[herrery]

I am thinking of moving to florida or california, either Ft Lauderdale in Fl. or San Diego (maybe Stockton) in Cali. I am aware both states are expensive and the property taxes are not too good either. I am in the health care industry so I can get a job in either location. I have friends and some family in Florida, but none iin California. I just don't know what to do. I am looking for good people, sun, outdoor things to do most of the year and I love to salsa dance. Any thought, comments or suggestions would be of help. Thanks.

[compelled to reply]

Stockton-NO!

I can try and make an objective comparison between Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. They have a surprising amount of similarities, which include
-Service based economy, wages out of line with cost of living, this effect less pronounced in Fort Lauderdale, but still too pronounced.
-Both still manage to have an abundance of young professionals and a "beach culture".
-A good mix of people from all over, albeit a different mix.
-An air of pretentiousness
-Plenty of jobs in the medical field
-Plenty of outdoor activities, although different ones.

San Diego has an all around "suburban" feeling to it while Fort Lauderdale can go from soccer mom to sin city, often within a short distance.


In San Diego's Favor
-Better downtown
-A bit lower crime
-More history
-Probably nicer people
-Better weather
-Hills and mountains
-If you are conservative, a more conservative bias.

In Fort Lauderdale's favor
-Much less traffic
-Less pollution
-Lower cost of living
-Better beaches
-Lush green appearance
-Better access to the rest of the country
-Less illegal immigration
-If you are liberal, a more left leaning bias.

If you have friends and family in Florida but no family out west, your probably better off in Florida. Talk to some of your family members about whether they enjoy living here or not. On this forum it seems that a lot of the people who dislike South Florida have friends that do, and a lot of people that like it also have friends that like it as well.

[compelled to reply]

By the way, that post was by me, and if you need any specifics about areas just ask. Also note Florida (especially Ft. Lauderdale) has a lot of exaggerated hate for some reason on the internet, usually relating to issues like "crime", "rude people" and "too many hispanics". I think they are mostly angry about the cost of living and the overcrowding and are trying to search for other problems as hard as they can because of that. That being said, South Florida is NOT for everyone.

Oh and yeah, their both prone to natural disaster. San Diego has issues with wildfires, mudslides and you are always living with the risk of earthquake, while South Florida has the hurricane risk. I tend to prefer the latter risk if I'm going to have one at all, because you can at least plan for it, but a lot of people in California swear they would never move to Florida just because of the hurricanes (which are surprisingly rare, despite some notable hurricanes a couple years ago).

[robertobaggio]

Originally Posted by herrery

I am thinking of moving to florida or california, either Ft Lauderdale in Fl. or San Diego (maybe Stockton) in Cali. I am aware both states are expensive and the property taxes are not too good either. I am in the health care industry so I can get a job in either location. I have friends and some family in Florida, but none iin California. I just don't know what to do. I am looking for good people, sun, outdoor things to do most of the year and I love to salsa dance. Any thought, comments or suggestions would be of help. Thanks.

Florida is better by any mean. I live in California and lived in Florida before.

[doggiebus]

This is a personal choice. No one person can tell you that San Diego or Ft. Lauderdale will better for you. You really should visit both places a few times before making a decision. But also remember that just visiting a city doesn't give you the total picture of a city unfortunatly. I think San Diego is closer to what you are looking for.

I can tell you that Florida is not a year round outdoor activity place. Mid-May through November its usually to hot, humid or rainy to be outside for any extended time. But that seems to be getting extended as last year and this year Dec and January have been in the 80s still warm. If you want year round outdoor activities you can't beat California.

[compelled to reply]

Definitely keep in mind what Doggiebus said, especially about the weather. San Diego is mild year round. Here, 6-7 months are pleasant, and 5-6 months are what I could consider "brutal". I do prefer a South Florida winter though.

[kwick release]

Don't forget the 'June Gloom' in San Diego that lately really has been 'May-July Gloom'. The 'gloom' is an annoying marine cloud layer that never seems to go away and annoyed the heck out of me since I lived there on the beach for 7 years. Nov-Mar in San Diego is not really beach weather but you do get your occas warm days during those months. Also San Diego beachfront real estate is more expensive. Oceanfront condos in Pacific Beach now run in the $1.5mil range and bayfront in the $1mil range. Good luck with your decision.




Prodromos Borboroglu

[Grammy Linna]

Ex CA native here. We are retiring to Florida. I am sure if we could afford it, we would move back to CA because it is not as humid. Being in the health care profession you can go anywhere. Take some time and visit the whole state. Would you be able to do some visiting medical rotation? That way you can see where you feel the most comfortable. Best of luck!!!

[Jarndyce]

Do not even think about Stockton, CA, unless you enjoy flushing money down the toilet and don't mind moving to a new place 6 mo after you land in Stockton. Over on Forbes.com, Stockton just landed #2 in most miserable city to live in index. AVOID IT!

San Diego--still very nice but incredibly crowded with no practical congestion solution coming. Maybe alternate plate driving? Maybe forced carpooling? These are options other cities are looking at and San Diego might look at them someday. You're set with great job prospects but San Diego is not my ideal home buying market anymore. The weather pattern at the beach, as someone said above, is a gray beach haze from May-July which keeps temps cool. November/March you have to be choosy because not every day is warm enough to hang at the beach without bundling up a bit. It the past, Santa Ana winds were actually NICE because they warmed everything up...now..they are fuse lighters for massive wildfires The wildfire/mudslide threat is only growing in S.D, sad to say.

I give San Diego positive marks for the downtown renovation. When I was a kid (77-88) nobody bothered going downtown. There was nothing there. In the last 5 years...MAJOR REDEVELOPMENT SUCCESS...though, of course, things are a bit pricey now. But beautiful, fun, eclectic..."Little Italy" is a great place...PB has had a lot of businesses shutter recently, maybe some new ones will take their place...

If you want to consider a great OVERALL place in Cali...think San Jose. Yes, property is expensive. Yes, traffic is tough. But I think all that Silicone Valley cash has really done that area wonders. Very nice place right now, imo...

I'm trying to study FL myself...can't help you there. Good Luck!