Long Island to S. Florida? (Coconut Creek, Everglades: co-op, vacation home, to buy)

[sweepea]

I've been reading the forums for some months now, struggling with a decision to move to the Ft. Lauderdale area. I always love love LOVE it when I'm down there for vacation. I've been there at different times of the year (although not in July-Aug.), not for more than a week at a time, and it feels like home to me.

I was born in Queens, NY, and have always lived on the Island except for a few years in NYC and a few years in Bergen County, NJ. I'm getting ready to retire in a few years (unless my 401K dwindles down to nothing with the economy the way it is -- let's hope for an improvement after today's election!) and I wouldn't mind selling my co-op and trading the winters, which I hate more and more, for the sunny south. I'm thinking Coconut Creek or thereabouts.

The things I love about visiting Florida are: the Everglades, the lovely boardwalks, all the shopping, the pretty suburban areas, the libraries, the cultural things to do, all the birds, butterflies and wildlife, the restaurants, good roads, diverse population, the fact that bagels and pizza exist....I'm sure there are other things. But do I love these things because it's a vacation place? What doesn't translate well from vacation mode to permanent home? What would end up being a disappointment?

Thanks for any and all input.

~Sweepea
(female, divorced, mid-fifties)

[vvolin]

The long humid summers (after the fourth month of scorching heat you have enough of it; the need to drive everywhere; the roads that are getting more and more crowded every year (how many more cars can the South Florida roads take?); the hurricane season can be nerve wrecking; no sense of community; it may be difficult to meet people not having school age children to "get you in" (but is there any place in the States where that would be easy?); it takes a plane to go anywhere when you feel a need to just leave.

This is what I think is bad about living in South Florida: on the other hand, I was one of the happy ones when I lived there. Go ahead: a little of that vacation feeling tends to trickle down into everyday life when you get to swim in a pool every time you get back from work, when you can pick a banana in your own backyard, when you get to stroll on the beach pretty much every evening of the year, when you get to the Everglades or Big Cypress or the Springs when you feel a need to leave the crowd behind and hear nothing but nature.

[LiveLoveLaugh]

Hi Sweepee! I'm originally from NY and moved to fl at 30 and now in my mid 50's after a WONDERFUL, successful time in fl decided to move to my vacation home (a farmhouse in the mountains) You will LOVE fl.! I just left a message last nite to a friend I grew up w/ (we were in kindergarden together) asking her...lol...WHY...do you work yourself to death to live in Scarsdale, pay HIGH taxes for a school system your kids no longer go to? I don't get it! In our mid 50's we should (IMO) be looking to ENJOY LIFE!!!! Right now there are FABULOUS bargains in fl, I don't think there has ever in the last 25 years been a better time to buy! Just DO IT!!!! You will make many friends, you'll LOVE the winter and for 24 years I pinched myself over my good fortune to live there!!! Now....I'm readly to put on long sleeves and a winter coat...lol..I look better in a winter coat than a bikini!!!!