Would you prefer Boca Raton (Broward County) or Naples for job/business opportunities

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by Thursday007

And even if that is the case you need to be fluently bi-lingual. My SIL is a nurse and had to pay to be tested and re registered and is having a hell of a time with finding decent employement down there because she is not bi-lingual and they live between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

Bi-lingual is not an issue in Naples. S FL, yes. South of Orlando, yes. Other parts of Florida, no.

[Thursday007]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

Bi-lingual is not an issue in Naples. S FL, yes. South of Orlando, yes. Other parts of Florida, no.

Bi-lingual tends to be a bigger issue on the Altantic coast and not on the Gulf coast like Tampa to Naples.

[Howlingman77]

Originally Posted by burgler09

The economy in Florida is terrible... you're going to have to explain to us a little bit more of your plans before we can tell you what to do there..

I'd go to the midwest over Florida any day.

Well you make some good points, but for weather/family reasons I'm still inclined towards Florida. My wife and I are both financial professionals who hold advanced degrees but I realize that we may be settling for a lot less as the price of getting the Florida lifestyle. We don't have kids either so I'm sure we can live within a budget. We're thinking about renting for a while before making a full time commitment.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Howlingman77

My wife and I are both financial professionals who hold advanced degrees...

With the assumption that you need people in their actively earning years for clients...
then you need to focus on the Atlantic coast towns (like Boca).

The Gulf Coast towns (especially Naples) have plenty of people with money but these folks
tend to be more uniformly older and already established and happy with financial professionals
they already have and usually where they come from.

[WhatUpFLA]

Whereabouts in the Northeast are you and your wife from? I'm originally from Rhode Island and currently reside in Boca Raton. Yes, it is true that most of the transplants living in southeastern Florida and on the Atlantic Coast of the state are from the Northeast whereas most of the transplants living on the west coast are from the Midwest. Like a previous poster mentioned on this thread, that's most likely due to the fact that I-95 spans nearly the entire east coast of the state whereas I-75 spans the majority of the west coast of the state.

Believe it or not, I actually study demographics and demographic trends in my spare time. I know, I'm a nerd!

I've noticed that there are far more transplants from New England, Upstate New York, and western Pennsylvania living in the southwestern part of the state (Naples, Fort Myers, etc.) than in the southeastern part of the state (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, etc.). Most of the transplants from the Northeast living in South Florida are from New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut, Greater Philadelphia, and the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Living in South Florida for two-and-a-half years, I can say with certainty that the aforementioned places are where the majority of South Florida transplants originated. I always tell others that the Gold Coast attracts folks primarily from the Mid-Atlantic. Transplants and retirees alike from New England, Upstate New York, and western Pennsylvania seem more drawn to Southwest Florida; most likely due to its slower pace of life and lower population density; than to South Florida which is very urban, very densely-populated, and is characterized by a very fast-paced lifestyle.

South Florida, north of Miami-Dade County, has a large Jewish/Italian-American presence and vibe whereas Southwest Florida has a much larger German/Irish-American vibe. For example, if you're a German-American from Buffalo, NY or an Irish-American from Springfield, MA; you may feel more comfortable or at home on the Gulf Coast than on the Atlantic Coast. But if you're a Jewish-American from Long Island, then you'd probably fit in much better and feel more comfortable in South Florida than in Southwest Florida.

Just an observation of mine...