[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

From a taxation point of view it surely is. If they work from home,I guess the job climate won't matter as much for them

It matters if you get laid off. No one is above getting downsized in this economy. Not too smart to assume your current job/salary will always be there and you move to an area with limited alternatives if you find yourself out of work.

Always good to have a Plan B.

[Hold on to the Nights]

Originally Posted by SolarBaby

BTW, we did not care for it. It just was not for us. Personal preference; I suppose.

You might not like Florida either.

Do you have school age kids? in Texas is much easier and affordable to be in a good school district. Homes are bigger too, so you may wanna consider downsizing to a 3 bedroom home.

[Hold on to the Nights]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

It matters if you get laid off. No one is above getting downsized in this economy. Not too smart to assume your current job/salary will always be there and you move to an area with limited alternatives if you find yourself out of work.

Always good to have a Plan B.

Maybe plan B is to have an emergency fund and move to another state if they ever need to get a regular job. I don't think the OP sounds like she is moving to Ocala or LaBelle. People cannot live in a constant state of fear. If you work from home it makes 100% sense to live in a Tax free state. For all we know she could be working from home until her retirement. Why give the money away when she can save it for retirement or a bigger emergency fund?

[SolarBaby]

My family actually lives in New York City (Where I originally am from...once upon a time). They are happy that we are no longer going to be all the way on the West Coast. Although, there is tons for them to do here when they visit.

Sarasota has a lot of what we are looking for and if that means increasing our monthly rental budget, we may have to consider doing so.

However, I never expected to hear such wonderful things about St. Pete. I will certainly take a closer look. Also, thanks for the visiting tip. Do you happen to know if St. Pete is a safe city? I like the sound of biking trails...BIG DEAL for my family. The one thing that I do not like about where we live now is that there are biking trails everywhere, however, they are not in the least bit kid friendly. I wish to be in a family friendly environment. That is not always the case. Meaning are there things to do on New Years, or for Christmas for families. We do EVERYTHING together, and would like to keep it that way. That being said, we are looking for a lot, I must admit. We want a city that has a nice mix of ages. Small City/ Big Town. Festivals would also be a very huge positive as you mentioned. I think I need to look up the list of festivals they offer in all of the aforementioned cities. Also, I love to go to the farmers market or atleast have the ability to grow or access our favorite fresh foods. I just need to be able to know that we will not get bored or not have things to do, should the beach ever get old...as if that were possible.

I sure hope that you make it to St. Pete...I'll keep you posted with my research (if you like) on St. Pete. Not even sure where it is at this point

[SolarBaby]

Originally Posted by Hold on to the Nights

You might not like Florida either.

Do you have school age kids? in Texas is much easier and affordable to be in a good school district. Homes are bigger too, so you may wanna consider downsizing to a 3 bedroom home.

That is a possibility. But we KNOW we do not like Texas. We am self-employed and have a long time business back in Texas that also supports us. I do not plan on firing myself.

My goal on this thread is to gather info. about the aforementioned cities. According to your responses, I am not sure you read my thread all the way through. Yes, I have a child (family of 3 and growing). So, if anyone has info. on the cities listed. I really appreciate it. I am not looking to discuss Texas on this thread, just Florida

[SolarBaby]

Originally Posted by Hold on to the Nights

Maybe plan B is to have an emergency fund and move to another state if they ever need to get a regular job. I don't think the OP sounds like she is moving to Ocala or LaBelle. People cannot live in a constant state of fear. If you work from home it makes 100% sense to live in a Tax free state. For all we know she could be working from home until her retirement. Why give the money away when she can save it for retirement or a bigger emergency fund?

I agree. Besides we have several years of an emergency fund saved. That is not the issue. We are huge savers and cheap. I actually received a yamaka for the holiday. We are frugile...but are not among the few. Many people are financially comfortable and watch their spending. You splurge on what you find important. For my family, not much is outside of fresh organic foods, great vacations, and outdoor activities. The rest is not that important. In regards to the materialistic.

Again, I REALLY WISH TO FOCUS ON THE CITIES AT HAND... LET'S SAY YOU GUYS SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW, IF ANYTHING ABOUT HOW WONDERFUL OR NOT SO WONDERFUL SARASOTA AND PALM BEACH AREA CAN BE/ NOT BE?

CHEERS

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by SolarBaby

My family actually lives in New York City (Where I originally am from...once upon a time). They are happy that we are no longer going to be all the way on the West Coast. Although, there is tons for them to do here when they visit.

Sarasota has a lot of what we are looking for and if that means increasing our monthly rental budget, we may have to consider doing so.

However, I never expected to hear such wonderful things about St. Pete. I will certainly take a closer look. Also, thanks for the visiting tip. Do you happen to know if St. Pete is a safe city? I like the sound of biking trails...BIG DEAL for my family. The one thing that I do not like about where we live now is that there are biking trails everywhere, however, they are not in the least bit kid friendly. I wish to be in a family friendly environment. That is not always the case. Meaning are there things to do on New Years, or for Christmas for families. We do EVERYTHING together, and would like to keep it that way. That being said, we are looking for a lot, I must admit. We want a city that has a nice mix of ages. Small City/ Big Town. Festivals would also be a very huge positive as you mentioned. I think I need to look up the list of festivals they offer in all of the aforementioned cities. Also, I love to go to the farmers market or atleast have the ability to grow or access our favorite fresh foods. I just need to be able to know that we will not get bored or not have things to do, should the beach ever get old...as if that were possible.

I sure hope that you make it to St. Pete...I'll keep you posted with my research (if you like) on St. Pete. Not even sure where it is at this point

SolarBaby - St. Pete has it's pros and cons, as does everywhere. There are plenty of family friendly neighborhoods - one of the best is the Old NE, which is right north of downtown. This is where you would want to live, but it is a high-priced area. There are other nice neighbhoods, but St. Pete overall does have a high crime rate, MOST of it in an area called "midtown" (just south of downtown).

Sarasota is very family friendly; as I said, it is true there are a lot of retirees here, but demographics have changed in the last decade and we have a lot more young people (students) families and young professionals as well. What Sarasota offers over St. Pete is more organic foods, Whole Foods Store, Trader Joes, more farmer's markets, more shopping of all kinds, and newer as well as historic neighborhoods. Outside of downtown, St. Pete is older and more run-down and does not have the shopping options we have here. You would have to be the judge of whether this appeals to you or not. St. Pete is only 25 miles or so north of Sarasota, so it won't be difficult to visit when you are here. Both cities are surrounded by water so you won't lack for that. And both cities are very lush, with many trees and tropical foliage as well as shade trees.

As for being bored, that is mostly up to the individual. I don't see how anyone could ever be bored here, but there are those that do! There is always something going on, places to go, things to see, etc.

P.S. Feel free to message me if you have specific questions about Sarasota. We have lived here a long time - we have lived here twice to be exact! LOL We love it here.....

[SolarBaby]

I really think we are leaning towards Sarasota y'all. Just gonna have to up the rental budget is all. I cannot wait to visit. Either way, we will visit Palm Beach area to see out long time friend. With plans to add to our family, it would be great to have the little one in the much calmer gulf waters and cooler sand on those cute little precious baby buns. Trader Joes is our favorite place, they call us the Banana family at our local Trader Joes. They said we buy more fresh bananas than any of their other customers. We are vegan, however, the bulk of our diet comes from fresh foods (mainly fruits). Thanks to the awesome fresh produce at Trader Joes, Whole Foods and our neighborhood Farmers market, we are able to eat a great variety of foods that are delicious, seasonal, sweet, juicy and often exotic. It is refreshing to hear of the fresh options in Sarasota.

[blueherons]

Honestly for a four bedroom in Sarasota proper (not North Port, Venice, Ellington, Osprey, etc), you are looking at $2500+ for rent. The better the neighborhood with better schools, start adding on to that figure.

Sarasota is a very desirable city and we have some of the best schools in the state along with arts, sciences, universities, theater, music, dining, shopping, activities and hospitals. That comes at a price. Sarasota has the amenities of a city ten times its size.

Bring your family but be realistic about the cost of rent. While other things are less expensive, this is not where you want to be cheap.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by SolarBaby

BTW, we did not care for it. It just was not for us. Personal preference; I suppose.

I didn't ask for your personal preference, my question was which part of the state you fled from. I'll assume that since you left for California, that you must have lived in Austin.

Good luck with your move.