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Old 03-31-2016, 09:18 AM
 
5 posts, read 4,069 times
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I'm looking to move to Florida in the next few months with my girlfriend and we are having trouble picking a city. My girlfriend wants to be less than 30 minutes to the beach and I want to be less than and hour and a half to Orlando. We are both in our mid twenties and we have a dog. So we want to take the dog to the beach if possible as we can't here. We are not party girls at all but we do like to do fun things so we need a city that we won't be bored in. By that I mean we lived in Las Vegas for a while and hated it because there was nothing to do but go to the strip. Also we are both girls so I must ask, how is the gay community out there? As for jobs, we are both dog groomers so we need an area that loves them dogs so we can can find jobs.
Thank you in advance for any help.
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:01 AM
 
1,437 posts, read 2,574,604 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaclynariana View Post
I'm looking to move to Florida in the next few months with my girlfriend and we are having trouble picking a city. My girlfriend wants to be less than 30 minutes to the beach and I want to be less than and hour and a half to Orlando. We are both in our mid twenties and we have a dog. So we want to take the dog to the beach if possible as we can't here. We are not party girls at all but we do like to do fun things so we need a city that we won't be bored in. By that I mean we lived in Las Vegas for a while and hated it because there was nothing to do but go to the strip. Also we are both girls so I must ask, how is the gay community out there? As for jobs, we are both dog groomers so we need an area that loves them dogs so we can can find jobs.
Thank you in advance for any help.
Why close to Orlando? For the theme parks or family/friends?

What kind of stuff do you do for fun?

Being close to Orlando and near the beach, closest beaches are Daytona, New Smyrna, Cocoa Beach and Melbourne area. But you would probably find those beach towns boring; Daytona has events like Bike Week but not much else. Tampa may work, but still not on the beach... St Pete is closer to beach but pushing the 90 minutes to Orlando. St Pete has a pretty vibrant LGBT community.

I am from Jacksonville and the Riverside/Avondale and San Marco areas would be good for LGBT community. Jacksonville is right on the ocean, downtown Jax is 20 min from the beach. But it is 2.5 hours to Orlando. Also Jacksonville is more "Southern" that other cities in FL, some people that come from other regions find that to be an adjustment.

Orlando is about and hour from the beach so don't cross off the Orlando region.

Dog groomers are more in demand in higher income areas, so check out census data
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:10 AM
 
892 posts, read 861,061 times
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Just going to chime in say, out of all cities in Florida, Orlando is the most similar to Las Vegas. Big themed resorts everywhere, everything seems like a fake, man-made environment to have some fun.

So re-asses why you want to be close to Orlando. Miami will be the most vibrant city, have the most job opportunities for you, be right on some of the best beaches in Florida, but it will be 4-5 hour drive from Orlando.
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:11 AM
 
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We are big Kids! Lol. I've been to Walt Disney world and want to go back! I just think there's a lot to do there. That entire town is full of fun stuff. We want to have kids soon too so also that.
I'd love to live in Orlando but she will not live more than a half hour from the beach.
How are those neighborhoods? We don't want to live in a bad part of town or anything like that.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:08 AM
 
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I plan to have an annual pass to Disney world so I want to be within reasonable driving distance. That is my must have, the beach is hers.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:14 AM
 
24,409 posts, read 26,980,377 times
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Originally Posted by Majami View Post
Just going to chime in say, out of all cities in Florida, Orlando is the most similar to Las Vegas. Big themed resorts everywhere, everything seems like a fake, man-made environment to have some fun.

So re-asses why you want to be close to Orlando. Miami will be the most vibrant city, have the most job opportunities for you, be right on some of the best beaches in Florida, but it will be 4-5 hour drive from Orlando.
I disagree with your assessment. Miami Beach is the most similar to Las Vegas. All the lights, clubs, music, parties until 5:00 AM. Every friend that visits me in Orlando, we always go to Miami a couple nights too and they all love Miami, but also say it's like Vegas on the beach.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:21 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
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I live in So.Calif. You could put a gun to my head and I'd never live in either Las Vegas or Orlando. However, I could live in Miami no problem. To each their own but I'd be bored to tears in Orlando.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:21 AM
 
24,409 posts, read 26,980,377 times
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Originally Posted by jaclynariana View Post
I plan to have an annual pass to Disney world so I want to be within reasonable driving distance. That is my must have, the beach is hers.
My girl-friend and I moved to Orlando from San Francisco. We also have annual passes to every theme park and water park lol. We'll see which ones we go to the most, so we know which ones to renew next year. We really love it. Since you aren't looking for a party vibe, Orlando might be an option to consider since you can get to some beaches within 40 minutes depending where in Orlando you live.

I would suggest looking around Thornton Park and Baldwin Park, which are near downtown. They are very beautiful areas, especially Thornton Park, which has cobblestone streets, restaurants, sense of community, gorgeous tree canopies along the streets. These areas are also LGBT friendly and you wouldn't be that far from Daytona Beach or New Smyrna Beach.
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Old 03-31-2016, 02:01 PM
 
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How is the space coast for things to do? I was considering Melbourne because it's super close to the beach and not too bad of a drive to Orlando.
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Old 03-31-2016, 02:32 PM
 
27,231 posts, read 43,971,352 times
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The Tampa Bay would be your best bet. It's larger than Orlando and with two bigger cities (Tampa and St Pete) has a ton more to do beyond the theme parks. Bear in mind Tampa has Busch Gardens if you have to be near an amusement park and is about 90 minutes to Disney, while about 30-45 minutes to the beaches. Being LGBT you'll also find it more diverse in the Tampa Bay area with more LGBT bars and social groups, along with a more visible presence of lesbians in my experiences (I'm gay also) versus Orlando which tends heavily toward gay men.
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