Considering a move to South Florida, what do I need to know? (Jacksonville: home owners insurance)

[West Coast Republican]

Hi, I currently live in the bay area of California (though at the moment I am visiting family in Oregon) and I need to get out of here! California, while a beautiful state with pretty nice weather, is not a very good place to live at IMO. It's very expensive here, the cost of living is outrageous, the taxes are high, we have an out-of-control Nanny State that is constantly infringing on our lives, you can't even put up a fence or install windows on your own property unless you have the states permission, they have stupid gun laws, it's just getting too much for me to bear. It's all too liberal, now I don't mind living around liberals, I respect people's opinions even if I disagree with them, I just don't like living around these liberal extremists here. They are very pushy and pretty much Communists. Florida is more conservative so it suits me, but I don't care really as long as it's not the extreme liberalism we have here on the West Coast.

I have been looking at South Florida, I have visited there before for a few months and really enjoyed it. I do have family in Florida too but they are up in the Jacksonville area and I don't like Jacksonville (I found it to be a rather racist and backwards city, no offense to JAX just my experience). I am looking at Miami-Dade, Jupiter (West Palm Beach), Ft. Lauderdale areas. Compared to where I'm at, the Cost of Living in Florida is a LOT better, and so are the taxes and the personal freedoms. The only thing that might cost more is home owners insurance but I am 24 and have no interest in buying a home yet, though car insurance may or may not be more expensive, I cannot figure out a straight answer yet. I want to find a decent paying job BEFORE I move as I understand that many Florida jobs pay lower, however I have done the math and even with minimum wage (which I don't want btw) I would still end up having more money than I make here in California on my $12 an hour. So this will not be an instant move, I will take my time to carefully research the areas and the job market.

I love Florida, even though it has a flat landscape I love the lushness and the beautiful water everywhere. I love the Caribbean cultures and atmosphere of South Florida, and the ocean breeze and the generally warm weather. The thing about me is, I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I need a place that is sunny. While California provides this, it's just too expensive (along with those other problems I mentioned) and seeing as how I'm fairly familiar with Florida I think it would be a great place to call home. Only downsides I can think of are Hurricanes, no family (I have good friends who live there though), and humidityr (I have lived there in June and July before and I thought it was bearable). Also crime, I need to know what parts are safe and what parts arn't, is Miami-Dade safe? I was in Coconut Grove when I was last there and found it to be alright.

Thanks for the help!

[ralanprod]

North Florida is conservative - not South Florida. Politically you may get a lot of Republican voters - but they're still pretty liberal by definition. You certainly would have issues putting up a fence on your property, and don't even mention what you have to go through to change windows down here.

The cost of living in South Florida is no cheaper here than just about any place in the country, it's more expensive than most. Top it off with salaries being lower. Also are you bilingual? That's a big consideration for many positions.

[Don163]

Fort Lauderdale- Broward County is the major Democratic Party stronghold in the state. By Florida standards it is very liberal, maybe not by California standards.

[T.Winter2001]

Stay in the Bay Area because moving to So. Florida from NoCal is a huge step down in lifetsyle, class and people. I think the Bay Area offers the highest quality of life in the USA.

[ThreeOz]

Networking here is non-existent. You may want to pack a job.

[T.Winter2001]

Having lived in Miami for many years I can honestly say Miami is almost a 3rd world city today unfortunately. People are lazy, apathetic, rude, etc. I think it stems from Latin culture found in Cuba, Colombia, Brasil, etc.