[fatbench]

Just wonder which city in FL is a good place to live in terms of

- schools/universities
- abundant job for data analyst
- affordable cost of living (housing)
- shopping (have all major brand stores, esp like IKEA and outlets)
- good climate (no major diasters)
- not too bad traffic problems (commute)
- easy to travel outbound (close to major airports)
- low property taxes

Please give some options to choose from. Thanks!

[kyle19125]

There aren't any cities in Florida that hit all of your criteria, abundant jobs would be the most major criteria that isn't going to happen for you in this day and age. Outside of that I think northern St Johns County would be a great fit.

The cities of St. Augustine St. Augustine, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Ponte Vedre Beach Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia are very nice, have great schools (#1 in Florida) St. Johns County School District - Home, the University of North Florida is in nearby Jacksonville http://www.unf.edu/ia/pr/marketing_p...acts_2009.aspx as well as Jacksonville University http://www.ju.edu/default.aspx (broken link), comparatively affordable housing, historically very little hurricane issue compared to the rest of FL, minimal traffic, easy access to Jacksonville International Airport JIA, lower taxes, and good shopping nearby with an excellent regional mall at St. Johns Town Center in southern Duval County St. Johns Town Center , as well as a nice outlet center in St Augustine St. Augustine Premium Outlets - Designer Outlet Stores & Map.

[beachmouse]

The two places that come to mind would be Tallahassee and Gainesville. Tallahassee might have more job options for you, but is pretty geographically isolated by Florida terms and is probably smaller than what you want. Gainesville is also not huge, but is close enough to Orlando that, IMO, you can day trip to the better shopping and airport options.

[fatbench]

Thanks for so many helpful responses!

Maybe I should be more specific, I currently live in a nice suburb close to Memphis, TN and also work there as a data analyst.

I am thinking of moving to FL and find a similar job in a big company (fortune 500).

The place where I live has property tax of $1.3 per 100
commute time about 15 min (9 miles)
high school ranks #1128 in recent usnews rankings
housing around 300k for a 3000 sq ft single family house

I wish the place I am going to move to have a IKEA and outlets (prime outlets, premium outlets)

Again thanks for your help in my searching!

[gypsychic]

As mentioned, there is no city in Florida that will meet all of your criteria.

It would probably be easier for us to recommend more specific areas when you know where you will actually be employed. At any rate, Tampa or Orlando are the two major cities that will fulfill most of what you want.

[beachmouse]

The real estate bubble didn't collapse in an even manner, and the kind of nice established suburb with good schools that you're looking for generally slid less than the endless new tract McMansons with average schools. If you're set on a 3000sf home, in the kind of places you'd want to live, you're talking a minimum of $400K and probably $500K if you're thinking the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm corridor.

As for the schools, the good districts in the state tend to be the small to mid-sized metros- Space Coast (Brevard County) and Sarasota are probably the largest of the generally good group and you're talking an hour+ drive one way to IKEA/outlets. For the bigger cities, you'll either pay a very significant premium for the good parts of an otherwise mediocre district, or go private to get housing costs down in the low $400K range.

You're not going to find 100% of your list. The question is whether you can feel satisfied hitting 75-80% of it.

[doggiebus]

Based on the OPs criteria, Tampa, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale (South Florida aka Palm Beach County, Broward County and Miami-Dade County) are the closest fit. FYI, South Floridas taxes are higher than Tampa and Orlando. Traffic in all three is going to be worse than you are used too. All three have major airports, an Ikea, plenty of shopping, and a Universities.

As for climate, Tampa so far hasn't been hit with a hurricane in a long time. Tampa does have a sinkhole issue fyi. Central Florida, Tampa, Orlando over to the east coast is considered to have a higher number of small tornadoes. South Florida has been hit many of times with hurricanes. But any place in Florida can be hit with a hurricane, hence 2005 when Orlando got hit with a hurricane pretty good.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by fatbench

Just wonder which city in FL is a good place to live in terms of

- schools/universities
- abundant job for data analyst
- affordable cost of living (housing)
- shopping (have all major brand stores, esp like IKEA and outlets)
- good climate (no major diasters)
- not too bad traffic problems (commute)
- easy to travel outbound (close to major airports)
- low property taxes

Please give some options to choose from. Thanks!

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by fatbench

Just wonder which city in FL is a good place to live in terms of

- schools/universities
- abundant job for data analyst
- affordable cost of living (housing)
- shopping (have all major brand stores, esp like IKEA and outlets)
- good climate (no major diasters)
- not too bad traffic problems (commute)
- easy to travel outbound (close to major airports)
- low property taxes

Please give some options to choose from. Thanks!

Is the presence of an IKEA really that important, or an example?

[fatbench]

I like IKEA furnitures

[chopchop0]

Agree with Tampa/Orlando, although Orlando is the best (I'll explain why).

I think Ft-Lauderdale/Miami MSA is TOO busy compared to those two other cities. A lot of people whine about Orlando traffic, but it's really not THAT bad, particularly when you consider its the smallest city and MSA out of the 3 cities I've listed.

Even the national traffic report card list agrees with me:

INRIX National Traffic Scorecard (http://www.inrix.com/scorecard/Top100Metros.asp - broken link)

Miami MSA is 13th, Tampa MSA is 29th, and Orlando is 39th worst in the country for traffic/congestion. Orlando has the best airport in the state IMO when it comes to destinations you can travel to (except maybe Miami, but even then, you can get cheaper fares out of Orlando). Orlando also has abundant shopping and restaurants by virtue of being a destination city for tourists. At the same time, there are plenty of nice areas to live for locals where you can avoid the tourist scene (yet still benefit from the amenities of being in that type of city).