About St. Lucie County

Port St Lucie
Port St Lucie is approximately 120 miles southeast of Orlando and 120 miles north of Miami, along the Atlantic coast. A convenient highway network--including Interstate 95, the Florida Turnpike and State Road 70--makes it easy to travel throughout Florida.
To the east of the city lies the attractive Atlantic Ocean barrier island and beaches known as Hutchinson Island (bridges at Jensen Beach and Stuart, both a few miles east and south). To the west lies the Lake Okeechobee area, and its recreational options. The area offers plenty of golf and other outdoor recreation, as well as significant arts and cultural resources.

The area shares advantages of both the small scale of some of its Old Florida smaller surrounding towns and its own larger scale as a rapidly growing mid-sized city. Add to this its ready access to the metropolitan areas – the Palm Beaches, Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami – of the rest of Southeast Florida, and you have a recipe for an attractive relocation possibility.
Some quick facts
The Port St. Lucie (and by extension Ft. Pierce and Stuart) area has recently become a significant growth area in Florida, for both new permanent and snowbird residents, and for business owners and investors.

There are many reasons for people to relocate to Port St. Lucie, including climate, modern amenities, affordable prices, transportation convenience and accessibility to South Florida’s urban centers, and attractive business incentives.
For example:

The year-round climate makes for great living and working conditions. The average annual temperature is 73.2 degrees, with a drop of only 16.7 degrees between the extremes of winter and summer temperatures.
Port St. Lucie is a young city, incorporated in 1961; and it’s a young city in terms of its residents too, having a median age of just 42 years old.
Port St. Lucie, Fla., had the nation’s fastest growth rate among large cities (100,000 or more population) between July 1, 2003, and July 1, 2004, according to new U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.
More than 125,000 residents make up Port St. Lucie, ranking it as the 15th largest city in the Sunshine State. Projections for the county’s population, currently 214,000 are 314,000 by 2010
Transportation

As noted above, major highways criss-cross this area, making north-south and east-west travel convenient for both personal and business distribution purposes
Airport travel, considering the advantages of Port St. Lucie’s location outside South Florida’s metroplex, is relatively convenient. St. Lucie County International Airport’s commercial commuter service is rapidly expanding. Other nearby airports include: Vero Beach Municipal Airport, some 20 miles north of St. Lucie County, with round-trip daily flights to Miami; Palm Beach International Airport, 60 miles south, with 80 scheduled departures daily; and, Melbourne International Airport, 55 miles north, serviced by Delta with connecting flights through Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and New York.
Education

Extensive information about the schools in this area is online at the state's Department of Education (http://www.firn.edu/doe/doehome.htm)
Business Incentives

In its continuing efforts to provide an atmosphere that supports business, the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners assists companies with expansion or relocation expenses through its Job Growth Incentive Grant Program.
The Commissioners may issue grants ranging from a minimum of $1,000 to $2,000 per new job created in St. Lucie County. A minimum of five or more new jobs must be created in order to be eligible, with a minimum average county wage of $10.88.
Bonuses are also offered for companies that exceed the minimum requirements. For example, if: 75% of the new employees hired live in St. Lucie County; the company is a St. Lucie County "Targeted" industry; the company's average salary is 115%, 125% or 150% of the St. Lucie County average.
A grant to an individual company may not exceed $500,000.00 For more detailed information, go to http://www.stluciecd.org/BusIncentives.asp
Employment

The local economy is heavily services oriented, and the top 10 employers in St. Lucie County are:

St. Lucie County School District
St. Lucie County
Liberty Medical Supply
Indian River Community College
Wal-Mart Stores (includes Sam's Club)
State Government
Lawnwood Regional Medical Center
City of Port St. Lucie
QVC 975
Publix Super Markets
For more information, please see:
http://www.edcstlucie.org/relocation.html
In conclusion
If you like a modern way of life without all the crowding but at the same time don’t want too small of a town, Port St Lucie could be the place. It has some of the benefits of its smaller surrounding towns and yet has the advantages, for many people, of a place of somewhat larger scale.

To see additional information about the area go to (on this Website) the Stuart info links, and to the general information on Ft. Pierce, whose cultural life, parks, and ease of access to outdoor recreational choices Port St. Lucie shares. For a good general site on St Lucie county on line, go to http://www.stlucieco.gov

You will never find a shortage of things to do on the serene Treasure Coast.