[dmccauley]

I have come across so many threads about people wanting to move to Florida and were undecided. Like most threads everyone pointed out the good, bad and ugly but I haven't read the final outcome. Did you move here? Was your decision based on what you read or other factors?

[patticaryl]

We are still hoping to move to the panhandle area. Just the early stages though. We have a real estate agent coming to our home today, in fact, to give us an idea of a listing price on our home here and the likelihood of finding a buyer in this market. Any of those that are complaining about living in Florida that want to move to horse property in NM, let me know!
Hope we will be there by the summer!

[Lakeland Yankee]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

I have come across so many threads about people wanting to move to Florida and were undecided. Like most threads everyone pointed out the good, bad and ugly but I haven't read the final outcome. Did you move here? Was your decision based on what you read or other factors?

Excellent thread but I wouldn't expect too many answers. I also wish people would just let others know how they made out or what they decided since posters spent their time answering their questions to try to help them.

It doesn't take long to post "we moved HERE and love/hate it because......" or "we changed our minds because...."

[dmccauley]

Originally Posted by Lakeland Yankee

Excellent thread but I wouldn't expect too many answers. I also wish people would just let others know how they made out or what they decided since posters spent their time answering their questions to try to help them.

It doesn't take long to post "we moved HERE and love/hate it because......" or "we changed our minds because...."

Exactly. Its like your waiting for the end of the movie (or sopranos ) and it goes blank.

[Margel]

I found city-data after I made my decision to build a new home in Florida. I made inquiries about the weather, schools, crimes...you know, the norm. The answers scared me to to death because most were so negative. Yet I had done my research and visited the area I had chosen many times. I checked out the neighborhood, schools, average age of people (I didn't want a retirement community), crime stats, etc. All seemed good. It was too late to pay serious attention to the negative feedback on the forum. The wheels were already in motion. The end result? I did move, my research paid off, and now I am one of the posters who defend against the negativity charged against the whole state. Yes there are problem areas of all degrees in Florida, just like every other state, but many parts of Florida are beautiful places to live. My final decision may have been very different if I hadn't done my own research and if I believed everything that was posted on this forum. While I still believe this forum to be interesting and helpful, people contemplating moves really need to depend on what they find out for themselves.

[Lakeland Yankee]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

Exactly. Its like your waiting for the end of the movie (or sopranos ) and it goes blank.

Maybe they are waiting 2 years in between posts like The Sopranos did in between seasons, lol.

I miss that show.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

Did you move here? Was your decision based on what you read or other factors?

CD-ers who have been here awhile have already heard my story.
I did not discover CD until some months after we had arrived in Florida.

We moved here from Denver at the height of the bubble--late 2005.
We knew we were taking a risk, but we were very ready for a change.
We were early 50's, one kid out of the house, the other in high school.
Our final decision was based on several factors:
I was sick unto death of snow, the husband wanted a new creative challenge, and we both love the water (I was originally from the east coast).
Husband took a well-paying job in the Panhandle with a land development company.
We uprooted our younger son and moved to Port St Joe.
Nine months later the husband was laid off, along with over 100 other people. We had seen the signs before it happened. The inventory not moving, the rumors, the lack of work. More lay-offs took place after we left. Some employees voluntarily jumped ship.

We moved over to this side, northeast Florida. The kid is a straight A student with a Bright Futures scholarship at FSU in Tallahassee. We bought a home and are hanging in there, our jobs seem stable for now.
There is no getting around the fact that both of us make less money than we did in Denver. The reality is that Florida has already had a rough ride and it's not going to get better right away. Anyone not retired who moves here needs to take the economy into serious consideration.
However, we love where we live. It is just about everything we hoped for.
And it's a great time to buy real estate!

[EasinDownTheRoad]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

I have come across so many threads about people wanting to move to Florida and were undecided. Like most threads everyone pointed out the good, bad and ugly but I haven't read the final outcome. Did you move here? Was your decision based on what you read or other factors?

That's a fair request.

We have been researching and have made multiple visits to the east central coastal area (VB, Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, etc.) trying to make the big decision. It is indeed a major decision (to me) to pull up stakes and move to a new location a thousand miles away, but everything seems to indicate this is the right time (for us).

It looked like VB was going to be where we would settle in but to make a long story short, we believe we found what we are looking for in the Melbourne area. Found a neighborhood and house we really like and have spent the past few weeks getting things in order. So... the day after tomorrow, the truck will be loaded and we will hit the road toward our new home.

I still have butterflies but am also excited & looking forward to the new adventure. Time will tell the tale but I believe our decision was the right one. Wish us luck.

[sunshine18102]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

I have come across so many threads about people wanting to move to Florida and were undecided. Like most threads everyone pointed out the good, bad and ugly but I haven't read the final outcome. Did you move here? Was your decision based on what you read or other factors?

. I went to kissimme fl. I did not move there yet. I want to wait 2 years until my daughter is out of school and on her own. I would move now but she will not leave her boyfriend behind and i will not make her go. The town is nice, clean and the weather is warm. That is why i want to move away from pa.

[Poolman]

We moved to Florida in the fall of 2005. We had dreamed of it for many years and still had a child in elementary. Although we loved the ocean and no snow we missed our family tremendously. Our best friends had moved down there 5 years earlier so we had friends and extended family a few hours away in another part of Florida. We felt the schools were fine here too. What we didn't like was the crime, it seemed like there are so many pedifiles everywhere, and just trust amongst people. We were use to the midwest where everyone trusted each other and were so friendly. We met some friends but again they were from the midwest. It just seemed liked most people were disconnected. We also felt very unsafe for our daughter down there. We made the decision to move back after two years. We felt like it would be safer for our daughter to be raised in the midwest. So no we didn't stay. Definitely I could see why the snowbirds go down for 3 to 5 months in the winter. I think the winters are BEAUTIFUL and hopefully some day when we retire we would definitely do that.