[mateo384]

Hello!

First post! (of course i've been reading these boards for years now)

Anyways, this is my predicament. I am currently living in Portland, OR, and have been here 10 years and am ready to move. Sick of the clouds and rain, and I have nothing holding me back. I want the beach. I used to live in Daytona Beach (for a year in 2002) before moving to PDX. I had a great time. I lived on the beach, and this time, if if did choose to go back, i would rent for a year, and then buy a condo on the beach. Orlando is close, so if i can't find a job in Daytona, I could always go there.

but I need the beach.

so my question is this:

as a young gay male, moving from Portland to Florida, and I want the beach, but don't have oodles and oodles of $$$, where should I go? I'm not dead-set on Daytona, but i'm familiar with it, and love the small-town feel it has. I'm not really aiming for big city Miami or anything. But I'd like to live close to a big city, but not exactly inside of it.

Daytona --> Orlando
Clearwater --> Tampa
Sarasota
Ft. Lauderdale

what's the best bang for my buck?

[gypsychic]

All of the places on your list will have their pluses and minuses depending what you are looking for. I think you might research job opportunities in all of these places first, and then maybe select your place based on that. It is definitely sunny and beautiful here compared to where you have been living!

Good luck!

[mateo384]

i'm basically looking for a small beach town city that is close enough to a big city so that my dating pool isn't wiped off the face of the earth, lol, and there is tons of stuff to do, and more potential job opportunities within reach. But i'm done with big cities to actually live in. I'd rather live in a small town.

sarasota vs. clearwater/st.pete vs. daytona beach?

[beachmouse]

If you're looking for gay-friendly suburbia with average (but not great) job opportunities, Ft. Lauderdale has some decent options.

[mateo384]

Ft. Lauderdale is expensive tho, right?

[FL2MT]

I think that the east coast stretch from Daytona on down through Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach and Melbourne Beach probably offers you the cheapest beach-side (or very near beach-side) living currently and they're generally smaller towns, but you'd be an hour to hour and a half to a bigger city like Orlando and I've never heard that stretch really considered a big area for the gay dating scene. From my (limited) understanding, I don't know of too many small beach-side towns that have an active gay dating scene other than a place like Key West so you might have to weigh the tradeoffs of whether you could afford a place on the beach down in Ft. Lauderdale (probably the best dating scene but at a higher price tag), or whether you could deal with a smaller dating pool but have a more affordable options on the beach up to the north.

Since you're going to rent you'll have some time. I'd take a weekend to drive all the way A1A on the east coast to get a feel for some of the communities and take another weekend to do the same thing on the west side so you get a better idea of just what might be available.

[mateo384]

Well the small beach town doesn't have to have a gay scene, just that I want to be close to a big city that does have one, so when I actively want to pursue a night or weekend out on the town, it wouldn't be a pain in the ass to get there. That's why I'm aiming towards Daytona with Orlando in the distance. I also want to own a beachside condo in the future, and they are super cheap in Dayona. My parents have one there as well, so there is that tie to family.

Is there any sort of scenario like that, which is affordable on the west side? I'm assuming Clearwater is super expensive to own, especially on the beach. I think Clearwater beach is the best beach I've ever been to, but I'm not sure how logical it is to own in the future. I'm sure it's like 100k+ at least and higher. Am I wrong? Is Sarasota expensive? I've heard good things about there.

[mateo384]

And I am well aware of the supposed ghetto climate of Daytona. When I lived there, yea you had to avoid certain spots, and the police were like military, but if you know your place, you'll be fine. Every city in America has its ghetto spots, and if they don't, they are way too expensive. Having the ocean as your backyard outweighs the cons of a few rednecks wandering around.

Here in Portland, there are ghetto parts, it's the meth capital of the world, but I stay away from those areas. It's really as simple as that.

So is there a Daytona-->Orlando scenario out there that would suit my needs just as well? And I'm talking cheap, right on the beach, and close to a big city where there is a gay scene?

[TriMT7]

One of the best beachside bargains in South Florida is Lake Worth. Live near or in downtown, preferably east of Dixie Highway.

You'd be about 50 mins to Ft. Laduerdale, 1.5 to South Beach. West Palm is 10 minutes if you don't feel like driving on a particular day.

[gypsychic]

St. Pete is a very gay-friendly city with gorgeous beaches and affordable places to live. Plus it's right over the bridge to the the larger city of Tampa for more stuff to do. Even Sarasota will only be an hour or less to the south. I would give St. Pete a good look if I were you.