[expatCA]

Originally Posted by HeartWantsWhatItWants

Ok - where are you moving to?

There are a few nice places left in Florida but will not be nice for long. The place is growing fast and getting overrun, as I said. You are correct though - a lot of the desirable places got ruined that way. However, once they get overpopulated, they are not so desirable, are they?

New Smyrna Beach. It is growing but will take years to do so as it is a bit out of the way, yet on the ocean side. BY the time it gets real crowded, I won't care, I will be happy to get up and move around a bit, due to being really old.

[3Percenter]

Originally Posted by EricS39

Or do you in any way miss what you had?

Also can you identify your former home state?

This question is actually reverse for me. I am a native Floridian living up north in IL. Their are some pros and cons. Being a southerner living with the yankees. My personal pros and cons in compairison to the north and living in Florida.


Pros
More work up north.
More wages and higher pay up north.
Cost of living is more reasonable up north.
Great lakes are the same as the ocean but not salty.
Bigger Cities.
More things to do.
People have really food work ethic here.


Cons
COLD in the winter, sometimes all we get is Ice.
It gets hot here just like Florida.
No PUBLIX
Grocery stores are iffy on their food since everything has to be shipped in. We are in the middle of the country.
Red Lobster is the closest thing to real seafood.
Its flat for miles around here.
Corn for miles! Miles meaning hundreds. Soybeans too.
Rude people
Lakes are muddy and not clear. Clear lakes vary.


Their is more but this is just a short list. This is not ment to offend anyone. This is personal pros and cons. To answer your question, Do I miss what I had. Location yes. Pay no. If I could have the pay I have up north in the south. I would be happy. It is what it is for now.

[Corrie22]

I'm a south Fla native too....tried living all over up north...hated it! I'm used to green, being able to go outside any time...75F is my cut off point....below 70F, I can't move and don't want to....hated the gray overcast damp drizzle...and constant fronts.and constant temps up and down...hotashell in the summer!....people complaining about the weather all the time LOL...people? won't even go there, rude is a form of polite I guess...on and on

Guess you can tell I didn't like it at all...huh? LOL

[Sandsam]

I moved to Naples from Minnesota in July 2016. Long story how I ended up here but here I am. It's been a mixed bag. Observations:

I'm not sure I'll stay. One of my kids is thriving here and wants to stay. Another is doing fine but would prefer to move back, or so I think. The third, now an adult in college, hated it here and moved back up north after a year. I miss her. I hate that my tiny family is now scattered.

It's really hard to make friends. Everyone keeps to themselves. I joke that everyone is concerned about maintaining an image of wealth so they don't want any to get close enough to realize they don't have it. I've never felt as lonely as I do now.

I miss the city. I'm a city girl. We go to Miami for the 'fix' but it's not the same. I love the lights, the downtown, the variety of shops and things to do. I'm bored despite keeping busy with my work.

Even though we live only 20 minutes away, we hardly ever go to the beach. I like it - just not enough to care.

I do love the ease of life here. No snow to shovel, no frozen muck in the house. I take out the garbage barefoot.

The wildlife is awesome! Huge birds, geckos everywhere, otters in my lake. I've seen armadillo and gators in my neighborhood.

It feels safe. At least, it's safe as long as I'm not on the road. LOL!

College is more affordable than up north. The state-funded Bright Futures program is fantastic.

I'll likely stay until my kids graduate. 4-1/2 more years. Then who knows. AZ still calls.

[Fredesch]

I was reading Facebook posts from friends in the DC area and they are having their first snow which - no matter how puny messes up traffic and clears stores of milk toilet paper and beer. While they are coping with their annual dysfunction, we were thinking about whether socks would be a good idea outside since it had dipped into the mid-60s and not the mid-70s we've been having.

Friends up north may be planning a spring garden but I am cruising Lowes looking for $9 6 packs of the ground cover we want to expand. Up north sucks this time of year. I doubt any Floridian regrets living in Floridacthis time of year.

[whatever]

I moved down here in 88 as a single guy from Alabama (originally from Connecticut). I was here until 2007 when my wife and I moved away from South Florida with our young son. At the time we were really not happy with our life and jobs and had some friends in Minneapolis encouraging us to move up. What. A. Mistake.

Finally, 8+ years later we were able to move back and now we're in central Florida. Couldn't be happier, though the kid stayed up there in that soul trap. There's not a day that goes by that we don't celebrate being back home. We have no family to speak of up in any other location that we'd move to be with so we'll be down here until we fall apart.

My parents moved down here a few years after I did but ended up moving back to Alabama, and they were sorry they did. It's not practical for them to move back now for a variety of reasons, so I'm glad I made the push to get back here.

[whatever]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Yes So FL is bad, but it isn't the whole State. Many really nice areas in FL.

<---snipped--->

I left SoCal where I was born and raised in CA and grew up in a beautiful area, OC, and it is as bad as So FL now. No changing that, it is life. I am moving to an area of FL similar to Newport Beach, CA in the 70's.

I wish we had really considered other parts of Florida before we fled Dade/Broward. I would never choose to live in Orlando, but it's where I work and a quick enough drive from the east coast where we live now. There are still places in Florida that aren't overrun and won't be for a while.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by whatever

I wish we had really considered other parts of Florida before we fled Dade/Broward. I would never choose to live in Orlando, but it's where I work and a quick enough drive from the east coast where we live now. There are still places in Florida that aren't overrun and won't be for a while.

Yep, where we will be has minimal snow birds and not much traffic.

[BucFan]

moved from Europe - have lived all over the USA including Hawaii, and FL works for me

[shamrock2228]

I'm from upstate NY and I was really excited about moving to central Florida. Biggest mistake of my life. The schools are horrible, and I cannot find good doctors for my family. I've noticed a complete lack of drive and professionalism. Meth seems to be a major problem. People are just too willing to accept the bare minimum. Just alot of dirty people in this area. This is a nightmare.