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Any thoughts you'd be able to share would be appreciated!
In short, my husband and I (both 28) are looking to relocate out of Cleveland, OH. A number of cities and states are on our research list, though this nagging part of me refuses to give up on Florida.
I've seen so much negative press on how Florida is "going down the tubes" and it's "infested with druggies" etc. and I guess I just keep clinging to this hope that there's got to be SOMEWHERE in Florida that he and I could be happy and safe (and not broke!)
To be honest, we're not overly particular about which part of Fl this could be, as long as the surrounding areas aren't a catastrophe (like Miami). *shivers*
Through the course of several vacations, we've been to Daytona, St. Augustine, Ft.Lauderdale area, Orlando, and through the Keys. (Which meant driving through Miami - still thankful I came out of *that* mess alive...). I know this sounds so stupid, but I love the beach vibe - I love being somewhere and knowing it's a beach town. But not the "New England coastal" vibe. That sounds so cheesy even writing it. Sigh.
It is SO hard to figure this out without having any friends or relatives to give us the inside scoop. I've found several "guides" to best cities to live in in Florida, only to see in the comments that locals literally tear the guide limb-from-limb saying that none of this is true and all those cities are god-awful and should not be on the list. It's so hard to know what to believe.
Our ideal list of wants (which we know can't all be met, but we can still shoot for a best case scenario):
- For at least a year or two, we'd be renting an apartment - rent where we live now is right around $800/mo, so that's a comfort level. Affordable rent is key. Don't know if that even exists in FL...
- Need to be within a reasonable commute to places for work. Both of us will need to find jobs, so this is a biggie. I don't want to be in god-awful traffic. Traffic is a #1 reason why Austin, TX got crossed off our list.
- Looking to be within close range of a beach
- The most important amenities (grocery store, bank, etc.) are close by, and it would be nice if shopping centers aren't too far (we are very spoiled here - within a 5 mile radius we have pretty much most things we ever need, which I will miss if we can't find that whereever we move to)
- A place that isn't all retirees - no offense to these people! It's just that we want to be able to make friends with other 30ish-year olds!
- Definitely don't need a club/bar scene for partying purposes, but we are foodies (something else Cleveland is good at nurturing) and enjoy going out to fun restaurants a couple times a month or meeting up with friends for a beer
- School systems don't matter since we don't have and don't want to have kids, so we are neutral on that matter
-City size really doesn't matter, could be small and homey or a bigger city, whatever. Just don't want something super crowded and ridiculously trafficky. Would be very nice to live somewhere where people are PROUD to call it home and care about it.
Am i just dreaming? I guess in short I'm kind of looking for what we have here, except there and with a beach LOL. *sigh* Just take me to my padded room now please...
Florida is paradise or a nightmare you choose. I happen to love it and others do as well. Its also a very large state to travel in. I am sure there is a place that you can call home as well inside Florida. We live on the gulf side near Tampa and violent crime in Hillsborough County has gone down the past eight years. As long as you stay out of high crime areas chances are you will only see crime on the TV. Good Luck and I hope you find your new home.
All those people who complain are probably not happy with themselves and choose to hate the state which is the third largest state in country so I don't how its going down the drains. Anyways Orlando sounds like a perfect place for that is growing and developing a foodie scene. Also check out Delray Beach which might push any type of budge since South Florida is one of the most expensive areas in the country but offers a lot of amenities that your looking for. I'm sorry whoever told all those exaggerated lies are just looking for something to complain about for no reason.
Any thoughts you'd be able to share would be appreciated!
In short, my husband and I (both 28) are looking to relocate out of Cleveland, OH. A number of cities and states are on our research list, though this nagging part of me refuses to give up on Florida.
I've seen so much negative press on how Florida is "going down the tubes" and it's "infested with druggies" etc. and I guess I just keep clinging to this hope that there's got to be SOMEWHERE in Florida that he and I could be happy and safe (and not broke!)
To be honest, we're not overly particular about which part of Fl this could be, as long as the surrounding areas aren't a catastrophe (like Miami). *shivers*
Through the course of several vacations, we've been to Daytona, St. Augustine, Ft.Lauderdale area, Orlando, and through the Keys. (Which meant driving through Miami - still thankful I came out of *that* mess alive...). I know this sounds so stupid, but I love the beach vibe - I love being somewhere and knowing it's a beach town. But not the "New England coastal" vibe. That sounds so cheesy even writing it. Sigh.
It is SO hard to figure this out without having any friends or relatives to give us the inside scoop. I've found several "guides" to best cities to live in in Florida, only to see in the comments that locals literally tear the guide limb-from-limb saying that none of this is true and all those cities are god-awful and should not be on the list. It's so hard to know what to believe.
Our ideal list of wants (which we know can't all be met, but we can still shoot for a best case scenario):
- For at least a year or two, we'd be renting an apartment - rent where we live now is right around $800/mo, so that's a comfort level. Affordable rent is key. Don't know if that even exists in FL...
- Need to be within a reasonable commute to places for work. Both of us will need to find jobs, so this is a biggie. I don't want to be in god-awful traffic. Traffic is a #1 reason why Austin, TX got crossed off our list.
- Looking to be within close range of a beach
- The most important amenities (grocery store, bank, etc.) are close by, and it would be nice if shopping centers aren't too far (we are very spoiled here - within a 5 mile radius we have pretty much most things we ever need, which I will miss if we can't find that whereever we move to)
- A place that isn't all retirees - no offense to these people! It's just that we want to be able to make friends with other 30ish-year olds!
- Definitely don't need a club/bar scene for partying purposes, but we are foodies (something else Cleveland is good at nurturing) and enjoy going out to fun restaurants a couple times a month or meeting up with friends for a beer
- School systems don't matter since we don't have and don't want to have kids, so we are neutral on that matter
-City size really doesn't matter, could be small and homey or a bigger city, whatever. Just don't want something super crowded and ridiculously trafficky. Would be very nice to live somewhere where people are PROUD to call it home and care about it.
Am i just dreaming? I guess in short I'm kind of looking for what we have here, except there and with a beach LOL. *sigh* Just take me to my padded room now please...
Thanks friends!
Its kinda correct not for nothing especially if you go to Pinellas. There are some BAD pockets. And if they're not on drugs, they're in their own worlds not paying attention but being hostile at the same time. The driving has surprisingly been real bad a lot of the time too. FL is not a dream land. I suggest you highly think about this because theres tons of transplants here already. We dont need any more people unless they're going to be a stand up citizen. We have too many head in the sand hostile types already.
Any thoughts you'd be able to share would be appreciated!
In short, my husband and I (both 28) are looking to relocate out of Cleveland, OH. A number of cities and states are on our research list, though this nagging part of me refuses to give up on Florida.
I've seen so much negative press on how Florida is "going down the tubes" and it's "infested with druggies" etc. and I guess I just keep clinging to this hope that there's got to be SOMEWHERE in Florida that he and I could be happy and safe (and not broke!)
To be honest, we're not overly particular about which part of Fl this could be, as long as the surrounding areas aren't a catastrophe (like Miami). *shivers*
Through the course of several vacations, we've been to Daytona, St. Augustine, Ft.Lauderdale area, Orlando, and through the Keys. (Which meant driving through Miami - still thankful I came out of *that* mess alive...). I know this sounds so stupid, but I love the beach vibe - I love being somewhere and knowing it's a beach town. But not the "New England coastal" vibe. That sounds so cheesy even writing it. Sigh.
It is SO hard to figure this out without having any friends or relatives to give us the inside scoop. I've found several "guides" to best cities to live in in Florida, only to see in the comments that locals literally tear the guide limb-from-limb saying that none of this is true and all those cities are god-awful and should not be on the list. It's so hard to know what to believe.
Our ideal list of wants (which we know can't all be met, but we can still shoot for a best case scenario):
- For at least a year or two, we'd be renting an apartment - rent where we live now is right around $800/mo, so that's a comfort level. Affordable rent is key. Don't know if that even exists in FL...
- Need to be within a reasonable commute to places for work. Both of us will need to find jobs, so this is a biggie. I don't want to be in god-awful traffic. Traffic is a #1 reason why Austin, TX got crossed off our list.
- Looking to be within close range of a beach
- The most important amenities (grocery store, bank, etc.) are close by, and it would be nice if shopping centers aren't too far (we are very spoiled here - within a 5 mile radius we have pretty much most things we ever need, which I will miss if we can't find that whereever we move to)
- A place that isn't all retirees - no offense to these people! It's just that we want to be able to make friends with other 30ish-year olds!
- Definitely don't need a club/bar scene for partying purposes, but we are foodies (something else Cleveland is good at nurturing) and enjoy going out to fun restaurants a couple times a month or meeting up with friends for a beer
- School systems don't matter since we don't have and don't want to have kids, so we are neutral on that matter
-City size really doesn't matter, could be small and homey or a bigger city, whatever. Just don't want something super crowded and ridiculously trafficky. Would be very nice to live somewhere where people are PROUD to call it home and care about it.
Am i just dreaming? I guess in short I'm kind of looking for what we have here, except there and with a beach LOL. *sigh* Just take me to my padded room now please...
Thanks friends!
The thing missing in your description is what type of job will you be doing when you get to the state. That will determine where you should start looking for a place to live. There are places in Florida where $800 will get you a small apartment but sometimes not in the best area.
I've seen so much negative press on how Florida is "going down the tubes" and it's "infested with druggies" etc. and I guess I just keep clinging to this hope that there's got to be SOMEWHERE in Florida that he and I could be happy and safe (and not broke!)
To be honest, we're not overly particular about which part of Fl this could be, as long as the surrounding areas aren't a catastrophe (like Miami). *shivers*
-City size really doesn't matter, could be small and homey or a bigger city, whatever. Just don't want something super crowded and ridiculously trafficky. Would be very nice to live somewhere where people are PROUD to call it home and care about it.
No one here is proud of anything here in FL because the place is full of transplants.
All I can tell you is that if the rents are cheap the area is gonna suck. Either it has no jobs or has a lot of questionable characters. $800 rent is kind of low but it will get you a 1br in Tampa or Jacksonville.
If you don't want to be surrounded by old people and need to generate income, you gotta come to the big cities
Yes like the other poster said be careful with Pinellas county. Some areas are very seedy.
Any thoughts you'd be able to share would be appreciated!
I've seen so much negative press on how Florida is "going down the tubes" and it's "infested with druggies" etc. and I guess I just keep clinging to this hope that there's got to be SOMEWHERE in Florida that he and I could be happy and safe (and not broke!)
Through the course of several vacations, we've been to Daytona, St. Augustine, Ft.Lauderdale area, Orlando, and through the Keys. (Which meant driving through Miami - still thankful I came out of *that* mess alive...).
. I've found several "guides" to best cities to live in in Florida, only to see in the comments that locals literally tear the guide limb-from-limb saying that none of this is true and all those cities are god-awful and should not be on the list. It's so hard to know what to believe.
!
There is probably no place in Florida that has no crime and no occasional pot smoker.
If you went to Daytona, St. Augustine, Ft.Lauderdale area , Orlando and the Keys what were your impressions?
IMO St Augustine would be your best bet..
There is probably no place in Florida that has no crime and no occasional pot smoker.
If you went to Daytona, St. Augustine, Ft.Lauderdale area , Orlando and the Keys what were your impressions?
IMO St Augustine would be your best bet..
There is no place with a significant population in the US that has no/little crime and as I mentioned in another thread to the OP, crime rate by zip code is no way to measure as pretty much every zip code with a significant crime rate has one pocket (or two) that account for a vast majority of the crime there and isn't reflective of life in most of it's neighborhoods.
Florida is no different than any other state when it comes to crime and drugs. As any other state, you will have your positives and negatives. I agree that there are many folks that come from another part of the country which makes it different. On the positive side, the weather, no state income tax, close to some of the best beaches in the world. Negatives: Schools not as good as other states, weather in the summer, traffic, pay not as good.
As others have stated, it is all state of mind and what you make of it. I have heard from many that Florida is their paradise. Then you hear how horrible it is. It is the same in any other area in the country. If you really hate snow, you will hate the areas that get snow. If you hate the heat, you will hate the areas that get really hot.
Just my two cents.
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