Moving out of Florida (Tampa, Orlando: home, unemployment, schools)

[iuki001]

We live in Belfair, WA, on 6 acres, and have our home for sale. We plan to move to Florida when our home sells.

So, if any of you Floridians want to move to Washington State, just let me know and I'll give you the name of our real estate agent.

iuki

[Sweating in Florida]

Originally Posted by jemelb

Here are the best — and worst — places to raise a family.

1 Honolulu, Hawaii — Schools spend almost $9,000 per pupil, unemployment ranks less than half the national average, and you can play on the island of O'ahu's 125 beaches.
2 Virginia Beach, Virginia
3 Billings, Montana
4 Columbus, Georgia
5 San Diego, California
6 Des Moines, Iowa
7 Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 Madison, Wisconsin — Madison has a high number of pediatricians per capita.
9 Colorado Springs, Colorado
10 Santa Rosa, California
11 Wichita, Kansas
12 Los Angeles, California
13 Corona, California
14 Austin, Texas
15 Stamford, Connecticut
16 Omaha, Nebraska
17 Naperville, Illinois
18 Fort Wayne, Indiana
19 Springfield, Illinois
20 Boise, Idaho
21 Manchester, New Hampshire
22 South Bay Area, California
23 New York, New York
24 Fontana, California
25 Louisville, Kentucky
26 Plano, Texas
27 Oceanside, California
28 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
29 Sacramento, California
30 Ann Arbor, Michigan
31 Reno, Nevada
32 Las Vegas, Nevada
33 Lincoln, Nebraska
34 San Bernardino, California
35 Grand Rapids, Michigan
36 Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina — Median value of a home: $202,733
37 Kansas City, Kansas
38 Fremont, California
39 Buffalo, New York
40 Berkeley, California
41 Cambridge, Massachusetts
42 Kansas City, Missouri
43 Waterbury, Connecticut
44 Syracuse, New York
45 Phoenix, Arizona
46 Albuquerque, New Mexico
47 Akron, Ohio
48 Boston, Massachusetts
49 Escondido, California
50 Fairfield, California
51 Antioch, California
52 Elgin, Illinois
53 Rochester, New York
54 Seattle, Washington — Residents spend $266 per person annually to maintain the city's parks.
55 Tucson, Arizona
56 Santa Clarita, California
57 Denver, Colorado
58 Indianapolis, Indiana
59 Glendale, Arizona
60 Chicago, Illinois
61 Atlanta, Georgia
62 San Antonio, Texas
63 Mobile, Alabama
64 Concord, California
65 Denton, Texas
66 Coral Springs, Florida
67 San Francisco, California
68 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
69 El Paso, Texas — Classrooms average fewer than 16 students for every teacher.
70 San Buenaventura, California
71 Worcester, Massachusetts
72 Baltimore, Maryland
73 Richmond, California
74 Lowell, Massachusetts
75 Portland, Oregon
76 Jacksonville, Florida
77 Fort Collins, Colorado
78 Orlando, Florida
79 Modesto, California
80 Montgomery, Alabama
81 Tampa, Florida
82 Salinas, California
83 Newport News, Virginia
84 Oakland, California
85 Augusta, Georgia
86 Fort Worth, Texas
87 Washington, D.C.
88 Tulsa, Oklahoma — Residents spend just 17 minutes commuting to work.
89 Bellevue, Washington
90 Cincinnati, Ohio
91 McKinney, Texas
92 St. Louis, Missouri
93 Hayward, California
94 Midland, Texas
95 Sterling Heights, Michigan
96 Greensboro, North Carolina
97 Arlington, Texas
98 Alexandria, Virginia
99 Winston-Salem, North Carolina
100 Lexington, Kentucky

There are 77 better cities to raise you family. Funny how some of the mention cities in thread did not even make it to the list...
The 100 best places to raise a family - TODAY 101 - MSNBC.com

Have you researched their resources and details of how they came to this conslusion? Hawaii????? Been there with the Army and kids do not like it. They say it is too small, too expensive, and the beaches get old and life is not a beach. Johnson Island(hint)



Thankyou for the info, but most of us had heard it already.
Have you personaly lived in any of these places with children? Tell us about it.

Don't always be influenced by what you hear in the media.
You have to experience it yourself sometimes. That is why people ask questions on this FORUM because they do not trust the frenzied manipulative media and want to hear about your own experiences.

News said Boeing in Wa. was laying off employees not long ago and it was not because of the "current US economy." - They always had laying off episodes here and there as I lived there. It is an unstable business making enormous planes.
Poor planning and poor forcasting has also been creating even bigger problems in certain places and businesses.
Florida(S.W) news said "new jobs were created" awhile ago.
Yeah sure, these jobs?....................................
extremely low paying jobs with small businesses
and min. wage jobs
and unstable service jobs with no real benefits
and restaurant serving jobs at $2-$3/hour
and construction jobs with realty jobs that hardly exist now.
Of course the medical jobs always get better everywhere if you have a population and if that is your thing.
I am sure that Walfare offices and unemployment-job-centers are hiring.

[Sweating in Florida]

Originally Posted by iuki001

We live in Belfair, WA, on 6 acres, and have our home for sale. We plan to move to Florida when our home sells.

So, if any of you Floridians want to move to Washington State, just let me know and I'll give you the name of our real estate agent.

iuki

We did the same thing(Wa. to Fl.)
Good luck and leave your makeup behind as it is extremely hot and humid a lot of the year(7-9 months depending on what you consider uncomfortable).
Make sure to purchase a generator. - I hope you know why!
Automobile insurance is higher here(believe it).
Make sure you know what you are doing when buying enough home insurance with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wind damage, and ect.
This is a "fire at will state"(employment) and pretty much a non-union state.(Teamsters are invisible)
Make sure you tip the waiters/servers a lot as they only make $2-$3/hour for about 20 years now.
Be careful not to get burned and be ware of sun damage that is very noticable after a few years. The sun block will melt right off soon.
I hope you like to golf and are 55 and older with no children. My kids hate the heat and bugs when they play outside.

[darstar]

There are a lot of places one could move , if , the choice was yours. Florida , IMHO is not one of them I would pick. Florida , under all the glitter is a deep south state , very religious right wing , poverty , ignorance , trailer parks , run down strip malls , bugs , humid intense heat in the summer , hurricanes , lightning, tornadoes , sick people , horrible traffic in cities , along with a high crime rate. Outside the big tourist places , Florida is very , very rural , dusty , no grass , rattlesnakes , and alligators. Getting out of South Florida , in a car , takes a full day or more , and , then you are still a couple of days travel to anywhere up north.
One the plus side , houses are now cheap ( in some places ) , due to all the foreclosures. If you are in medical , there are jobs , otherwise , not much , and , the rates are low. If you want to be a tourist , or fish , or see some sites , its great. Forget most of Florida for that as well , unless you want to be run over by the hoards at Mouseland. Key West is worth the trip , and the weather in winter usually is great. North Florida can be cold in winter , and , damp , a bad combination. Mold grows on everything , you shoes will turn green over nite in the closet..........So , I don,t want to bash Florida unfairly , as there are a lot of places that have problems also. I just want those not in the know, to know , its not paradise. I lived there 5 years , and , couldn't wait to get out.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by darstar

There are a lot of places one could move , if , the choice was yours. Florida , IMHO is not one of them I would pick. Florida , under all the glitter is a deep south state , very religious right wing , poverty , ignorance , trailer parks , run down strip malls , bugs , humid intense heat in the summer , hurricanes , lightning, tornadoes , sick people , horrible traffic in cities , along with a high crime rate. Outside the big tourist places , Florida is very , very rural , dusty , no grass , rattlesnakes , and alligators. Getting out of South Florida , in a car , takes a full day or more , and , then you are still a couple of days travel to anywhere up north.
One the plus side , houses are now cheap ( in some places ) , due to all the foreclosures. If you are in medical , there are jobs , otherwise , not much , and , the rates are low. If you want to be a tourist , or fish , or see some sites , its great. Forget most of Florida for that as well , unless you want to be run over by the hoards at Mouseland. Key West is worth the trip , and the weather in winter usually is great. North Florida can be cold in winter , and , damp , a bad combination. Mold grows on everything , you shoes will turn green over nite in the closet..........So , I don,t want to bash Florida unfairly , as there are a lot of places that have problems also. I just want those not in the know, to know , its not paradise. I lived there 5 years , and , couldn't wait to get out.

Where are you from and where are you headed?

[Wilshire81182]

Florida , under all the glitter is a deep south state - Not really IMO with all the transplants, especially south of Ocala.

very religious right wing - Most metro areas voted for Barack Obama and this is not necessarily a fair statement. This is true of rural areas though.

poverty- comparable to other southern states and in the sunbelt, but higher poverty than areas in the West, Midwest and NE.

ignorance - This statement is ignorant.

trailer parks - not really an overwhelming amount in the urban areas.

run down strip malls - strip malls everywhere! To me, most are pretty kept up and nice.

bugs , humid intense heat in the summer , hurricanes , lightning, tornadoes - all true.

sick people - MRSA is scary. I think the moist climate contributes to some of this.

horrible traffic in cities - comparable to other cities, but the roads are not designed as well like a grid system in most major cities.

along with a high crime rate - can depend on your area, but yes Florida does have a lot of crime.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by beckycat

Where are you from and where are you headed?

I do not understand your question. ??

[darstar]

Originally Posted by Wilshire81182

Florida , under all the glitter is a deep south state - Not really IMO with all the transplants, especially south of Ocala.

very religious right wing - Most metro areas voted for Barack Obama and this is not necessarily a fair statement. This is true of rural areas though.

poverty- comparable to other southern states and in the sunbelt, but higher poverty than areas in the West, Midwest and NE.

ignorance - This statement is ignorant.

trailer parks - not really an overwhelming amount in the urban areas.

run down strip malls - strip malls everywhere! To me, most are pretty kept up and nice.

bugs , humid intense heat in the summer , hurricanes , lightning, tornadoes - all true.

sick people - MRSA is scary. I think the moist climate contributes to some of this.

horrible traffic in cities - comparable to other cities, but the roads are not designed as well like a grid system in most major cities.

along with a high crime rate - can depend on your area, but yes Florida does have a lot of crime.

Thanks for the corrections , I was over the top maybe , but , I just wanted to dispel the image , that Florida is worth the move , just , for warm weather in the winter , like now ! Its 0 F here , in Mi. and , 6 feet of snow and Ice , which , is a big attraction this time of year , to move South.
As far as Ignorance , I think , I am partly right , when , you get into the outback Cracker culture areas. Much of what I refer to , reflects my experiences in rural Florida.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by darstar

I do not understand your question. ??

Are you moving out of FL? Where are you originally from?

[darstar]

Originally Posted by beckycat

Are you moving out of FL? Where are you originally from?

Lived in Florida , In the Eighties . came from Midwest , many places, big and small. In nighties hung in the keys , some. Sailboater-liveabord- home builder-developer island properties.Moved to NC Mountains in late Eighties.Atlanta , Detroit, Chicago, MPLS , Canada , explorer, trucker , car collector , racer , actor , author..now retired in UP Mi. working on my novel , and building a glass house on a mountain top.