[mlwl8521]

My wife and I are both white-collar professionals and we want to move out of our neighborhood in the Baltimore region around 2015. We are probably going to move to Florida (or Texas) because we want a place:

1. That offers affordable real estate (3BR/2BA homes for under 200k)
2. Where many big accounting firms hold an office
3. Where there is a reasonable amount of affluence nearby (I am a financial advisor)
4. Where the population is formally-educated.
5. That is more politically conservative than where we are now. I don't think I could live in an area where there weren't at least 25% Romney voters.


Right now, we live near Baltimore, MD. It's in a borderline suburb that has the most small-minded petty neighbors. There isn't a lot of violent crime, but you've got your teenage moms, ignorance/racial intolerance, and just general lack of education. Then in Baltimore you have a certain group of people that wants to sit on their butt and wait for a government check. You can tell you're in a bad neighborhood when there's Goodwill stores and bail bonds places nearby.

My questions to you on Florida are as such:

1. If I move to Florida, what is the biggest disadvantage? Is it the hurricanes? The illegal immigrants? Poverty?

2. When I say "hurricane", I don't mean "oh wow this heavy rain has prevented me from hosting a birthday party in my front yard". What I mean is "The wind has ripped the roof of my house, or the trees out of the ground, or I'm out of power for more than 12 hours"

3. Are Hurricanes and floods evenly distributed amongst Florida or are there certain pockets/cities that are really bad and giving the state a bad name?

4. How often do people get attacked on the beaches by animals (sharks, stingrays, jellyfish etc)

5. In Baltimore, the neighborhood can change rapidly within 2 or 3 city blocks. Is it like that in Florida's major cities?

6. I think Miami is out of the question. I am thinking about going to Orlando or Boca Raton the most. I am also interested in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Do any of these cities have bad traffic? I used to live in Mclean VA near Washington and I have been to NYC on business. The traffic is murderous and I refuse to live in a place like that.

[TD*]

avoid major Florida cities traffic problem!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by mlwl8521

My wife and I are both white-collar professionals and we want to move out of our neighborhood in the Baltimore region around 2015. We are probably going to move to Florida (or Texas) because we want a place:

1. That offers affordable real estate (3BR/2BA homes for under 200k)
2. Where many big accounting firms hold an office
3. Where there is a reasonable amount of affluence nearby (I am a financial advisor)
4.[B] Where the population is formally-educated.[/b]
5. That is more politically conservative than where we are now. I don't think I could live in an area where there weren't at least 25% Romney voters.


Right now, we live near Baltimore, MD. It's in a borderline suburb that has the most small-minded petty neighbors. There isn't a lot of violent crime, but you've got your teenage moms, ignorance/racial intolerance, and just general lack of education. Then in Baltimore you have a certain group of people that wants to sit on their butt and wait for a government check. You can tell you're in a bad neighborhood when there's Goodwill stores and bail bonds places nearby.

My questions to you on Florida are as such:

1. If I move to Florida, what is the biggest disadvantage? Is it the hurricanes? The illegal immigrants? Poverty? Probably from your perspective poverty and overall lack of higher education. Most Florida cities have approximately 25% of residents with Bachelors Degrees. However cities like Boca Raton (your top choice in my opinion) is at nearly 45%.

2. When I say "hurricane", I don't mean "oh wow this heavy rain has prevented me from hosting a birthday party in my front yard". What I mean is "The wind has ripped the roof of my house, or the trees out of the ground, or I'm out of power for more than 12 hours" Rarely happens. Search tropical weather history and you'll see the last significant event statewide was in 2004. One might deduce the Northeast US is now seemingly the new high risk landfall area for hurricanes and tropical storms.

3. Are Hurricanes and floods evenly distributed amongst Florida or are there certain pockets/cities that are really bad and giving the state a bad name? The state has a bad name with tropical weather because people don't know their weather history. 2004 and 1992 are rather distant from 2012 and clearly not a constant threat like it is for the Gulf coast (LA and MS, and yes a smidgen of Florida) or the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts.

4. How often do people get attacked on the beaches by animals (sharks, stingrays, jellyfish etc)
Fairly infrequently. Some areas are known for shark activity (Daytona Beach/New Smyrna Beach) and others for jellyfish (the middle part of the state along the Atlantic). Gulf Coast incidents are quite rare.


5. In Baltimore, the neighborhood can change rapidly within 2 or 3 city blocks. Is it like that in Florida's major cities? Yes, that's not exclusive to Baltimore or major cities in Florida. That's an issue in most any major US city

6. I think Miami is out of the question. I am thinking about going to Orlando or Boca Raton the most. I am also interested in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Do any of these cities have bad traffic? I used to live in Mclean VA near Washington and I have been to NYC on business. The traffic is murderous and I refuse to live in a place like that.

They all have bad traffic by Florida standards, but not anywhere near to the extent you're accustomed to in the Washington, DC or NYC areas. Former DC resident here and Florida native.

Given your overall criteria, Boca Raton makes the most sense for you.

+

[mlwl8521]

thank you, kyle

I'm pushing for Boca Raton and my wife is pushing for Orlando because of the ample job oppurtunities. The one hang-up I have over Orlando is the heavy traffic but maybe it's not *that* bad.

[OptimusPrime69]

Have u ever even been to florida?

U want an affordable area, with no teenage mothers and an educated population with no illegal immigrants and hurricane questions? That's cute and all, but all major metro areas through out the entire nation have that type of population somewhere in the mix..

2015 is a ways off too. Perhaps take a winter vaca south to florida. Check out some of the towns and cities u mentioned and just take it all in and see what u think.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

2015 is a ways off too. Perhaps take a winter vaca south to florida. Check out some of the towns and cities u mentioned and just take it all in and see what u think.

Great advice!
But maybe come down during the summer, so you can experience the rainy season.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by mlwl8521

thank you, kyle

I'm pushing for Boca Raton and my wife is pushing for Orlando because of the ample job oppurtunities. The one hang-up I have over Orlando is the heavy traffic but maybe it's not *that* bad.

Ample job opportunities? You must work in the hospitality industry...??? Otherwise, not so much.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by mlwl8521

My wife and I are both white-collar professionals and we want to move out of our neighborhood in the Baltimore region around 2015. We are probably going to move to Florida (or Texas) because we want a place:

1. That offers affordable real estate (3BR/2BA homes for under 200k)
2. Where many big accounting firms hold an office
3. Where there is a reasonable amount of affluence nearby (I am a financial advisor)
4. Where the population is formally-educated.
5. That is more politically conservative than where we are now. I don't think I could live in an area where there weren't at least 25% Romney voters.


Right now, we live near Baltimore, MD. It's in a borderline suburb that has the most small-minded petty neighbors. There isn't a lot of violent crime, but you've got your teenage moms, ignorance/racial intolerance, and just general lack of education. Then in Baltimore you have a certain group of people that wants to sit on their butt and wait for a government check. You can tell you're in a bad neighborhood when there's Goodwill stores and bail bonds places nearby.

My questions to you on Florida are as such:

1. If I move to Florida, what is the biggest disadvantage? Is it the hurricanes? The illegal immigrants? Poverty?

2. When I say "hurricane", I don't mean "oh wow this heavy rain has prevented me from hosting a birthday party in my front yard". What I mean is "The wind has ripped the roof of my house, or the trees out of the ground, or I'm out of power for more than 12 hours"

3. Are Hurricanes and floods evenly distributed amongst Florida or are there certain pockets/cities that are really bad and giving the state a bad name?

4. How often do people get attacked on the beaches by animals (sharks, stingrays, jellyfish etc)

5. In Baltimore, the neighborhood can change rapidly within 2 or 3 city blocks. Is it like that in Florida's major cities?"

6. I think Miami is out of the question. I am thinking about going to Orlando or Boca Raton the most. I am also interested in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Do any of these cities have bad traffic? I used to live in Mclean VA near Washington and I have been to NYC on business. The traffic is murderous and I refuse to live in a place like that.

Florida is a *very* big state with very diverse regions/areas. I think you should plan trips here to explore various areas. For example - we lived in Miami/Dade for 20+ years - and now we live in St. Johns County - 300+ miles to the north. Very different places. Note that when we decided to leave Miami/Dade - we skipped Broward/Palm Beach/Martin/etc. counties. Because we like to live in a place that has a pretty stable year-round population. We didn't want an area that's super crowded with snowbirds in the winter - and relatively empty in the summer.

The biggest disadvantage here IMO in general is the schools (relevant if you have or plan to have kids).

Getting hit by a hurricane here is kind of bad luck of the draw. Some places have been hit twice in a year in recent years. Other places haven't been hit for 50+ years. We got hit by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. I like to say that was my "once in a lifetime" storm . Note that you don't have to be hit by a "big one" to lose power. Parts of my county lost power for about 2 weeks a while back after a bad tropical storm. Also - we were part of the largest peacetime evacuation in the US - for Hurricane Floyd. Knock wood - the storm didn't hit us. But we were out of town for 3 nights. If you don't think you can live with the almost constant uncertainty - and the possibility that something bad might happen - you shouldn't live here.

The dangerous things at the beach (at various places at certain times of the year) tend to be the nuisance things like jellyfish and sea lice - not sharks. I react badly to these bites - so I don't swim in the ocean.

We left south Florida in part because we hated the traffic. Although an area like Boca Raton isn't as bad as - for example - Miami/Dade - a lot of your driving experience will depend on where you live - where you work - and the particular route(s) you have to travel. Our traffic up here in NE Florida is quite manageable. Note that I hate the traffic in Orlando (although it isn't as bad as the traffic in SE Florida).

I think you'll be somewhat disappointed at the housing available in the areas that have the amenities you're interested in when it comes to < $200k. In Ponte Vedra Beach - where I live - well it's a somewhat affluent area (although poor by some really affluent south Florida neighborhood standards) - I don't think you'd find anything that costs < $200k. So that's probably the place I would start if that is your price range. Looking at decent areas that have what you're looking for where you can find a place for < $200k. Let your fingers do the walking on one of the internet real estate websites. Robyn

[mlwl8521]

Like i said, she works in accounting, so we just need a place with lots of big firms within 30 minutes and Fortune 1000 companies' HQ where she can move to an accounting dept.

[cfbs2691]

Regardless of your background do not move without a solid job.