[bigh110]

The Florida Keys Rock!!!

[LordHomunculus]

If I had a lot of money and I could afford any place in Florida, I would take Key West in a heartbeat. A condo off SEFL would be cool for a short stay. But I would definitely live in a shotgun home in Key West.

[LookingtoleaveFL]

Avoid the Keys like the plague. Too expensive, small and isolated.

Housing prices in the keys are more affordable than they were ten years ago but it's the cost of insurance (wind and flood) as well as property taxes that eat you up. Many jobs are service or tourist oriented jobs so they don't pay that well, when compared with the cost of living.

[bigh110]

I still say the florida keys rock!!

[Hawaii4evr]

Originally Posted by Star Fisher

I grew up in Indiana where everything is cheap, but it's Indiana!?!?! There is no comparison to Key West and it's worth every penny!! Where else can I see the sun rise and set over the ocean everyday. Plus there is no where in the US that has water like the Florida Keys (not even Hawaii). Clear, warm & shallow!! The Florida keys are totally different than the rest of Florida, which pretty much sucks! It is the PRICE of PARADISE!!

Hawaii actually has clearer waters in many parts, and warmer water in winter.

[another vagabond]

The keys are pretty nice, but they're too ISOLATED! There is one long road that goes to the mainland. That's a major drawback imo

[Restrain]

We have a timeshare condo down there, go every year. A week is about enough.

Interesting thing is that you can pick up an RV or MH pretty cheap. Ran into some older RVs on a canal that were about $15K plus lot rent of course. If you were a single person, not a bad little place. There was a MH for sale in Key West in a park at $25K when we were down there last.

But again you are just figuring that there's a probability that it will be gone with the wind, so to speak.

I'll take mainland FL and just go party/visit.

[bigh110]

Originally Posted by another vagabond

The keys are pretty nice, but they're too ISOLATED! There is one long road that goes to the mainland. That's a major drawback imo

but no where near as isolated as say Hawaii or any one of the many awesome Caribbean islands. If you don't have a expensive plane ticket or a really big boat you are S.O.L. so to speak if you want to leave the islands. The Florida keys are basically a string of islands. They are the closest area still in the usa where you will get to a tropical island scenery, weather and great fishing,diving and boating year round. plus you are still able to access the mainland by vehicle any time you want go or leave.

[islander3boysinglemomma]

I will say its not much for dating it is isolated but cheaper than anywhere ive ever lived. You just gotta know where to look

[StarfishKey]

I have heard that the dating scene is terrible too, so I guess many agree with you.
I personally am not at a point in my life where I would expect to find someone who shares my same interests and values and fits my dating criteria, that happens to live on the same small island I moved to. I would rather fish from the enormous pool of people who live elsewhere but who might be willing to move to a tropical island over time, after a lot of wonderful visits that make it seem like pure paradise! Or if they can convince me their place is so great, I might be willing to split my time between places! But as I said, that's where I am in life right now, I don't have kids so it's not so complicated yet... But considering the type of people the Keys attracts - a lot of people running from stuff - I wouldn't think it would be very good as a concentrated dating pool. Hence, the numerous arrests here daily for drug/alcohol related stuff and domestic violence...

But I would be more than happy to see some recommendations for the cheap places! So far, the only cheap place I know of is the containers I grow my own food out of. I know of cheap (free) things to do for fun, but not much in the way of cheap daily life stuff. So far, the utilities here are all more expensive and generally worse options than I have ever had in any major city, the produce is expensive (there is of course the Dollar Store, but nothing fresh there, or for the most part healthy), and the restaurants and stores of course all cater to tourists so are expensive. You can't get the newer technology for internet and TV options down here, and you pay more for the old slow technology than you pay in cities for the new. The gas is only a few cents more than the mainland, but still...not cheap either. I haven't found cheap to be the Keys' strong point yet. But then again, when I lived in large cities for a long time, they may have been known for being expensive but I found many places that were dirt cheap there. I'm sure it's possible when you know where to go.

The only thing I know is that in some places you can get discounts for being local, if you show your ID or have some sort of card.

I am very annoyed that parks here are not generally public or free to locals. You have to pay to go in nearly everywhere, and the few places that are public are super tiny so you can never even fit in the little parking lot because it's already overflowing from the 6 tourists who got there first. No dog parks, no beaches, and not a lot of easy water access unless you pay. I can't believe the outrageous annual membership fees they charge for Founder's Park in Islamorada, for instance - all for some baseball diamonds and courts, from what I understand. You still have to pay a lot extra to use the pools or anything else. In my experience, parks are supposed to be free and available to the public, even if you limit the number of people who can enter per day using tickets to preserve the environment. It's supposed to be a public service for the benefit of the community, not for-profit like an amusement park.