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Old 12-27-2013, 04:45 PM
 
111 posts, read 147,391 times
Reputation: 39

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw335xi View Post
As someone who has moved 10 times to a wide variety of cities mostly in the US, but also in Australia, I can say Florida, specifically South Florida (Jupiter to Miami) and Orlando are great places to call home. I'm currently in San Francisco, but have previously lived in Orlando (Dr. Phillips Area) and South Florida (Boca Raton).

Can anyone guess where I plan to finally set my long-term roots?

You guessed it! Orlando or South Florida!

The quality of life is great... for me at least. Real estate is very cheap (compared to many of the cities I've lived in), you can buy a beautiful home with a yard and pool on a landscaped street. This is miles away from say San Francisco where $500k will get you a 1000 sq ft home on streets where you will likely see homeless and trash at least once per day. There are beautiful beaches, cheap flights to Europe, Central America and South America. You have the ability to grab very cheap last minute cruise deals. Everything is green 365 days per year! Parking is very easy and most of the time free. The weather doesn't hurt your bones or crack your skin. There are plenty of attractions thanks to all the tourist. You have a huge amount of outdoor activities such as canoeing, boating, water skiing, jet skiing, kite boarding, boogie boarding, swimming, tubing etc. People are pleasant, of course not everyone, but overall I experience slightly more friendly people in these areas than most of the cities I've lived. What else...

So the bad things because no place is perfect and I always chose to move, I was never forced too, so obviously I didn't find either part of Florida 100% perfect. The number one complaint I have is............ restaurants. Whether you go to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando or Tampa... they just don't compare to San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, NYC, San Diego or LA. Everything is spread out, which was a reason I moved. I wanted to experience living in some urban cities and while it is great to be able to walk out your door and go to a bar or restaurant, it gets old over time. Say you buy something big and now you have to find parking and you end up driving block after block. You then have someone hit your car while you were gone as they were trying to squeeze out of their space. Public transportation gets old fast because when you use it a lot, you will see a lot of people you never thought would use it. Homeless with crap in their pants literally and then they sit down and you think about how many people like that sat down where you are sitting. Or the occasional crazy that is yelling at the air, or the one pulling out a knife and licking the blade... my point is the vast parking lots in Florida make life easier I've come to realize.

Anyways... that about does it.
nothing wrong with florida but lack of jobs can be an issue
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Old 12-27-2013, 08:10 PM
 
24,325 posts, read 26,719,696 times
Reputation: 19745
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrema View Post
nothing wrong with florida but lack of jobs can be an issue
There are plenty of jobs in Florida if you have an education and relevant skills/experience, but the wages are lower. However, even though San Francisco has higher paying jobs, after you adjust the cost of living and state taxes etc, Orlando is much easier to live.

$40k is the median household income in Orlando (2011)
$154k is the median house/condo value in Orlando (2011)
Average 1 bedroom rent is around $850 (current)
Florida has no state income tax

$70k is the median household income in San Francisco (2011)
$720k is the median house/condo value in San Francisco (2011)
Average 1 bedroom rent is around $2,800 (current)
California has state income tax UP TO 13.3%
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Old 12-27-2013, 11:35 PM
 
Location: Out of Florida........
4,309 posts, read 6,409,800 times
Reputation: 951
Quote:
Originally Posted by toocoldhere View Post
I moved from South FL to GA one year ago and can't move back for 3 more years. I regret leaving FL so much. I can't take the cold weather here in GA even though they still consider this a "tropical" climate here in GA. There people here in GA are the NICEST people though . I live in McDonough GA and its one of the most beautiful places I have seen, it's picturesque. If you have a family and want to live in a beautiful, friendly town with great school districts, this is THE place. It's about 80% white and 20% African American and other cultures, but there is no hate here and everyone really helps each other and is so unbelievably friendly. This is the bible belt here, but not in the way that you might imagine: It's just that people here attend their churches, are involved in helping their community, and really take to heart what the bible teaches. No one tries to get you to come to church with them, or anything like I would have imagined. My problem is...I miss South FL terribly. I have lived there most of my life and I'm in my late 40s. I also absolutely can't handle the colder weather here, even though its just 4 months out of the year, and still nowhere close to the cold weather in the northern states. I also can't seem to get used not having the commotion that was all around me in South FL. McDonough is a suburb, but also somewhat rural. There more I talk about it, the more I love this place, but I feel like I have to move back South FL. I'm used to being near the ocean, and even though I didn't take full advantage of being so close to the beach, I always knew it was there. Somewhere on one of these forums, a guy talks about people have to stop feeling sorry for themselves and get up and go, do something, get involved, etc. etc. That's the attitude you have to have, because being miserable isn't going to help. If you're not happy where you are, make a plan for how and when you can move, but, in the meantime do your best to enjoy where you are, because, you may get sick and die in a few months, or get into a car wreck tomorrow. People have to try to make the most out of their situation, that's what I'm trying to do. Once I get my health insurance I am definitely getting on some antidepressants. They are a big help.
Of all the posts here.....this one! Life is not guaranteed to no one...make it count!
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Old 12-28-2013, 11:29 AM
 
26,851 posts, read 43,334,989 times
Reputation: 31487
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw335xi View Post
There are plenty of jobs in Florida if you have an education and relevant skills/experience, but the wages are lower.
Based on what information? The reality is quite different.
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Old 12-28-2013, 03:23 PM
 
24,325 posts, read 26,719,696 times
Reputation: 19745
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125 View Post
Based on what information? The reality is quite different.
Based on job postings, all my friends finding full-time salary jobs, and statistics to name a few. This applies to South Florida and Orlando.
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Old 12-28-2013, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Spring Hill Florida
12,135 posts, read 16,022,438 times
Reputation: 6085
In the world of the unskilled, the uneducated, the burger king crowd, yes, the reality is quite different.




Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125 View Post
Based on what information? The reality is quite different.
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Old 12-28-2013, 04:25 PM
 
24,325 posts, read 26,719,696 times
Reputation: 19745
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spring Hillian View Post
In the world of the unskilled, the uneducated, the burger king crowd, yes, the reality is quite different.
And there are plenty of minimum wage jobs available for the people with no skills or education lol.

Florida's minimum wage is $7.79
San Francisco's minimum wage is $10.74

So even for people on minimum wage, it's still an easier life in most Floridian cities than say San Francisco, which has the highest minimum wage in the country.

$40k is the median household income in Orlando (2011)
$154k is the median house/condo value in Orlando (2011)
Average 1 bedroom rent is around $850 (current)
Florida has no state income tax

$70k is the median household income in San Francisco (2011)
$720k is the median house/condo value in San Francisco (2011)
Average 1 bedroom rent is around $2,800 (current)
California has state income tax UP TO 13.3%
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Old 12-28-2013, 05:13 PM
 
109 posts, read 142,863 times
Reputation: 81
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125 View Post
Based on what information? The reality is quite different.

I had no problems myself finding a good paying job with free health care benefits on top of that.

Depends on your skills, what your skills are and if you are able to prove to a company that your skills are well worth the money they are going to pay out.

What I find is many people with no skills are expecting 15.00 per hour here in Florida and that is what the biggest issue here becomes. Overpaid unskilled workers hurt those with skills in many cases.

I have had several friends move here and none had issues finding a decent paying job.

Sure some do and cannot find jobs but not everyone like you seem to make it out to be.

Florida is tourist based therefore you have to find other ways to put your skills to work if you want to make decent wages.

My employer even paid some of my moving expenses to get me to come here to work for them.

A highly unskilled labor force is killing Florida. That does not mean we dont have many skilled but we are surely seeing a lot of unskilled people who expect top pay like the skilled workers get and that is not going to happen anywhere.
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Old 12-28-2013, 05:14 PM
 
12,017 posts, read 14,226,696 times
Reputation: 5981
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw335xi View Post
There are plenty of jobs in Florida if you have an education and relevant skills/experience, but the wages are lower. However, even though San Francisco has higher paying jobs, after you adjust the cost of living and state taxes etc, Orlando is much easier to live.

$40k is the median household income in Orlando (2011)
$154k is the median house/condo value in Orlando (2011)
Average 1 bedroom rent is around $850 (current)
Florida has no state income tax

$70k is the median household income in San Francisco (2011)
$720k is the median house/condo value in San Francisco (2011)
Average 1 bedroom rent is around $2,800 (current)
California has state income tax UP TO 13.3%
Your facts will likely be ignored here
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Old 12-28-2013, 05:17 PM
 
109 posts, read 142,863 times
Reputation: 81
Quote:
Originally Posted by chopchop0 View Post
Your facts will likely be ignored here

Hi Chopchop0

Is it me since I am the newbie that some use scare tactics to keep people from moving here? I am sensing this on this forum.

Why not help each other and help those who want to move here and do well?

I never have looked back and been here in Florida 5 years. I dont think had I read some of the post in this forum back then that I would have moved here at all with all the neggies and scare tactics posted either.
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