[daisies76]

Originally Posted by lexi2278

I've been considering a move to South Florida also and I'm really laughing at what some people have written on this thread. I live in Los Angeles, and if you want to talk expensive, come here. Average home in this town (in a good area is about $1 million now, and one bedroom condos are about $450 and up). And these are just small, basic places. Nothing extravagant. So to say $250 for a home is ridiculous, just makes me laugh hysterically.
Florida prices in no way even compare to that of LA. I'm considering moving there just because its so much cheaper and Im close to the Caribbean. Also, LA is just like Florida in terms of Spanish speaking. But Im sure there are many places, just like here, that are bilingual.
Sorry, just had to throw my 2 cents in. Thanks for the good laugh about the prices.

The prices may not compare to Los Angeles, but neither do the salaries. Employers do not pay much here, so 300k for a house is a lot when someone is making 30k per year... plus a lot of these people are also having to pay extrordinary insurance prices as well.

So yes, Florida is expensive in relative to the salaries.

[tallrick]

Right now Florida makes no sense at all.

[INeedAChange]

This forum is heavily skewed towards people with children who want to live in a great school district, away from any kind of bad influences--if your own life situation does not fit this profile (my doesn't), I would take some of these posts with a grain of salt. I live in NYC--there are a lot of negatives here, but I would never say that no one should move here or that this place is terrible. Every situation is relative.

My 2 cents.

[daisies76]

Originally Posted by INeedAChange

This forum is heavily skewed towards people with children who want to live in a great school district, away from any kind of bad influences--if your own life situation does not fit this profile (my doesn't), I would take some of these posts with a grain of salt. Then again you may have these concerns.

My 2 cents.

Who are you referring to on this post?

[estelac76]

Dona from AZ

I have a four and eight year old. We went down for vacation and we all fell in love. How are the public schools in Largo? What do you think that a single home of 3/2 would go for?

[estelac76]

Originally Posted by Floridasunshine

I live in Lakeland due to all the things you said. I discovered it 2 yrs ago after doing research on homes. I live in county of polk. My taxes are 17. while my neighbers in Hillsborough are paying 27. There is no traffic like Tampa, Beaches are 30 mins further but I got to beach only few times a year.

I was driving around that county. Looks very quite. I currently live in Philadelphia and might be considering to move down there. What do you think about the public schools?

[riveree]

Florida is wonderful!

It's not where I ever thought I'd be living at this point in my life, but I have no plans to leave now.

I'd vacationed here since I was a child (all parts of the state), but until I moved here as an adult I really couldn't appreciate it all.

C'mon now, we're in the sub-tropics! What other US state can claim that?

I'm often asked if I miss the snow from up North....No! No I don't. Thought I might....but no, I can just watch it on tv and in the movies, thanks!

Sure, there are some negatives, but the whole country is experiencing economic unbalances and political divisiveness and just a lot of general grouchiness...why would FL be any different?

[shane1975]

I know this is an old thread but I came across it via google. I agree with a lot of people here about South Florida being a much different place than 25 years ago when my family moved there when I was a kid. I moved away from South Florida about 8 years ago and am currently living in northern Ohio. I would much rather be back in Florida instead of living here in Ohio. I miss the mild winters and beaches and no state income tax. Here in Ohio you are taxed to death. So over the past year I have been researching various places to move to in Florida and found Lake Mary, FL to be promising. It's a little bit north of Orlando. I visited for a week back in May and fell in love with the place. Nice people and plenty of jobs. I sent my resume out to several companies and received quite a few job offers. I accepted a job with a Civil Engineering firm and start the new job in January. Can't wait! Like a lot of previous people said it is definitely important that you do adequate research before even considering a move to a state like Florida.

[BETSRN]

Florida has NO state income tax and I pay a big one here in Connecticut. In moving to Florida, I will also be able to take advantage of the Homestead exemption, which means I can deduct 25% of the assessment on my house from my taxes (because I will be living in my own home). I don't think that's a bad deal either NOR do I ahve the abiloity to do that here in CT.

Of course the cost of living is much lower in central Missouri. That's a no-brainer.

[MissShona]

I think Florida "works" if you are a working professional or if you have a bit of a nest egg...you know...something to get you started. It also helps if either you have no children, or your children are older (like out of high school). But if you are not a homeowner....and you don't have the kind of income to become a homeowner (so basically if you make < $50K/year) than it's tough. Not only tough....but the quality of living is rough.

Last year, I was laid off. I do not live the life where I have a big savings; my savings is just to buy "big stuff" (like furniture or something). The social services and programs offered here in South Florida were completely inadequate. Unemployment paid out $250/wk (took 6 weeks for the payments to begin) and that was like....my rent money and nothing else. I would gladly pay a state income tax if the social services and public education infrastructure could be improved.