HELP!!! Want to move to Port Orange (Orlando, Daytona Beach: mortgage, environment)

[Yonkersmom]

Hi, I'm new at this. We are looking to relocate to Port Orange from New York. We are a family of 5 plus my parents. We already know about the community and the schools, etc. My question is about jobs. ( I already posted this somewhere else in this forum and I put my post in the wrong place so you may have read this before). My husband is presently working and making a great salary. Enough that we are afraid to move and lose. He is in the union and has excellent benefits. But we are not happy with the way our neighborhhod is changing. The schools are horrible, to put it nicely(I actually get sick about the schools) . Private schools are too expensive and really offer you nothing. I actually hate it here. Our friends are relocating north. We have family in the south but do not want to move to where they are. This just is not the type of environment you would want your kids to grow up in aymore. How hard is it to find a job and based on what I have read here are the salaries that bad. My husband is very diverse. He has a Class B CDL. I guess he is a blue collar worker. We do not want to relocate if it means that we will suffer financially. We do not want to wind up with no financial security. If anyone can help with how he could find a good paying job etc., we would really appreciate it. I can't understand if the salaries are so low how is everyone who is living there surviving. Please let us know how you are doing it. We are afraid to move, we have 3 children. We really want to move, but how? Please let us know anything. Agencies, company's of interest etc.
Thanks,
Confused in New York

[Floridabound09]

RedWingsFan lives in Port Orange, maybe you can PM her?

[Yonkersmom]

thanks I will

[jbfla]

Hi, as I long time Port Orange resident I can say for the most part it is a nice clean and safe city to live in. But this isn't the place to expect to make a decent living. Port Orange for the most part is part of the Daytona Beach area which is very dependant on tourists. So many of the jobs are service related and minimum wages. If you are in the medical field or in the trades (plumber, electrician)you will make out great.

Also its is no longer reasonable to live here since HOI and property taxes have up alot. Check out the area really good before you decide!

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I love the Port Orange area, my daughter and I go to the beach over there.

The thing that would worry me is that I have heard that alot of the goings on in Daytona, Race Week and Bike Week spill over into Port Orange.

You guys that are from Port Orange, is that true??


I don't care for crowds, I avoid Daytona like the plague during those times of the year.

[jbfla]

Yes it is true we get alot of spill over of bikers during bike week. There are several "biker bars" along US 1 (Ridgewood Ave) in Port Orange. One being the famous Last Resort Bar where that Kathleen sp? Wornous used to hang out. She is the one who murdered many men and was executed couple years back.

At times it gets fustrating getting around during bike week but I'm used to it and just avoid the areas where they hangout.

And yes Lisa from Debary the beach is beautiful down this way especially in Ponce Inlet. Its worth the extra drive!

[jbfla]

Oh I forgot to add there is also a big biker hangout called The Cabbage Patch west of Port Orange off 415 (Tomoka Farms Rd.) in Samsula. They hold events such as cole slaw wrestling for the ladies.

[HowdyYall]

i also wonder how most people are paying these huge payments for mortgage, taxes and insurance. Port orange is very nice but not many jobs. He could probably get a job in orlando, 60 miles away, since he is a driver he probably won't mind.
I will say there are a few rent controlled 3br. luxury apts for 650 a month in a very nice area 1 mile from the beach. I assume you would prefer a house but it could be a good backup plan or starting out plan, but they are strict about how much a family of 5 can earn and i'm sure the union wages would exclude you for the first year. It's at apartmentguide.com called "club at sugar mill"
I've also seen luxury 3br. condos renting for 1,000 with no income restrictions called "villaggio on the lakes"
floridapennysavers.com has most of the local rental listings for port orange
good luck

[thesmartchoice]

Originally Posted by Lisa_from_Debary

I love the Port Orange area, my daughter and I go to the beach over there.

The thing that would worry me is that I have heard that alot of the goings on in Daytona, Race Week and Bike Week spill over into Port Orange.

You guys that are from Port Orange, is that true??


I don't care for crowds, I avoid Daytona like the plague during those times of the year.

I live in Port Orange and work all over this area. I'm with you, on avoiding the hot spots! I hate the traffic. But n Port Orange, you'd never even know when Spring Break is happening, since that traffic stays concentrated on Int'l Speedway Blvd and the beachside. Since the new Destination Daytona Harley Davidson dealer opened, north of Ormond on I-95, the Biker traffic has almost disappeared. So that only leaves Race Weeks. And while the traffic is a little bit heavier, the race fans are very polite. Daytona Beach itself is really the only city to feel the full impact of special events.

Besides, Port Orange has it's own share of really great family events, scattered throughout the year, that more than make up for any small inconvenience of the other stuff =)

[RedWingsFan]

Yes, I live in Port Orange. We moved to the Daytona area last December. First we went to an apartment in Ormond Beach and then bought a house in Port Orange.

My take on Port Orange? It's nice, clean, safe, good schools, very close to the beach, a quick drive to Daytona, not far from Orlando.

It sounds like my husband does pretty close to the same type of work that yours does. Finding a job in that field is easy. However, they don't pay well. My husband took a big pay cut coming here and it's something that we have not been happy with at all. Not only much less in salary, but the jobs are not union (he likes being in the union), and the health insurance situatin is awful. He works MUCH harder here and for less pay. In Nevada we paid around $50 per month for the whole family to have health insurance. Here his employer charges him $480 a month! And with lower wages on top of that. Plus he used to get a pension given to him in NV. Here they offer a 401k match...but it's not like he's got much money that can be dedicated to it in the first place.

Homeowner's insurance costs more, groceries seem to cost more, gas is more because it's a farther drive to places, property taxes are high. So essentially our bills went up quite a bit and our salary went down. Not a good combination. And he's looked around, there are plenty of jobs but they are all the same when it comes to pay. Low...

Why do jobs pay so low here? I've been told silly things like you get paid in sunshine, or that it's paradise and everyone wants to be here. I guess because so many people want to move here that they can pay so little, if you turn the job down someone else will do it.

We don't plan for this to be long term. When we came to Florida we planned on making it a 2 year committment. We are probably not going to be staying. I don't think living here is worth losing so much money, having hurricane risks for six months out of the year, tornado risks all year long, high expenses, TONS of bugs, etc. I HATE the bug situation here. Seriously, I thought it would not be a big deal. It IS! It's so sick, there are bugs everywhere.

If you have any specific questions feel free to send me a private message. My one big problem with Florida are the wages. It cost every bit as much or more to live here as other places, but the salaries are lower than other places.

If you must move to Florida though and are willing to take lower wages Port Orange is a good safe place to do it and raise your kids. The weather is not bad, although there are some scary afternoon thunderstorms almost daily in the summer (lightening like you've never seen, buckets of rain, water spout tornadoe), there's good schools, loads of shopping that is being built (the Riverwalk, and a new center going up off Williamson), great beaches just minutes away... and you can take quick trips to Orlando. There's a lot of family activities throughout the year all within an hour or so drive away.