[LaBronzeFlower]

Originally Posted by willowsmom

Anybody lived in both Connecticut and Florida and can give me their perspective on the pros and cons of living in each of these states? I live in South Florida, have for 20 years, but grew up in Michigan...so I know about living with snow, ice, overcast skies, and short summers...and lucky me...I now also know the joys of hurricanes, tornadoes and oppressive heat and humidity...so those things aren't issues for me. I am more interested in quality of life, cost of living, culture, jobs, housing, educational opportunities, the things that really matter. Is Connecticut a place where someone over 50 would enjoy living and could afford to live reasonably well after retirement? What about coastal towns there? Are they just out of reach for most people, or still affordable? Does Connecticut have a state income tax and what kind of a bite does it take out of your paycheck? Florida has no state income tax, but heavy sales taxes, so that is a major consideration for me. Also if anybody can speak about sea level rise from climate change in Connecticut that would be helpful. Is it forecasted to wipe out most of the state like it is in Florida?

Connecticut's...
quality of life: Pretty good if you can afford it
cost of living: Extremely high (food, gas, homes, etc)
culture: Not as diverse as Florida, (Sure CT has blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, whites, etc, but FL has all these, including Haitians, Jamaicans, Cubans, etc, even NYC is more diverse than CT but FL is like the gateway to America)
jobs- Meh, economy affected us all, not much to say on that one
housing- Great if you can afford it, but homes can be very expensive here compared to other places
educational opportunities- This is college land, were all your academic dreams can come true so yes, many.

Someone over 50, in my opinion, would enjoy Florida a lot better. CT is a "rush busy, I went to college so I'm on top of the world" place, Florida is more of a "put your feet up and relax" kind of place. CT is very expensive and I don't think you'd be able to live here financially comfortably. Once again, this is in my opinion after living in this state for so long.

The weather is very lovely here but unfortunately, what you're looking for, to me, sounds like it's in Florida.

Oh, and CT is very far from sea level.

Good luck with your decision!

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by LaBronzeFlower

Connecticut's...
quality of life: Pretty good if you can afford it
cost of living: Extremely high (food, gas, homes, etc)
culture: Not as diverse as Florida, (Sure CT has blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, whites, etc, but FL has all these, including Haitians, Jamaicans, Cubans, etc, even NYC is more diverse than CT but FL is like the gateway to America)
jobs- Meh, economy affected us all, not much to say on that one
housing- Great if you can afford it, but homes can be very expensive here compared to other places
educational opportunities- This is college land, were all your academic dreams can come true so yes, many.

Someone over 50, in my opinion, would enjoy Florida a lot better. CT is a "rush busy, I went to college so I'm on top of the world" place, Florida is more of a "put your feet up and relax" kind of place. CT is very expensive and I don't think you'd be able to live here financially comfortably. Once again, this is in my opinion after living in this state for so long.

The weather is very lovely here but unfortunately, what you're looking for, to me, sounds like it's in Florida.

Oh, and CT is very far from sea level.

Good luck with your decision!

Florida is anything but relaxed. Have you driven in this state?

I have lived in five states and have never encountered so many rude people, it is a very "me first" attitude. Granted this comes from mainly the transplants.

FL is not the south. With the exception of maybe up in the panhandle portion of the state.

[LaBronzeFlower]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Florida is anything but relaxed. Have you driven in this state?

I have lived in five states and have never encountered so many rude people, it is a very "me first" attitude. Granted this comes from mainly the transplants.

FL is not the south. With the exception of maybe up in the panhandle portion of the state.

Ha ha, what part of FL are you talking bout?
Have you driven in CT?
Rude people are going to be everywhere but I've encountered more road rage here in CT than in FL.

FL has its good areas and bad areas like any other state. But honestly CT has a very rushed atmosphere to it and sure SOME parts of FL may be similar but all of FL isn't like that and there's more of FL than there is of CT.
I'm not recommending that this person retires in South Miami Beach or anything but I'm also not knocking the whole idea of FL.
Sarasota is lovely, and so is Port St Lucy and I'm sure the panhandle as you've stated is nice too, but you only seem to mainly be focusing on the big cities of Florida but that's not all there is to FL and even some cities in FL retirees want to live. You never know.
But my point is, I'd rather see a retiree in FL than in CT by my own opinion of things. And especially since this person is more concerned about the economics of things.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by LaBronzeFlower

Rude people are going to be everywhere but I've encountered more road rage here in CT than in FL.

I agree fully with this. I have not seen the amount of road rage in any state that I've witnessed in CT.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by LaBronzeFlower

Ha ha, what part of FL are you talking bout?
Have you driven in CT?
Rude people are going to be everywhere but I've encountered more road rage here in CT than in FL.

FL has its good areas and bad areas like any other state. But honestly CT has a very rushed atmosphere to it and sure SOME parts of FL may be similar but all of FL isn't like that and there's more of FL than there is of CT.
I'm not recommending that this person retires in South Miami Beach or anything but I'm also not knocking the whole idea of FL.
Sarasota is lovely, and so is Port St Lucy and I'm sure the panhandle as you've stated is nice too, but you only seem to mainly be focusing on the big cities of Florida but that's not all there is to FL and even some cities in FL retirees want to live. You never know.
But my point is, I'd rather see a retiree in FL than in CT by my own opinion of things. And especially since this person is more concerned about the economics of things.

I am sorry but it sounds like you have not lived in any of Florida's major cities for any significant length of time. There is a big difference between living somewhere and visiting on vacation. The places you mention are nice but what about major cities like Miami, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa and Jacksonville. The entire eastern shoreline of Florida is packed with people and traffic congestion. The fact that there is a high number of elderly drivers makes driving even worse.

As for diversity, Florida is the gateway to many Latin America countries but what about other parts of the world. Connecticut has a significant European population which adds to our mix. Try to find a decent Italian restaurant in Florida, it is not easy. What about Polish, German or Spanish (from Spain, not South America). Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I am sorry but it sounds like you have not lived in any of Florida's major cities for any significant length of time. There is a big difference between living somewhere and visiting on vacation. The places you mention are nice but what about major cities like Miami, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa and Jacksonville. The entire eastern shoreline of Florida is packed with people and traffic congestion. The fact that there is a high number of elderly drivers makes driving even worse.

Very true; Between WPB and Miami, the traffic is bad but not as bad as 95 between New Haven and NYC. Greater Tampa has some tough traffic on 275 but, again, not like up here. I'm just talking about interstate traffic.

That said, the western coast (between Naples and Tampa) is s.l.o.w. paced, relaxing and just as the previous poster said, has more of a "kick up your feet" lifestyle.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Very true; Between WPB and Miami, the traffic is bad but not as bad as 95 between New Haven and NYC. Greater Tampa has some tough traffic on 275 but, again, not like up here. I'm just talking about interstate traffic.

Now THAT is funny. Tampa has some of the worst traffic in FL! If you are in St Pete or Clearwater, trying to get to Lakeland...forget it.

Hey Billy, how long did it take you to go 5 miles to the beach in St Pete? 45 minutes?

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JViello

Now THAT is funny. Tampa has some of the worst traffic in FL! If you are in St Pete or Clearwater, trying to get to Lakeland...forget it.

Hey Billy, how long did it take you to go 5 miles to the beach in St Pete? 45 minutes?

Do you think it's any different on 95 during the week? As someone who regularly commuted (until a few weeks ago) from Branford to Shelton and Stamford, you have no idea what bad traffic is. My [former] office in Stamford would let people out in waves - those who live northeast of exit 14 would leave at 4:15 and the rest would leave at 4:45.

FYI - I'm very familiar with Tampa traffic patterns as well as greater WPB/Ft Lauderdale traffic patterns. I'm not saying traffic there is anything close to a breeze - it's awful. But I have yet to see regular the 25-30 mile backups ANYWHERE in the nation that I've seen on 95 south of New Haven. LA came close, but instead of long back-ups, it's a few miles of 8 lanes of people crisscrossing.

You live in Manchester. Try the commute an hour southwest of you sometime, then get back to me.

[JayCT]

Kidyankee - I think you are exaggerating the length of traffic issues along I-95. It is rarely 25 to 30 miles. That would basically mean it is a parking lot from Milford to Stamford every day and that is not the case. You do see traffic in New Haven, a slow down in Milford and then again in Bridgeport into Fairfield. There will be intermitant slowdowns again through Westport and then really the backups begins in Norwalk for the last 9 or 10 miles.

Keep in mind that you are traveling through several major employment centers including New Haven, Bridgeport and Norwalk before getting to Stamford. Also there is the option of using the Metro North commuter train which you do not have in many of the Florida cities. Also from what I have seen, LA is a lot worse but that is just my opinion. Jay

[FLnCT]

Originally Posted by JayCT

As for diversity, Florida is the gateway to many Latin America countries but what about other parts of the world.

I've been a dual resident of CT and FL for the past 15 years. I've met and befriended MANY permanent FL residents that are full blown or 1st\2nd generation Italian, Polish, German, English, Finish, Swedish, Spaniard, Australian, Irish, and Austrian (in addition to many from all over central\south America, the Caribbean, and transplants from all over the U.S.). Miami, Tampa, and Orlando metros are true melting pots.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Connecticut has a significant European population which adds to our mix.

St. Augustine FL (the oldest city in the U.S.), was founded by Europeans.

So CT may have more of a significant European population and FL may have more of a significant Caribbean\South\Central American population which adds to the mix. What's your point?

Originally Posted by JayCT

Try to find a decent Italian restaurant in Florida, it is not easy. What about Polish, German or Spanish (from Spain, not South America). Jay

You must not be looking in the right areas. Some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten (in addition to CT and NY), has been in FL (Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale\Miami metros).