[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by MovingBack2PA

Well, my husband and children moved mainly because of the weather. We should have done more homework and research on FL, and that's solely our fault. Well, we did enjoy the weather....on the beach....not when you have to actually be in it, work in the heat. Further more, did I find the schoolsystem a lot to be desired for, and was shocked to find out what gang, crime and drug influence there is in schools here ! Sure, it's everywhere, but, I was never really confronted with an issue like that, where we used to live.
Now FL has a lot of un-answered questions, and dilemmas, and everyone is just holding their breath. Taxes, Homeowners Insurance, raising car insurance, raising food costs, and the other scare and question is: Are we getting hit again with a hurricane???
ALOT of people move away, not only transplants which can't affort living here any longer (I am one of them), but also "real Floridians", because they are not happy with the way things have become, and what this state has become. It is sad, sad, sad....and nobody wins in this situation.
We gladly come back here on vacations, but, living here is definately not for us......

I know alot of people leaving FL and im one of those. The summers are good for two things, being indoors with a $500 a/c bill or putting lots of spf 45 sunscreen and swimming in the bath-warm waters and still getting a sunburn!
I cant stay outside for more than 2 minutes without sweating and getting sunburned! I cant play sports or work outside as its too hot! The crime sucks, look at the city-data crime index. Also I see it in the newspaper all the time. If crime scares you, avoid! The costs of living is very high. Even if you come from an expensive city, why not move to a city with lower costs of living? And hurricanes are a big deal, I have been in several. If you have not experienced a hurricane, please dont underestimate them, you have no idea what you are talking about

[pianogal]

Originally Posted by jeannievb

Good point - what months do you consider to be the most brutal of summer? Is the heat to intense to go outside - even to the pool or beach? Thanks for you opinions.

You probably wouldn't want to be on the beach in the middle of the day (11:00 -2:00) in July and August - mainly because the sun's rays are so direct that time of year - the skin cancer thing. It's never too hot to be in the pool IMHO! In fact, that's the best place to be in July/August. But then my pool only got to 88 for two weeks last summer - the rest of the time it was much cooler. I love it!

[Jammie]

I don't live in Fla. yet, but have something to add. My brother grew up in the same state that I STILL live in. He worked 35 years in a factory (actually not far from Chicago) and retired a few years ago. They moved back to his wife's hometown and three of the children have since followed them. They all live within a few hours of each other. The first summer they lived there, my brother had a hard time with the hot weather, but since then he just loves the weather there. They've been through all the recent hurricanes and they said they'll take a hurricane any day over a South Dakota blizzard. It's hard for their children who remained up north (for now)to get them to come north during the winter so there's zero chance that they'll ever leave Fla. They love it there and so do their children. And of course, their insurance and taxes have increased, too, but they didn't mention it until I asked how bad it is. They're not happy about that part, but what do you do?

[ElkHunter]

The company I work for sent me down to Tampa for a project. When I got there, I hated life in itself. I had a rv and stayed in Thenonasassa just outside of Tampa. The humidity sucked. The heat sucked. The bugs were terrible. The RV park I set up in was hooded with big tall oak trees that shaded us pretty good. So thick I couldn't even get a satallite signal.

I'm not sure when the transition happened. But I was down there for 13 months. I worked independently and I was the only rep there. Finally one day, the boss called and said, "I need you in Grand Prairie Texas." I said, "What, you want me to leave paradise??????" I don't want to go. I stamped my foot and said "I ain't going, it's nice here." An hour later I was hooked on and pulling toward Grand Prairie.

Like I said, I'm not sure when I transitioned from not liking it to not wanting to leave. Sure, there was some humidity, got used to it. There was some heat. Got used to it. When I got there, I thought, damn thunderstorm every day. By the time I left I'd be setting out in a lawn chair drinking a beer with a neighbor saying, "Where's our thunderstorm today?"

But I moved to Grand Prairie. The morning I pulled in there, I was setting up my trailer on jacks and hooking up my water. It was 10 in the morning and the temp was 110 degrees. I was there for a while. Took pictures of over 20 tornadoes that I could take pictures of with no zoom. Finally one day the boss called and said, I need you in xxxx. I said, "What, you want me to leave paradise? Are you nuts?"

What I'm trying to say is that you get used to an area. You learn to live with the environment instead of fighting it. Once you break that threshold, your home.

[Floridasunshine]

I moved here 40 yrs ago from cold PA, We were on the Lake Erie Snow.
My sister Jan moved her family here in 1989. And my last family member my other sister Mary moved her family here in 2003. They all are happy they came and never want to go back.
Jan struggled at first to find good job, but now has retirement benefits she never had in PA. and decent wages. Mary is still looking but no skills so pretty hard. She got a job at disneyworld call center here in tampa for now.
Great free stuff for disney , but low pay. So she is still looking.

[goldieloucks]

My husband is from Chicago and we moved here to the Ocala area in June. The humidity is atrocious, the people not very friendly, the health industry runs about 15 years behind, restaraunts are filthy and I could go on and on. On the bright side, there are many many things to see and do around all of Florida, you just have to pick the right time to do them. I know in Chicago they have humidity, as they do in Ne where we come from. But here, oh my, you go outside for 2 minutes; not do anything laborous mind you, and you will be soaked in your own sweat. I can not wait to move out, when we do we are thinking of Chicago ourselves!!

[goldieloucks]

AMEN. This one says it just like it is, don't hold anything back. The heat sucks, the bugs suck and for the most part, the people are undfriendly.

[summers19]

I lived in Florida for 8 years. I moved from Michigan to attend graduate school in Miami. Also to get away from the frigid winters! During my 8 years I lived in Miami, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, and Stuart (30 minutes north of WPB). I really enjoyed everywhere I lived, minus Stuart...not much to do as a young married couple without kids.) Upon having children, we hightailed it out of FL. The public school system in most places is really poor. The state of Florida just does not have the funding to make it a competitive public school system. They are cutting programs (like physical education) right and left in many communities. I found that FL is great for young adults or retired people. Not much to offer for young families. Some parts of Florida, Bonita Beach, Fort Myers Beach, and others, are relaxing and fun places to visit. But many young families do not have the financial means to live there, at least in a safe neighborhood.
We moved out of FL 5 years ago to raise our kids and we are so glad we did. We miss the snow and are thinking about moving up to the Great Lakes region again, possibly the Chicago area. We want our kids to have all four season, to ski, etc.
Florida looks great on paper and in the fantasies of many people who have not lived there. It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't raise my kids there.

[pianogal]

I raised my child here, my husband grew up here and we all loved it. Sure, I enjoy visiting other places but this is home. I just feels right to me. I'm glad it doesn't feel right to everyone else, cause Florida isn't big enough for all 'yall.

Besides somebody's got to populate the other 49 while we live in 'paradise'....

OK...just joking on that last one - please don't follow up with 1,000 emails listing your reasons this isn't paradise! I'm well aware of that fact - but I still prefer it and that's my poragative!

[gypsychic]

Personally, I think it's great that we all have a different view of what "paradise" is, or else we would all want to live in the same state!