Port Charlotte, A great place to live... - 9/6/2021

We have enjoyed living in Port Charlotte now 2 years. It is out of the hussle and bussel of Fort Myers/Naples. Still has the beauty that nature has to offer, and cute little shops here and there to browse through. Love this area and all it has to offer in a more laid back atmosphere.....

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An unfortunate place to wind up - 8/21/2021

Probably the worst decision I've ever made. The people are inept and rude at best, the food is some of the lowest quality I've ever had in florida and the job opportunities are slim. The rents are high for what you can get elsewhere, the city itself is dead, there is practically no shopping and the "beach" is a murky bay filled with rednecks smoking in the water. if you are a mentally absent, trump loving racist with a pension or job already lined up and no inclination do do anything with your days then Port Charlotte Fl is for you. if you have any political awareness, desire to be social and experience life, then look towards Sarasota, ft Myers, or bonita. same price, less stupid. or just avoid the headache all together and dont move to florida.

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Port Charlotte Living - 6/25/2015

I bought a really nice house in Port Charlotte fl with a pool on a corner lot 1 block from Sunrise park where u can put your boat in a go to the Gulf Ocean-I think its great here. Everything is close and convenient. People are nice like anywhere else -YOU just have to be nice.You have a really good choice or restaurants in Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda . NO WINTER! -who cares that it's hot. I love it! It's tropical weather for C sakes.Is living cheap anywhere??? NO it's not -so get over it! Get a better job and stop complaining.It's Florida not Alaska ! it's fantastic here.I lived everywhere in the USA and I love it here.If you don't like it here, go move to The Pocono's in Pennsylvania and find out what torture really is.

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Port Charlotte was a NO BRAINER! - 6/1/2015

Coming from NC, my husband, an avid fisherman, and I retired recently. We couldn't wait to pick out a town in FL to move to. Anywhere was fine as long as it was on the west coast between Sarasota and Venice/ Ft Myers area. Our criteria was: Limit 300K Gulf Access Pool View Open kitchen At least 1200 sf 3bdrm/2 baths in a Town with promise/growing Where we could get the most bang for buck/best value for the $ great fishing solid investment has to have local eateries plus some of the chains i love like Panara Breads, etc. and of course great shopping! The research began. I've interviewed, read local and statewide, blogs and studied every kind of data from crime rates to elevation rates, blah blah. Buying and moving to PORT CHARLOTTE was a no brainer. What a place to get an incredible deal on a house- still. It is our paradise. We were just getting ready to make an offer on a house at Cape Corral but I'm so glad we picked Port Charlotte. Crime is so low. It is transitioning - very much like Bonita Springs - into a very Tony Town! People here are beyond friendly. Love it!

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Port Charlotte - 1/22/2015

Port Charlotte is a region the focus of which is liveability. Internet accessability is the determinant of your lifesytle in work or leisure.

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Big City Trafic/Small Town Boredom - 4/11/2014

Port Charlotte used to be a nice sleepy retirement community back in the 80s and early 90s. Its population has steadily increased at a blitzkrieg pace though. You also have a huge number of seasonal residents that come down in the winter as well as vacationers who want to soak up sun. The result is you have a six lane highway with bumper to bumper traffic. Small side roads are full of endless streams of cars. And you aren't even in a city. Despite what is reported about cost of living, the cost of living is high. Its low compared to New York or California, but compared to anywhere else its high. If you buy a house, its cheap. If you rent, the price is ridiculous. Groceries are very over priced. The restaurants are mediocre at best, but have lines all the way out of the door. And then in the summer everything is dead. Unless you are a Doctor or a Nurse there isn't any work to speak of. This place is only good if you are retired, but even here I just don't like the steady increase of traffic. There's no public transportation here. Almost every time you buy something it seems to have an over inflated "tourist trap" price tag associated with it and the quality is lacking. Other than that its a beautiful town.

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Most depressing place I've ever lived - 3/12/2014

I don't think there are any words to express my frustration with this town. I unfortunately wasted 6 years of my life living in this place. Good for the commenters who have found happiness here. In my opinion, this is a terrible place for families and working age people. Not a good place to raise kids or find a decent job by any means. Good place if you're retired and don't have to worry about finding income. Everyone loves the cheap rent but you will only make about $20,000 per year here on average. A lot of the communities are drug run because of the lack of employment. The crime rate is just retarded here. Everything nice seems to be reserved for seniors only. Only in Florida! This was a nice place 20 years ago, now its just over populated and slummy in most areas. They've rebuilt a lot after hurricane Charley, but still lacks charm. There is not a scratch of culture here either. A lot of the natives I found to be childish, two-faced and inconsiderate. People here are very in to each others business and when you keep to your self or tell them to back off they assume that your stuck up or rude, which is typical southern idiocy. I'm not saying every native but a good majority of them, everywhere you go will have its share of good and bad people. But anyway this place is certainly not for me. There are far better places in FL to go. Unless you retired I do not recommend coming here.

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great place - 2/2/2014

I moved down here a couple of years ago from a wealthy metro area. The cost of real estate is much lower here than where I came from. There was only one killing per about 160,000 in Charlotte County last year and fewer incidences of violent crime than in the big city. Almost a third of the population is over 65. The local medical services industry has been built up over the years. There are three hospitals within five miles of my location and numerous medical specialists and general practitioners along Rte. 41. The weather is fantastic in the winter. Some people had winter homes in Port Charlotte and then went back north in April. The place is about 250 miles north of the tropics. I planted subtropical fruit trees and was able to grow vegetables in the autumn and spring. There was heat in the summer. I liked to work in the mornings when it was cool. There are fishing piers where people caught fish certain times of the year. I rely heavily on the Internet and that I could find almost anywhere. I traveled much when I was younger and at this point I cannot think of a better place as moving around is expensive. We do not have traffic gridlock problems. I had to go to N. Ft. Meyers to buy some things, but in time found most of what I needed in the local area or online.

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Not for kids - 1/13/2014

I was born in Florida and I am 55 yrs old and can honestly say Florida is not a place to raise children. And it certainly isn't a place to make money. If you are lucky enough to have a retirement/pension from your up north job,then Florida is a great place to retire, but it is my opinion that Florida is not the place to raise children, its just not geared for full time families.

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Best places to live - 7/2/2013

As far as I'm concerned, Port Charlotte is Paradise! It has been home to me for a long time! To all my friends and family there, You Rock!

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great housing and plenty of it - 4/9/2013

I have lived in PC for a year now and find it to be a great area for its cost of living conpared to mid-atlantic us. close to shopping and dining and all needed services. the weather is great year round. the local service is friendly and welcoming. looking forward to spending many years enjoying all the area has to offer.

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Real Water Quality Results - 11/30/2012

Port Charlotte's water quality results are grossly overinflated. According to Homefacts.com, when they were allowed to post true water study results, showed numerous cancer-causing toxins present in our drinking water that includes: Barium Cadmium Arsenic Cyanide Bromides Nitrates Uranium Radium Many more were included, but this is the short list I remember. True water quality results for Port Charlotte ranked a 2.1 out of 10. 10 being 'best' and 0 being worst. All chem's cause reproductive problems, immune dysfunction, organ failure, etc. The worst is "bioaccumulation," so when doctors say small amounts aren't bad--if they didn't build up or 'bioaccumlate' inside of you that may be true. But they do, so repeated exposure(using water for cooking, bathing, teeth brushing, etc) will absolutely harm you. Just sayin'....

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YUK!!!! - 8/20/2012

I have lived in Florida for 27 years and I grow to detest it more and more every year. Let's start with the weather first...It's ALWAYS hot here. You WILL NOT get the 4 season effect here. Many of you are probably thinking "hmm, I could deal with tropical paradise weather year round" but when it's Thanksgiving and Christmas and your siting around with the AC cranking and it's to hot to put up your tree or to cook a nice holiday meal for your family, you will think twice about it. Maybe if your as sick of snow as I am of constant hot weather, this place would be for you. Next...raising a culturally well rounded child here is really hard as there is little to no culture. Museums and good theaters are sparse and there is really nothing to do in most areas unless your visiting Orlando (home of Mickey Mouse) or going to the beach, which gets really old really fast. Actually, come to think of it, Florida has some of the most polluted beaches in the country...right up there with New Jersey beaches (Google it if you don't believe me!!), so I wouldn't want to get in the water here anymore anyhow. And let's not forget about the cost of living, which is ridiculously high and the fact that there are no jobs for any of the locals (probably explains why the crime rate is so high!). The only people who can actually live comfortably here are northerners who work up north for 20-30 years and then come down here and live off their pensions (which by the way is part of what screws up our economy here!!!). If I had it my way, it would be NO NORTHERNERS ALLOWED!! They mess up the cost of living, cause traffic jams, create long lines, take our Dr appts and Hair appts from locals in the winter and are in general, just a giant pain-in -the-you-know-what. If living in a state infested with snakes, mosquitoes, lizards, palmetto bugs, hot humid weather and old people sounds fun to you, then this is the place for you. I'd trade places with someone who lives ANYWHERE else in a flat second.

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The over all job and ecinomical situation. - 2/2/2010

Port Charlotte was a growing little place since I started going down there in 1998. I fell in love with Port Charlotte and wathced as it grew until hurricane charlie, and the four others that followed that year. It will bounce back the people gotta come back.

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We'll stay in Paradise, thank you! - 8/6/2008

We moved here full-time in June 2003, a year before Charlie hit. We searched up and down the east coast and finally discovered this little paradise in Port Charlotte, FL. We love the weather (hate anything below 70 degrees!), the tropical feel of the area, and the fact that it's not too big (less than 50,000 people) but still has all the amenities. It's nice that they don't build anything higher than 3 stories (no huge condos or office buildings like in Ft. Myers and Sarasota). The older homes from the 50's and 60's add to the charm of the area, but many are being replaced by newer Florida-style homes that are amazing (and can probably take any Hurricane that might come along in the future). It's not the little fishing village that Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte once was, but still has a lot of charm. Because it's so nice in the winter, we have to share our town with many "snowbirds" during the winter, making the roads busier, beaches more crowded, etc. But Port Charlotte is not the tourist attraction that Sarasota, Venice, Key West or the Islands are, so it isn't too bad. Besides, we've made friends with many of those snowbirds and miss then during the 3-4 months that they fly back north. Those that live here year-round get to enjoy many benefits during the summer months, like really cheap Golf ($10-$12 anytime), restaurant specials, summer discounts, beaches to ourselves, etc. Why leave Paradise?

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Charlotte County Rocks :) - 7/18/2008

We're hurricane survivors- and I think that is Hurricane Charley hadn't ripped thru here in 2004, I doubt that this community would be as tight-nit as it is now. I'm in a local band here, and we've played a million community events for charity, and there's always a good turn out, and there's always smiling faces. I've lived here for 20 years, and the culture here gets thicker and thicker every year.

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Port Charlotte is horrible - 6/15/2008

Terribly overcrowded,poor city planning, and crime is going up every day

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Florida is beautiful - 1/3/2008

I moved to Port charlotte in March of 07 to be with my childhood sweetheart. I was so captivated by the beauty of the water. Being from Ohio, we dont see views like that. Some areas are a little hectic as far as the driving, but there is always something to do if you like to shop and eat, not to mention the beaches! Everything you need is so close. The only thing I really didnt care for was that I felt, coming from a small town, I felt the people, were somewhat cold. You didnt get the feeling that if you were in trouble, anyone would stop or care. Some of the locals seemed to be stuffy. I really dont see how a young person could get a start there financially as it is very expensive to live. The jobs are very scarce.

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Thumbs down on "Thumbs down".... - 6/30/2007

I, too, want to comment on the "Thumbs Down" poster. Since the post is two years old, I'm hoping she has already left the state. To that I say, "Thank God!". The Port Charlotte area is no better or worse than 99% of the comparable size metro areas in the country. It has its good points and bad. With "Thumbs Down"'s attitude I suspect the quality of life in Charloote County improved immensely as soon as she departed.

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Want the truth??? - 6/26/2007

I moved here 15 years ago. At that time Port Charlotte was a sleepy fishing town. Since then a lot of doctors, etc have moved in because they could buy a mansion on the water for less than $500,000 (home prices were very affordable at one time--I bought a nice 3/2 with a big pool for $65,000 in a nice neighborhood). It has grown--big building boom and with that the prices of homes went up dramatically (my house would probably go on the market for about $240,000) right now. Hurricane Charley attracted many investors that came in and bought up destroyed homes from people who "wanted out". Now our real estate market is flooded; sales are very slow--because of it homes are creeping down in price somewhat especially with a motivated-seller (and there's many right now). So there might be some "deals" available... But consider this... Since the wave of hurricanes our home owners insurance has tripled in price-going from $800 a year (pre-charley) to $2400; flood insurance (not included) is another $300 a year (flood insur. can be much higher in other areas in PC). Our economy is not good right now--very slow. Prices of utilities are high, food is high--it's just not worth it. Many are trying to sell and go to NC, TN, SC, etc. The people were once southern-friendly but now it's a lot more "plastic" and clicky. PS. Yeah, winter weather is awesome...but you SO pay for it during the summer...long, long, super hot and humid summers...and the last couple of years you can add--dodging hurricanes. My advice: Look elsewhere!

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