Moving to Florida, need some info

[laxlover_bill369]

Well I'm moving this year and was wondering what area is nice (low crime, good schools). Also where you live, is it nice. I am thinking Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers suburbs with the first 2 being more my kind of area. Thanks, any thing will help.

[kturock]

Orlando. High $$, low wages.
Disney/Universal owns the place.
Tourists all over all the time. Bad traffic. Hotter in the summer. More tornados.

Tampa is a bit better. More rain. A bit cooler. More hurricanes.

Most all of Flrida; No jobs. No $$ in the jobs that are here. It's a 'right to work' state. You have no rights as a worker and can be fired at anytime for any reason.

Tampa and all of mid-Florida are now being swallowed by sinkholes.
Florida is mostly sand and swamp. Drain the swamps and the ground settles.

All of the areas have good and bad neighborhoods. None have good schools. Florida is in the bottom 5 for education.
Insurance; car, house, life, medical; is expensive.
Medical care is expensive and there is lots of fraud and quacks.

My in-laws live outside of Tampa. My wife used to live outside of Orlando.

The humidity is always high. So is the heat.

[MagickalMemories]

Oh, kturock! You're such an optimist... always looking on the bright side!
; )


Eric

[3eland]

I actually LOL'd in rl.. and then proceeded to share Kturock's post to my DnD group (I was checking Btown while we were having a break)... so good.

[kturock]

I forgot to say, we're usually inundated with... Canadians.. Seems, the colder it gets up there...the more that show up down here. [but at least they go home...unlike.....]
The New Yorkers.. but they seem to stay here and not go home. They buy houzas down herea and complain on how bad everything iz vs New York.

Ok.. most of that was supposed to be humorous, but seriously, Florida has loads of Transients. A lot of fly-by-night companies, scams and scammers.

Southern Florida has people from the islands and South America. All of Florida has more people from more states in the US than everywhere but maybe New York.

The drivers are the worst. They come from everywhere and because Florida doesn't have such bad weather, they forget how to drive and only bring their bad habits. Car insurance rivals California. At one point my county had a higher probability of 2 Rolls Royces running into each other than anywhere else.

I've been in Florida since I was 12, 1972. I've seen lots of people move here and love it. Others move here and hate it; some waiting to go back. [after the kids grow up. the divorce finalizes. after they retire.] I know people who have left because of various reasons. $, jobs, $, hurricanes, $. Did I mention money? You can travel 40 miles and gas is 20-40 cents less a gallon. Houses are 1/2 to 3/4 of other areas. Same with insurances and other costs. Also be prepared to drive everywhere. They is only a little bit of mass transit; buses and a couple trains. Driving is at least 30 minutes to anywhere and expect to drive an average of 15000+ miles a year to commute to/from work. 45 minutes to 1 hour is average commute time with 45- 60 miles. Unless you get lucky. Roads are always over crowded, since no one wants to pay to build new roads or increase/improve the existing ones. Developers don't want to lose money from selling $$$ homes to build roads.

Florida has alot of rural areas. I have neighbors who own horses and another who raises goats, on their property; just a couple hundred feet away. Florida used to be the 2nd largest cattle ranching state. And the largest citrus growing state. Also a large variety of other fruits and vegetables. With urban growth/sprawl, a lot of farms and groves have sold out to developers.

It is the tropics. When it rains, it comes down hard and fast, and sometimes just on one side of the street. It moves like a wave. It usually dries off in minutes. Then the humidity is back up about 95%+. Rain of 3-5 inches at a time is standard. Driving in rain is like driving on ice. It's like a blizzard, with zero visabillity.

Mosquitoes and roaches can grow to be huge. There are all types of poisonous insects and snakes in Florida. Look up the coral snake, water moccasins, pygmy rattlers and the Brown Recluse and Black Widow Spiders. There's also a 'walking stick' bug that sprays a irritant if it feels threatened. There are also all types of water fowl. Birds of all colors, shapes and sizes. Oh yeah, we have alligators and crocodiles.

Yes, the weather is usually beautiful. No snow for half the state, although it did snow in my area, which is below the frost line, once in 1976/7. It melted as soon as it hit the ground.
A lot of areas are classified as flood zones. That's another insurance you might be required to buy if you buy a house. There are high 'impact' fees to register your car. Your 1st year of property tax is higher, since you're not a resident. You get that for living here 1 year. Then you taxes increase every year. That's not unusual, but you start at a higher point than a resident.
Non-residents students pay more for college tuition.

The areas you are interested in moving, are some of the biggest cities, with the highest prices. Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm beach rival them.

It might sound negative, but I've seen to many people come here and get mad 'it's not like back home'.
People are rude and mean here. It isn't the "true South'. Sothern Hosipitality end in northern Florida.
I had a teacher in collge describe Florida like this; "Take the US and shake it like a rug. All the dirt, fruits & nuts fall to the bottom. South Florida and southern California". No state income taxes, but higher gas taxes. Higher fees/taxes on a lot of services.
Yes the heat in July, August and September is unbeliveable. Upper 90's with humidity the same.
But you'll only nead a couple pairs of long pants and only 1 heavy coat.

[MagickalMemories]

Oh yeah, we have alligators and crocodiles.

You forgot the giant Feral Pigs... and the pythons large enough to eat all 3 of them!

Eric

[kturock]

Feral pigs are called hogs. They're usually in the wild areas.
We have some wolves and the Florida Panthers also.

[Tryntius]

Being a resident of Orlando, the job market is actually coming back a bit. And if you don't mind working for an attraction or hotel, those jobs are pretty easy to acquire. Plus we have a metric ton of call center. The jobs may suck but the pay is decent for entry level and the work is steady.. And yeah, the drivers suck.

[MagickalMemories]

Feral pigs are called hogs. They're usually in the wild areas.
We have some wolves and the Florida Panthers also.

Must be a regional thing. We call them Feral Pigs.

Oh, and don't forget kudzu; the plant that will swallow America!

Eric

[laxlover_bill369]

I have been down there and loved it. The prices don't scare me that much because after all I live in Maryland. The jobs up here are quite bad comparatively. I did us vs. FL Craigslist job search and it seem if you are not in the internet or finance Florida has a tons more jobs. Schools are comparative but most likely we will still home school even though Hillsborough has better "special" education programs. House prices up here are stupid, a $250k would be valued at $1M up here. Also the areas we are looking at are close to the city but not built up. Lutz, land o lakes seem good, May be port Richie. Thank you for the information. If you have any more info it would help.

[MagickalMemories]

Why Florida?

Eric

[kturock]

Why Florida?

Eric

Cause it's not misery, I mean Missouri.

[kturock]

Feral pigs are called hogs. They're usually in the wild areas.
We have some wolves and the Florida Panthers also.

Must be a regional thing. We call them Feral Pigs.

Oh, and don't forget kudzu; the plant that will swallow America!

Eric

I don't know how big your pigs get, but our hogs can fill the back of a full size pick up truck.
My neighbor across the streat has hunted them in the nearby area and his was small at only 300 pounds.

The previous owner of that same house was a hunter also. He used to trap the hogs and relocate them; from residental areas to wild areas. I recall one he brought home 1 night. It was bouncing the truck around while it was in a cage that filled the truck bed. It gored him and 1 of the dogs. Both needed stitches. I think it was 400-500 pounds. And mean. it ended up on some land in Northern Florida.

Kudzu doesn't grow in the southern part of the state. Northern part is over run with it.

[kturock]

I have been down there and loved it. The prices don't scare me that much because after all I live in Maryland. The jobs up here are quite bad comparatively. I did us vs. FL Craigslist job search and it seem if you are not in the internet or finance Florida has a tons more jobs. Schools are comparative but most likely we will still home school even though Hillsborough has better "special" education programs. House prices up here are stupid, a $250k would be valued at $1M up here. Also the areas we are looking at are close to the city but not built up. Lutz, land o lakes seem good, May be port Richie. Thank you for the information. If you have any more info it would help.

Maybe in the middle of the state. My wife has been out of work for 3 years, here in souther Florida. Unempolyment is above the US average, but that's only counting people who are collecting unemployment benefit, not the actual unemployed. There are also loads of people who are under-employed. Working at a minimum wage job with degrees going to waste. They laid off all the teachers, so she lost that and couldn't get in as a substitute. She was a social worker, but that's been privatized and they change comapnies every contract for poor service.

The medical field is growing in all areas. Pharmacologists and pharmacy techs are in demand. Very good starting money there. Even Walmart pays them well. ANd theres a drug store every couple blocks as well as in the grocery stores. Even needs their meds.

Lutz, Apoka and places like that are still rural and are more South Georgia than Florida. [similiar socio-economic, politcal & religious views]

Altamone and Orlando proper are bad.

Tampa is more like Orlando than Lutz.

[Norrec65]

Im military stationed in Pensacola right now - but I grew up in Merritt Island and loved it. Central Florida is really nice - check out palm beach/melbourne or even wintergarden if you are trying to be closer to a city. Just dont go to Pensacola.... old military retiree's that can not drive, drugs, and nothing to do but drink. Havent tried to break into the gaming community here yet, but I hear they opened a GW in palm beach I think? So if your a 40k player that may spark interest in the area.