1st Year Feedback (Sarasota, Port Charlotte, North Port: for sale, how much, house)

[ECBS]

O.K. We are just about at the end of our 1st year living in FL. & wow that went fast. Here is a first year newbies view of living in SWFL :

I still love to look at the Palm Trees. The sunsets here are beautiful & the sky looks amazing even after a storm.

The winter weather is perfect. The summer was HOT, but a much better trade off than the freezing cold winters of Michigan. When I first arrived I complained about all the rain we were getting every afternoon between 4-5 PM like clock work. Locals said that "oh we need it" like they were glad to see it.? Now I understand their attitude about it.....Very dry winter with fires etc.

As I posted in another thread, at home & in the neighborhood I have seen: A Scarlet Snake, a Black Racer snake, a bobcat, a pig, a cow, many vultures, armadillo, so many different birds, very weird bugs, dolphins, manatee, alligator,rabbits,......wow Wild Kingdom!

The area seems to be a real mix of races, nationalities, & ages. I did see the effect of "snowbirds" , parking lots filled up even at 2 in the afternoon on a Tue. EVERYWHERE. I have never seen so many seniors in one area.

Except for the little spurts of cold nights, the weather here is very predictable which is a nice change for me. In MI. we had a saying, "if you didn't like the weather, just wait a few minutes & it will change"

I came from an economy in MI. that had been suffering for along long time. The economy here is also terrible, but so goes the country. I ran ads for a couple of positions I had available in my business & I swear I received hundreds of applications. I would rather struggle to build my business back up in a warm climate than a cold one though.

I hope to meet some of you in my second year here, grow my company & enjoy the Gulf even more ( maybe take up Kayaking )

This area is very different than MI. I hope this isnt an overstatement but it seems to be slower & more simple here. People have more of a slow pace? Even commuting, 75 & 41 get you almost everywhere. In Mi. we had roads & highways running everywhere ( I 275, I 96, 696, M59, M14, so on so on ) & that was just from Howell to Livonia...anyway


Sorry such a long thread, but I figured the veterans here would get a kick out of a newbies first year review.

[luvfishing]

Thanks for the post. Great information for those of us thinking about heading south. What kind of business do you have?

[SoFLGal]

Great post ECBS! Since I'm a native Floridian it's interesting to hear things from a different perspective. Don't you live in North Port or Port Charlotte? Hopefully you can make it to the next City-Data meet up.

[Pink flamingo]

Thanks ECBS............I wish more newbies would post of their experiences. Your post actually helped me relax a bit. It is a big risk picking up and moving so far away. My home hear in WI is now up for sale...Sarasota hear I come ( with any luck). I will have to keep a log for my report to CD. *Pink Flamingo's great adventure*....coming soon to a city-data post near you...woo-hoo!~~~~~~

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by ECBS

O.K. We are just about at the end of our 1st year living in FL. & wow that went fast. Here is a first year newbies view of living in SWFL :

I still love to look at the Palm Trees. The sunsets here are beautiful & the sky looks amazing even after a storm.

The winter weather is perfect. The summer was HOT, but a much better trade off than the freezing cold winters of Michigan. When I first arrived I complained about all the rain we were getting every afternoon between 4-5 PM like clock work. Locals said that "oh we need it" like they were glad to see it.? Now I understand their attitude about it.....Very dry winter with fires etc.

As I posted in another thread, at home & in the neighborhood I have seen: A Scarlet Snake, a Black Racer snake, a bobcat, a pig, a cow, many vultures, armadillo, so many different birds, very weird bugs, dolphins, manatee, alligator,rabbits,......wow Wild Kingdom!

The area seems to be a real mix of races, nationalities, & ages. I did see the effect of "snowbirds" , parking lots filled up even at 2 in the afternoon on a Tue. EVERYWHERE. I have never seen so many seniors in one area.

Except for the little spurts of cold nights, the weather here is very predictable which is a nice change for me. In MI. we had a saying, "if you didn't like the weather, just wait a few minutes & it will change"

I came from an economy in MI. that had been suffering for along long time. The economy here is also terrible, but so goes the country. I ran ads for a couple of positions I had available in my business & I swear I received hundreds of applications. I would rather struggle to build my business back up in a warm climate than a cold one though.

I hope to meet some of you in my second year here, grow my company & enjoy the Gulf even more ( maybe take up Kayaking )

This area is very different than MI. I hope this isnt an overstatement but it seems to be slower & more simple here. People have more of a slow pace? Even commuting, 75 & 41 get you almost everywhere. In Mi. we had roads & highways running everywhere ( I 275, I 96, 696, M59, M14, so on so on ) & that was just from Howell to Livonia...anyway


Sorry such a long thread, but I figured the veterans here would get a kick out of a newbies first year review.

Great review. I'm excited to research more about moving to the area.

Thanks

[ECBS]

Originally Posted by luvfishing

What kind of business do you have?

We have a cleaning & floor care business, started in 1996.

http://ecbsclean.com

SOFLGAL : we are in North Port & are moving to Punta Gorda

I am glad to hear such positive feedback.

[kbuild]

It is only going to get better also. Great post! Glad you like the area.

[LaVidaEsCorta]

That was very encouraging to hear how much you like it there. We will be coming down from the Chicago area as soon as our house sells. As a matter of fact, we are burying St Joseph under the snow in the yard today. Good luck with your sale, Pink Flamingo, what an exciting time!! Everyone send good vibes to us and we will be neighbors before you know it!!!

[Big House]

ECBS,

It has been fun seeing you join the forum, and grow your business! You've been pretty busy. You've been here longer than I have, but I have been down here every month for the past year, and have been down here a lot since last October, and looking to increase the amount of time I spend down here.

I am looking to start a business very soon, and have been planning and planning and planning and planning for a while - can you tell? ;-) My problem is that i see so much opportunity, opportunity may kick-start the start-up. I'm not in a rush, but still anxious to get things going.

I just commented on how badly we need the rain. I'm used to it raining regularly "like clock-work" every afternoon, but was surprised how dry it gets in the winter.

Oh, and I should have said this first Welcome to Punta Gorda Isles! We'll be neighbors.

[Floridadwellerwannabe]

ECBS..... why are you moving to Punta Gorda instead of staying in North Port?