With visitors bundled up along the riverfront in downtown Stuart, Tuesday may not have been called "chamber of commerce" weather.
But Joe Catrambone would disagree.
“We are the garden spot of the world," he says brightly.
The president of the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce distributed to his 1,500 members the results of a survey just released by SmartAsset that listed Stuart as one of the top 10 places to retire in Florida.
“Certainly does a lot for our ego," says Catrambone, who has been in Martin County since 1989.
Vero Beach joined Stuart as the only area cities in the top 10. Both rank in the top 15 nationally.
The survey factored in things like tax rates, recreation centers, percentage of seniors, and health care. Catrambone says he’s noticing more baby boomers coming here. “Our retirees are younger and younger and even if they’re not young in age, they’re young at heart and young in spirit.”
Tom and Sandy Feeley would agree Stuart’s a great place to be. They retired here five years ago from Connecticut.
“Because it’s got a downtown. A lot of other places it’s just a crossroads and then they call it a center of town. This has a beautiful center of town. The shops," said Tom Feeney.
But they wouldn’t mind keeping this a secret.
“I almost wish they didn’t broadcast that because we don’t want it to change," added Sandy Feeney.
