OT- Any divers from the Jupiter area?

[diver4life]

I have a job opportunity in Jupiter and I was wondering if any of you are from around that area. What the area is like, traffic, crime, good places to live etc.
I have done a few drift dives there but never ventured around other than that. You can pm me with info/opinions if you don't want to reply here.
Thanks,
Doug

[jimw]

We are about 25 miles north of Jupiter and often wish we were a little further south as we like diving Blue Heron Bridge in Riviera Beach just N of West Palm.

Lots of great places to live between Juno Beach and Hobe Sound, some not too expensive. Smallish town=better in my view.

[sportxlh]

I live in the north end of Palm Beach Gardens off of Donald Ross: most people assume my neighborhood is in Jupiter, so I can speak as a 'near resident' of Jupiter. I do most of my shopping in Jupiter, most of my diving with Jupiter Dive Center and go to Jupiter Beach when my wife and I want to walk the dog on the sand. There are a lot of pleasant parks in Jupiter (e.g. River Bend park) and some arts activities (Maltz theater).

I have no idea of the crime stats, but this feels like a very safe place to live. I've been here a little over 5 years and have never had any issues that you might not experience anywhere else in the country.

It is hard to give advice on where exactly to live since home price ranges are extreme in Jupiter. Admiral's Cove, a gated community, has many $1+ million homes. Abacoa has many homes in the $300K range and probably less for some of the condos, there are a few areas like Jupiter Farms that are not gated and a little more 'wild west' like where homes can range from the mid-150's up to $700K or $800K and houses are on 1+ acre lots but there are no Home Owners Association enforcing any sort of standards. By the way, I don't mean to be duragatory when I say 'wild west': I live in a neighborhood that is very similar to Jupiter Farms, so have personally made the choice to avoid a gated community.

If you don't mind driving to work or diving, you can find some great deals on homes and condos in the Port St. Lucie area. There are also some really nice but not terribly expensive neighborhoods in Stuart but the commute can be a haul if you are far from I-95.

Palm Beach Gardens (PGA Blvd) also has a range of home prices, but probably has more opportunity for less expensive homes and condos.

In both PBG and Jupiter, note that the age of the population increases dramatically in the winter with snow birds. Most tend to be from NY or New England. Depending on the vibe you like, that could be a good thing or bad thing. Anyway, the restaurants are more crowded during the winter, but slack off in the summer.

I completely enjoy living here after having spent time in Chicago, Detroit, Columbus Oh, Philadelphia and southern California.

[jupitermermaid]

Hi Doug,

I've lived in Jupiter for the past 23 years and absolutely love it here! Crime rate is low, and you have all kinds of options as to where to live for a large range of prices. Traffic is not that bad, as Jupiter is a fairly small town. You'll love it here!

Oh, and the diving is fabulous!!!!

[diver4life]

Wow thanks for all the info. Makes me even more excited about it now. I was/still am a little apprehensive about the housing affordability.
Thanks again,
Doug

[Amazz]

I live in the "Wild West" aka Jupiter Farms. We get all kinds in these parts. There was a news story about a year ago that home invasions are down because it's residents are known to be "packing." LoL! It's a great place to live and you can even have a cow living on your front porch if you want. Jupiter diving is great, the best on Florida. I used to guide with JDC, now with Blue Tang. Try Emerald for some real adventure. All good ops.

[j2s]

One thing you'll have to get use to down here is elderly drivers....5-10 miles UNDER the speed limit in the LEFT lane, w/the RIGHT turn signal permanently on AND a cell phone in their ear....Don't bother honking, they're deaf or they just ignore you.....Where is a good 'public transportation system' when you need it most ;( !!!!!!!!!!

[Splitlip]

I live in Jupiter. I'm by the beach. I wouldn't live anywhere else. All of Jupiter beaches were snatched back from developers about 20 years ago by Palm Beach County and commissioners Karen Marcus and Bill Medlin. I was one of their walkers. Every inch of Jupiter's beaches is accessible and lots of parking. We have just the right amount of "city feel".

We have the River Walk. Shortly you will be able to walk the entire length of Jupiter along the intracoastal waterway on one side and shops and restaurants on the other. Most of it is complete
We have great dive ops, restaurants, theatres etc. If you really needed to get more cosmopolitan, right on our south boundary you'll find Palm Beach Gardens and there very happening Down Town, Mall and Legacy Place.

Do some googling on the stuff I posted. If somebody is gonna pay you to come here, you'd be making a mistake IMO if you did not come. I suspect you are likely in the medical or biotech field. We Have Scripps, Max Planck and lots of spinoffs. Jupiter works hard to be business and industry friendly. Admittedly there is a big focus on medical, but we want to see all our business's prosper.

(Oh, also google "Dion; dog mayor of Jupiter Beach".)

For grins, I just did. I got like 10 pages lol.

---------- Post added April 13th, 2012 at 07:58 PM ----------

Oh. And as Amazz said above, Jupiter Farms has cows. Also big homesteads, horses, pigs, emus, etc. But only 12 to 20 minutes (depending on how far back you might be) to the best diving Florida has to offer. Plus the "Farms" has two really cool parks. River Bend is mostly kayaking and canoeing and (Angie help) the other is mostly devoted to Equestrian activities.

I don't know if it is still done, but one of my buddies who lived in the farms had a "membership" at the Jupiter Beach Resort. He had all this land West of town, but on Sundays he was chillin by the beach front pool and tikki bar (13 minutes. I clocked it)

[diver4life]

I'm flying in friday to check out the job and the area. Hope it all works out. Would love to be that close to awesome diving all the time.
Regards,
Doug

[sportxlh]

I'm flying in friday to check out the job and the area. Hope it all works out. Would love to be that close to awesome diving all the time.
Regards,
Doug

Good luck with the interview.

[Splitlip]

I'm flying in friday to check out the job and the area. Hope it all works out. Would love to be that close to awesome diving all the time.
Regards,
Doug
Let us know what you think of this little piece of heaven (as Perry Como used to call it. He used to live in Jupiter Inlet Colony.)

[Orlando Eric]

Man, woman found shot to death in car west of Jupiter » TCPalm Mobile (http://m.tcpalm.com/news/2012/apr/13/man-woman-found-shot-death-car-west-jupiter/)

Many residents in the area said they are fed up with violence and crime and are worried about their future.

[Splitlip]

That's not Jupiter. It's unincorporated County. A lot of federal dollars Poured in there in the form of CDBG grants. It much improved over the past 25 Years.

[sheeper]

we get spoiled living here.

[sportxlh]

That's not Jupiter. It's unincorporated County. A lot of federal dollars Poured in there in the form of CDBG grants. It much improved over the past 25 Years.

While technically not Jupiter, most people would probably call this area Jupiter, though it is just over the border in very north end of unincorporated Palm Beach County. I had a friend that lived back in that area and I would not have said that it seemed particularly dangerous or nasty. In fact, there are some really expensive houses just a bit north off of Island Way. Sad and bad stuff can probably happen just about anywhere: though is seems like these sorts of occurrences usually happen late at night (2 AM in this case). I work downtown West Palm Beach on Datura St. and Clematis St (one block north of my office) is a great place for grabbing a bite to eat or having a beverage. A buddy of mine lives in a condo, near my office, between Evernia and Datura on Narcissus; however, just a couple of years ago, some guy was killed right out side my office and half a block from my buddy's condo near the corner of Narcosis and Datura at 2 or 3:00 AM after a drug deal went bad at a night club located between Clamatis and Datura on Narcissus. I arrived at work the next day and looked out the window at chalk lines (actually, more like a temporary florescent paint) and blood stains. At about 9:00AM, a fire crew housed down the area. It was a weird experience, but I don't feel unsafe on Clematis or Datura even though there was a violent death steps from my office entrance.

I'm not sure the point I'm trying to make, I suppose it is simply that bad things can happen almost anywhere.

[Chipmon]

Ok, crime is everywhere! Richard Kreusler was shot dead in the entrance to his Palm Beach home many years ago too! Jupiter is safe, are there areas that I don't choose to go to? Absolutely, but that holds true for just about any area in the world right now. As far as diving, I firmly believe that we have the best diving in the continental U.S. here PERIOD. I love it here, I dive with Jupiter Dive Center and it is also, the best run operation around. If you are lucky enough to get a good job in this area, take it. If you don't end up liking it here, which is entirely possible, you will have at least experienced some excellent diving!

[sheeper]

personally, i would be looking to live nort of Jupiter. less crowded and more rural. I'm up in Vero Beach which is very small town (along with decent local diving). Little crime....no crowds, no traffic....this is paradise.
and i'm 40 minutes away from awesome dives out of Jupiter.

[djtimmy77]

40 minutes? How fast are you driving? It is 45 minutes to get from (near) JDC to the Ft. Pierce exit for SR70.....Vero is another 10 miles up the road. Semantics, I know....but gotta give the guy a realistic view of drive times.

[Splitlip]

I'm there with Timmy, Sportster and Chip.
I worked in Ft. Pierce for 2 years. It was an hour commute. But I suppose part of that has to do with the fact that I live by the beach in Jupiter and worked off Federal in FP

I don't know why Eric felt it necessary to mention that shooting unless it was to bust my balls for the heaven comment. :-). Jupiter PD is tops in IMO. I know and work with many of the cops including the Chief. I've watched them train. They have state of the art equipment and gear. MP-5's, M-4's, dogs ((including a sweet bloodhound named Sherlock), communications, dive gear (Scubapro), mobile command center and more. They are like the deterent presented by our US nukes during the cold war.

Because we have very little violent crime in Jupiter city limits. Last hold up I recall was about 4 years ago. Some thugs from Broward jumped off I-95 and robbed a check cashing business. The cops had 2 of 4 within something like 20 minutes. The other 2 were apprehended within the next hour or so between the dogs and the chopper. We had 2 murders in the last 3 years. Both were domestic and both perpetrators were not living here. We had an abduction which occurred on Federal property which again was was perpetrated by people who don't live here on somebody they knew from a school not in this town. There may be more, but the fact that I can't recall, speaks volumes I hope.
And...I'm with Chip. Jupiter has the best diving (can't say continental US, because I have not dived all the continental US) in Florida. This might spark a debate among Dan Volker, Wookie and others :-). I think all will agree however that Jupiter Dive Center IS the best around.

[diver4life]

Thanks for all the good info. There are always bad areas somewhere in a town but knowing where that area is helps. I did some drift diving including a night dive off singer island a while back along with beach dives at LBTS so I know how good the diving can be. I was wondering how bad traffic is around that area. Hope the weather is nice this weekend.
Regards,
Doug

[Johnoly]

. I was wondering how bad traffic is around that area.

I'm just a weekend visitor to Jupiter to go diving. The city main streets (706) are never bad and even getting stopped by a bridge tender is only 5-10 minutes. During January like all of FLA, you get your grandma's with one hand on the steering wheel doing a 10mph slower than the limit, but by March they have all returned up north as the snow melts.

The daily heavy traffic on I-95 is only way south down between West Palm and Lantana. North of Jupiter on 95 it fly's pretty quick. And there is an alternate by using the toll road which is rarely backed up.



Hope the weather is nice this weekend.


Saturday morning yes,,,,,later in the afternoon,,,ehhh.

[sportxlh]

......... I was wondering how bad traffic is around that area. Hope the weather is nice this weekend.
Regards,
Doug
Doug: I think the traffic is incredibly light, then again, I've lived in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and L.A.: all of which have terrible traffic. I have about a 17 mile commute to WPB in the AM and it rarely takes more than 25 minutes (that includes the surface streets with traffic lights).

As Johnoly pointed out, traffic in the summer is easiest since all the older snow birds go home and worse during the winter months. The volume of traffic is seldom an issue, even in the winter, but the quality of drivers on the road along with road manners and general road courtesy go down the tubes in the winter. I put fewer miles on my m/c in Florida, where riding is year round, than I did when living in Chicago and Detroit, where the riding is six months at best. This is in part due to my concern with the really bad snow bird drivers: then again, scuba diving also takes up a lot more time than when I lived up north.

BTW, I'm diving with Jupiter Dive Ctr saturday morning: seas will be 2-4, but given the likely wind direction, I bet will be closer to two feet.

[Splitlip]

I was riding very tricked Softail one January. The bike was very bright and loud. I was in the left lane of US1 just south of Indiantown rd. I was riding right of center to be more visible and to stay off the slick. I watched a blue hair from Rhode Island pull out of one of the condos to my right. She swung across to my lane filling up my mirrors and passed me on the left in my fargin lane!!!

She continued north across Indiantown, but I had to get to work and turned west. I did drop a dime on the car, but didn't have the tag number.

[djtimmy77]

The people in South Florida are the least courteous of anywhere I've driven, other than the northeast....but then again that is where a huge percentage of the drivers come from. The further south you go, the worse it gets, because you start mixing crazy drivers with the lack of courtesy. This is about half the reason we only dive the keys once a year, if that....so we don't have to make the drive through broward and miami-dade.

Traffic in Jupiter isn't bad 80% of the day. The traffic lights on Indiantown can be a bit obnoxious if you catch them when they aren't timed, but other than that getting around is very easy.

[Splitlip]

The most obnoxious signals in Jupiter driving east and west are Indiantown and Alt A1A, Indiantown and Military and to a lesser extent Indiantown and Maplewood and Indiantown and Johny's Landing. But they are all County controlled.
Some people say they want to give benefit to north south traffic for the snow birds. Others say since most of the traffic engineers live west palm and south, they just want to **** with us in north county 'cause they're jealous. :)

[ctwreck]

Doug, how did you like Jupiter? My wife and I bought a newer house in Port St Lucie a couple of years ago because the prices can't be beat due to housing crash and because it's close to Jupiter for diving. We are in the Becker Road area(95 exit 114) and only 25 min to the boat at JDC. Lot's of nice areas around Jupiter and great diving all down South Florida. I'm in CT but get down to FL every chance I can til we decide to move down full time. Lot's of good advice and jupitermermaid knows her stuff about South FL diving.



http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/images/statusicon/user-offline.png

[Splitlip]

Wow Doug. Did you catch the monsoon? Viz was about 20 feet. On the road!!!

[diver4life]

I was in my interview when it started. It stopped just as I was leaving :) Looks like the weather is a bust for us this weekend. We'll just drive around and check out different areas tomorrow. Man the color of the water was so sweet earlier today. I thought I was in the carribean.
Thanks again,
Doug

[Splitlip]

Yeah that would be my suggestion.
I'll pm you my cell phone in case you have any questions.

[Orlando Eric]

Look at all the locals. I myself am PSL. Gatlin and Darwin.

[ctwreck]

Hey Eric
Do you know of anyone that has a used Kayak for sale. I have been kayak diving up north and want to yak dive off Ft Pierce and PSL. I'll be down the May 4th -7th. Thanks

[Orlando Eric]

I got my kayak from craigs list for less than half price and all the accesories.

---------- Post added April 24th, 2012 at 06:36 PM ----------

No place is Utopia. Man shot late Sunday in Jupiter Farms » TCPalm Mobile (http://m.tcpalm.com/news/2012/apr/23/man-shot-late-sunday-jupiter-farms/)

[ctwreck]

Thanks, I'll take a look on craigs list when I'm there....
I'll be down diving with Capt. Conrad and Miss Conduct off of Pompano Beach on Sunday, May 6th if anyones interested...

[Danielle's_Dives]

some great shore diving all around there. Boat diving is good. I like the looks of Jupiter myself and am thinking in that area. let me know how it goes.

[Splitlip]

I got my kayak from craigs list for less than half price and all the accesories.

---------- Post added April 24th, 2012 at 06:36 PM ----------

No place is Utopia. Man shot late Sunday in Jupiter Farms » TCPalm Mobile (http://m.tcpalm.com/news/2012/apr/23/man-shot-late-sunday-jupiter-farms/)

Ah....Eric. It appears once more you are busting my balls. As you well know, the Farms is not Jupiter. If you want to discuss St. Lucie and Ft. Pierce, PSL quality of life compared to Jupiter or Northen PBC I'll play. Ever heard of avenue D. I was a Director up there with County Community Development until my wife got pregnant with my kid. I took a pay cut to bring my family back to Jupiter. How many Grow Houses have you heard of in the Town of Jupiter as opposed to PSL or FP. Compared to SL county, Jupiter is the land of Oz.

[Orlando Eric]

Splitlip-- i never inferred SLC is better than Jupiter. Obviously I see the crime here everyday. I just posted recent articles from the paper. There is no place untouched by crime

[diver4life]

Quick update. Should know this week what's going on. Finding a place to live without big$$$ might be harder than expected. We'll see.
Regards,
Doug

[Splitlip]

The 15 'Happiest Seaside Towns' in the USA - USATODAY.com (http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2012/05/the-15-happiest-seaside-towns-in-the-usa/690637/1)

[diver4life]

I would like to thank everyone for all the info but unfortunately the company and I couldn't agree on money so I'm back to square 1.
I was looking forward to diving, fishing, and walking on the beach.
Regards,
Doug