[butrflyl]

I grew up in Central Florida and now live out in Los Angeles. I'm sick of the traffic, smog, and cold water here but I love the beach towns and the hipness of it.
Does anyone of any suggestions of where I should move to if I go back to Florida? I've thought about Naples/Ft. Myers and the Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm areas. Any thoughts? I know I don't want to live in North Florida, I just can't deal with the redneckness of it. Plus, I want to live close to or at the beach but I'm not a millionaire. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by butrflyl

I grew up in Central Florida and now live out in Los Angeles. I'm sick of the traffic, smog, and cold water here but I love the beach towns and the hipness of it.
Does anyone of any suggestions of where I should move to if I go back to Florida? I've thought about Naples/Ft. Myers and the Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm areas. Any thoughts? I know I don't want to live in North Florida, I just can't deal with the redneckness of it. Plus, I want to live close to or at the beach but I'm not a millionaire. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe St. Petersburg area? Don't know about specifics, however Ft. Lauderdale/WPB is cheap compared to LA but St. Petersburg area is cheaper.

Forget about Fort Myers and Naples, you would be bored stiff. Stick with a larger city.

If your going to live near the coast, your best bet for the price in southeast Florida is eastern Hollywood, which is undergoing an renaissance, but the prices haven't caught up yet, so it's basically "up and coming" and abundant in Old Florida kitsch between the "broadwalk" and gritty downtown. The traffic isn't nearly as bad as you would expect in South Florida once you get out of Dade County. Basically, the only major rush hour concern is I-595, and that's if you live in the suburbs of western Broward County. Palm Beach County has done a lot of road work and now I can't really think of any real "Traffic spots" anymore, although 95 and Southern Blvd used to be very sluggish. The flow is thick on local roads, but it moves.

[FHMullane]

try Jupiter, Juno Beach, Hobe Sound, Stuart. NOt cheap but not super pricey. Also, I found that all around Orlando was waaay too crowded... Traffic here is much less.

[2bohemians]

In my opinion, if you love Los Angeles, don't leave --- Florida will never compare ... it's just not the same .... perhaps consider taking a vacation first ... then see how you feel ... Everywhere you live has good and bad .... we've lived in several areas of Florida and in Los Angeles ... we love where we live now ... but sure do miss the west coast .....

[butrflyl]

Can I ask where you live in FL now? I definitely don't "love" LA and I have lived in Florida and know what I love and hate about both places. About LA I hate the smog, traffic, the fact that I can't afford a house at the beach, cold water, dirty beaches. What I love about LA: no rednecks, the clean beach towns, the beauty of the coastline outside of LA county. What I hate about FL: bugs, heat, rednecks. what I love: clean warm beaches, great scuba diving, I can afford a house!

Also, if you love the west coast more why haven't you moved back?

[FHMullane]

I also come from CA and after 10 years still miss the west. I never lived in big cities. I am OK with FL but there is something about CA. Watch out for housing prices... they are cheaper than CA but still a bit pricey in FL. North FL is cheaper but then you have rednecks. South FL is much better in that respect and fewer tornados.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by FHMullane

North FL is cheaper but then you have rednecks.

Well, yes and no. I'm in North Florida (Jacksonville), and while there are "rednecks" here, that's certainly not the whole story. We have people from everywhere here.

I can go through my day and not encounter anything resembling the stereotypical "redneck". If I drive to the far end of town or out in the rural areas it will be different and suddenly there are confederate flag stickers on trucks, etc., but I don't live out there so it's not part of my day-to-day experience. My neighbors are from the NorthEast (as am I), the Midwest and from foreign countries. It's actually more of a rarity for me to find a neighbor that has been born and raised here.

I know the OP said they did not want to relocate to North Florida (for whatever reason), but I just wanted to clarify that if someone was considering moving to North Florida, there is diversity - if you want to live a redneck lifestyle you can, but there are plenty of areas to live in where the redneck lifestyle is not the norm as well.

[Floridabound09]

There are plenty of rednecks in every state. There is no city in Florida that compares to LA, believe me, I get in LA and get the heck out of LA as fast as I can.

There is a huge amount of people moving back to Florida and for some reason the people who bash Florida want to discourage people from doing so.
I recently spoke to a man over the phone about some antiques I am buying from him, he is from Michigan and recently moved to Florida and loves it there.
By the way, he bought a house in Stuart, Florida.

In our conversation I talked at length about us moving there soon and he told me that it was the best decision he ever made in his life.
Dont get discouraged from peoples post, if you do not like LA they will try to convince you it is better then Florida ( which we both know it is not ).

There is a ton of people who have recently admitted they made mistakes about moving away from Florida and are coming back in large numbers, all those people cannot be wrong !

Its a shame that you are posting to get help and you have decided to move back to Florida and people are not trying to help you but discourage you.

Amazing.