[KMG0601]

Hey everyone!
Looking from some input.
My wife and I are thinking of moving down to FL, we are done with the crazy winters, and how ridiculously expensive it is to live here in NYC.
We were considering South Florida, so heres a little bit about us: we are a lesbian couple in our mid 20's, we both work in health care (I am a registered nurse).
We are looking for a simple/easy commute, good parking lol (we live in Astoria, Queens it's terrible!!),a safe neighborhood, beautiful beaches, and good nightlife.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[Cubanchic]

Wow that is a long stretch to give you suggestions, as far north as Boca or Del Rey Beach to even Miami or the keys. Can you give us a little bit more details such as where will you be working area wise, budget, looking for condo living or single family home, do you have children or if this is important for future if buying.

I have some places like las olas in broward county, del Rey beach also has a very hip section next to the beach, in Miami if you like edgy and artist community in urban centers there are a few areas like wynwood and of course there is Miami beach and the relaxed but sleepy keys.

With a little bit more information we can steer you to the right and wrong places.

[KMG0601]

I am a pediatric registered nurse so ideally Im looking to work somewhere that has a children's hospital. So far I've found:
-Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood (that area seems really expensive)
-Miami Children's Hospital in Miami
-Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale
and Shriners Hospital for children in Tampa
It seems that the median salary for nurses in florida is around $60,000 a year so I'll work with those numbers for now. We would be looking for a 1 bedroom apartment, between $600-900/month. We have no children just a very active puppy.

[froglipz]

Miami would fit your wants,needs.

[KMG0601]

any suggestions as to specific neighborhoods in Miami?

[Fl1150]

Originally Posted by KMG0601

Hey everyone!
Looking from some input.
My wife and I are thinking of moving down to FL, we are done with the crazy winters, and how ridiculously expensive it is to live here in NYC.
We were considering South Florida, so heres a little bit about us: we are a lesbian couple in our mid 20's, we both work in health care (I am a registered nurse).
We are looking for a simple/easy commute, good parking lol (we live in Astoria, Queens it's terrible!!),a safe neighborhood, beautiful beaches, and good nightlife.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Delray Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm beach, Ft. Lauderdale(Victoria Park) are nice options that seem most to your liking. You could also look at North Miami Beach as that area is much cheaper than the actual Miami Beach vicinity. Good luck with the search and hope you find what you are looking for.

[StarfishKey]

I disagree that the Keys would be a good fit. The Keys are very LGBTQ-friendly, but we have no beaches to speak of, and it would be a terrible commute if you did not secure a job down here first with a specific position on the islands. Life here is also not affordable at all on the type of income you'd be looking at. We are having a big crisis because no one who works here can afford to live here, and there are very few legal apartments to rent even if one had the money. Legal apartments start here at about $1300, and that is for essentially a closet.

The lesbian community is up in Broward, and if you are looking for a lot of people to socialize with then I would say that is your best location. Miami has more gay men, and they're mostly out on the Beach anyway, in terms of LGBT-specific socializing. Your best bet though if you think Miami is a good fit is to search that specific forum for neighborhood information, because there are endless threads covering this topic already there. Affordable quick access to beaches though means on the North side of Miami Beach - but that's still more like $1100-1300. Everything else will be out of your price range, or a minimum 45 min drive to the beach. [It's like living in Manhattan and trying to get to Coney Island - it looks close on a map but it is not easy!] I don't know that Broward has anything in that range either.

Miami is not at all known for being affordable. If you were very flexible with the type of place you live, and the commute time to the beach and to nightlife, you may be able to do very well in Homestead where you get a lot more for the money. I think you'd be happier in the Weston or Ft. Lauderdale area if you can find a place in that price range, given what you're looking for. Or if you don't care about being near a large LGBTQ population, I would look further North in FL. (Miami is the absolute opposite in culture from Astoria, so that is another thing to consider if you're looking for Astoria with palm trees. It is going to be massive culture shock. It's sort of like a cross between Cuba and Hollywood, if such a thing can be imagined. With a million strip malls.)

Nothing about SFL is known to be "inexpensive"! It is a vacation city just like NYC, and is priced that way, and has the same gridlock traffic issues. With your healthcare backgrounds you will have some options of where to live. But $600-900/mo is not going to cut it, especially if you want to be near a beach, and in a safe neighborhood.

Make SURE you have a job secured BEFORE moving! This is no joke, you will seriously regret it and likely go broke if you move here and then look for jobs. This is a popular area, and everybody wants what you want, so there is stiff competition if you are not in a top-level position for which we have trouble finding local candidates.

I would also search Meetup . com for activities you're interested in in your prospective locations, so you can see what's available where.

I think in that price range you're looking at a smaller city further North.

[kyle19125]

Actually a very heavy percentage of the Lesbian community in South Florida is in Palm Beach County, in particular the town of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach's southside neighborhoods.

[KMG0601]

thank you for all your replies this has been very insightful
Anyone have any input with regards to the melbourne area?

[kyle19125]

The Melbourne area is nice and more "old Florida" in that it's not wildly overdeveloped and much more laidback than South Florida. You won't find a heavily organized LGBT community there but social options will exist and given the education level of many in the areas I'm recommending, it won't be an issue otherwise. I'm very partial to the beach communities and would urge you to check out Melbourne Beach and Cocoa Beach. If you had hoped for the stereotypical Florida new-construction type of community (versus the more established/more heavily landscaped neighborhoods I mentioned prior) you would do well to check out places like Viera or Suntree in North Melbourne.