will actually happen. But, I enjoy my the work in my career field (firmware development) enough that the time has gone by quickly.

You are young enough to keep looking for a position that pays a living wage and you are passionate about. When you find it, you'll find you never have to work another day in your life, but always get paid to almost play. Much better than developing stress related diseases because you hate your job.
 
jbarrass said:
I recently sold my place at the creek. There are kids, and it's kid friendly. There is a parent group focused on things for kids to do.

That said, There are not that many kids. Pilots and golfers tend to skew older and that keeps the numbers below average.

And I couldn't disagree more with the posters that kids don't get out and get active anymore. When I look at my kids, I don't know how they survive with their pace of life. They never slow down and are way more active than I remember from my kid days....
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My wife got some more info from the realtor and hopefully it contains the contact info for the HOA person in charge of the children’s activity group. I’d like the kids to be residents not transient grandkids. We currently have 1 teenager on our community. I don’t want to move again for atleast 7-10 years. I’m finding few children are in the 400-500k+ neighborhoods around here. Cape Coral has few opportunities. It’s either a retiree or a household employed by a service company for the retirees. No titans of industry or industry at all really. Lots of retail, at the store level, no corporate. I want more opportunities for my kids. Sure they’re are the exceptions but on the whole, this area for career development and high wage positions, is flat lining.
 
Islandbrah said:
...I’m finding few children are in the 400-500k+ neighborhoods around here. ...
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I’m not surprised. Most people that can afford to buy in that bracket don’t have the ability to pay for the house and save for college experience.

Most folks I know in my age group (I’m 45) that have kids still have kids in middle school. They ask me how I did it with two kids on a single military (officer) income.

Two cars, back to back, plus college for two simultaneously, not to count all the other crap.

My only response was through budgeting and setting expectations.

ETA: Though we can afford to splurge on a lot of things now, I find it hard to do so. We’ve lived well by being smart with our finances from day 1.

We’re currently looking for a plane. Though we can afford to purchase and operate/maintain our forever plane today, I feel guilty sinking that money into a depreciating asset in lieu of using that cash to buy a nice starter home and lease it back to our daughter until she’s in a position to either buy it from us at a reasonable price or sell it when she moves.
 
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Islandbrah said:
I’m finding few children are in the 400-500k+ neighborhoods around here. Cape Coral has few opportunities. It’s either a retiree or a household employed by a service company for the retirees. No titans of industry or industry at all really. Lots of retail, at the store level, no corporate. I want more opportunities for my kids. Sure they’re are the exceptions but on the whole, this area for career development and high wage positions, is flat lining.
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That's a general Florida thing. If you want your kids to have a perspective and opportunities, move to a middle class neighborhood in a university town. Find the best school district, find a neighborhood with a playground and pool and the kids will magically appear. Golf, fishing and flying are activities for old people with money. Don't expect to find some young engineer or cop with three kids to live in a 500k house on the golf course.
 
TCABM said:
I’m not surprised. Most people that can afford to buy in that bracket don’t have the ability to pay for the house and save for college experience.

Most folks I know in my age group (I’m 45) that have kids still have kids in middle school. They ask me how I did it with two kids on a single military (officer) income.

Two cars, back to back, plus college for two simultaneously, not to count all the other crap.

My only response was through budgeting and setting expectations.

ETA: Though we can afford to splurge on a lot of things now, I find it hard to do so. We’ve lived well by being smart with our finances from day 1.

We’re currently looking for a plane. Though we can afford to purchase and operate/maintain our forever plane today, I feel guilty sinking that money into a depreciating asset in lieu of using that cash to buy a nice starter home and lease it back to our daughter until she’s in a position to either buy it from us at a reasonable price or sell it when she moves.
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You only live once #yolo
 
LoneAspen said:
...delete all my LinkedIn connections...
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Wait, someone actually USES LinkedIn? LOL!

I thought everyone just had an account out of curiosity and then never logs in ever again except maybe once a year when supremely bored.
 
denverpilot said:
Wait, someone actually USES LinkedIn? LOL!

I thought everyone just had an account out of curiosity and then never logs in ever again except maybe once a year when supremely bored.
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LinkedIn never did a dang thing for me, but my wife has actually had quite a few recruiters reach out to her on there. I think that is a lot more common amongst sales/marketing than in engineering though
 
CC268 said:
LinkedIn never did a dang thing for me, but my wife has actually had quite a few recruiters reach out to her on there. I think that is a lot more common amongst sales/marketing than in engineering though
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Found and won consulting contracts via linkedin. Time to do it again, or start a new company.... Working for someone else the past couple of years due to work life balance requirements sucks.

Tim
 
tspear said:
Found and won consulting contracts via linkedin. Time to do it again, or start a new company.... Working for someone else the past couple of years due to work life balance requirements sucks.

Tim
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I’m just a noob so no one wants me
 
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