[Sophie326]

Hello!

My soon-to-be husband and I would like to move to Florida after we are married. We are both teachers and currently live in the Boston area. We want to know where in Florida we should look (best teaching jobs/school districts, safest areas, best real estate, etc.) We had maybe thought of the Orlando area (Winter Park, Oviedo) but weren't sure if there were nicer/better areas to check out. Any and all help would be appreciated. We are pretty lost with this whole thing and really need some guidance!! Thanks

[robertobaggio]

Why would you move to an in land city in Florida??

[kyle19125]

The best dozen or so county school districts (out of 67 districts) in order of state rankings are as follows:

1 St. Johns
2 Santa Rosa
3 Martin
4 Sarasota
5 Gilchrist
6 Okaloosa
7 Seminole
8 Brevard
8 Monroe
10 Sumter
11 Wakulla
12 Dixie
13 Clay
14 Citrus
14 Nassau
16 Palm Beach

The Jacksonville area offers the most density in terms of quality schools with three counties listed. Check out Ponte Vedra Beach and Julington Creek in St John's County, Fernandina Beach and Yulee in Nassau County or Orange Park and Fleming Island in Clay County. All are safer and very desirable areas to live in.

[Sophie326]

@robberto... Didn't say we were, just throwing ideas out. On here looking for advice from people, though.

[Sophie326]

@kyle19125 Thank you for your helpful advice. Those are precisely the types of areas we would want to be in (good schools, safe, desirable) and not necessarily on the water. Much appreciated!!

[Sophie326]

How is Atlantis, FL?

[8to32characters]

Originally Posted by Sophie326

@kyle19125 Thank you for your helpful advice. Those are precisely the types of areas we would want to be in (good schools, safe, desirable) and not necessarily on the water. Much appreciated!!

Although Kyle is a very knowledgeable, informative poster on the Florida forums, he is a little biased in favor of the northern third of the state, if the list with which he provided you is any indication.

As a native Rhode Islander who moved to Florida nearly 20 years ago, but has since moved on, I would urge you to shy away from the northern third of the state or essentially anything north of Seminole County. Northern Florida is "Southern-lite," and the adjustment you would have to undergo coming from New England would be a difficult one and unnecessary to boot, especially given the fact there plenty of ares of the state where you wouldn't have to deal with that mentality/culture at all.

Furthermore, most areas north of Greater Orlando are fairly cool in the wintertime compared the rest of the state. IMO and in the opinions of countless others from the Northeast and Midwest, moving to an area of Florida with chilly winters somewhat defeats the purpose of moving to Florida for year-round warm weather, which is--by and large--the primary motivation of most Northerners who move or are looking to move to Florida. As far as I know, Kyle is a native South Floridian, so I would venture to say he doesn't really have a foot in this game.

That said, don't look too far south in the state on the Atlantic Coast (i.e., anything south of West Palm Beach), which would present an entirely different culture shock of its own. People in South Florida are very difficult to live around, but in a different way than native Southerners. Most people down there are rude, pushy, complain incessantly, and have serious entitlement issues. Unfortunately, this issue seems to be getting increasingly worse as time goes on.

IMO, the best part of the state for young newlyweds is the area in which you've already concentrated your search (i.e., Winter Park, Oviedo, Lake Mary), so I would stick to that if I were you. Depending on where you live in the Boston area, Seminole County or eastern Orange County is probably just as far from the beach as where you currently live, if not closer. Also, Seminole County is, IMO, one of the best area to raise children in the entire state--certainly one of the most family-friendly--due to a strong public school system, lots of families, fewer retirees relative to most areas of Florida, etc., so you won't have to look much farther.

Also, as teachers, it's safe to assume that you and your husband will face some serious competition in your respective job searches, especially from retired teachers from up North with years and years of experience who are looking for a job they can work for 5-10 years to ease into their Florida retirement. Lots of teachers move to Florida and can't find work because the field is so saturated.

FWIW, my friend is a teacher in Florida who applied to his current position on the first day the position was posted several years ago. According to the school, the job posting was taken down within six hours of being posted, as the position had already received over 150 applicants. He attributes beating out the other 150 applicants due to his [impressive] background--he held a fairly high-ranking military position upon his retirement from the US military, a master's degree in education from an public Ivy League school, and his fluency in Spanish. In essence, competition for teaching jobs in Florida is very, very fierce, so I just hope to make you aware of that--I'm not trying to discredit you and your husband in the slightest.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to DM me. Best of luck in your move.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by 8to32characters

Although Kyle is a very knowledgeable, informative poster on the Florida forums, he is a little biased in favor of the northern third of the state, if the list with which he provided you is any indication.

As a native Rhode Islander who moved to Florida nearly 20 years ago, but has since moved on, I would urge you to shy away from the northern third of the state or essentially anything north of Seminole County. Northern Florida is "Southern-lite," and the adjustment you would have to undergo coming from New England would be a difficult one and unnecessary to boot, especially given the fact there plenty of ares of the state where you wouldn't have to deal with that mentality/culture at all.

Furthermore, most areas north of Greater Orlando are fairly cool in the wintertime compared the rest of the state. IMO and in the opinions of countless others from the Northeast and Midwest, moving to an area of Florida with chilly winters somewhat defeats the purpose of moving to Florida for year-round warm weather, which is--by and large--the primary motivation of most Northerners who move or are looking to move to Florida. As far as I know, Kyle is a native South Floridian, so I would venture to say he doesn't really have a foot in this game.

That said, don't look too far south in the state on the Atlantic Coast (i.e., anything south of West Palm Beach), which would present an entirely different culture shock of its own. People in South Florida are very difficult to live around, but in a different way than native Southerners. Most people down there are rude, pushy, complain incessantly, and have serious entitlement issues. Unfortunately, this issue seems to be getting increasingly worse as time goes on.

IMO, the best part of the state for young newlyweds is the area in which you've already concentrated your search (i.e., Winter Park, Oviedo, Lake Mary), so I would stick to that if I were you. Depending on where you live in the Boston area, Seminole County or eastern Orange County is probably just as far from the beach as where you currently live, if not closer. Also, Seminole County is, IMO, one of the best area to raise children in the entire state--certainly one of the most family-friendly--due to a strong public school system, lots of families, fewer retirees relative to most areas of Florida, etc., so you won't have to look much farther.

Also, as teachers, it's safe to assume that you and your husband will face some serious competition in your respective job searches, especially from retired teachers from up North with years and years of experience who are looking for a job they can work for 5-10 years to ease into their Florida retirement. Lots of teachers move to Florida and can't find work because the field is so saturated.

FWIW, my friend is a teacher in Florida who applied to his current position on the first day the position was posted several years ago. According to the school, the job posting was taken down within six hours of being posted, as the position had already received over 150 applicants. He attributes beating out the other 150 applicants due to his [impressive] background--he held a fairly high-ranking military position upon his retirement from the US military, a master's degree in education from an public Ivy League school, and his fluency in Spanish. In essence, competition for teaching jobs in Florida is very, very fierce, so I just hope to make you aware of that--I'm not trying to discredit you and your husband in the slightest.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to DM me. Best of luck in your move.

LOL. For starters I'm not biased toward the northern third of the state and sorry if the list of best school districts doesn't support your "Central Florida is best agenda". Here's the rankings list which is compiled by the Florida Department of Education...https://app2.fldoe.org/Ranking/Districts/

You mention moving from Rhode Island to Florida 20 years ago and have since moved on so please help explain how your experience with modern-day Jacksonville is relevant? The Jacksonville area has seen a large uptick in job growth in banking, IT and healthcare and as a result an influx of population from all over the US. It is by no means the southern backwater you're trying to portray and is much further along economically than the Orlando metro's one trick pony job market.

In terms of not having a "foot in the game" as you state at least my information is current, since I researched extensively my move back to Florida three years ago with both the Jacksonville and Tampa Bay metro areas as my top choices. Family circumstances ultimately dictated neither and now reside in Seminole County so I have a pretty good fix on what's what in all three areas.

Because of the fixation by many like yourself on places like Central Florida, Sarasota and Palm Beach County for instance the competition for teaching jobs is quite high in those places. Areas of the state still dealing with perpetuated, outdated stereotypes aren't so much and feel the OP might have some success in districts such as Clay County or Nassau County. Furthermore your friend's experience from several years while an experience to pull from, certainly isn't what one might describe as current.

[tarynp]

I am from Miami originally and went to college in Boston. My husband and i LOVE Downtown WPB. It's urban and walkable, everyone is friendly, we feel very safe here and there are still deals to be had on real estate as well. If anything, consider visiting and staying for a week. I'm sure you'll want to stay That's how we got hooked.