[Myakkagirl]

Living in Myakka City Florida is the best place that my family has found. Woods, trails, four-wheelers, motocycles. Five acres, no less you live on and it's great.

[peralta151]

1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Florida

Virginia Beach, VA. Here Ten years.

2. What was the most important reason you moved to Florida?

Weather

3. What make you pick the area you moved?

Work

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?

No time at all.

5. If you had to do it over again would you still move, if no, would you have chosen another area in Florida?

I settled in pretty good. Area has really changed in the past few years.

6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Florida then where you moved from?

I would say better. Good job, nice home.

7. Would you recommend others move to Florida?

Most friends who visit, start asking questions about what it is like here.

[Wilshire81182]

1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Florida

Originall Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA. 2.5 years.

2. What was the most important reason you moved to Florida?

Weather

3. What make you pick the area you moved?

Orlando: Entertainment, centrally located, less hurricane risk overall

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?

No time at all.

5. If you had to do it over again would you still move, if no, would you have chosen another area in Florida?

I love Orlando and I like the Tampa area as well.
Right now those are the only areas in FLorida I could see myself.

6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Florida then where you moved from?

Better, by a long shot. I moved here for a job once I found it and have since gotten a better job and a raise and feel pretty comfortable.

7. Would you recommend others move to Florida?

Like others have stated, it is not for everyone. I would do your homework and secure a job first before you take the plunge.

[MomInNY]

was great reading this. I STILL am dying to move down there... I am really tired of 6 months+ of cold, grey days. Western NY is so depressing. I wish more people would respond.. and when you do, please post the area you're in now. We're looking... There are bad and good schools everywhere. I do believe FLA has an unusually high 'bad local gov.' but hey, who voted them in office? I really think some people don't care because FLA isn't home.. lots of snowbirds who don't care. anyway.. nothing can be as bad as NY taxes, snow from Oct. to April.. and snow if you're lucky.. it's usually just COLD and GREY. There is nowhere to go. You're lucky if you ski, and that's IF you can afford it. At least most of the time you Flordians CAN go out if you want.. no so here. I know the grass is always greener.. but at least you people HAVE grass!!

[faithfulFrank]

MominNY,
Welcome fellow western NY'er.
We're in Batavia.....and share and understand your views completely. Yes, this thread is very informative.
It's 27 degrees today, with about 4 inches of snow on the ground....but I'll be back in Florida in another 38 days........can't wait!!

Hang in there....develop a plan, and then do it. I did and do not regret it.

Frank D.

[kelkerbrad]

Moved to Florida just out of High School 1985. (Drug here by my parents looking for work because Akron was DRY)
It did take a while to get used to the climate, but, boy, o boy, now I
Love, love, love it here
Sunny, even tho the sun is not my friend (no state taxes, either)
I hated the Snow, slush, cold, dirty city of Akron
Got a job here, dated, married, became a mom to a natural born Floridian, divorced, went to school for nursing, remarried, work for the State of Florida now
Got Happ, Happ, Happy.
I Always recommend The Sunshine and Palm trees of Florida!!!!!
My parents did me a favor by dragging me here 23 years ago. Man, Has it really been that long?

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by pianogal

if you are racist...don't come...here in Orlando, we have 'little china" in the Mills/50 area

The area on Mills and 50 in Orlando is not "lttle china" it is Viet-Town (Vietnamese Area).

[CrowGirl]

1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Florida

I moved from the Boston area (lived in Somerville worked in Boston). I have now on the Treasure Coast of Florida (Martin County) for about 5 years.

2. What was the most important reason you moved to Florida?

I came here for a new job, which was located in St. Lucie County (the next county to the north).

3. What make you pick the area you moved?

Proximity to new job, areas with actual downtowns (although they are small) - which differentiates MArtin County from St. Lucie County. MArtin County also has a good school system. Although I don't have kids I figured that wuld help keep up the value of the house, etc.

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?

Not sure I ever did to be honest. I guess about 2 years I started to feel like I had the hang of things. But the problem with this area (I sdon't think this is true for all of Florida) as a single professional in my mid-30s with no kids I have found it very hard (compared to other places I have lived) to meet new friends. People my age almost all have young families that take up their time. It is a good area for families, which means not the best place for me.

5. If you had to do it over again would you still move, if no, would you have chosen another area in Florida?

This is hard to answer given that when I moved here I didn't have much choice in the matter. But I am considering moving out of state; perhaps that answers the question. I am also considerign moving to Tampa, which I have the impression may be a better place for a single professional.

6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Florida then where you moved from?

Again, very hard to answer!! In some ways, definitely. I bought a very nicve 3 bedroom single family home for nearly $100K less than the price at which I sold my 2 bedroom condo in Massachusetts. There's no winter. But there again I don't have Fenway Park, the museums, etc. And I have been hit directly by 3 hurricanes and indirectly by a couple others.

7. Would you recommend others move to Florida?

I agree with others on this - it really depends on the person and what he or she is looking for.

[bobjlv]

1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Florida
From Las Vegas, before that Tucson. I lived in Tampa when I was a child, also in Atlanta and Montgomery, AL. I moved to Florida in 2003.
2. What was the most important reason you moved to Florida?
I wanted trees and lakes and water and all the stuff the desert doesn't have. I also wanted cooler weather. Anyone who jokes about a dry heat is crazy, Florida is much cooler in the summer in spite of the humidity. The winters are dry and warm. Humidity levels are around 25% during the winter months in interior north central Florida. Contrary to what most people think, the summer comfort levels are about the same as anywhere on the eastern seaboard.

3. What made you pick the area you moved?
Friends of mine in Las Vegas had a home there, Fort McCoy, a small town just north of Ocala. I also spent two years in Okeechobee, Florida. After a visit for Christmas to the Ocala area I knew I wanted to move back to the trees, lakes, etc.

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?
About 3 months, had to get used to the wetter climate, rain, fog, that sort of stuff. I hadn't driven in rain or fog in years. I was amazed at how quickly I adjusted to it.

5. If you had to do it over again would you still move, if no, would you have chosen another area in Florida?

I think the Ocala area is beautiful. It has a little bit of Florida, and a little bit of Georgia to me. I liked the mix of pines, oaks and palms. I didn't like the Okeechobee area, it was flat with few trees, I always called it "Kansas with Palm Trees". Yes, I'd move again in a heartbeat. I would live anywhere in north central Florida. My barometer was palm trees, if they grew there, then I knew the winters would be nice. Palms don't grow naturally inland north of Gainesville, just along the Atlantic Coastal area. They call the panhandle the Redneck Riviera and after a couple of trips there, I might as well have been in Alabama.


6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Florida then where you moved from?
At first it was very rough. I moved there without a job, just unemployment. I fould my skills were worthless in the Ocala area. The cost of living in northern Marion County is the cheapest I've seen in the nation. I was able to survive until I found a job working for a resort in Salt Springs making more money than I ever made in my life. The quality of life was excellent. Marion County very rarely has hurricanes and it's close to both coasts and has all the amenities of a larger city, and Gainesville is just up the road.


7. Would you recommend others move to Florida?
Yes, to the northern part of Florida. South Florida is too costly, and the taxes are outrageous. Most people I know (in southern Florida) couldn't even get insurance for their homes.
On the other hand, the Ocala area was very affordable, jobs were plentiful if you had decent skills, and I found my insurance rates cheaper than I had paid in Las Vegas. I would not live in any large metropolitan areas of Florida. Tampa, Miami, and Orlando are just too congested. Florida was my first experience of rural living and I loved it. One thing about moving to Florida is accepting the fact that sooner or later a hurricane will affect you. I was in all of them, Charley, Jean, Francis, Katrina (Catagory 1) and Wilma. I was living in Okeechobee when Wilma and Katrina came through and evacuated to Ocala. I was lucky because my employer provided a place for me to stay. I felt bad for a lot of people I knew that couldn't afford to evacuate, or couldn't if they wanted because the roads were jammed, there was panic and spotty gas shortages, and all the hotels were full.
I loved Marion County. It has a population of around 600,000, but it's spread out. I found all the major stores I'd find anywhere else, yet there was no traffic congestion, or other stuff you see in large metro areas. There were also more "native" people living there, not so many transplants. The cost of living got cheaper in the more rural areas too, yet I was within 20 minutes of hospitals, grocery stores and the Interstate (75).
I lived without electricity on several occasions, and sometimes for periods up to two weeks. I know this may sound crazy, but after living through most of them, I wouldn't even evacuate unless it was at least a Catagory 2.