Moving to southwest Florida from Buffalo, NY (Cape Coral, North Port: insurance, for sale)

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

sg928,
First, welcome to this forum.
I post here because you asked if anyone was from western NY.
I am from, and currently living in Batavia, and have lived in NYS all my life.

I have one son living in Hamburg, and two sons living in Rochester, so as you know, I am less then 30 miles from you. Actually, my brother just moved TO Buffalo this week, coming back from Indiana.

I am on this forum because last Feb. We bought a house in central Florida, with the intent of moving there for good in about 3 years. I can TOTALLY understand where you are coming from.

There is good info here......take what you read with a grain of salt. People are sincere with their viewpoints, and are trying to be helpful. There is good and bad everywhere. Florida is nice......but it is not Mickeyland.

Do your research, visit, and network with those you know that are already down there.

I totally understand about Buffalo. High taxes, no jobs, crumbling infrastructure, etc,etc. If you don't like snowmobiling, etc, 6 months a year is hard to endure. Everything is dreary, rusty, dirty and cold. Potholes are everywhere, You must decide weather to heat or eat. Recent statistics show that western NY is the No. 1 area in the country to flee from. I UNDERSTAND.

That being said, Florida is not heaven, especially if you are in a position of needing a hard to come by job......
It is NOT IMPOSSIBLE to get a good job...you just need to be in a needed field.

Good luck...keep us posted and let me know if I can help in any way.

Frank D.

I am from downstate (NYC/LI). My husband has an Air Force buddy who lives in Hamburg so we have been there over the years. He works at the Ford Plant and is now nearing retirement age. When he was younger, he bought a snowmobile to drive to WORK. His car got stored away in the gararge until the weather improved. He now owns his home outright and plans to stay there. His kids also settled in the area. His son teaches at SUNY. His daughter teaches at a local elementary school.

I am a Special Ed TA now in Florida. I am told half the staff at the elementary school where I work is from NY. It is also rated as a top A school in the area. I wonder why?

[faithfulFrank]

I do have to admit that our schools are good for the most part. I'm told, but do not know first hand, that our poorer schools are better then most schools down south.

Our teachers make good money, and their unions are strong.
Those good schools are the reason that my school taxes here in NY are much more then my total taxes for the Florida home.

Frank D.

[tyger800]

i grew up in cheektowaga and tonawanda...moved outside of tampa almost 20 years ago... i miss the closeness of family up there. i go back every year though. you can get cheap flights to go back and visit... my family left because there was no future or advancement opportunites for your children..i just visited in august and nobody has changed in 10 years...you and your family will have a great chance for a better lifestyle in florida. it is hot here but it beats the blizzards. my husband grew up in south east florida and when i wanted to move he said it is no place to raise a family and now we have 4 kids. we live in a small town in between tampa and orlando and have the best of everthing...look into south lakeland, they have some great schools and jobs

[Philyman]

Yawn! You picked the sleepest neighborhoods in the state. I moved here 23 years ago from Philly. Raised boy and girl in catholic schools in S ft. myers. Great neighborhoods around here. Look for convienence

[FLRelo]

Sanandsan! sorry but it seems like you're totally out to lunch on the school issues in Florida. Florida is dead last in the nation on graduation, Alabama is better.. Florida is behind almost every other state in the nation when it comes to education spending in the bottom 10% of 50 states. In the South, on teacher pay, we trail Georgia. On eighth-grade reading scores, South Carolina just moved ahead, and Alabama has better graduation rates so please check your facts!!

I have lived for many years in Buffalo, NY and for the past 22 years in various places in Florida. Yes it's cold in Buffalo and the economic situation hasn't been great for many decades there but there are many better places to relocate to than Florida for a family with kids!! I'm sure this family would prefer NOT to pay for a private school in Florida, which isn't even subject to ANY STATE regulations in Florida in terms of students performance! But if they absolutely want to relocate to the "Sunshine" state they could consider Gainesville, Ocala etc. Forget South Florida all together, too congested too expensive, to unfriendly, too much crime

[whippersnapper]

i wouldn't discount southwest florida, especially lee county, just because a few people don't like it even though they a)never lived here or b)lived here for couple of years, during the big housing/population boom. i love it here, born and raised and plan on raising my own family here. i've never been robbed, stabbed, shot at, or had any other horrific crime you could think of occur. i go out plenty, so it's not like i'm completely sheltered either. it's all about exercising some common sense. as for "rude" people, yeah there are quite a few, but most of them aren't from here and probably won't be here for long because they'll just go and be miserable elsewhere.

honestly, visit the place for yourself. check out cape coral, fort myers, north fort myers, etc. and see if it's right for you. if you want any specific places to go, just let me know good luck with your relocation!

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

just because a few people don't like it even though they a)never lived here or b)lived here for couple of years, during the big housing/population boom.

That's not true.

[121804]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

That's not true.

Exactly what I was going to reply.

We live here. Most, if not everyone, who replies to a SWFL post, is someone who lives here now or in the past. The ones who state it is heaven on earth are most of the time people who don't live here or have not needed to earn an income to raise a family the past several years.

Never see extreme posts about crime in SWFL as most of the time the posts are dealing with the reality of SWFL: horrible housing situation, schools, economy, & the crankiest snowbirds/retirees.

Many leave due to reasons that they do not need justify.

[121804]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

i wouldn't discount southwest florida, especially lee county

The original OP has children. Look up the stats on Lee County schools & see its ranking in FL. Unimpressive to say the least. Please explain to the OP the school choice system in Lee County. Again, unimpressive & a PR move by a desperate city.

[whippersnapper]

i'm sorry if i was unclear. i was specifically referring to people not living in lee county nor having ever lived in lee county yet felt the need to warn people away from moving here.