If you live/have lived in Florida....

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Liesje

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I'd like to move to Florida or somewhere southeast (maybe Alabama, Georgia, or the Carolinas) in a few years. If you've lived in Florida, please tell me where and what you think about it. You don't have to tell me it's hot a humid and there's lots of ferocious weather b/c I don't care. Just things like are there nice and affordable neighborhoods, job opportunities, etc. If anyone else wants to make a case for another southern state, go ahead, but it has to be within 1 hr of the coast of something you can't see across.
 
LLaBM,
Since I live here, I have to give you my 'hard sell' on Wilmington, NC. Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, - all right here in New Hanover County and all verrrrry familiar with hurricanes. :ohmy: Wilmington's growing quickly (in terms of population, housing, shops, etc.) but it's still small enough to not have taken on that "Big City" feeling. Traffic's a bit congested in town and the cost of living is a tad high compared to most local salaries, but the proximity to wonderful beaches, a generally temperate climate, and a good mix of people more than make up for the few drawbacks I find. But then again, I'm a native & probably biased. :lmao: Good luck on your search for a new home!
 
Well, you know I live in FL (Ft. Myers to be exact)!

Overall, I've liked living here (since 1985, when I was 3).

No matter how much I complain about the heat (which is the right of everyone who lives here), I absolutely cannot complain about the winters! I love walking around in shorts and sandals all year long! And I love being so close to the water, which I know you love also.

As far as neighborhoods and jobs, Ft. Myers (and area) is one of the fastest growing communities in FL. I had no problem finding a very good job when I graduated from school. And there are plenty of nice places to live (though sometimes property gets a little expensive around here).

I like my community a lot because there are things to do around here if you want to do them, but you can also go lay on the beach if you want to.

So yeah, big :up: for Ft. Myers :)
 
Wow Kim, everytime you talk about Fort Myers, it sounds good! You better stick around so I can come visit this spring. What are your avg temps for Dec/Jan?
 
I live in Tampa currently, but grew up in South Florida (Miami, Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach).

Florida is a wonderfully entertaining and beautiful place to live. If you are thinking of moving here, it really depends on what you'd like to have to do in your chosen city. If you could give us some idea, we could better help you out. It is a big state after all!

Tampa Bay is a huge metro area full of lots of culture, nightlife and miles of pristine beaches. South Florida is the same, only with a couple more million people and a second language - Spanish - it helps to have some familiarity with Spanish before you move here, if you choose a South Florida city.

As for the weather, and although I'm a native, the heat NEVER bothers me. The ferocious storms do. We have terrifying rain storms daily and as you've seen, the threat of hurricanes is always there. But as with many places prone to certain kinds of weather - don't let that be an overriding factor if you truly have a want to live some place! After all, I'm moving to NYC in May - look at what I'm up against!
 
OK, I'd prefer a city. Doesn't have to be huge, but honestly the first time I ever went to a town was last summer when I visited my bf's family. If I have to drive 45 minutes just to find a shoe store or movie theater, the place is too small. I live in a city of around 200,000 and I like having big skyscrapers, highways, etc, but it doesn't have to be this big. I'd also prefer somewhere on or near the coast. Right now I live about 30 mins from Lake Michigan, which is great b/c it's basically an ocean without salt! I'm a business communications major and have a background in computers so I'd like to be a tech training specialist (someone who teaches co-workers, students, faculty, staff, whatever... how to use the important software the school/company/org uses. Like at my college, we have a lady who knows everything about Microsoft Office and she helps answer specific questions as well as train staff and Prof's how to use the software for lectures and person projects). I'd prefer southwestern Florida just b/c I'm more familiar with the area and like sunsets more than sunrises :p I prefer hot humid climates. My ideal temp. is 80-85 as an average. I'm guessing everything down there is air conditioned for the summer anyway (I've never had air conditioning in my life and here it gets up to the low 90s in the summer). Since no one here from FL is complaining about the temps yet, I'm not worried. :) I don't really do a lot on weekends besides hit the beach and hangout. I'm not a big partier and I can't afford going to the movies or anything special so the nightlife isn't important at all. I have absolutely no knowledge of Spanish. I'm Dutch so I know a bit of Dutch and a lot of German :reject: I hear there's a lot of my kind down in Bradenton....
 
LivLuvAndBootlegMusic said:
Wow Kim, everytime you talk about Fort Myers, it sounds good! You better stick around so I can come visit this spring. What are your avg temps for Dec/Jan?


Ft. Myers and I have had our issues :lol: But overall, I really DO like the place! And yes, I'll be here in the spring :)


Avg. temps are usually upper 60s/70s in Dec/Jan. Though we've been having some colder winters the past few years. I say "winter" but what I really mean is a couple of days in January are typically down in the 30s/40s. Then we jump right back into summer lol
 
LivLuvAndBootlegMusic said:
I'm guessing everything down there is air conditioned for the summer anyway (I've never had air conditioning in my life and here it gets up to the low 90s in the summer).


:shock:

Yes, everything down here is air-conditioned! I would die without it, though the heat is nice some of the time :)
 
what an ironic time to start a thread about moving to florida! i lived in orlando for ~8 years and cape canaveral for 2. i was lucky and there were only like two hurricanes when i lived there. andrew which only gave us lots of rain (still lived in orlando so we just got the outskirts) and gordon, which also gave us lots of rain and i think hail too.

orlando is an ugly, sprawling city now. it was bad when i lived there and it's apparently gotten a lot worse since i moved. and trust me, living near disney and universal gets REALLY old really fast. it's not like you want to go there every weekend; going a couple times a year (go october-march when it's off-season, and cheaper iirc) is enough.

as for cape canaveral, i don't know. apparently the area i lived in went kinda downhill and now no one really lives there. typical suburban crap where people flock there, watch the land values plummet, then go further away from the city. as much as i love florida, i don't know if i'd wanna move back. :huh:
 
hippy said:
Well, you know I live in FL (Ft. Myers to be exact)!

Overall, I've liked living here (since 1985, when I was 3).

No matter how much I complain about the heat (which is the right of everyone who lives here), I absolutely cannot complain about the winters! I love walking around in shorts and sandals all year long! And I love being so close to the water, which I know you love also.

As far as neighborhoods and jobs, Ft. Myers (and area) is one of the fastest growing communities in FL. I had no problem finding a very good job when I graduated from school. And there are plenty of nice places to live (though sometimes property gets a little expensive around here).

I like my community a lot because there are things to do around here if you want to do them, but you can also go lay on the beach if you want to.

So yeah, big :up: for Ft. Myers :)

I figured I should chime in here, since I grew up in Cape Coral and live in Fort Myers now. This place is growing at an insane rate, but by no means would I consider us a big city. Landwise, Cape Coral and Fort Myers are enormous. Hippy is right, the winters here pretty much make up for the summer heat. The beaches are close by, which is nice. Everyone here is from everywhere else, so there is a different sense of community than you find up north.
 
I grew up in Orlando but moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1995. And I love it over here! Beautiful beaches and a very artsy culture. Tampa just built a new amphitheater which will be attracting a lot more concerts too. And that is a must have for me, because I am such a concert junkie! The Ft Myers area is really nice too but they are a little remote from the big tours. For example, in 2001, U2 only came to Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. Both of which are about a 2 hour drive from Ft Myers. So for me, being in a metropolitan area that gets concerts is a BIG selling point.
 
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