[Alphaman]

If you want to see leaves change you can drive 10 hrs up into Tennessee rent a nice cabin and enjoy it`s not out of reach.

Florida is great and it is still reasonably close to states with leaves, mountains etc.

[zoomzoom3]

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

What are you from?
Where in Florida are you moving?
What attracts you to Florida?
What research did you do or have already done to pick your city or location?
Did you spend time in that town in person?
Did you communicate with people who live their personally?

I'm from St. Louis, Missouri.

I'm undecided as to where in Florida I might move. Somewhere with a decent job market would be a start.

The weather attracts me to Florida. Nine months of winter up here sucks and causes severe depression in me due to seasonal affective disorder.

I am just in the beginning stages of researching Florida, that's why I'm HERE.

I hope to get some insight from people here on Florida.

[hdzup3]

Originally Posted by vincero

hdzup3, you should feel right at home when you move here. At my son's former school, two of his teachers, the principal and the secretary were all from Connecticut!

Sunnydee, I don't know what your price range is. Have you considered Inverness? There are loads of reasonably priced homes available, many of which seem to be within walking distance of various activities. If price is not much of an issue, then Winter Park, within Orlando, is wonderful for walking to many great restaurants, shopping and a park. Also Seaside, which is in the Panhandle, to the East of Fort Walton Beach, is an award winning, small community, built on walking to everything (but again, is incredibly expensive.)

Florida is great; my only caveat is that it is easy to be swayed by pictures, but you can't feel the intense humidity and heat in pictures, or get bitten by the fire ants, etc. You really have to be prepared to deal with bugs and pulverizing humidity, along with the downer, every fall, of no fall foliage, and every Christmas of no snow. Many holiday seasons, your AC will still be running, 24/7. If you are from an area where the seasons change, you will miss that when the fall comes. I don't care if you live down here for 20 years - when the autumn comes, the football games and homecomings begin, and you are sweating through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...you miss the crisp, fall days and the changing leaves of the North.

That said, after a few years here, a little icy weather goes a long way. You will spend several months going outdoors and instinctively hunching your shoulders against the cold, only to feel a balmy breeze. You open your door in the morning in February, to a benign atmosphere of gently swaying palms. When you travel on business or to visit relatives in the North, you can't get over the soul destroying quality of battling the constant cold, barren trees and endless, leaden grey skies. You feel as if you weigh a thousand pounds, struggling everywhere wearing more clothes than you'd wear in a week, in Florida. You get so used to tee shirts and shorts, and silk for work.

My eventual goal is to have enough money to visit somewhere North for a week every fall, to see the leaves change, and somewhere snowy every Christmas. By January 2, though, every year, my nostalgia ends and I am thankful again that I'm in Florida.

lol, yeah, ive been bit by them there fire ants!!!! im willing to trade freezing and gray for fire ants and swaying palms.
i wont really miss those seasons! the depression hits as soon as sept is gone for me. any thing below 70 is horrible!
there is alot to learn about florida im sure. alot ive never experienced.
it defenately is scary and im haveing a hard time just going for it!!!
im sure ill be there soon.
im one of those people, when i want something i get it! thanx for the boost!

[parotthead93]

just dont move to spring hill, florida. There are no good paying jobs, lots of hillbillies, nothing to do here.

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

Since my last really good thread was closed due to the fact that certain people wont allow a positive post to continue. This one is for the people who have moved to Florida in the past, have recently moved to Florida, moved away from Florida and moved back and have plans to move to Florida in the near future.
There is several of you who have moved away from Florida and have decided to move back, your info I feel is important because you have been on both sides of your decisions and therefore your opinion is very valudable to those who want to move to Florida in the future.
So, if you have plans, have already moved or want to move to Florida we would like to hear from you.

What are you from? livonia, michigan
Where in Florida are you moving?spring hill
What attracts you to Florida? palm trees ,no snow
What research did you do or have already done to pick your city or location? had relativs living here
Did you spend time in that town in person? yes
Did you communicate with people who live their personally? no

Just some ideas.

I am interested in where you moved from and where you moved to and your specifics, I am interested in hearing from those who moved away and now have moved back and decided it was the right thing for you to do.

If you moved away and are coming back, where did you move to and where did you move back to in Florida?

Thank you from allot of us for posting your information.

[jgennaro]

HDZUP3...I feel ya!!! I live on Long Island (born and raised), but we have been desperately trying to move to Saint Augustine. We've been to FL several times and have NO problem with the heat. My kids LOVE it. We've had our house up for sale for 9 months with no action and it's killed my "future Florida" dream.

All of our immediate family still live here but I think once we get down here...others will follow.

I have had enough of the cold and I am dreading any kind of "real" snowfall. My kids are always asking to ride their bikes and I feel bad telling them no. I allowed them once and my son's cheeks were cherry red. They came in feeling so unhappy. My daughter keeps asking when we're moving and I hate not being able to give her an answer. I understand you HDZUP3 when you say when you want something, you get it. I feel the same way with my kids.....when they really want something (and I don't mean toys and such) I want so much to give it to them...and I HATE that this is something I just cannot give them....yet LOL!!

Good luck!!!

[Floridabound09]

Originally Posted by parotthead93

just dont move to spring hill, florida. There are no good paying jobs, lots of hillbillies, nothing to do here.

Guess you picked the wrong town to move to then?

Did you move there recently? Because that is what the TOPIC of this thread is about ................

[lvmy3grls]

What are you from? ? Born and raised on Long Island (Levittown), moved to South florida in 2005 (Wellington), too hot, too expensive, hurricanes..need I say more..decided to move to St Augustine this year
Where in Florida are you moving? Relocated 9/07 to St Johns County, St Augustine, World Golf Village area
What attracts you to Florida? The weather is so pleasant, so much more to do, people friendlier than in NY, overall happier way of living
What research did you do or have already done to pick your city or location? Tried to find the best schools in the area due to our children, wanted a young area with families and affordable housing
Did you spend time in that town in person? Yes, was doing research and visiting 9 months while I waited for my home in South Florida to sell
Did you communicate with people who live their personally? Did not really have anyone who I knew, so I used this site frequently. Thankfully people are basically honest and forthcoming with information.

We are so happy here, don't regret moving. The hardest thing is leaving family and friends, but nothing that a week in NY won't fix. We were back for Christmas, it was 15 degrees in the city.....bbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We froze our little booties off. Anyway, this area is growing so much and is absolutely perfect for what we wanted. Tons of kids, families, upper to middle class, and the schools are wonderful! Our zip code is 32092 if you are looking. Good luck to you and your family!!

[sg928]

What are you from? ? Buffalo, NY
Where in Florida are you moving? Leaning toward Southwest Florida
What attracts you to Florida? The weather, the blue sky, tropical plant life, beaches, senior citizens, I love how flat it is.
What research did you do or have already done to pick your city or location? We are trying to find a good school district, with a good exceptional ed program, two of our son have severe learning disabilities.
Did you spend time in that town in person? Yes. On vacation for the last two years.
Did you communicate with people who live their personally? We talked to snow birds, people @ flee markets, farmers markets.

[Floridabound09]

I wanted to share something you the posters.

I do allot of customer service rep work in my job and spoke with a potential customer in the Tampa area this afternoon, in the discussion I told him I was looking to move to Florida and in the outskirts of the Tampa area and he told me that he was originally from Michigan and moved to the Tampa are 2 years ago on a career move. He didnt think he would like it there. Then went onto tell me that his wife had been on anti depressant pills for many years and he gives the move credit for her recovering from being depressed all the time.

He said that once they were in Florida for a while that he has seen his wife SMILE for the first time in many years. The way he described it to me about brought tears to my eyes because he said that she was on several different types of depressant meds along with blood pressue and arthritis meds and seen before his eyes he getting better as time went by. He told me that she never went out of the house for anything other then the grocery in Michigan.

He said, in Florida you cannot get her in the house and she is now shopping etc with neighbors and smiling all the time.

So, with that said, Florida has changed a ladies life and from what he said gave him back his wife. She is now getting weaned off the last group of meds and no longer needs arthritis pills.

I did ask him what did you notice about Florida when you first moved, he said " The sun is always shining, in Michigan we very seldom ever had the sun shine".

Just thought I would share a positive good story about this mans wife doing much better and like he said its the first time in years he saw her SMILE!

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

I wanted to share something you the posters.

I do allot of customer service rep work in my job and spoke with a potential customer in the Tampa area this afternoon, in the discussion I told him I was looking to move to Florida and in the outskirts of the Tampa area and he told me that he was originally from Michigan and moved to the Tampa are 2 years ago on a career move. He didnt think he would like it there. Then went onto tell me that his wife had been on anti depressant pills for many years and he gives the move credit for her recovering from being depressed all the time.

He said that once they were in Florida for a while that he has seen his wife SMILE for the first time in many years. The way he described it to me about brought tears to my eyes because he said that she was on several different types of depressant meds along with blood pressue and arthritis meds and seen before his eyes he getting better as time went by. He told me that she never went out of the house for anything other then the grocery in Michigan.

He said, in Florida you cannot get her in the house and she is now shopping etc with neighbors and smiling all the time.

So, with that said, Florida has changed a ladies life and from what he said gave him back his wife. She is now getting weaned off the last group of meds and no longer needs arthritis pills.

I did ask him what did you notice about Florida when you first moved, he said " The sun is always shining, in Michigan we very seldom ever had the sun shine".

Just thought I would share a positive good story about this mans wife doing much better and like he said its the first time in years he saw her SMILE!

What a great story. This has been a very depressing winter for our friends and family in the midwest and northeast. The cold and gray has lingered for week after week after week. My uncle in PA can count the non dreary days on 1 hand the past few months. Our relatives in Wisconsin are facing yet another arctic blast tomorrow with temps. in the single digits.

It makes you appreciate our Florida paradise more and more!