Any Floridians on NoVA forum? Or Virginians who moved to FL?

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Novadhd5150

Those are good generalizatons Carlington. But you should have added that southeast florida is home to NY transplanted retirees and the SW coast are midwest retirees.

"Del Boca Vista!!!"

[modelpenguin]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

"Del Boca Vista!!!"

i just moved here from FL, and i haven't been here long enough to have much to compare. i will say the driving here is angrier - people blatantly breaking traffic laws to upset other drivers, even though it doesn't get them anywhere faster or more efficiently. in FL, it's just a bunch of retired people from the north who aren't in a hurry anymore.

even though taxes here are brutal, i am making more money than i could in FL. there are more opportunities here, more history, and things to do. i think career-wise, being in NOVA is better, but i definitely understand why people retire to FL. hope the OP enjoys it up here!

[Smoke_Jaguar4]

Originally Posted by nixau27

Just moved to Orlando,FL from small-town Winchester. We miss NoVa! We miss the season change, we miss the people. FL is overrated. It is not lower cost of living. Really. First, your car insurance will go up. I was paying close to $900 a year for 3 cars (94,01 & 05) and now here in Orlando, FL we're paying almost $2200/yr. Second, if you have kids, you will also pay a lot for extra curricular. My child is in band and we pay $800/yr for "assessment fee"-this does not include shoes, bus (to & from competition), uniform cleaning. They don't use turn signals here as well. We moved here in Aug. and it was so hot, humid and rained a lot in the afternoon! It's nicer now though. A lot of rude people as well. A lot of crimes I see on tv, no wonder most subdivisions are gated. They think it's a deterrent to keep crimes out.

I guess it depends where you're moving to in FL. My sibling used to live in Sarasota and the people there were just nice and courteous.

Good luck.

I grew up in Orlando, it used to be a much more friendlier area; unfortunately the economy has destroyed a lot of the social fabric. Crime is way up; and people are stressed out about their jobs and homes. Orlando schools have never been great (I went to private school); now they're cutting costs wherever possible.

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I've never spent much time in FL, but my perhaps uninformed perception is of a bizarre pastiche of astronauts, gay pirates, Marilyn Manson, Scientology, and Disney. A giant cross section of the most extreme personalities of every demographic. A veritable Twilight Zone version of a John Mellancamp song.

Broken down by region:

Miami area: Everyone will insist on speaking Spanish to you whether you speak it or not. (Happened to a friend of mine in the airport.) Everyone will drive slow in the left lane but speed where they're supposed to go slow. (I base this on observations of Florida-plate cars here in our area.) It sounds like a belligerent, more chaotic version of Puerto Rico. (I love Puerto Rico.)

Key West: Breezy, slow-paced land of hammocks and ramshackle beach bars, captured in Jimmy Buffett's early albums (A1A in particular). (If this has changed, I'd rather not know.)

North FL: Slightly less rednecky than the Deep South, but not by much.

Tampa: Gay guys dressed as pirates--and US Central Command (CENTCOM).

Again, these are loosely informed generalizations and mental images. Correct me if I'm wrong.

BTW, an interesting book based on Florida is The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean, on which the movie Adaptation was based. Really fascinating.

Pretty close, but...:

Miami: Everyone drives fast, everywhere, all the time. I remember driving on I-95, in the far right lane, doing 80mph with some dude tailgating me and traffic passing at at least 90 mph. On the Spanish thing, I've been in situations where I wouldn't be alive today had I not spoken the language fluently.

Key West: sorry to burst your bubble; it's now one big tourist trap that would make even Walt Disney cringe.

North Florda: mostly true except for Tallahassee. As the state capital and home to Florida State University, it has a nice hipster vibe similar to Austin TX. If I had to move back, I'd move to either Tally or Tampa.

Tampa, spot on. Just throw in 4'11" retirees in Cadillacs doing 25 mph on the highway and several hundred strip clubs that cater to the dirty-old-man demographic.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Smoke_Jaguar4

Miami: Everyone drives fast, everywhere, all the time. I remember driving on I-95, in the far right lane, doing 80mph with some dude tailgating me and traffic passing at at least 90 mph.

And we let these people be an election-deciding swing state?

Originally Posted by Smoke_Jaguar4

Key West: sorry to burst your bubble; it's now one big tourist trap that would make even Walt Disney cringe.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Smoke_Jaguar4

Tampa, spot on. Just throw in 4'11" retirees in Cadillacs doing 25 mph on the highway and several hundred strip clubs that cater to the dirty-old-man demographic.

Now you're talkin'!

[Alyzza]

I left Nova and moved just north of Orlando and am not sorry. We left just before they started talking about tearing up the Tysons area. I had to get away from the horrendous traffic, crowding, and construction. Yea we have bugs, but no bug to me compares to those ghastly camelback crickets up there. The biggest problem here is ants. The other thing I like about here is having a house that is all one level, no stairs and no steps. I don't feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends anymore.

We have no car tax and no state income tax. Howeverrrr…. there are no jobs either! Unless you like sales and call centers. Real estate taxes are very high. Gasoline runs about 10 cents higher than there. The traffic here isn't as bad (although locals think it's horrendous), but the drivers are terrible, lots of speeding, tailgating, don't use turn signals much. But there's an irony to that, people will always let you out into traffic and they know how to merge by alternating to get onto the interstate.

I know my neighbors! People are friendlier here and easier to get to know. They _are_ wrapped around the axle here about the lack of jobs and how difficult it is to pay the bills. It doesn't cost as much to live here but there aren't exactly livable wages here either. In general people either love or hate Florida. I still like visiting there and seeing the snow when it's falling, as long as I don't have to drive in it. Once it's fallen that's enough.

I stayed in Va. because I had family there. Now they are all gone so there really was no reason to stay any longer.

[car54]

About the Florida retiree thing....I have a bunch bluegrass pickin' buddies that live in Western North Carolina that are livid about the "halfbacks" that they claim are over-running their beautiful corner of the World.

The first few times they used the term halfback, I thought they were talking about football players...LOL. Turns out "halfback" is a derogatory term for Northerners that retired to Florida, but couldn't hack the heat, bugs, and crime...so they moved halfway back (to NC)...hence the term halfback. The North Caccolacky locals blame them for exploding real estate prices and the resultant real property taxes, general boorishness, horrible driving, etc. etc....


Personally, I have no opinion. I've been to FL about a dozen times...all back when I delivered yachts as a sideline. So all I saw of the place was marinas, private docks and the road to the nearest airport.

[Novadhd5150]

Yes NC is turning into the new Florida and has been for years..I think the problem is more with RD/CH Hill area.. We thought about moving there but seems like it will be out of control soon.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by Novadhd5150

Yes NC is turning into the new Florida and has been for years..I think the problem is more with RD/CH Hill area.. We thought about moving there but seems like it will be out of control soon.

We're moving there (Chapel Hill) in a few months. Actually, I think the bigger "problem" is the Northeasterners/NYers who are heading out of Long Island/Boston, etc. and other places up north in droves and moving into the Triangle. I see comments about it all the time on the Raleigh board - I don't hear much about the half-backs. I'm guessing that's more of an issue in those parts of NC that are geared toward retirement like the coast.