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After visiting Florida for decades, I’d choose this gorgeous, uncrowded beach town over Miami any day

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In 1974, my grandma bought a home in Fort Pierce, Florida, where she would raise her three kids and live for the rest of her life.

Her house was surrounded by tall palm trees and faced the Indian River, an estuary where inland freshwater met the ocean’s salty waves, welcoming manatees, pelicans, and other wildlife.

Growing up, this house in southwest Florida was a kind of second home for my siblings and me — especially after my parents got divorced and my mom moved back in. It was a sunny, peaceful place where we were always welcome.

When my grandma passed away a few years ago and our family had to sell the house, I was devastated. Still, I typically return to the area a few times a year.

Whenever I do, I’m reminded how special this place is. I know I already have a strong emotional connection to the area, but I still believe that Fort Pierce is a true hidden gem.

With a population of 50,000 — compared to the millions living in the greater Orlando and Miami areas — Fort Pierce offers more solitude and natural beauty than other major Florida destinations I’ve visited.

Being in Fort Pierce feels like stepping back in time


The P.P. Cobb building and a bunch of palm trees in Fort Pierce, Florida.

The city’s downtown area is full of history and charm. 

Michelle Polizzi



My mom always reminisces about growing up in “old Florida,” the time period in her youth when the state felt uncrowded and underdeveloped, and you could have a whole beach to yourself.

There weren’t high-rise condos clustering every inch of the shore, and the only other people on the beach were their neighbors.

These “old Florida” traits are still alive on the beaches in Fort Pierce, where it’s easy to step onto the sand and not see a soul, save for the occasional person walking their dog. Even cooler than the lack of crowds, though, are the signs of living history.

Walking around downtown, you’ll see the P.P. Cobb building, built in the late 1800s, and the House of Seven Gables, which was built in 1905 and is now the town visitor center.

Standing at the waterfront in downtown Fort Pierce, you can look out at the Treasure Coast, named for the fleet of Spanish ships that sank in a hurricane in 1715, dumping their gold along the ocean floor.

I love retracing the steps my family members did when they were younger; it makes me feel connected to both the place and to my ancestors.

The sunrises and beaches are the best around


A sunset over the water in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Walking around Fort Pierce feels like stepping back in time. 

Michelle Polizzi



Fort Pierce’s official nickname is “Sunrise City” because its downtown offers a clear view of the sun every morning, unobstructed by high-rise buildings, with lush palm trees and nature all around.

There are miles of beaches to explore in Fort Pierce, too. Even if I do happen to run into a crowded parking lot, perhaps on a busy holiday weekend, I can simply keep driving to the next beach to find a beautiful, tranquil space to relax.

Some of my favorite places to go are Hutchinson Island South, Blind Creek Beach, and Avalon State Park, though I’m always discovering new corners of the area to love.

Convenient eateries make beach snacks easy

Since the beaches in this area aren’t necessarily tourist hot spots, you won’t find the snack shacks typical of urban boardwalks. Instead, you’ll have to bring your own food if you want to stay awhile.

Before heading to the beach in the morning, we love to grab lattes and pastries at Old Florida Coffee Co. in downtown Fort Pierce, which is just a 10-minute drive from our favorite stretch of remote beaches.

Archie’s Seabreeze is our favorite spot for lunch after a morning at the beach. We always used to eat here with my grandparents, listening to live music, talking about life, and chowing down on blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches and fries.

All in all, it’s one of my favorite spots in Florida


The author standing with her sister on a Fort Pierce beach.

Even if I didn’t have a personal connection to Fort Pierce, I’d still choose it over Miami or Orlando any day. 

Michelle Polizzi



After countless trips to Fort Pierce, I believe that the history and solitude here offer far better opportunities than what you’d find at a crowded beach in Miami.

I also know that someday, this region of Florida could become developed and busy like the rest — for now, though, I plan on soaking up as many sunrises as I can.




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Palantir’s Alex Karp has ties to a $46 million Miami mansion that was bought before his company’s HQ move

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Several months before Palantir moved its headquarters to Miami, an entity with ties to the company’s billionaire CEO, Alex Karp, put down roots in the city.

In June, Hibiscus East LLC purchased a home on Miami’s San Marino Drive for $46 million, according to property records.

Like several of Karp’s other properties, the LLC is registered in Delaware. It is connected to an attorney’s office in Manchester, New Hampshire, and an accounting office in Bedford, New Hampshire, both of which appear on documents from previous real estate transactions that are linked to Karp.

The nearly 10,000-square-foot newly built home sits on San Marino Island, one of the exclusive Venetian Islands in Biscayne Bay. A YouTube video of the home posted by listing agent Dina Goldentayer showcases the property’s waterfront and pool.

Goldentayer declined to comment to Business Insider. Representatives for Palantir and an attorney for Karp did not respond to requests for comment.

Last month, Palantir announced it was moving its headquarters to Miami from Denver. The company has not revealed publicly why it’s making the move. Before setting up in Denver in 2020, Palantir was headquartered in Silicon Valley.

“Our company was founded in Silicon Valley,” Karp wrote in an investor letter that year. “But we seem to share fewer and fewer of the technology sector’s values and commitments.”

One of Karp’s Palantir cofounders, Peter Thiel, bought a home on one of Florida’s Venetian Islands in 2020, and his VC firm, Thiel Capital, later opened an office in Miami.

It’s not clear if Karp, who is worth $15.8 billion, according to Bloomberg, is moving to Miami full-time. He owns hundreds of acres of land in New Hampshire and, last year, made headlines for spending $120 million on a monastery outside Aspen, Colorado.

A handful of California billionaires have recently purchased properties in Miami, including Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg. The real estate shopping spree comes amid an initiative in the state to get a wealth tax on November’s ballot. If passed, California residents with a net worth of more than $1 billion would be subject to a one-time 5% tax on their wealth.

Florida famously has a no-income tax policy written into its constitution.

“California’s a beautiful state, but now, because of all the political situations and all the tax laws, it’s just coming in our favor,” luxury real estate agent Saddy Abaunza Delgado previously told Business Insider.

Similarly, Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, announced a move to Miami earlier this week — on the same day a millionaire’s tax passed Washington state’s House of Representatives.

The rush has caused prices to balloon in the 305. Zuckerberg’s $170 million purchase earlier this month on the island of Indian Creek set a Miami record.

“The influx of billionaires from California” will cause “escalation of the market,” Ana Bozovic, a founder of Analytics Miami, previously told Business Insider. “The market ceiling keeps rising,”




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How Sergey Brin is linked to the latest Miami mega-mansion sale

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The latest mega-sale in Miami — a $51 million waterfront mansion — had been completed, and the deal has ties to Google cofounder Sergey Brin.

If Brin is confirmed as the new owner, that would mean four of the five wealthiest people in the world now own homes within about 20 square miles. Three of those purchases — those of Brin, his Google cofounder Larry Page, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — were completed over the past few months. Elon Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, is the only holdout.

The rush of tech titans buying homes in Miami comes amid criticism of a proposed wealth tax in California that, if passed, would subject residents with a net worth of more than $1 billion to a one-time 5% tax on their wealth.

On Tuesday, a deed was recorded for a home on Allison Island, an exclusive enclave in Miami’s Biscayne Bay. The $51 million sale was from MB 1 LLC, owned by Michael Burke, the chairman and CEO of LVMH, to Lagoon LLC, a corporation registered at a Reno, Nevada, address with attorney Michaelle Rafferty listed as an officer.

Brin’s name is nowhere near the transaction, but both Rafferty and the Reno address, which matches that of Rafferty’s law firm, appear on previous real estate purchases linked to Brin.

Alpine Bay LLC, which owns a Lake Tahoe property reportedly purchased by Brin, is registered to the same Reno address. Christine Wade, a lawyer Brin has used for several other property transactions, is listed as an officer of Alpine Bay LLC. A Malibu property also linked to Brin is owned by Dume Cove LLC, which was converted out of California in December by Christine Wade. A few days later, a Dume Cove LLC was incorporated in Nevada with Rafferty named as a manager.

Rafferty and representatives for Brin’s family office did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.


aerial view of Allison Island

Allison Island sits in Miami’s Biscayne Bay and is just a few miles from Indian Creek, the island known as the Billionaire Bunker.

Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images



Last month, the New York Post reported that Brin had made an offer on an Allison Island home that had not yet gone through.

The transaction was off-market, which means the waterfront property was not listed for sale, so photos and other details are sparse. The house was built in 2019 and has nearly 10,000 square feet of living space, according to property assessments. It features a cabana, a marble patio, a luxury pool, and a hot tub, all installed in 2019.

The price tag marks a record for Allison Island. Luxury real estate in Miami Beach, including hot spots like Indian Creek and Coconut Grove, has reached new heights of late, in part due to an influx of billionaires from California, real estate agents recently told Business Insider.

Beginning in December, Page spent over $180 million on three properties in Coconut Grove and moved several companies out of California.

“What just happened was that there was a ringleader, Larry Page, who closed on his property the last days of December, and that sounded the alarm for the others,” Douglas Elliman agent Dina Goldentayer told Business Insider in February.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Zuckerberg paid a record-breaking $170 million for a single property on Indian Creek Island, joining a small community that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Ivanka Trump.

Danny Hertzberg of the Jills Zeder Group was the listing agent for one of the homes purchased by Page, as well as the $170 million property on Indian Creek Island. In January, he told Business Insider that the wave of Californians toward the end of 2025 and into 2026 was unanticipated, but as more people came started to make sense.

“People want to be around their colleagues,” he said. “They want to be around people in technology and finance. So it’s made a big impact on the market.”

The prices have skyrocketed, in what Goldentayer described as a gold rush, as sellers sitting on exclusive acreage pretty much get to name their price.

“If they build it, someone will come for it,” she said. “I truly believe that. That’s what keeps me motivated every day.”




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Dan DeFrancesco

Why California’s billionaires are dreaming of going to Miami

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They’re California dreaming of going to Miami.

A proposed California wealth tax on billionaires has some of the state’s wealthiest residents looking at real estate in South Florida, BI’s Jordan Pandy and Madeline Berg write.

I know what you’re thinking: Rich people moving to Florida for tax reasons? What a concept!

But this isn’t about the retired doctor you know settling down in Boca or Palm Beach. These people have three-comma net worths and are looking for nine-figure homes.

Larry Page recently spent more than $180 million on three properties, and Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin are also reportedly looking.

That’s led to a massive spike in purchases of these ultramansions. In 2018, one single-family home sold for more than $30 million in Miami-Dade County. In 2025, that figure jumped to 19.

With its many islands and inlets, Miami also offers plenty of unique neighborhoods suitable for the ultra-rich. Madeline and Jordy mapped out all the areas billionaires are eyeing. That includes the uber-exclusive Indian Creek, which is also known as … Billionaire Bunker.

“Miami is the new BLANK” is practically a meme at this point.

From Wall Street to crypto to tech, the city has toyed with becoming the new hub for various industries over the years. Some companies have actually moved their headquarters to the region, most notably Citadel, and, more recently, Palantir. But often the hype passes quickly, leaving little trace it was ever there at all — like one of the region’s sudden thunderstorms.

But maybe that was Miami’s issue all along. Instead of becoming the new iteration of something else, it should just focus on its own thing. Miami has plenty of characteristics that make it unique in its own right, and an influx of billionaires only makes it more interesting. If nothing else, we’ll likely get some drama. When you bring together a bunch of super-rich people who aren’t used to being told no, someone is bound to get upset.




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