What Are The Pros And Cons Of Living In Venice, FL?

As one of the top five best places to retire in the country, Venice dotes some excellent amenities, including beautiful parks, fine, sandy beaches, and lots of fun outdoor activities. While it is primarily thought of as a vacation spot, one might wonder what it would be like to live here. If this is something that interests you, it’s essential to know the pros and cons of living in Venice.

Venice is a beautiful coastal city that is home to over 40 different parks and many beaches that offer something different. In addition, there are 17 golf courses and plenty of places to go kayaking. However, the activities are the only great thing about the area. On the flip side, you have massive overcrowding, horrible traffic, and a very high cost of living.

When you’re debating on moving to any area, it’s essential that you’re familiar with each area’s advantages and disadvantages so that you know whether or not this is the perfect place for you to call home. Therefore, below, we’ve listed several pros and cons to living in Venice.

The Venice area is very well known for its variety of parks. Whether you are wanting to take your furry four-legged friend to Paw Park to play at the famous dog play station, or you want to take a stroll in Centennial Park, you have plenty of options.

There is also a park especially for children as well called Legacy Park. It boasts a train-themed playground that helps to harness the critical thinking capabilities in your little one’s brain. This is perfect for toddlers and younger school-aged children who are developing their skills. Around this park, you can find other educational and skill-based toys that help your child to focus.

There are plenty of other parks to enjoy, including Chauncy Howard Park, East Blalock Park, and City Hall Park. The one you choose depends on what it is that you are wanting to do for the day. Some have built-in barbeque pits with excellent picnic areas, and others have a lake in the center of them that you can fish in. However, it is Florida, so look for any crocodile signs before approaching any water or brushy areas.

When vacationers come to Venice, they love bringing their bikes because of the expansive bike trails that exist. They even have free community bike tours that you can sign up for to learn more about the area while getting your fitness in.

If you are interested in joining a tour, you can do so through the Platinum Cycling Friendly Society of the American Cycling League. This is where other people who love the bike will bring you on a tour that starts at 10:00 AM every Wednesday. If you move to Venice, no need to worry if you miss it, as it happens every single week and if you are living nearby, you can become a tour leader as well.

Moving to Venice, Florida, is an excellent choice for people who enjoy watercrafts such as kayaking, canoeing, boating, fishing, and more. This particular location is an ideal destination, especially for kayakers, as it has many different spots to do so. People from all over the world visit Venice to go kayaking, so how awesome would it be to have this gem in your backyard?

If you are not great at kayaking, or you do not know how, there are plenty of opportunities to take classes, or you can learn on your own. It is all about the way you paddle and hold your balance. Once you get those down, then you will have no problem!

Venice is known to have some of the finest sandy beaches within the entire state of Florida. There are multiple ones in Venice, some of which are kid-friendly or pet-friendly, and others that include an atmosphere where you can enjoy the sunshine and water in nothing but your birthday suit. People flock here for the beaches more than they do the Keys because these beaches do not tend to be so crowded as, say Key West, or Miami.

Furthermore, some beaches offer rental equipment so you can have access to a surfboard, scuba gear, kayaks, and more. However, if you live here and find that you love doing these activities frequently, you can always buy your own boat or board to hit the water.

Something else that is awesome about Venice’s beaches is that some of them are perfect for reef diving. For example, Venice Beach itself has a reef that is a must-see. You can go rent diving gear to see it for yourself! After, you could head over to another beach and enjoy a picnic while watching the sunset. This is the life that everyone dreams of, and it is one that you could live if you were to move to Venice.

Since Venice is a city that attracts a lot of retirees, the city is not complete without its golf courses. As the golf capital of the world, Florida has over 1,200 golf courses throughout the state, and 17 of those belong to Venice. However, if you are wanting to travel locally, you will have access to 79 nearby golf courses additionally.

If you like watching the sport as well, there are many tours that take place in the state of Florida, and some of them in Venice. However, if you go to play, you can expect to run into golfing legends like Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, and Ricky Fowler. The sunshine state draws these golf celebrities to the beautiful courses that line Florida’s coast.

This beautiful coastal city is so famous that it is drawn so many people to the point that there is not a traffic problem in Venice. Since there is not much available as far as public transportation goes, most people drive. We should point out that there is public transportation, but the population increase is so much that the system just cannot keep up with the demands.

So, you are going to have to time your travels around the traffic. Or, if you live nearby, you can always walk to the beaches or events you want to go to. And for those who are not yet retired, they find it easier to work from home than to try to keep up with the crazy commute. The streets are easy to navigate, but they are usually packed full of cars.

Venice is awfully expensive to live in. To buy a house, it costs up to $500,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath! So, for a family of five, you can expect to pay something around $675,000, and it may include a yard. However, the plus side of that is that the expensive homes tend to have private beach property, which you cannot beat, especially if you are living in Florida!

But it is not just the rent or real estate that is expensive. Florida has high fuel prices; food bills and electric bills are pretty high too. Overall, it is 2% more expensive to live there than the average cost of living. However, you have to think of the amenities too. Not everyone has access to numerous beaches, parks, dining options, and more.

Overcrowding is probably the most prominent problem when it comes to this beautiful city. The city of Venice expands 16.7 square miles, yet it is home to over 260,000 people. Now, that does not sound too bad, right? The residents of Venice are not the issue, though; it is the tourists. The city is not excessively big as it is, and it is already quite full due to the population. Now, add on 20 million visitors per year, and it is incredibly overcrowded.

In fact, within the next five or so years, specialists estimate that Venice’s population will rank as high as New York City’s population of 8.4 million. This is because each year, the city’s population doubles. The amenities and local resources cannot keep up, which is why it is so expensive to live there.

Related Questions

Is Venice, Florida, expensive to live in?

Housing expenses in Venice are 2% higher than what the average housing costs are national. Additionally, the groceries are about 20% more expensive, and the utilities are 6% higher than the national average. It is costly to live in Venice!

Is Venice, FL, a good place to raise a family?

The coastal city is the #2 best place in Florida to retire, and because of the activities and beaches, more and more families have been moving here to raise their families. There are plenty of activities, as well as excellent schools to choose from.

Has a hurricane ever hit Venice, FL?

Venice has been in the direct path of some hurricanes; however, they never entirely made landfall. Take Hurricane Donna in 1960, for example. However, oddly enough, the St. Patrick’s Day tornado in 1985 is what caused the most devastation to the city of any storm so far.