weather so florida Del ray vs South St pete ( Gulfport) (Miami: appointed, real estate)

[nycamberlady]

Hi
Relocating from N.Y., ( with pets ) I am needing to rent a small house in south florida i coastal area
I was i Delray during hot weather in May and found the ocean breezes surprising. and there is so much to do in Delray I felt I could merge there easily.( I am a prof jewelry artisan) I found myself looking in Boynton beach close to Delray as it was cheaper.. even so, I can't find little houses I can afford alone in Boynton Beach or Delray . disappointed.

as for weather,
My friend lives East Coast and says not to worry about the summer.. ( last summer it was hotter in NYC than where I was in Hanoi, Vietnam!)

west Coast..Housing..,I find houses a lot of them, small ones 1200 square feet etc on the WEST COAST specifically near GULFPORT an artisan community.
perhaps the houses I am looking at online which look adorable AND Affordable, are in bad neighborhoods.additionally. I am concerned it will be 'too" laid back for me. One must visit in person to try to get answers to these questions, I realize.

but as for weather, I feel imput from you all can be very helpful.I am going down in August to see what the weather is like ......People who live there told me they are comfortable because of the water breezes. I have NO idea..
I read on one forum that the summer weather east coast is significantly better than gulf area. Does anyone have input as to this ?

Thank you. This forum has been very helpful to me since I began my hunt.
Katya

[Tulippsy]

Originally Posted by nycamberlady

Hi

but as for weather, I feel imput from you all can be very helpful.I am going down in August to see what the weather is like ......People who live there told me they are comfortable because of the water breezes. I have NO idea..
I read on one forum that the summer weather east coast is significantly better than gulf area. Does anyone have input as to this ?

Thank you. This forum has been very helpful to me since I began my hunt.
Katya

I wouldn't say the weather on the east coast is SIGNIFICANTLY better, but having lived in both St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale, the weather is slightly better on the east coast during the summer due to the ocean sea breeze. The Gulf breezes don't seem to bring as much cooling. So basically your winters will be slightly cooler and your summers slightly warmer in Gulfport. And you correctly surmised real estate is much less expensive on the west coast of Florida, at least compared to the southeast. Good luck!

[OptimusPrime69]

Weather in August in either the Gulf coast areas or southeast FL will largely be the same. It's gonna be hot and it's gonna be humid.

The St. Pete area will have cooler winters than Delray Beach. and I dont really think the "sea breeze" is gonna be of much relief for u on the east coast. it's still gonna be 90+ degrees and humid, regardless. It's not like Hawaii where the trade winds bring in comfortable dry-type air.

If there is a breeze, it's just hot air blowing around. So u won't be out sitting on the patio enjoying a refreshing breeze....not in August anyway. Maybe during november through April that can occur, but during the summer, just no.

[Don163]

Expect hot and humid from May to October with little or no break from it.

[ruski]

This summer has been great on the East coast of Florida. Just about every evening the temperature dropped to comfortable levels.

Also I think there is more to do on the East Coast (South Florida) for someone who is from NY. West coast life is sloooooowwwww..

[Nolefan34]

St. Pete will be more congested/populated than Delray and the winters will be colder and longer lasting in St. Pete. Both areas are hot and humid from May-October. The winters in Delray are minimal and you'll be lucky to get a few weeks in a row of cool weather. St. Pete will consistently be chilly from November-February.

Although Delray is in South FL, it is not fast paced and is very laid back. Once you go to Boca and south it is much more fast paced. But not Delray.

[HotandHumid]

This summer has been the worst I've ever experienced in South Florida and they say this is going to become the new norm due to global warming. Lots and lots of heavy hard driving rains that sound like they could split the roof open and in two of my storage units I have nearby, they have and I had to move my stored belongings twice. We have lots of flat roofs here and so there is always a lot of roof repair work being done in South Florida.

The Gulf Coast can get freezes in the St. Pete area as I have been there during the cold winter months but the community there seems more laid back and artistic than here in South Florida where there seems to be very little in the way of outlets for selling art and crafts outside of some galleries in the Miami area.

I found rents to be more reasonable in St. Pete but that might have changed. It's probably best to look at Craig's List and make some comparisons between rents in the two areas. People seem to get a fantasy set up about living in some cute little cottage with palm trees in the yard but that's becoming more of a fantasy than a reality as more and more high rises are built in neighborhoods near water where the breezes come in from. If you're not near water, South Florida is horrible in the summer months. Yes, there is heat and humidity in places like New York in the summer but it doesn't last for months on end with no let-up because when it does cool a little due to rain here, it heats up worse as the sun comes out and evaporates that rain into the air. People forget to add in the humidity which makes the heat index here go up over 100 when looking at temperatures in South Florida from somewhere else in the country.

Many people don't like South Florida because of the increasing influx of poor people from Spanish speaking countries and Haiti creating a situation where you often first have to ask someone if they speak English before asking them a question like directions to something and sometimes you'll find employees in area businesses that speak no English at all. The job market in South Florida is also not a very good one and more and more companies require that employees speak both English and Spanish and even sometimes French to be able to communicate with the newly arrived immigrants.

The majority of immigrants coming in to South Florida, both documented and undocumented are usually poor and tend to group near other immigrants from their own country so it's difficult to find a job in those areas even if you do speak their language because they generally only want to hire their own. Poor people struggling to get by are not generally out buying art and other decorations for their homes or bodies made by artists. I've never seen as many thrift stores in my travels as there are here in South Florida, basically because most people shop at them here because they can't afford to buy anything at other retail stores so I've found South Florida not to be a good place to start your own business, unless of course it has to do with selling alcohol, which is VERY popular in South Florida as the tonic many partake of here to drown their sorrows about having left a good job, friends, their home country or whatever to look for a better life that many have not found resulting in Florida losing population for the first time in it's history rather than gaining it.

[City Guy997S]

The above post is not true once the weather discussion is over.