Virginia or South Florida - A Science Teacher and a Physical Therapist Assistant (Lynchburg: homes)

[MichiganMan20]

Greetings Virginia!
My name is Cody, lately I've been thinking a bunch about the future and where I'd like to relocate to once I graduate. I currently live in Southeastern Michigan. For those of you that don't know, Michigan isnt the best state to live in right now lol Long winters, poor economy, The Detroit Pistons, my home state could step it up.

I'm really into the Virginia coast, and also into South Florida. Lets say my girlfriend and I do end up getting married, she is studying to be a Science Teacher, which area would be better for her? Demand for teachers, salary, quality of schools, ect.
I'm studying to be a Physical Therapist Assistant, from what I understand, any state that has a aging population and a stable medicare system, I'll have a job too lol

So I'm asking all of you! When it comes to living a high quality of life, safe towns, strong economy for teaching and physical therapy, Catholic Churches nearby, close to beaches, great communities!! lol

Thanks everybody!

[tgbwc]

Well, for teaching positions (demand, salary, and quality of schools), I would say hands down certain parts of VA would beat all of Florida. I'm not sure about PT, but I would guess any populated area would offer opportunities for you. How "close" to the beach do you consider to be "close"?

[MichiganMan20]

Oh really? Well that sounds like good news! What areas in Virginia are best for teachers? And being in driving distance to the ocean would be enough for me.

[tgbwc]

Salaries and teacher contracts (along with school budgets in general) have taken a legislative hit in FL.
I am mostly familiar with the northern part of VA, although my parents and my brother have taught in districts around Lynchburg and east of Fredericksburg. Although you would still be a few hours from the beach, you could start checking out counties such as Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford. They will be hiring new teachers just to meet the growth in student population. You can get a lot of information about those districts online of course, There may be other districts that you can look into, but somebody else can pipe in about those.

[Rhett_Butler]

If its just about the jobs and opportunity? Go with Virginia. Starting salaries should be better and the budgets (while not good) are better than those in Florida from my understanding..

[emsman]

I don't know anything about Florida, but I can think of at least 50 facilities just around me in Western Virginia (I-81 corridor) that have therapy departments. I'm talking in-hospital, free-standing, post-surgical, nursing homes, state facilities, ect..... There always seems to be teaching jobs available. Granted it's about 4 hours to the beach, but not bad. There are a lot of retirees in Virginia also, not near as hot as Florida. There are a lot of choices around the entire state for therapy and teaching, narrowing it down to a specific area that works for you is the challenge. Good Luck!

[NALEXAND]

I live in FL and from VA so I've seen both sides of the spectrum. Hands down VA!