[clarissairene]

Hello,

My husbands work just opened a plant in Florida. I have lived in California all my life. He is from New York. The company is offering nice package deals to move out to central florida. The plant is in Sumterville. I cant even find that on the maps! I have heard leesburg and escola (?) are close by. Is sumterville in the middle of no- where? What cities would be good to look for a small 3 bedroom starter house. We have a 4 year old that i would like to put in a good school... is there such thing in that area? Also, very scared of hurricanes. I cant even stand the rain out here, how will i survive a hurricane! My husbands friends told us that the central area of florida does not get effected by hurricanes, is that true?

So I guess my questions are:

-where is sumtervill and are there homes there?
-Closest cities that have homes and malls?
-Good school districts in that area?
-Are there hurricanes out that way?
-How about aligators!?
-What is the cost of living like? They tell us going with our salary will be good. I will only go if i can be a stay at home mom. I work full time right now.
-Is it always hot and humid.
-Husbands work says there are no state taxes, is that true?+

Thanks for any help you can give!!!

Clarissa

[backtofla]

is it always hot and humid? no, its great from october - early may. in between may and sept is is though...

hurricanes? not too bad... not like the coasts but can stil get a few from time to time. really not affected very often though... hurricanes are not supposed to hit fla as much anymore since the ocean water is getting warmer in the nc coast/northeast coasts. got my fingers crossed

where is this town? i have no clue. never heard of it... it must be small, but i'm sure there are other cities around. there's lots of medium to big sized cities around in fla.

alligators? no , you'll be fine. the chance of getting attacked my a gator is probably as likely as you winning the lottery

no state taxes

[shopzilla76]

I've heard good things about Mt. Dora which is close.

[daedalo]

Sumterville, FL 33585. 5 miles or so south of the intersection between I-75 and the Florida Turnpike. Located equally between Ocala and Orlando. This is a rural part of central Florida. North of Dade City and southwest of Leesburg.
I really like Dade City. Beautiful little town center with an old courthouse that I helped restore to the 9's back in the late 1990's. It also has an old restored railroad station. This is a pretty laid back small town area. While I'm not an economist methinks the economy of this area is a bit slower than coastal areas of Florida. It will be culture shock for anyone from CA. Traffic is no problem. Check the historical hurricane maps to see about frequency of storms in this area.

[richkat]

I moved here from California - grew up in SoCal, lived in NoCal as an adult for 20 years. There is definitely a culture shock but I feel the most at home in Orlando - probably because of Disney and other tourist attractions - it really reminds me of home. You get used to the heat and humidity, although by the end of summer I'm dying for a nice mountain cabin with fireplace some place. Of course, I felt the same way after a hot California summer. The winters here are absolutely heavenly. We had no problems with the hurricanes. While I sometimes really miss California and the West Coast, we like the slower pace of life here.

- R&K

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

I've heard Ocala is the next big town to explode in growth here in Central Florida. I've driven though on 75, it looks really nice. Heck, John Travolta owns property there, so you'll feel at home! (leaving CA)

I also used to live in S. California. I've been in Central FL for 1 1/2 years now. The jury is still out.. but it's not that bad. Don't know that I'd want to spend the rest of my life here however!

[MsMuir]

Hi...I too am from CA...Monterey Bay area...hubby and I now live in Central FL..Mims...it's about 30 miles east of Orlando. It's semi-rural, which I like. However, it is a cultural shock coming to FL. We've been here a year and a half and I STILL miss many things about CA!

I don't miss all the traffic, altho' it can and does, get
pretty bad in the Orlando area traffic wise...I mostly miss
the cultural aspect of CA. Make no mistake, the east IS different.

As I said, I'm from the Monterey Bay area and am not used to the heat they get here...it's really the fact that it lasts so long! It starts in April and doesn't let up until NOV! No way you could live here without A/C. So far I havent gotten used to the humidity, altho people here keep telling me I will!

Also, can't fine much in the way of organic food, if you're into that. They do have a Whole Foods Market in Winter Park tho', so that helps.

No state taxes, however, you do pay more for your property
taxes then in CA. They're gonna get the money one way or the other....

With that being said, I'm sure there are much worse places to live. We might even find them! LOL. We don't plan on spending the rest of our lives here...matter of fact we'll be checking out North Carolina this summer.

Good luck to you and your family...

[richkat]

No kidding, MsMuir. We definitely miss the culture in California. The east is so very, very different. We especially noticed that in Tampa, surrounded by relocatees from the midwest and the northeast. Now that we're in Orlando, we cling to Disney which makes us feel right at home. Many more people from the West Coast here and well, Disney, of course, a native Californian also.

The longer we're gone, the more I miss places like Monterey and Carmel. While I grew up in southern California near Disneyland, as an adult I was mostly in the SF Bay Area so we traveled to Carmel/Monterey frequently.

[MsMuir]

Hi richcat...KNOW what you mean! I lived in Carmel many years and then moved to Prunedale...30 miles away...so
we could have some land...5 acres..not easy to get in CA.
I continued working in Carmel until we left...some things
will always be missed by us....some others...NOT!

[richkat]

Originally Posted by MsMuir

..some things
will always be missed by us....some others...NOT!

Exactly!!!

That's all I was going to say but this system wanted me to write at least 20 characters.