What's So Great About Florida, Anyway? (Orlando, Palmetto: relocation, vacation, job)

[Bonjour]

I love that it's warm almost all year round.....although during Xmas it's kinda sad without snow but sometimes it gets chilly around Xmas

[bnepler]

You don't need snow shovels!!

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by Bonjour

I love that it's warm almost all year round.....although during Xmas it's kinda sad without snow but sometimes it gets chilly around Xmas

I'll mail you some snow. How many feet do you want?

[bale002]

It's all relative.

Some people like the heat or at least in relation to cold, some don't. Also, from the major metro areas at least in Florida, it is easy to travel nationally and internationally when the weather becomes too much to handle.

No state income tax. Yes, property ownership is costly (buy price, taxes, maintenance fees, insurance), but there is something called renting, often at a fraction of the cost of owning, and it is possible to find reasonable rents if you know what you are doing and make the effort.

Yes, food is expensive compared to, say, California, but it is possible to reduce costs to a minimum if you know how and where to shop, and make the effort. Worth noting in this context is that Florida still does have some local agriculture.

Overall, Florida is still less expensive than the mid-Atlantic, northeast, and west coast, though certainly more expensive than the other southern states (from NC to TX to TN).

The Florida economy offers elements of diversification depending on your field, your experience, and whom you know. And, of course, if you know what you're doing.

Some people like multi-cultural diversification, some don't. Yes, it helps tremendously, especially in southeastern Florida, if you speak Spanish which is possible if you know what you are doing and make the effort. Unfortunately, many people are now discounting the poverty of public elementary-to-secondary education in this country (and not only in this country).

So overall, the weather for those who like it hot, and no state income tax are the highest pluses.
Texas also offers heat and no state income taxes, but, for some, Florida is in a better geographical position and offers the ocean as opposed to the gulf, though some prefer the gulf, which Florida has too.

Economic opportunities are relative to sector, experience, and whom you know. And with today's telecommunications, for some, location matters less, so the economic opportunity factor may be only 60% relevant, though this level is admittedly significant, then, for many people.

So Florida is not for everyone, and, accordingly, the entire US population does not live in Florida.

No question that financial conditions for property ownership have reached a chaotic state, and ruinous for some, and that this is a tragedy, the result of misguided policy, greed, and possibly crime in some cases, and of severe weather phenomenon (the most tragic part). We can only hope that, with the credit spigots tightened a little bit, and with another few years of fair weather, financial conditions for home ownership will move back into line with Florida's long-term fundamentals. Admittedly hope alone is not enough for everyone.

The natural upshot of all this is that some people are leaving, some are coming, some are staying put.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by cjgsav

Keep posting. It brings a smile to my face to see wretched people, like yourself, spiraling into depression as the north once again invades the south. Winning the war was nice, but ruining your way of life will be much sweeter.

Eh, I was born in and lived in NY most of my life. Try again.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Jammie

OK Who crapped in your wheaties this morning?

Seriously, we're from the upper midwest and are strongly considering Fla. for our move, which by the way will be the first real move of our lifetime. We've been searching a few other areas, and although beautiful, we've decided that we want to be closer to our extended family. My brother's wife is a born and raised Floridian. So, I guess I fall into the category that you mentioned about people wanting to live close to family.

BUT Fla. has all the other states beat, including my own state which I do dearly love. I love the year round warmth. Heat doesn't bother me and yes, I've been there and know how hot it gets. I don't have to worry about snow that comes down FEET at a time. I don't have to worry about going out and freezing to death if my car stalls when it's forty below zero. We have our share of crime here, too so that's not isolated to just Florida. Other states also have bugs galore. Believe me, the West Nile Virus has struck my state HARD at times. In fact, we hold the record for West Nile cases per capita. Florida can have some ferocious weather with the canes, but when they're not present, their tornadoes are nothing. Cat 1 or 2? Try a Cat 5 and see how that works for ya. Yup, I live in tornado alley and chuckle at the slight winds when they forecast tornadoes in Fla. My state is also WINDY. When Fla. has wind of 40 or 50, it's broadcast on the news like a catastrophe. When our winds are that, it's just another windy day here. And heat? One of the nearby towns tied the all time record for temps this past summer. 120 degrees. We don't have the humidity of Fla., but anyone who tells you it doesn't get humid up here is kidding you. While the Floridians are outside enjoying their 70 degree days and 60 degree nights in the upcoming months, I'll be sitting in the house or out braving the weather and shoveling snow and bundling up because of fierce windchills. I have the beautiful Black Hills to go to, but not beaches at all. So, those are just a few of the reasons that I'm ready to become a Floridian.

So what you're saying is, you live in a terrible weather-ravaged place but you decided to live there all of your life...soooooo, we should expect this Florida move decision to be a good one based on an ability to pick good spots to live?

But seriously, I hear what you are fleeing weather-wise but I sure hope you know what you are going to (besides the relative). May I ask if you have looked at the posts in other city-data state forums to see what Fleeing Floridians (they're all over the place) are saying about why they are leaving? They don't put that stuff in the brochures and relocation packages. Try a search on "Florida" or "FL" in the North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia forums...and everybody else, pay attention to what is starting to happen now in North Carolina, the new best spot for relocated big city northerners and the same folks relocating a second time by way of Florida...escalating costs, overcrowded schools, crime, overdevelopment ruining the pretty places that made people move there in the first place, traffic up the wazoo, whining about the locals and their way of life, etc. Sound familiar?

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by verobeach

You don't have to shovel or rake heat. You just put on your bikini and sit by your pool or in your air-conditioned house and enjoy your tropical drink of choice. So this winter while you're layering clothes over your longjohns and pulling on your galoshes to shovel out your car maybe you'll think of Florida in a new light with it's sky so clear and blue they should name a crayola crayon after it. And when you get your heating bill you can think of Florida with it's winter breezes gently blowing through our patios and our opened windows, the air so fragrant they should name a perfume after it.

Yeah, yeah Vero, when did you ever shovel anything? I'm not a snow wuss and I like cold weather and 4 seasons so save that for somebody else.

So what you're saying is the air smelled where you came from (NJ?) and pools, drinks, air conditioning and blue skies are Florida exclusives. How about those skyrocketing electric bills, insurance bills and taxes we're all hearing about? I must have missed that on the postcards.

Hard to sip drinks by the pool when you're fighting traffic to get home and working your tail off just to turn the air conditioner and pool pump on. Oh wait, those are the concerns of the people outside of the gates.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by grammy164

What's so great?
It's October 28th and I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and soon I'm going for a nice bike ride.
My air conditioning bills have never equaled the heating bills I had up north and my wardrobe lasts all year.
My grass is beautifully green, my plants are full of flowers and I know when to move to the shade, but I'm still able to enjoy the great weather.

Yeah but those REALLY BIG cockroaches you call by a more acceptable name are running all around by your bare legs while you are working in that lovely garden.

Moderator cut: personal attack You're making a case to live where you live based solely on nice weather (with the obvious hurricane, scorching temperatures oversight ) but not making a case for Florida over any other warm weather state.

I'm asking people who don't live there now, why choose Florida? Today, right now, what's attractive about it that you would pick there over any other place to live with or without immediate family coming with you? I understand wanting to live near relatives, having to move because of a job transfer or job offer, feeling acceptance in the predator community or preferring, for example, Orlando's economy over Tijuana's.

I don't want to hear what you are running away from. I want to hear what you are running to, that you think you can't get anyplace else but Florida so you overlook its (in my opinion) serious flaws. Oh yeah, and if you only plan to park there for some months out of the year and live someplace else the rest of the year, save the "great" weather talk for someone who will believe you.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by bale002

It's all relative.

Some people like the heat or at least in relation to cold, some don't. Also, from the major metro areas at least in Florida, it is easy to travel nationally and internationally when the weather becomes too much to handle.

No state income tax. Yes, property ownership is costly (buy price, taxes, maintenance fees, insurance), but there is something called renting, often at a fraction of the cost of owning, and it is possible to find reasonable rents if you know what you are doing and make the effort.

Yes, food is expensive compared to, say, California, but it is possible to reduce costs to a minimum if you know how and where to shop, and make the effort. Worth noting in this context is that Florida still does have some local agriculture.

Overall, Florida is still less expensive than the mid-Atlantic, northeast, and west coast, though certainly more expensive than the other southern states (from NC to TX to TN).

The Florida economy offers elements of diversification depending on your field, your experience, and whom you know. And, of course, if you know what you're doing.

Some people like multi-cultural diversification, some don't. Yes, it helps tremendously, especially in southeastern Florida, if you speak Spanish which is possible if you know what you are doing and make the effort. Unfortunately, many people are now discounting the poverty of public elementary-to-secondary education in this country (and not only in this country).

So overall, the weather for those who like it hot, and no state income tax are the highest pluses.
Texas also offers heat and no state income taxes, but, for some, Florida is in a better geographical position and offers the ocean as opposed to the gulf, though some prefer the gulf, which Florida has too.

Economic opportunities are relative to sector, experience, and whom you know. And with today's telecommunications, for some, location matters less, so the economic opportunity factor may be only 60% relevant, though this level is admittedly significant, then, for many people.

So Florida is not for everyone, and, accordingly, the entire US population does not live in Florida.

No question that financial conditions for property ownership have reached a chaotic state, and ruinous for some, and that this is a tragedy, the result of misguided policy, greed, and possibly crime in some cases, and of severe weather phenomenon (the most tragic part). We can only hope that, with the credit spigots tightened a little bit, and with another few years of fair weather, financial conditions for home ownership will move back into line with Florida's long-term fundamentals. Admittedly hope alone is not enough for everyone.

The natural upshot of all this is that some people are leaving, some are coming, some are staying put.

Best post --- but I'm thinking the next census will show more people leaving than staying and less retirees coming. The leavers and new retirees are turning the next best state into Florida. I'm thinking that next best state is going to be North Carolina based on what I eyeballed in Western North Carolina this Spring, what I've seen in the NC city-data forum posts and what I've read in the book Retirement Migration in America that shows NC receiving the bulk of its retirees from NY and Florida (NJ is also in the Top 5)...and with the baby boomer retirement population not yet at peak.

[bale002]

You wrote:

" ... I'm asking people who don't live there now, why choose Florida ... making a case for Florida over any other warm weather state ... today, right now, what's attractive about it that you would pick there over any other place to live? ... "

By warm weather states, I understand those regions of the Gulf States that are within the Mexican Gulf/Carribean weather system (Florida counterclockwise along the coast on through to Texas), Arizona and southern California.

1) No state income taxes (Texas rivals in this respect) and you can beat the high cost of home ownership by renting.

2) Geographical position (both Gulf and Atlantic, ease of travel, nationally and internationally) and eastern time zone (that's important to some people).

3) Particular multicultural mix.

The three above points are not important or attractive to everyone, that's why not everyone lives in Florida.

Those who can't afford the high costs of home ownership and are not willing (or able) to rent either leave or don't come.