[logybogy]

I've read this forum and hear many complains about most of Florida.

If you can figure out the employment issue, Ocala and Gainesville are both very nice places to live without many of the problems of Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville.

* Reasonable housing costs for Florida

* No third world invasion

* Minimal Hurricane risk being inland and in the northern part of the state. It's probably the least risky place to live as far as hurricane risk in all of Florida.

* Central Location to 3 big metro areas (Jax, Orlando, Tampa), gulf of mexico, atlantic ocean, springs, state parks, etc. all within an hour or two.

* Lots of music, arts, cultural performances, sports, lectures in Gainesville and at the University of Florida

* As far as shopping, Gainesvillle has all the big box stores, 1 million square foot regional mall, and decent restaurants

[INeedAChange]

Personally I would consider Gainesville but others on the forum said it's impossible to find a decent job there because of the students.

Originally Posted by logybogy

I've read this forum and hear many complains about most of Florida.

If you can figure out the employment issue, Ocala and Gainesville are both very nice places to live without many of the problems of Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville.

* Reasonable housing costs for Florida

* No third world invasion

* Minimal Hurricane risk being inland and in the northern part of the state. It's probably the least risky place to live as far as hurricane risk in all of Florida.

* Central Location to 3 big metro areas (Jax, Orlando, Tampa), gulf of mexico, atlantic ocean, springs, state parks, etc. all within an hour or two.

* Lots of music, arts, cultural performances, sports, lectures in Gainesville and at the University of Florida

* As far as shopping, Gainesvillle has all the big box stores, 1 million square foot regional mall, and decent restaurants

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by logybogy

I've read this forum and hear many complains about most of Florida.

If you can figure out the employment issue, Ocala and Gainesville are both very nice places to live without many of the problems of Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville.

* Reasonable housing costs for Florida

* No third world invasion

* Minimal Hurricane risk being inland and in the northern part of the state. It's probably the least risky place to live as far as hurricane risk in all of Florida.

* Central Location to 3 big metro areas (Jax, Orlando, Tampa), gulf of mexico, atlantic ocean, springs, state parks, etc. all within an hour or two.

* Lots of music, arts, cultural performances, sports, lectures in Gainesville and at the University of Florida

* As far as shopping, Gainesvillle has all the big box stores, 1 million square foot regional mall, and decent restaurants

Good informative post, thanks...

[logybogy]

Personally I would consider Gainesville but others on the forum said it's impossible to find a decent job there because of the students.

It really depends on what you do. The students mainly do the low-skilled retail jobs. The professional type jobs don't go to students but there are fewer of those types of jobs since Gainesville is a smaller metro, but they are there. You just have to look for them.

[dgreen]

When I hear "North Central FL"....I always wonder if it means that Gainesville/Ocala is in the northern part of Central FL or is it the central part of northern FL?

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by logybogy

I've read this forum and hear many complains about most of Florida.

If you can figure out the employment issue, Ocala and Gainesville are both very nice places to live without many of the problems of Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville.

* Reasonable housing costs for Florida

* No third world invasion

* Minimal Hurricane risk being inland and in the northern part of the state. It's probably the least risky place to live as far as hurricane risk in all of Florida.

* Central Location to 3 big metro areas (Jax, Orlando, Tampa), gulf of mexico, atlantic ocean, springs, state parks, etc. all within an hour or two.

* Lots of music, arts, cultural performances, sports, lectures in Gainesville and at the University of Florida

* As far as shopping, Gainesvillle has all the big box stores, 1 million square foot regional mall, and decent restaurants

I realize this is an old thread but really...third world invasions in Florida? Where is that outside of Dade County? Furthermore the hurricane risk isn't minimal in the center of the state as hurricanes don't jump over the state after making landfall. Lastly not everyone finds the possibility of life surrounded by casting extra look-a-likes from Deliverance an appealing proposition. Just sayin...