[sickofct]

Hi my husband and I want to move to florida (we are from Ct.) in the near future and we are looking into Pinellas county. We have family in St. Petersburg (shore acres) and they love it! We are in our mid 30's, my husband is a Carpenter and we wonder about the job market there. We have heard so many mixed reviews about the different towns that we don't know where to start!! We are looking to buy a house between $200,000 - $250,000. I suppose we are middle class, we want to be somewhat close to the beach in a quiet town with young families. Any help would be greatly appreciated, we want to share the sun seeing we just dug out of a foot of snow today, we've had it!!! Thank you!!

[sickofct]

Is Largo nice??

[kahncss]

It's a little further north, but check out Palm Harbor.

[Retiredcoach]

With the national economy in such disarray, any secure job (one that provides a consistent paycheck) is proving to be a disappearing asset. No one will be able to tell you with any degree of certainty that a livable wage job will be available for your husband anywhere. There are significant numbers of unemployed construction workers throughout Florida being devastated financially through this economic downturn. You are moving from a state with a strong union presence to a right to work state that does not value your husband's talents. The challenge of finding a carpentry job in Florida today that will match anywhere near what he has earned in Connecticut will be a rare occurrence. As I see it, you can stay in Ct and earn a living while dealing with the snow, or move to Florida and have unlimited time to bask on the beach while occasionally working (if you can find a job) at wages bordering the minimum wage.

[BrokenCredit]

FWIW, Shore Acres has problems with flooding. Many of the homes are built on stilts.

[sickofct]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

With the national economy in such disarray, any secure job (one that provides a consistent paycheck) is proving to be a disappearing asset. No one will be able to tell you with any degree of certainty that a livable wage job will be available for your husband anywhere. There are significant numbers of unemployed construction workers throughout Florida being devastated financially through this economic downturn. You are moving from a state with a strong union presence to a right to work state that does not value your husband's talents. The challenge of finding a carpentry job in Florida today that will match anywhere near what he has earned in Connecticut will be a rare occurrence. As I see it, you can stay in Ct and earn a living while dealing with the snow, or move to Florida and have unlimited time to bask on the beach while occasionally working (if you can find a job) at wages bordering the minimum wage.

My husband never works up here, I'm sure the job situation is the same all over. He earns more through unemployment then he does working, the winter months kills us stalling job sites due to weather and production, I know Florida wouldn't be a quick fix, but the few jobs around at least would go all year. Bottom line is I think we are all struggling right now and all we want is to be happy, it's pretty tough to be up here. Thank you for the response.

[tilli]

my husband is a Carpenter and we wonder about the job market there

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the job market for construction and renovation type jobs is severely depressed right now and getting worse every day.

[RMD3819]

Retiredcoach is absolutely right.

I don't mean to sound harsh here; I'm trying to be helpful so here goes....

Your post contains the generic elements of many, many posts we get on this forum:

-Sick of the cold
-Need jobs that pay well. Don't have skills that are in demand. "Open to anything", "We are hard workers".
-Need housing in a low crime area
-Need good schools
-Close to the beach
-Need a "fresh start".
-No family for support in FL (this is the one area that doesn't apply to you).

The overall theme is it is better to be warm and miserable than cold and miserable.

Now for the reality (and you'll find posts that confirm this):

-Jobs, even in good times, pay poorly unless you have a special skillset. Two or three jobs are the norm. Ten dollars an hour becomes an outstanding wage. It's called the sunshine tax.
-Schools-Florida schools have a poor reputation. There are many, many posts here on this.
-Housing-This has come down drastically and this is the one good point, if you have a job.
-The beach. This is an individual thing but many find no time for the beach between working, kids, and all the other daily life chores.
-"Fresh start". People get mesmerized with the palm trees and weather, pack up and move with little or no preparation.

Florida is a nice place to live. Millions of people live here, but you have to be realistic. Life here is not like on the postcards.

Now, onto other ideas.

Would you lose unemployment if you came to FL?

What does your family do? Any job leads there? Can you stay with them?

[tilli]

Two or three jobs are the norm.

LOL, no it is not.

[Pattiellen12]

I would comb Pinellas County for foreclosures-we found one at the beach-ok houses for decent prices. Then I would pocket the rest to live on-there really is a dearth of jobs here-my electrician husband hasn't worked in over 4 months