[jbright]

Hi everyone! I am planning to move to Florida this year. I have been reading over all these posts and have a little bit better idea now of the areas there. Thank you. I wanted to give some more info and see if if anyone can help me get a little more targeted in on places that will fit me and my husband.

We are both mid-twenties, recently married. We have no kids and are not planning to for quite a while.

I have my own business and make around 50k a year working from home. Projected earnings will be around 65k by the time we move. He currently works as a government road surveyor and makes around 20k a year. He would prefer a similar job there.

We currently live in Mississippi and he is from a small town here. I am from Santa Cruz, CA (I know about HIGH prices!) and I really really do not like it in Mississippi. I hate the cold and being away from the beach and the amenities are well, there are none. Santa Cruz is a medium sized beach/college town and I love it but am looking for something new.

We must live close to the beach (preferably within 15 minutes max).

We are both semi-pro pool players.

We like riding atv's. Love music, all kinds. Love trying new foods. I am a vegetarian, he is not.

Hot weather is not a problem. Diversity is not a problem.

We will need a good sized apartment (at least 1500sq ft) to accommodate my office. According to the housing calculator someone posted (thank you!) we can afford around $1700 a month but of course would prefer not to. In my research of Clearwater and West Palm Beach there are many units with high sq footage for $800-1200 a month (ghetto?).

Would prefer reasonable traffic. And of course there are the basics like not getting shot and robbed.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me to research?

Thank so much in advance for any help.

[Shoegal1075]

Okay, coming from MS, my question is how country do you want it to be? Are you looking for city or country?

[jbright]

City is good, not huge, but big enough to be full of amenities and things to do. We are looking to get out of the boondocks.

[Shoegal1075]

Well, I think there are lots of choices for you. You can go SE, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca, Del Ray and be right on the beach, but that may not be your Fiance's cup of tea. I have been hearing wonderful things about Northern Florida and there beaches and such. Clearwater may be a happy median for both of you since it is central and may have traits of both the SE and N Florida.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by jbright

City is good, not huge, but big enough to be full of amenities and things to do. We are looking to get out of the boondocks.

I bet you would find St. Augustine charming, but the beaches are nicer on the west coast.

[OysterCatcher]

Jax beaches (Neptune, Atlantic, Jax Beach, Ponte Vedra), Southside Jax, or Northern St Johns Co. might be what you're looking for.

[Keeper]

You asked about Clearwater for the price you listed, you will not be in a ghetto. The biggest issue I saw in your wish list is going to be traffic. Any place near the beach, east or west coast is going to have traffic. Not sure how bad traffic is in Naples, Venice or Ft Myers but I guarantee you it will be heavy in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Jax, Tampa, Sarasota, Clearwater and St. Pete during rush hour and any place near the beach will also be heavy during the summer.. Maybe not as bad as CA but it will be bad compared to MS

[TANaples]

Traffic is only bad in Naples in season. Off season its not bad at all.

[pittsteelerfan]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

Well, I think there are lots of choices for you. You can go SE, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca, Del Ray and be right on the beach, but that may not be your Fiance's cup of tea. I have been hearing wonderful things about Northern Florida and there beaches and such. Clearwater may be a happy median for both of you since it is central and may have traits of both the SE and N Florida.

Don't believe everything you hear about nothern Florida. Although Daytona Beach (be warned though, the beaches there are hard as pavement, they even let you drive your car ON the beach!), and just north of it is very clean looking areas.

The problem with the north, you get all the cons with less pros. Who wants to be running around with a winter coat living in Florida? Then you still have to deal with the brutal summer weather. In my opinon, the southeast in the best place in FL. Sure it can get nippy at night there, but not like northern florida. Your plants won't die or anything like that.

[daytonadewd]

Wow, what a combo: MS + CA! The "compromise" would be Central Florida, which is not too Southern (for you) and not too Pluto (for him). Since you don't have kids yet, you're in good shape because Florida Schools are pretty bad (unless you enroll in private). SE Florida has the better schools, but your husband probably won't like it and there's a lot of concrete.

Here is a place that has Beach, Pool, Music, Food, Traffic and access to outdoors:
Daytona Beach is like every other urban center that people abandoned in the 60's-80's for the new tract-housing suburbs. Then the young people come back as pioneers and take over the downtowns again, fix up the old houses, open new businesses and create new hang-outs for the new folks. Crime goes down, prices go up, a new vibe takes over. South Beach, SoHo, DC and Atlanta had horrible downtown areas and look at them now. Daytona Beach is now on this course because it has great old buildings downtown/uptown that are extremely affordable right now. People are scooping them up for a song and fixing them up -- cheaper than even thinking about paying rent for an apartment! Downtown/Uptown Daytona is a great location if you find a place as close to the Halifax River as possible, as you can ride your bike everywhere: the beach, Pier and Boardwalk are half a mile over the bridge, Beach Street is a few blocks away, as is the Library, Jackie Robinson (Cubs) Ballpark, Riverfront Park and several marinas. There's a Farmers Market on Saturdays and they're working on an Arts District in Uptown. Daytona is a small town, but with a city feel to it.
The locals around Daytona are lame, but the new pioneers are cool and stick together. Nightlife is great, but you'll find the tourists and bridge/tunnel people more interesting than the locals -- for now. Daytona is the only area that's open AFTER 9pm -- everywhere else nearby, including St. Augustine, closes up because they're full of retirees. Daytona is also a great location for day trips to the west coast, Miami, St Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala National Forest (and all the other great State Parks), Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston.

There are Indian, Thai, Japanese, Vegetarian, Greek, Middle Eastern Restaurants, a few community gardens and a food co-op is being started. There is a coffee house downtown that serves breakfast + lunch.

There are Pool Leagues here and Poker Runs if you're into motorcycles. There are also ATV trails west of Daytona and music festivals of all kinds, here, and nearby. There are 4 colleges in town and another in DeLand.

Here's a link I know about the new downtown urban movement and deals on old houses in Daytona Beach:
www.bedowntowndaytona.com/