[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by firemed

Its not just Florida

http://www.businessweek.com/debatero...rcing_whe.html

firemed- that's a great article. people seem to still be in denial about that issue. Why would an attorney hire a white collar graduate student at 50 or 60k (as a clerk or paralegal) when he can hire an illegal - give them NO medical insurance and pay them 10.00 an hour. That is the reality in South Florida. There are no white collar jobs anymore.

sunny

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Your right, Florida is not the place for this 25 year old. Its good for old retired people, snowbirds and rich professionals and their 6 figure jobs. Us middle class have no business being in Florida. So yes I am so unhappy here in south FL and dream everyday of getting out. Saving up money to make this possible.

I saw some of those pictures of Oil City- looks nice. Good luck, and if you were my friend, I would heartily recommend leaving W. Palm.


sunny

[jensen beach gal]

Sunshine state-I hear ya after living in AND loving florida for 26 yrs as a single mom, I unfortunately was choked out-unfortunately just too expensive for me to stay & Spookmeister I hope your right in saying that eventually it will be within our budget to move back. We've only been gone 8 mths and my son and I both miss south fla very much. Maybe we need to consider northern or central florida-but we loved Martin county-just so expensive. The quality of life where we are in eastern carolina just doesn't compare to what we left behind.

[jensen beach gal]

NAH-I thought at one time you were trying to figure out a way to stay in florida??? I think you are like me in that you would like to stay but haven't figured out how yet?? No??

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by jensen beach gal

NAH-I thought at one time you were trying to figure out a way to stay in florida??? I think you are like me in that you would like to stay but haven't figured out how yet?? No??

That was before Cosmic showed pictures how wonderful Oil City is. Now I am wondering what incentive there is for me to stay anywhere in Florida?

Oil City has a third the crime, cooler weather(I dont tolerate heat well) much cheaper houses, no hurricanes(Ive experienced several) better drivers, less traffic, lower cost of living, beautiful four seasons, amazing hills, cleaner air and several other good things.

I dont care for the beaches, swimming, boating and its too hot most of the time to be outside. What do you see in Florida that I dont? Im sure Oil City has that too.

[bmurphy]

Just wondering, how would you know if there were better drivers?

Also, Oil City's crime has been going up, whether you care or not. It's still low but if it keeps going up it will catch up w/ the national average.

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by bmurphy

Just wondering, how would you know if there were better drivers?

Also, Oil City's crime has been going up, whether you care or not. It's still low but if it keeps going up it will catch up w/ the national average.

Then I could consider Woodsfield, OH instead or some safe town in West Virginia. I would want to know how much Oil City crime is going up and when crime will become an issue.

[trekon]

Originally Posted by q-the-impaler

I've lived in FL off and on for most of my life. I've lived all over the southern US border except Mississippi and Arizona. My favorite place to live was Texas, but I digress.

Central Florida

Space Coast I lived in Titusville during the height of the Space Shuttle. I'd say the Space industry has declined enough to leave that part of Florida fairly depressed. Good place for a family or retiree, but not singles. The beaches are pretty, but the lifestyle is slow.

Orlando. I dated a girl from O-town and her biggest complaint was the massive influx of latinos, and she's not the type to be bigoted. The Mexican population has exploded, and they really don't try to adapt. Their culture tends to make them isolate themselves which in itself causes them to be isolated. Traffic is really bad around the tourist areas.

South Florida - Great to visit, but I'd never live there again. I lived in Dania Beach, north of Miami. It's just too expensive and the fast lifestyle wears a lot of people down. Most young people I know partied there but had to leave to make a life. It can suck you in if you are weak as I've seen quite a few people get stuck in the wrong crowd. The economy is polarized - no middle class. So that makes for lots of crime and rich people with high-end security systems.

North Florida - My current home is Jacksonville. Jacksonville is growing quickly and is probably the biggest bang for your buck. It's very family oriented, but there's a few colleges here that keep young people in the mix. There is some choice in nightlife: Beaches, San Marco, Riverside. The beaches are nice if you are into that. St. Augustine is a rock throw away and is a cute little tourist trap. Lots of the "redneck" population are cashing out on their property and moving out and yuppies are moving in. I see a lot of South Florida people relocating here. Crime is horrible on the Northside. I hate to sound racist, but it is your typical drug infested ghetto. The city is working hard to clean it up. English is spoken everywhere, unlike South Florida and parts of Orlando. Jacksonville is a very successful melting pot, where I think Central and South Florida have failed.

Very helpful, can you give us your comparison between Jacksonville and Tampa, as to which one is better for all(jobs,affordability,activities). Again, I think it was one of the best inputs in here.

[Angelrocks]

I didn't read all of the thread, but not all of Florida is really bad. I personally am not crazy about Miami. Like the Orlando and St. Augustine area. St. Augustine area is really a nice place to live. You don't need to get the insurer of last resort (Citizens) because they don't get many direct hits. I have seen plenty of storm damage in Orlando, but it's still a nice place to live. I know you may have to take cold showers with no electricity during the storms, but if you can live that way it's not really that bad. And it doesn't happen every year. I know a few years ago I had to take cold showers and deal with the heat. I think we got the electricty back two weeks later. In the Orlando area that happened more than once a few years back. I think about three weeks out of the year some places had to live that way too.

I got a generator now with a huge portable air conditioner. Just make sure you realize that if a storm comes, you may not have electricity or telephone service for weeks. Plan on getting at least 3k in survial storm supplies just to be safe....

If you move to Florida you will need to buy:

4 five gallon gas cans
1 generator
1 portable air conditioner
1 Telephone that doesn't run on electricity.
1 gas grill or barbeque
1 cooler (to put drinks in)
2 tarps
Flashlights, candles and matches
a syphon (cause just wait till everybody runs out of gas)
allergy medicine (if you are allergic to working outdoors)

Trust me when I was trying to clean the debris from Wilma in my yard...my neighbor and I was experiencing allergies. It's hard enough to try to clean up all that debris...but what made it worse was the allergies. I suggest to get a mask if that happens. I have a mask now, just in case.

I mean you just have to get yourself situated for at least 3 to 4 weeks of living without electricity (worse case scenario). We didn't have phone service for about a month. I would say get yourself a small generator too. This way you can plug your laptop in and pay your bills. We didn't have a bank open for about two week, or post office. No real way to pay your bills. Creditors may say you will get an extention...but I checked my credit report and it said I was late during the storm. I have disputed that, too. They are in the process of taking it off.

Yeah, you will just have to get ready to live like that in the summer time. Make sure you watch the news everyday and night. If even the thought of a storm comes...just fill all those gas cans up. Oh yea, you need hurricane panels. I got mine used. They were only 2.5k. If you want new I think that will run at least 10k for a 1,600 to 2,000 square foot home.

Yeah, I would plan on 13k for storm supplies if you get new panels or shutters and about 5.5 k if you get used panels. We spent at least 5.5k for our storm supplies. It's a must if you live in Florida (except St Augustine).

Hope that helps you get more prepared for your new life in Florida. It's a great place you just have to be prepared.

[daniellefort]

I've read many of the posts in FL and it seems like most of the complaints are coming from the South end of Florida as far as cost of living. I live in West Central FL and i really like it here. I'm not having a hard time surviving here. I live in a small town with lots of things to do. It's just a matter of what you need and what you want to survive. Have a big house and all your money will go towards keeping it and that's all your going have. Have a smaller home and be able to have some toys for fun. We have a small home had 2 jets skis and just traded for a travel camper and 4 cars with only 2 of us driving and we don't make 6 figures a year. It's all about priority. To us, having fun and making memories with the family is more important than working to keep that big home and having no fun at all. Check out Citrus County. I think you'll like it here.