Moving to Florida...New Port Richey

[Bladestar5]

We are seriously thinking of moving to the New Port Richey area of Florida. My in-laws live there. Does anyone live near that area? I have some questions that maybe a mom would be able to answer. Dh parents' are older, and might not pay attention to the kind of things I am looking for in that area, such as discount food stores, and good daycare, doctors, etc....

[camillemartin]

NPR is growing. There are a lot of newer areas that are nice, but overall the county is a little...redneck? (No offense, but I'm a NYer)
Still, it is close to Clearwater and Tampa where you can find whatever you are looking for. You will be able to find everything, you may just have to look harder. Stick close to the coastline if you can. The weather is so awesome, it is hard to be down when the sun is shining.

[Ani & Cam's Mom]

I don't live near there (hopefully will be moving to Florida... somewhere in Florida... soon), but my aunt and uncle and my grandmother live in NPR. I LOVE it there. Any questions you have I can ask my aunt if you want. We'll be there in July for Grandmomma's 80th birthday :)

[mama2annabelle]

Hi Bladestar,

I live in New Port Richey. It used to be a largely older community full of retired people and snowbirds, but as someone else said...it is growing very rapidly. The property values are skyrocketing! There are many new neighborhoods popping up as you drive eastward. The area along the coastline and along US 19(the major highway) is much older and kind of run down, but as you go inland everything is newer and really nice.

As far as good doctors go...I drive 30 minutes down to Clearwater to take my DD to a wonderful AP friendly, natural-minded pediatritian. I tried 2 different peds. in this area and was unhappy with both.

I don't really know anything about the daycares.

There is a Grocery Bargain Discount store that just opened up in NPR. There is also a U-Save. I have been to both and both carry a large selection of stuff. Grocery Bargain Discount even has a meat department and a large produce selection. (I don't remember if U Save has these). Unfortunately neither have any organics or natural type foods at all. There is a decent Natural Food Store in the area and a really nice one in Palm Harbor (about 20 minute drive). There is also a large organic produce co-op that we are members of that is run through my church.

Feel free to PM me with any more specific questions you have. I've lived in New Port Richey for only a few years, but I've live in the surrounding area most of my life so I'm pretty familiar with most things around here.
:)

[camillemartin]

I'm curious who is the AP you found, I have not found one I like. Also there is Judys Natural Foods on US 19 in NPR (or is it Holiday) I think it's teh shopping center at Moog Rd. I love living in Florida. I did a brief stint in Trintiy in NPR but I did not like it there. I need to be near the water, not the cows!

[mama2annabelle]

Dr. Jackson-Curtis in Clearwater (Countryside area). She is awesome! Very supportive of extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping and very into nutrition. We don't vaccinate and she is okay with that. I highly recommend her to everyone with kids. She really takes time to get to know each family; every visit we've had with her had been at least 30 minutes long. Most ped's (at least in our experience) spend only 5-10 minutes with patients.

Judy's Natural Foods in Holiday--that's the "decent" one I was talking about. Pretty small and not a large organic produce selection. But it's better than none at all. The "really nice" one I was talking about is Palm Harbor Natural Foods...they have pretty much everything. It's much further for me than Judy's, but worth the drive. Plus their prices are a little better, probably b/c they are larger.

I not too far from Trinity. I love it here. I would love to live close to the water. I grew up within walking distance to the beach and really miss that, but I'm so paranoid about hurricanes. When we were looking for houses one of my requirements was NOT in an evacuation zone or flood zone. Our first house was closer to the water and our insurance was sky high b/c we had to have flood coverage. It's nice here because it cheaper and there's not as much traffic. Where do you live?? Sounds like you're pretty close.

[camillemartin]

I live in Palm Hbr, I go to PH Nat foods all the time. When I lived in Pasco I used Judys. I stopped there recently and they seem to have more stuff now and are growing. I don't think I know that Dr , but I saw an AP named Dr. Jackson in Palm Harbor and I didn't like her, do you think she could be the same one?I think her first name was Adrienne. I do not like the pediatricians here either. I would like to find a good dr of integrated medicine, but so far no luck. How many kids do you have? I have just one, Jake. He will be 3 next month. I am a single mother, I don't remember if I told you all this already. Today I went to Parent University at Countryside High School and it was GREAT! A wealth of resources and information. I took 5 mini classes for only $10!!

[mama2annabelle]

Our Dr.s first name is Danuta. Their office is just south of Curlew on US 19.
What is the Parent University at Countryside High School? I've never heard of it. It's not very close to me, but I'm always looking for fun (and inexpensive) stuff for us to do.

I'm going to PM you about a local AP group...

[camillemartin]

There we 78 sessions on different parenting topics. You got to take 5 sessions for $10. All the instructors were volunteers from community agencies. All the sponsers had booths you could visit for info and freebies. There was also snacks and lunch and a book fair. It was from 7-3pm and this is the 4th or 5th annual, so they will have it again next year. There was a lot of info and resources. Definitely worth cking out.