[wheretomove]

tampa area is the place to be. FORGET ft lauderdale area unless you can afford
the home owners ins. which will be a minimum of 4000 a year plus property taxes of close to 6000 for a 350K house. Oh and make sure you learn spanish because
if you control the language you control the city. No predice just fact.

[royalblue]

Hi Suzanne,

I am sure you will enjoy Florida once you move. There are a lot of areas
where you can peacefully raise your children.
You can live in Saint Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo which are all 20 minutes
ride to Tampa. I have a pool house located in Clearwater for sale. Quiet neighborhood, 5 minutes away from Clearwater High School, 10 minutes away from downtown Clearwater and the beaches.
I'd be happy to share more information with you if you are interested.
Best of luck,

[NHtoFLMom]

Suzanne,
Florida IS a wonderful place to raise children. There are good and bad places to live throughout the entire US. Please don't take the negativity of one poster and get discouraged about your move here. Florida has many great family communities with good public schools, involved PTAs, great sports programs and an abundance of activities for kids. I live in an area of Tampa that I feel is great for families. I moved here 2 years ago with my husband and three children and I have never regretted my move. I can't imagine moving back to the cold, grey, rainy weather and being stuck indoors for so many months at a time. As is true when moving to any city, you need to look carefully at the areas, the housing, the schools, etc. You will definitely find some great areas around Tampa that will suit your needs. I would encourage you to come for a visit and spend several days driving around and checking out the various communities.
Good luck!

[mereship]

Originally Posted by CocoaGirl

Wow! Thank you to everyone for your input. I appreciate the openess from everyone. It is good to know there are actually folks living in Florida who LIKE it or even LOVE it!

We have family in Jacksonville (Arlington area) and in Port Orange. The Jax area is very congested as the roads have not kept up with the influx of new business and residents. But we have traffic here in the Cleveland area as well. The family in Port Orange absolutely LOVES it! They've lived all over the world with their jobs and they want to make Florida their PERMANANT home.

My husband's whole family lives in the Jacksonville/Ponte Vedra area and we would like our children to be able to see their grandparents more often. Driving several hours to Jax or Port Orange from within FL would be much better than driving 16-20 hours! And flying is just not always convenient.

Yeah, our family who are "Floridians" are well-educated, have decent jobs, and are happy, well-adjusted people. Perhaps happiness lies within the individual no matter where they live!

Thanks again to everyone. I do appreciate your input!

Suzanne

Suzanne,

Where did you end up moving and how do you like it? Why did you not consider Jax? I live in Jax now, and love it, but am considering a move to Ft. Laudy for work and am dreading it.

Thanks!

[flyboytampabay]

Im from Tampa and have lived in South Florida 2 times (too much). Tampa is a big city that grew too fast. It is less expensive than Ft. Lauderdale. South Florida is nothing like the rest of the state. Dade County is very Cuban and Caribbean. Not that its a bad thing, but if you are white and don't speak Spanish you will be discriminated against. Broward and Palm Beach Counties are like New York south. Many transplants down there that are rude..

Tampa or the surrounding areas are a better choice .!!!