Considering Moving Here or Tampa (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: condo, how much, house)

[Justin1232]

Hello everyone! I'll cut right to the chase. I'm considering moving to either West Palm Beach or Tampa. I'm from Port St Lucie (about an hour north) so I am familiar with West Palm as in knowing that it's fun for a night, but I don't know anything about living there. I've been to Tampa several times and love it, it's just so much further away, which is kind of a double edged sword for me because of my job. What are your thoughts?

A little background on me (to make it easier for you guys): I'm 24 years old, young professional, enjoys going out to bars and clubs as well as really nice restaurants. I'm looking for a place that's got plenty to do for someone my age, as well as lot of people my own age who are going to be there for a while. What I mean by that is that I know Tampa retains a lot of its college graduates because they stay in the city and get jobs there. Trying to decide if West Palm Beach is a good fit for me and I'm basing it on the following questions:

1) Are there a lot of people my age (20-27)? I'm single so it's important to me to have a lot of people around my age.
2) I know the nightlife is really good (and pretty walk-able in some areas), but in your opinion, is Tampa better (if you've been there)?
3) Does West Palm Beach get a lot of recent college graduates moving to the city?

By the way, I'm not entirely set on West Palm Beach. If there's a city nearby that would be better for me in your opinion, let me know. I've never really spent a ton of time in Fort Lauderdale (so I don't know if that would be a good fit or not so I'm definitely open to Fort Lauderdale) and definitely DON'T WANT to move to Miami. I've been curious about Boca. I went there a couple times for a seminar for work and thought it was really nice but I noticed the crowd was primarily people much older than me, what are your thoughts?

As far as budget goes, I'm torn between a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom because it would definitely be convenient for me to have a home office but I think moving to a new city, I should probably get out of my house more and go to the actual office of my company to do my work there to meet new people. Budget for a 1 bedroom would be around $1500, for a 2 bedroom I'd go up to $1700

[cfbs2691]

I know you'd posted several times about various other cities outside of Florida.
What made you change your mind?
I still think Chicago would be a great fit for you.

[Tamika929]

Everything is too expensive in west palm beach, Tampa s the momost popular city and in Florida.

[Southern Star]

From the information you gave us it appears as though you have a job where you live but are planning to make the drive across Florida to work if you move to Tampa. If that is truly the case, it's only a matter of time before you get very tired of the constant driving. No matter how much you love Tampa you are going to hate it once you start driving, paying for gas and car repairs and realizing that you can no longer enjoy the things you enjoy now because you are going to be sleeping in order to prepare for that commute every day. I'm not even talking about the fog that sometimes makes the going on Alligator Alley very slow but also the vagaries of weather that are going to make your drive miserable on more than one occasion.
Is this what you intend or did I misread your posting?

[nicolec25]

Hi Justin-
I'm in such a similar boat as you... I live in CT though (very sick of the cold and extremely high cost of living for what you get out of it here). My company has offices all over the U.S so I've really been considering WPB, Ft. Laud, and Tampa. My family plans on moving down here in a few years anyways.

I recently was in Fort Lauderdale and the Las Olas scene was fun. I think WPB is a little safer though. My family has a condo in Lauderdale by the Sea (closer to Pompano beach) and they selected that area because it was north. My family thinks WPB is a better/safer option for me because it is more north and there are "less crazy people". I was talking to a younger uber driver during my stay and he said there is lots of nice nightlife in WPB.
If you end up moving down there please let me know!

As for Tampa I've heard awesome things. A few people I know from CT relocated there and have 0 interest of ever coming back. I guess my advice to you would be to visit the places with friends for a weekend if you can and try to get an idea of which scene fits you best.

Another place where I think is beginning to grow with young professionals is Ft. Meyers.

Good luck on the search!

Originally Posted by Justin1232

Hello everyone! I'll cut right to the chase. I'm considering moving to either West Palm Beach or Tampa. I'm from Port St Lucie (about an hour north) so I am familiar with West Palm as in knowing that it's fun for a night, but I don't know anything about living there. I've been to Tampa several times and love it, it's just so much further away, which is kind of a double edged sword for me because of my job. What are your thoughts?

A little background on me (to make it easier for you guys): I'm 24 years old, young professional, enjoys going out to bars and clubs as well as really nice restaurants. I'm looking for a place that's got plenty to do for someone my age, as well as lot of people my own age who are going to be there for a while. What I mean by that is that I know Tampa retains a lot of its college graduates because they stay in the city and get jobs there. Trying to decide if West Palm Beach is a good fit for me and I'm basing it on the following questions:

1) Are there a lot of people my age (20-27)? I'm single so it's important to me to have a lot of people around my age.
2) I know the nightlife is really good (and pretty walk-able in some areas), but in your opinion, is Tampa better (if you've been there)?
3) Does West Palm Beach get a lot of recent college graduates moving to the city?

By the way, I'm not entirely set on West Palm Beach. If there's a city nearby that would be better for me in your opinion, let me know. I've never really spent a ton of time in Fort Lauderdale (so I don't know if that would be a good fit or not so I'm definitely open to Fort Lauderdale) and definitely DON'T WANT to move to Miami. I've been curious about Boca. I went there a couple times for a seminar for work and thought it was really nice but I noticed the crowd was primarily people much older than me, what are your thoughts?

As far as budget goes, I'm torn between a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom because it would definitely be convenient for me to have a home office but I think moving to a new city, I should probably get out of my house more and go to the actual office of my company to do my work there to meet new people. Budget for a 1 bedroom would be around $1500, for a 2 bedroom I'd go up to $1700

[Enigma777]

Originally Posted by Justin1232

Hello everyone! I'll cut right to the chase. I'm considering moving to either West Palm Beach or Tampa. I'm from Port St Lucie (about an hour north) so I am familiar with West Palm as in knowing that it's fun for a night, but I don't know anything about living there. I've been to Tampa several times and love it, it's just so much further away, which is kind of a double edged sword for me because of my job. What are your thoughts?

A little background on me (to make it easier for you guys): I'm 24 years old, young professional, enjoys going out to bars and clubs as well as really nice restaurants. I'm looking for a place that's got plenty to do for someone my age, as well as lot of people my own age who are going to be there for a while. What I mean by that is that I know Tampa retains a lot of its college graduates because they stay in the city and get jobs there. Trying to decide if West Palm Beach is a good fit for me and I'm basing it on the following questions:

1) Are there a lot of people my age (20-27)? I'm single so it's important to me to have a lot of people around my age.
2) I know the nightlife is really good (and pretty walk-able in some areas), but in your opinion, is Tampa better (if you've been there)?
3) Does West Palm Beach get a lot of recent college graduates moving to the city?

By the way, I'm not entirely set on West Palm Beach. If there's a city nearby that would be better for me in your opinion, let me know. I've never really spent a ton of time in Fort Lauderdale (so I don't know if that would be a good fit or not so I'm definitely open to Fort Lauderdale) and definitely DON'T WANT to move to Miami. I've been curious about Boca. I went there a couple times for a seminar for work and thought it was really nice but I noticed the crowd was primarily people much older than me, what are your thoughts?

As far as budget goes, I'm torn between a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom because it would definitely be convenient for me to have a home office but I think moving to a new city, I should probably get out of my house more and go to the actual office of my company to do my work there to meet new people. Budget for a 1 bedroom would be around $1500, for a 2 bedroom I'd go up to $1700

If you are already familiar with the WPB area, and it is not what you are looking for, you might want to look at St. Pete rather than Tampa. St. Pete is younger, more singles, more walkable, more nightlife for people your age and a close drive to the beach. Also, within your budget. Tampa is not walkable, is more spread out, is older, more retired, more suburban, more families, etc.

There may be something further north on the east coast of Fla that fits the bill--not really familiar with that area.

[ruski]

I think Fort Lauderdale is just fine. Lots of young professionals here.