Live in Southbend Lakes
About 5,100 people in 2020 on 4,271 acres between Florida's Turnpike and the North Fork, three quarters of them on the old platted grid and one in five inside the Tesoro and Veranda community development districts, whose assessments sit on the tax bill beside the levies, with a new hospital, a Publix and Jessica Clinton Park inside the line.
Southbend Lakes is the City of Port St. Lucie's name, on its Neighborhood Services map, for 4,271 acres south of the C-24 canal, between Florida's Turnpike and the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, down to the Martin County line. The 2020 census counted 5,090 residents there, up about 36% from 3,731 on the same ground in 2010: 3,665 on General Development's platted grid along Southbend Boulevard, and the rest in subdivisions built later, Veranda Gardens (801), Tesoro (338) and Vikings Lookout (227). Owners lived in 90% of the occupied homes, and 1,139 residents, 22%, were inside a community development district, whose assessment differs by parcel and was not read here. Much of the land was empty in 2020 and the Veranda subdivisions have been building since, so the count is the 2020 census and not today's.
Three kinds of place between the Turnpike and the river, and only some pay a district
The City of Port St. Lucie's Southbend Lakes neighborhood: feature 30 on the NS_NEIGHBORHOODS layer behind the Neighborhood Services NICE program, planning area 5, about 4,271 acres, clipped to the City's current limits as St. Lucie County's Municipal Boundaries layer draws them, which cut nothing off. Traced against the City's road classification layer and OpenStreetMap's canals: Florida's Turnpike on the west, for about 6.3 km from the Martin County line north to the C-24 canal; the C-24, the South Florida Water Management District's Diversion Canal, on the north for about 2.2 km east of the Turnpike; then a short line south-east beside Sandpiper Bay to the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, which is the eastern edge down to the county line; and the Martin County line on the south. Southbend Boulevard runs about 6.5 km through it from north to south, and Becker Road about 4.2 km across the south, from the Turnpike interchange east. The City's map puts Becker Ridge, Paar Estates and Whispering Pines across the Turnpike, Canal Pointe across the C-24 and Sandpiper Bay across the river. Jessica Clinton Park is inside, and the County's Spruce Bluff Preserve is on the river. All of it is in City Council District 4 and St. Lucie Public Schools' Blue zone, and all but 15 residents in ZIP code 34984; none of it is in a community redevelopment area.
The line is the City's map, and it is drawn wide. Southbend Lakes is one of the 36 neighborhoods Port St. Lucie draws for its Neighborhood Services program: 4,271 acres south of the C-24 canal, between Florida's Turnpike and the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, down to the Martin County line. Southbend Boulevard runs through it from north to south and Becker Road across the bottom to the Turnpike's exit 138. The 2020 census counted 5,090 residents, up about 36% from 3,731 on the same ground in 2010, few for the acreage, because much of the Tesoro and Veranda land was still empty in 2020. Both have built since.
It is three places. The grid: 3,665 residents on General Development's platted lots along Southbend Boulevard, with Jessica Clinton Park in the middle. Tesoro: land General Development planned and never built, which Bobby Ginn opened as Tesoro Club in 2005 with courses by Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson; it hosted the city's first PGA Tour event in 2007, stalled with Ginn's finances, and passed to new owners in 2022. It held 338 residents in 2020. Veranda, along the county line: 801 residents in Veranda Gardens in 2020, with Veranda Preserve, Veranda Oaks and Mosaic drawn on the City's subdivision map and no residents yet. Florida Coast Medical Center opened there, off Becker Road, on 9 September 2025, with 54 beds and a 24-hour emergency room, beside a Publix.
Tesoro and Veranda carry a second government on the tax bill. In 2020, 1,139 residents, 22%, lived inside a community development district: Veranda #2 529, Tesoro 338 and Veranda #1 272. A district repays the bonds for its roads, drainage and amenities through assessments collected with the tax, and they differ by parcel; Tesoro's and Veranda's budgets could not be read for this guide, so read the parcel's record with the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser and the tax collector before an offer. Every address also pays the same seventeen levies, 22.3097 mills for 2025. At ZIP 34984's typical value of $394,493 in August 2026 (Zillow's figure for a ZIP three times the size, not a Southbend Lakes price), a homesteaded buyer owes about $7,843 a year on the base exemption amounts, a landlord about $8,801, before any district. The City's solid waste and stormwater assessments add about $656, and Save Our Homes resets on a sale, so the seller's bill understates yours. The arithmetic is on the Port St. Lucie page.
The river is the eastern edge, and most residents are in an evacuation zone. FEMA's map of 2020 puts 17.1% of the land in the 1% annual chance flood zone, along the North Fork and its creeks, but the blocks of only 182 residents: 170 on a zone A block in Tesoro and 12 by the river. The reference point is in zone X. The County puts 4,245 residents in hurricane evacuation Zone B and the center inside planning area 5 around the St. Lucie nuclear plant. The City lists the riverbanks among its repetitive loss areas, Irma left 10.36 inches at a Port St. Lucie gauge in 2017, and a homeowners policy does not cover flood.
This is a place to drive. No bus stops inside the line: the nearest, on ART's fare-free route 4 on Port St. Lucie Boulevard, is 3.4 km from the center and runs every 60 minutes, and ART On Demand's door-to-door Zone 1 covers 3,892 residents. Stuart is about 9.5 km away, across the county line.
- Look up every non-ad valorem line on the parcel's last bill with the tax collector, not only the millage
- Estimate the tax at your purchase price: the seller's Save Our Homes cap ends with the sale
- Run the address on FEMA's map and price a separate flood policy, nearer the river especially
- Run the address in the district's locator: Becker Road divides two high schools
How Southbend Lakes got here
- 1891A pioneer settlement is founded at Spruce Bluff on the North Fork; little remains of it but a cemetery marker in what is now the County's Spruce Bluff Preserve.
- 1958General Development Corporation buys about 40,000 acres along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River and begins the grid of lots and canals that Southbend Boulevard runs through; it plans roads and homes on the Tesoro land too but builds nothing there.
- 1961Port St. Lucie becomes a city on 27 April, by an act of the Florida Legislature.
- 2003The City's Tesoro special assessment district begins billing for roads, reuse irrigation, stormwater, water and sewer; the City's summary lists it as billing complete, with 2021 its last year.
- 2005The Tesoro community development district is established on 10 January, and Bobby Ginn's Tesoro Club holds its grand opening. The City establishes Jessica Clinton Park on Southbend Boulevard, named for Jessica Lynne Clinton, who died in 2003.
- 2007Tesoro hosts the Ginn sur Mer Classic, the city's first PGA Tour event; the development later stalls amid Ginn's financial troubles.
- 2010The census counts about 3,731 residents and 1,635 homes on the ground of today's neighborhood.
- 2015Veranda #1 community development district is established on 23 April by City Ordinance 15-15; Veranda #2 follows on 9 July 2018 by Ordinance 18-30.
- 2017Hurricane Irma's rain, from 9 to 12 September, measures 10.36 inches at a Port St. Lucie gauge and 21.66 inches near Fort Pierce, the most anywhere in the state.
- 2020The census counts 5,090 residents and 2,116 homes inside the line; owners live in 1,773 of the 1,981 occupied homes.
- 2022Veranda Landing community development district is established on 25 October by Ordinance 22-84, and new owners take over Tesoro Club to restore its courses and clubhouse.
- 2025Florida Coast Medical Center opens on 9 September at 310 SE Veranda Falls Way, off Becker Road by the Turnpike: 54 beds and 24-hour emergency care.
A busy City park on the boulevard and a County preserve on the river
Jessica Clinton Park, 20 acres on Southbend Boulevard, is named for Jessica Lynne Clinton, who died in 2003: lit ball fields, tennis and pickleball courts, a lit turf field, an inclusive playground and a lit half-mile trail, open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. On the North Fork, the County's Spruce Bluff Preserve has two interpretive trails, one to the site of an 1891 pioneer settlement and its cemetery, the other to an Ais mound. The photographs here are of places elsewhere in the city, not either one.
What the map does not show: the County's layer lists a canoe and kayak launch at Spruce Bluff, but its own preserve page could not be read, so check the launch before you carry a boat in.
Elsewhere in Port St. Lucie, not Southbend Lakes
23 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 23 places, nearest first.
Method: straight lines from the population-weighted center of Southbend Lakes' 2020 census blocks, near Jessica Clinton Park, times a road factor, with a tiered speed model: honest ranges, not routed times.
Every gym within reach
The courts inside the line are Jessica Clinton Park's. Across the Turnpike, the City's Minsky Gymnasium and Racket and Paddle Center share Whispering Pines Park on Darwin Boulevard; the City's weights room is on the East Side.
- Racket and Paddle Center: about 4.5 km, 24 lit pickleball courts
- Minsky Gymnasium: about 4.5 km, open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Fitness & Wellness Center: about 9.5 km, at the MIDFLORIDA Event Center
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Robert E. Minsky Gymnasium open | The nearest City gymnasium, 8,000 square feet inside Whispering Pines Park at 750 SW Darwin Boulevard, across the Turnpike: two volleyball courts or one basketball court, open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for programs and rentals. | 8–11 min |
| Whispering Pines Park Racket and Paddle Center open | The City's court complex beside the gym on Darwin Boulevard: 24 pickleball courts and six tennis courts, all lit, open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. | 7–11 min |
| Fitness & Wellness Center at the MIDFLORIDA Event Center open | The City's fitness room with weights and cardio machines, at 9221 SE Event Center Place on the East Side: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. | 11–16 min |
| Jessica Clinton Park open | The free option, inside the line on Southbend Boulevard: two lit tennis courts, four pickleball courts, a basketball court and a lit half-mile trail around the park, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. | 3–4 min |
The free option is Jessica Clinton Park's lit tennis and pickleball courts and its half-mile trail, inside the line.
Two assigned high schools split at Becker Road, and choice below them
Every address is in St. Lucie Public Schools. High schools are assigned by address: the locator gives Port St. Lucie High, graded A for 2026, at the reference point and for 3,936 residents, and Treasure Coast High, graded I, incomplete, for the 1,154 south of Becker Road and in Tesoro. Kindergarten to grade 8 is choice within the Blue zone; Morningside Elementary, graded A, and Southport Middle, graded A, are on the list for ZIP 34984.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Port St. Lucie High School | St. Lucie Public Schools | 1201 SE Lennard Road, grades 9 to 12: high schools are assigned by address, and the district's SchoolSite Locator gives this one at the reference point and for 3,936 of the 5,090 residents. Graded A by the state for 2026 after B for 2025 and 2024. Run the exact address in the locator: the district's ZIP sheet sends 34984 south of Becker Road and Tesoro to Treasure Coast High. |
| Treasure Coast High School | St. Lucie Public Schools | 1000 SW Darwin Boulevard, across the Turnpike, grades 9 to 12: the assigned high school for the other 1,154 residents, south of Becker Road and in Tesoro. The state's 2026 grade is I, incomplete; it was graded B for 2025 and 2024. |
| Morningside Elementary School | St. Lucie Public Schools | 2300 SE Gowin Drive, about 5.3 km away. Kindergarten to grade 8 is choice: no address is zoned to it. It is one of the five elementary or K-8 schools the district lists for the Blue zone and ZIP 34984, with Mariposa, Northport K-8, Savanna Ridge and Village Green, and the only one graded A for 2026. |
| Southport Middle School | St. Lucie Public Schools | 2420 SE Morningside Boulevard, about 4.6 km away, the only middle school on the Blue 2 list for 34984, beside Northport K-8. Graded A for 2026 and 2025, B for 2024. The nearest elementary, Windmill Point across the Turnpike, is on the Red zone's list instead; the district does not promise a bus to a school outside the ZIP's transportation area. |
Run your own address in the district's SchoolSite Locator. The nearest elementary, Windmill Point, is on the Red zone's list, and the district does not promise a bus outside the ZIP's transportation area. The grades are the state's file as CBS12 republished it.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Highs near 23 °C and lows near 11 °C at Treasure Coast International Airport, about 29 km north, on the 1991 to 2020 normals, with about one night a year at or below freezing
- About 72 mm of rain, in the dry season
- The New York Mets open spring training at Clover Park, about 11.5 km north-west, on 19 February 2027, the first of 15 home dates
- The driest month on the normals, about 55 mm of rain
- If you bought last year, the homestead exemption is due with the property appraiser by 1 March, with proof of residency dated before 1 January
- 1 March is the deadline for the homestead exemption
- The Mets' last home game at Clover Park is 20 March 2027; highs near 26 °C
- Highs near 28 °C and lows near 16 °C, with about 77 mm of rain
- One of the drier months, with about four days of a tenth of an inch of rain or more: a good month for the trails at Spruce Bluff Preserve
- Highs near 30 °C, with about five days reaching 32 °C
- About 100 mm of rain as the wet season begins: check that the swale and driveway culvert in front of the house are clear, which is the owner's job
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November: 4,245 residents here are in the County's evacuation Zone B, so know your route out
- About 170 mm of rain, most of it in afternoon thunderstorms, and about 13 days reaching 32 °C
- Highs near 32 °C and lows near 23 °C, with about 18 days reaching 32 °C
- About 149 mm of rain, most of it in afternoon thunderstorms
- The property appraiser mails the TRIM notice of proposed taxes in mid-August, with any community development district's assessment on it, and a petition to the Value Adjustment Board is due 25 days after the mailing (8 September in 2026)
- The wettest month on the normals, about 176 mm, with about 19 days reaching 32 °C
- Irma's rain fell from 9 to 12 September 2017: 10.36 inches at a Port St. Lucie gauge, 21.66 inches near Fort Pierce
- About 159 mm of rain, and the North Fork runs high after storms
- Hurricane season has two months to run; about 133 mm of rain
- The City's stormwater assessment, $189 a year, pays for the canals and swales that drain the grid
- Amendment 3 on the November 2026 ballot would raise the non-school homestead exemption from 1 January 2027 if 60% of voters approve
- Hurricane season ends on 30 November; highs near 26 °C and about 77 mm of rain
- Highs near 24 °C and lows near 13 °C
- About 59 mm of rain, with about four days of a tenth of an inch or more
Every photograph in this guide's library is above
This library holds 6 photographs and the page has already printed all of them, each once. The credits are in the footer.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images from the site's shared Port St. Lucie library, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. None of them is presented as a photograph of Southbend Lakes.