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Mass has one of the highest eletricty(sp) rates in the country, it's considerably higher than Flordia. So you have to take that into account and the fact that A/C is an option, you can cool your house much more efficently and nearly as effecivly with ceiling fans. Also if you move to miami or to a coastal city, the weather is perfectly enjoyable with the exception of a few outlier months in the summer. Otherwise it's 70s all year around, with little humidity and best of all no mosquities.(for coastal cities)
If you detest snow, cold miserable weather, then you're simply moving to an area with less of it. Also boston sucks, it's scummy, boring and supressed. If you love culture and a big city amtosphere(sp) then move to NYC or even Miami.
When you talk like this people see who you are as opposed to what you are saying.
Just thought you might like to know.
We get 130+ inches of snow here and this year it came in November and we didn't see the ground again until late March.
Do you live in the same Syracuse, NY I do? Late March? Are you sure about that? All the snow covering the ground melted here in the Town of Clay (which is just outside Syracuse) in first week in March. I have pictures to prove it too. In fact, March 2009 went down as one of the least snowiest Marches in Syracuse history.
So if you are going to bash Syracuse, the least you could do is use the correct facts! Thanks!
I just had to jump in here, I've been reading this entire thread intently because I came on here to look for advice myself, and this thread has been helpful. Not meaning to hijack your thread, let me give you some advice from someone who was born and raised in Miami, FL. I'm 30 years old, single, and have no Kids, so obviously my needs are probably different than yours (take that into consideration).
Growing up in Miami was great. Some one here mentioned the weather (hurricanes), what to do if there was no beach, etc.
So I will address all of these things and then some.
Ok so I happen to work in the I.T. field and got a really good job offer up here in MA. This is my second year here and I am having a lot of trouble adjusting to MA.
First things first: 1. Neighborhoods: In Florida, esp. in Miami, things are *new* (all the real estate, neighborhoods, etc.) There's not that much nature in Miami. Gainseville, I used to travel up once in a while to party with friends at U of F, its a backwoods town, completely different from Miami, but ironically damn near close to what most of MA looks like (barring the City itself (boston)).
2. Weather:
In Miami its mostly Bright Blue Sky's, REALLY high humidity and its really really hot (ALL THE TIME). You haven't seen a torrential downpour unless you've lived in Miami during May June July August.
Lots of thunderstorms too during these times. I've noticed it doesn't really rain in Mass. The norm in Mass is for overcast days, sort of like Europe.
Gainesville : Sticky, but the good news is that at night it gets cooler than Miami, it still gets just as hot and just as sticky during the day. Expect to sweat everywhere you go, just like in Miami people go from A/C to "Car A/C" back to "A/C, A/C, A/C and more A/C. The general rule of thumb is A/C, in case you didnt notice . Hurricanes: Don't expect any while you live in Gainesville. Some might come and go, and hit south florida, but it is rare to see catastrophic hurricane damage as far north as gainesville, in fact I cant recall any single occurrence of a hurricane hitting Gainesville like
they do in Miami (andrew) (i.e. Catastrophic damage).
Mass: It is nice to have all of the seasons here, and I have to admit I had a hell of a time skiing @ Mt. Sunapee in New Hampshire. The weather in Mass has been great, ( I hate the Heat as I am a naturally hyperactive person, I don't know how or why I am this way as the COLD does not bother me as much as being HOT all the time.)
It has snowed a few times since I've moved up to Mass (2 winters.) I live out west (in Framingham near Natick (a dump)).
3. People:
Miami does have a big thug element. I don't get that same vibe from anywhere in Mass. I *THINK* I feel safer, although, growing up in a certain place you get to know the criminal element "types", and I admit in MA I have a disadvantage in that: I can't really tell who the thugs are over here. I'm Hispanic but I'm not Brazilian, (Cuban, who woulda thunk it me being from Miami and all? ). Anyways, I move up here and all I find are Brazilians
Last edited by CaseyB; 05-25-2009 at 07:32 AM..
Reason: not necessary
4. Real Estate and Local economy:
Ok, so no State income tax, but also no real industry! There are very few good jobs at least in IT. Most of the job offers are lowball offers and there are simply too many people all competing for very few jobs. Needless to say that this combination of factors kills salary levels.
Real Estate: ( I have a lot of experience in the real estate markets in Miami). So the housing became extremely inflated, remember, South Florida and California lead the nation in Real Estate Mortgage Fraud and subsequently inflated and over-valued real estate became the norm as a result.
Prices as of late seem to be returning to normal levels but I think they need to go way lower since the job market is terrible at least in IT.
Due to the aforementioned housing bubble and highest nationwide levels of fraud, as well as the necessary evils of Hurricanes, the Homeowners insurance policies are extremely high in terms of cost, typically *upwards* of 5 thousand for a normal home. If you live near the coast or "Windstorm" area then you will need an additional policy called windstorm which is an additional premium of 2 - 5 thousand. These two policies are of course in addition to mandatory Flood Insurance policies. Of course if you escrow your taxes and insurance your looking at (at least) an additional 500 to 1000 dollars in escrows monthly in addition to your mortgage payment. A 30 year fixed rate loan @ 6 % on $350,000 your looking at a payment of 2098.00 + escrows, (nearing 3000.00) but real estate agents wont tell you that, and mortgage brokers will estimate based on previous years taxes, which is a commonly used tactic to make your payment look lower because the previous homeowners taxes are probably really really low (since they bought the house 10 or 20 years ago).
Gainseville : Insurance not as high, but the state Property tax system is broken, $10,000.00 in yearly taxes or more are not uncommon for homes above 250 or 300 thousand, try to search the web for the property tax estimator on MiamiDade.gov and that will give you an idea.
I hope that helps. Getting back to MA versus FL (Miami): My biggest problem is, nothing in Mass looks even remotely similar to Miami. People up here like these old school UGLY old homes. This whole state looks like backwoods country to me. Personally, this place looks like an old beaten down junkyard.
Maybe I'm just a city slicker!
In any event, this is starting to seem like the wrong state for me.
Maybe I'm expecting to find some sort of normalcy in something, *anything*, that looks or feels even remotely similar.
I'm not sure what my next move is going to be. Maybe I'll move to the city next year, and try that out, although I'm not good on dealing with a lot of noise. Still trying to find the right neighborhood that I can live NEAR the city but not quite in the city. A neighborhood that looks *new* like a new condo development or a new spec home neighborhood development, give me something similar to Florida for crying out loud.
If you have more specific questions on Gainesville or Florida, feel free to respond, I'd be glad to post more "feel" type answers.
5. Education: Probably most people would agree, the education is probably not as good as the north east (always depends on the area). In Miami, forget about it, its a free for all public school system. Raising your kids in a public school in Miami is just asking for trouble.
Gainesville: Not sure, I'm assuming anywhere is better than Miami. The public school system is severely underfunded. There's always the problem of racial tension between the minority students and other cultures, in this aspect Miami is more like the deep south than one would expect it to be as it is a big modern city.
6. Finally, the beaches and culture:
Don't really think there is a lot of culture in Florida. It's more about superficiality than real culture, esp on South Beach. In this aspect Miami probably resembles LA. One other person commented that if there was no beach there would probably be nothing to do, but I beg to differ, in Miami you can always do the Keys, which are always lots of fun. Boating/Jet Skiing, Fishing, Scuba Diving, motorcycling (the roads are good in Florida Versus the horrible roads in MA.)
So if you are going to bash Syracuse, the least you could do is use the correct facts! Thanks!
Good luck with your move!
Nope, nope, nope. No intention now or ever to bash Syracuse here. Central New York is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. My children have been educated in wonderful schools and have gone on to excel in higher education institutions in large part due to their earlier education in local schools. We've had a wonderful standard of living because of the local economy and my husband has been the beneficiary of wonderful employment opportunities. I could go on and on with all the positives about this area, the fall and summer weather, the local parks, the multitude of summer festivals, the quality of our higher education institutions, etc. I DO like this area.
I firmly believe there really isn't a whole lot of drawbacks to this area as far as living quality goes. For us, personally, the hard winters are the main issue. But, we are not snow and cold type people. We do not participate in winter activities. We are not skiiers, ice skaters, snowmobilers, etc. For the majority of people here, winter isn't really an issue for them or they actually look forward to it so they can participate in the above activities.
My personal 'end of winter rule of thumb' is to expect the snow to be gone by my birthday, 3/25. I don't 'remember' that being the case this year but I'm willing to concede, at my age the years kind of run together. It could have just been the remnants of the huge snow banks hanging around that hadn't melted yet. This year was the second year our neighborhood had a crew out with dump trucks and front loaders removing snow because the driveway plow crews ran out of places to put it. I think it's safe to say our area gets a lot of snow and I will leave it at that.
We are leaving so my husband can advance his career in ways that are not currently available in this area. In pursuit of that, we want to combine that with a move to a more moderate climate that suits our outdoor lifestyle year round in a way that Central NY doesn't.
4. Real Estate and Local economy:
Ok, so no State income tax, but also no real industry! There are very few good jobs at least in IT. Most of the job offers are lowball offers and there are simply too many people all competing for very few jobs. Needless to say that this combination of factors kills salary levels.
Real Estate: ( I have a lot of experience in the real estate markets in Miami). So the housing became extremely inflated, remember, South Florida and California lead the nation in Real Estate Mortgage Fraud and subsequently inflated and over-valued real estate became the norm as a result.
Prices as of late seem to be returning to normal levels but I think they need to go way lower since the job market is terrible at least in IT.
Due to the aforementioned housing bubble and highest nationwide levels of fraud, as well as the necessary evils of Hurricanes, the Homeowners insurance policies are extremely high in terms of cost, typically *upwards* of 5 thousand for a normal home. If you live near the coast or "Windstorm" area then you will need an additional policy called windstorm which is an additional premium of 2 - 5 thousand. These two policies are of course in addition to mandatory Flood Insurance policies. Of course if you escrow your taxes and insurance your looking at (at least) an additional 500 to 1000 dollars in escrows monthly in addition to your mortgage payment. A 30 year fixed rate loan @ 6 % on $350,000 your looking at a payment of 2098.00 + escrows, (nearing 3000.00) but real estate agents wont tell you that, and mortgage brokers will estimate based on previous years taxes, which is a commonly used tactic to make your payment look lower because the previous homeowners taxes are probably really really low (since they bought the house 10 or 20 years ago).
Gainseville : Insurance not as high, but the state Property tax system is broken, $10,000.00 in yearly taxes or more are not uncommon for homes above 250 or 300 thousand, try to search the web for the property tax estimator on MiamiDade.gov and that will give you an idea.
I hope that helps. Getting back to MA versus FL (Miami): My biggest problem is, nothing in Mass looks even remotely similar to Miami. People up here like these old school UGLY old homes. This whole state looks like backwoods country to me. Personally, this place looks like an old beaten down junkyard.
Maybe I'm just a city slicker!
In any event, this is starting to seem like the wrong state for me.
Maybe I'm expecting to find some sort of normalcy in something, *anything*, that looks or feels even remotely similar.
I'm not sure what my next move is going to be. Maybe I'll move to the city next year, and try that out, although I'm not good on dealing with a lot of noise. Still trying to find the right neighborhood that I can live NEAR the city but not quite in the city. A neighborhood that looks *new* like a new condo development or a new spec home neighborhood development, give me something similar to Florida for crying out loud.
If you have more specific questions on Gainesville or Florida, feel free to respond, I'd be glad to post more "feel" type answers.
Sounds like you would like Phoenix! A lot like Florida but no humidity and a lot of cheaper houses that are brand new.
I love the old homes myself, it's all personal I guess, I'm sick of "new" everything but I know a lot of people love it.
We currently live in Upstate NY (Syracuse). My husband is expecting an offer this week from a Gainesville, FL company and is interviewing Tuesday in the Boston area. We would like to move to an area with a better climate - I know that Boston has the four seasons and winter weather BUT it has to be better than Syracuse, right? We get 130+ inches of snow here and this year it came in November and we didn't see the ground again until late March. It is gray, gray, gray here too. We refer to it as The Concrete Skies of Syracuse! My question - when it snows in Boston, does it stay around on the ground or melt within a few days as it does in NYC?
While the FL climate appeals to us, we are very interested in the urban lifestyle that we could have in Boston. The company he is interviewing with is in Watertown. If we lived in the city, would a reverse commute from the city to Watertown be feasible in 20-25 minutes or less? We would live to give up a car and become a one car family - him using the car to commute and me using public transportation or walking for shopping and errands.
Right now, with the real estate situation, the cost of living in FL is considerably lower than Syr or Bos. Cost of living calculators give us a range of 50-75k needed above our Syracuse income to have the same standard of living in Boston while we could actually take an income cut to move to FL (not that we are planning on it ). Does the Bos figure sound about right? I know that real estate Right now we pay about 8% in NYS income tax (after deductions) and our property taxes (county and school) are about $7200 a year.
Our thoroughly citified NY city daughter put her vote in for Boston influenced in large part because the NYS-Bos Chinatown bus is only $15!
Boston is not quite as bad as Syracuse, but it's not much better either. Boston is somewhere between Syracuse and NYC as far as snow goes. To answer one of your questions, the snow does not melt before the next storm. You won't get nearly as much snow in Boston because there's no lake effect, but the temperatures will be almost as cold as Syracuse. If you want a noticeable improvement in weather, I'd go with Florida. Gainesville might be small but it's a college town so it might have more to offer than you'd expect. It sounds like you are leaning toward Boston even though you admitted the weather and cost of living would be better in Florida. If you've already made up your mind, there's not much advice we can offer.
We are leaving so my husband can advance his career in ways that are not currently available in this area. In pursuit of that, we want to combine that with a move to a more moderate climate that suits our outdoor lifestyle year round in a way that Central NY doesn't.
You might find some improvement in Boston, where although it is still freezing cold in the winter, at least the snow is a bit more moderate.
I'm from Florida, and although I do love the cold and the skiing unlike you, I find the winter to be just about right, cold enough, but not completely unbearable with snow all the time.
There was an ice storm out west (in Worcester) this past winter, I thought it was really cool, (because i have never seen anything like this in florida) but the people that lost power certainly didnt think it was very cool at all.
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Miami v. Gainseville v. Boston
.
For us, personally, the hard winters are the main issue. But, we are not snow and cold type people. We do not participate in winter activities. We are not skiiers, ice skaters, snowmobilers, etc. For the majority of people here, winter isn't really an issue for them or they actually look forward to it so they can participate in the above activities. 
). Does the Bos figure sound about right? I know that real estate Right now we pay about 8% in NYS income tax (after deductions) and our property taxes (county and school) are about $7200 a year.
