Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am looking to possibly relocate down to the upper Key's within the next couple of years. I've spent several summers living down there with my aunt when I was younger and it is one of my favorite places to spend in my adult life. I am thinking of following the same footsteps as my friend did, which he lives on a sailboat in one of the anchorages off of Islamorada. I've talked to my friends that live down there, and got their opinions on living down there. It appears my IT background won't help, unless I go web dev, but I am also looking into other options as for work. Also is there any resources out there for living in the key's? My searches came up little to none.
#1, you say you have multiple friends who already live in the Keys, at least one of whom lives on a sailboat off Islamorada. Um, how did he fare with Irma? Because nearly 2,000 boats off Florida Keys waters sank, destroyed our reef and filthied our waters, and had to be dragged out at great expense and then crushed by a machine for waste removal. And Islamorada got very lucky there - Irma was predicted to be a Cat 5 that would hit the Upper Keys directly. Instead it was a Cat 4 that hit the Lower Keys directly (Cudjoe being the point of landfall) so the impact on the Upper Keys was like a Cat 2 direct hit. What are you plans for the boat when the next major storm hits? We have a long history of direct hits of major hurricanes, sometimes multiple times in one year, or multiple years in a row. Someone who has lived here for 10 or 20 years and been relatively fine is not proof that you will be fine, as waters continue to warm up and storms get more intense. Take a look at what the Labor Day Hurricane did to Islamorada, and then imagine being in a boat offshore when that hits. If you were planning to motor in after for supplies on a dinghy, forget it - no available docks because they'd all be broken, marinas scattered with debris, no power or water for days or possibly weeks, no hospitals up and running, and if the bridges get damaged no supplies or help at all for a long time. Best to sail out of the region entirely every storm season so you will be safe and never lose your investment due to a hurricane. Or, you tie up well in advance of a storm predicted, hope for the best, expect the worst and evacuate. If you stay, pray that you don't have a medical emergency like a heart attack because no one will be helping you. Of the roughly 14 people who died in the Florida Keys because of Irma, most were liveaboards who did not evacuate. And again I stress, it was not nearly as big as it was predicted to be when it hit, and we got emergency resources back pretty quickly compared to what it would have been if it hit harder. http://www.flkeysnews.com/news/local...193334394.html
Also, what resources do you mean? You know multiple people down here, and have been down here yourself multiple times - that's more resources than most people have.
I don't know how old you are, but consider that the Keys are changing a great deal, and have already changed a ton in the past few decades. Life here is likely a lot different from when you came down as a kid - drastically so if you came down in the early 90s or before. The reef and local fish populations are also much worse.
Also, if you are coming single and plan to ever date, forget it. There are far fewer women than there are men on the islands, and not many people under 50 available to date. Those who are, tend to drink themselves into oblivion. They also tend to come with a lot of baggage - a bit more than the mainland - and a lot of domestic drama and history of violent relationships, due to the high incidence of alcoholism here. You will see the same few people at local bars over and over again, few whom you would consider a candidate for serious dating, and new attractive women have their pick of any man in the 100 mile range to choose from. If you're gay, then you'll have plenty of options for casual hookups - enough to last you for years. But again, the pickings of attractive or younger men are few, and very few of these would be serious relationship material. So prepare to get lonely, unless you already like a solitary life, or already have a significant other, or can take the time to head up to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.
Job options will depend on the kind of IT you do, and also what your salary requirements are. There are some good opportunities for IT, if you are a hard worker and have real skill/experience, in Miami. Many people commute from the Upper Keys to jobs in Miami. If you can work non-rush-hour times, you can get there in an hour. If there is an accident or a traffic jam though, it could climb to 2 or 3 hours, especially during peak times. IT people in Miami make the most of pretty much any employment sector, save hotel owners, CEOs, and foreign investors. But for standard local jobs where you are employed by a company, IT tends to pay the best, if not have quite as many opportunities as other major cities. Secure a job BEFORE moving. Note though that it might be hard to commute to Miami, even just a few times a week if you can telecommute the rest of the time, as a liveaboard. You may also need to invest in some serious satellite internet for the boat. The Keys themselves are generally very technologically backwards, so you're not going to have a lot of great local jobs at your disposal. People down here also pay far less for the same work than you can get elsewhere. We do however now finally have some opportunities for high speed internet, particularly through AT&T which offers 300mbps. But, I doubt that most marinas offer that. If you want a job, there are plenty of low-paying service/tourism jobs to be had, if you stick around long enough to prove you're not moving away, and have reliable transportation and a good work ethic. Or, if you know boats, you can crew or do bottom painting or whatever. But the Keys are known as a place you move to if you are already independently wealthy for a reason - it's not like its an epicenter of employment, or of reasonable pay or any benefits at all. Note too that govt. marketplace healthcare here is astronomically expensive, because there are few people to pay into the pool, and the few that do live a life full of alcohol, dangerous driving, and cigarettes so take out more than they pay in. Moreover, our snake-incarnate governor refused federal subsidies to our healthcare that our federal taxes already paid for, to try to squeeze out and kill off sick people. So, costs are higher than in most of the rest of the country. Consider too that skin cancer is commonplace here - particularly among people who live boat life. Most people here have leathery skin, and seeing people walking around with a small bandage on the nose or other part of the face from recent skin cancer surgery is common.
These are just some of the things to consider. The benefits are rather obvious, great views, sunshine, etc. - they're the reason you're considering it in the first place, so I don't think I have to go into that. But people don't usually talk about the downside to tropical island life, and there are a lot of serious downsides to be weighed with the good. Most people are miserable here and move out within a year or two, which is why locals are wary of becoming your friend, hiring you, or renting to you. It is also the reason for the term "Freshwater Conch" - which you only earn after living here a full 7 years, which indicates you are remotely trustworthy in community circles as more than just another fly-by-night dreamer who has more stars in their eyes than actual concrete plans or real understanding of the Keys. You will never be a "Conch," which is someone born here, and a class of people who alone get all the best service, best hookups, best bypasses to govt. regulations, and best job opportunities. The Keys are a suspicious and insular community with a small town vibe. It does some things extremely well. But if you're not very wealthy or born a local, it can be hard to partake of those benefits to the fullest.
Still, as I said, you have more connections and more experience being here already than probably the majority of people who move here, and you are at least planning ahead. So that said you might have a better shot at enjoying yourself for however long you stay here, if you do make the move.
I have posted endless replies and threads in this forum, particularly about Upper Keys life, so you can search through all the threads I've posted and that is a pretty good resource for living here, given that there isn't much in the way of published literature that gives a reliable, current, and accurate view. But, not much of it covers stuff related to liveaboard life - it's more about property ownership, and rentals, on land. And of course, marina life is vastly different from living offshore. So these are all things to consider. The best resource for that info is going to be speaking at length to multiple people who are already living that life, so you can get multiple perspectives on the real situation. There are very few people who have ever lived, much less currently live, in the Keys who post in this forum. I might be the only one anymore. I don't regret my move here, but few people are as flexible as I am when it comes to living circumstances. I have seen people come and go quite a bit already. All come thinking they're going to live the dream in paradise. All leave bitterly disappointed, and usually massively frustrated - some with new criminal records now added due to poor choices made during an alcohol binge while also worrying about money due to the excessive costs of living here. So planning ahead is essential.
Last edited by StarfishKey; 01-09-2018 at 08:51 AM..
Starfish Key references being the only resident of the Fl Keys on this forum, so I'd like to add my thoughts. I have lived in Miami since 1975 and my husband was born in Miami in 1953; his mother arrived in Miami in 1926 and his extended family has lived in the upper Keys since 1968. We also have a house in the upper Keys and are avid divers and volunteers with the national parks down here including Everglades National Park and Biscayne NP.
To start with some of the above information isn't correct at all: from 1800-today there have been 11 category 3 or higher storms that made landfall in the Florida Keys, 2 of which hit the Dry Tortugas which is not inhabited (other than by a few park rangers). So the line about many hurricanes, multiple storms in a year etc simply isn't true. The Florida Keys hadn't sustained a direct major hurricane strike since Hurricane Donna in 1960. Starfish also probably is too new a resident to understand that even with the fearsome weather radar pictures, the worst part of any hurricane's damage is always a narrow path and so it was with Irma. The Keys had damage, there is still ongoing cleanup but it is certainly not decimated in any way; we have very close friends living on Big Pine and in Cudjoe and have been down several times. A lot of the media attention was focused on trailer parks and substandard housing. Everything built to code is still standing-in fact PGT which produces impact glass is marketing the fact that in Monroe County not a single one of their windows sustained wind, water or impact damage including the bullseye zone.
Another misunderstanding is the 'things have gotten much worse in the Keys' mentality. Someone new to the area which Starfish is just doesn't have the background to know that within the past 30 years conservation law, zoning restrictions and overall growth policy has been strengthened and protections have been put in place from the national to the state to the county levels. The Keys has a very stringent building permitting process and the overdevelopment that has blighted most of Florida simply hasn't happened there. The law known as Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO) prevent a lot of the worst abuse. Environmental standards are incredibly higher now--Starfish never grew up in the Keys when raw sewage could be simply dumped offshore (my husband remembers those days vividly) and when a homeowner could hire a dredger to bulldoze as far out as the wheels and bucket could reach to create a homemade canal. So that's vastly improved. Of course there are still offenders but I can assure anyone considering moving here a phone call will get problems addressed by the authorities-we're not the Wild West in a bikini around here.
As for housing of course it is pricier than the mainland but if you are ok with a dry lot house you can easily find nice places that aren't a million bucks, or even a half a million bucks. There's a 3/2 house with a guest cottage for sale down the street from me that's got an asking price of $350K. For another hundred bucks you can join the homeowner's association and pick up your key which gives you launch access to the homeowner's ramp and park and bingo, you're living in paradise and ready to hit the water any time you feel like it.
Internet access in the Key is also fine; not sure why Starfish seems to want to portray the Keys as some kind of backwater backcountry wasteland with no modern conveniences or infrastructure. In fact we still have a place in Miami and the power was out there for 14 days....and back on in the upper Keys in 3!
It is a small community--a lot of the houses belong to seasonal residents so on a daily basis living in the Florida Keys is just small town life with an island flavor. The tourists come and go, there is indeed only one way in and out and certainly there are lots of things that people have to get used to. However I'm speaking up as a Keys resident with, between myself, my spouse and his family close to a century of experience living in and around the Keys and its towns and waters...there is a lot to like here and for anyone reading, please don't be swayed by information that doesn't really add up factually, presented by a relative newcomer.
So glad to see a new Keys poster! Welcome! Hope you will continue posting regularly about the Keys!
Let me clarify. I did not finish reading your whole post yet, but to address just the first part. I did extensive research as to storms since the time of first documentation that have caused measurable damage to the Upper Keys. When I said "direct hit" I did not specifically say "made landfall." I also did not mean to imply that all hurricanes that impact the Keys are major hurricanes, but the damage can be extensive regardless of wind speed.
For example in 1926 there was a Cat 4 hurricane that impacted the Upper Keys 1926 – Sept 18, Cat 4 (130mph)
And then a strong Cat 2 also impacted the Upper Keys
1926 - Oct 20, Cat 2 (110mph)
I did not record in my research where they made landfall, which as a homeowner was irrelevant to me. I simply recorded that they were storms that caused some damage in the Upper Keys. So that was the same year.
There were also 2 that impacted the Upper Keys in 1906, which affected the building of the railroad.
1906 - June 17, Cat 1 (85mph)
1906 - Oct 18, Cat 3 (120mph)
In 1965 Hurricane Betsey hit Key Largo directly as a Cat 3. There were tornadoes, and 9ft of storm surge, and heavy damage. Then only 1 year later in June of 1966, Hurricane Alma passed near enough to the Keys to drop 11 inches of rain but not much wind, and then shortly thereafter Tropical Storm Becky came through and dropped an additional 10 inches, plus 2 tornadoes! So in a single month the Upper Keys experienced a whopping 21 inches of rain, which did cause significant damage to some structures. Then the same year Oct 4, 1966, Hurricane Inez affected the Upper Keys again, with roughly 100mph winds, and a hurricane recorded down on Big Pine.
So in one year, without any major hurricanes hitting the Upper Keys directly, 3 different storms impacted the area and had locals on guard, causing damage throughout the entire island chain.
I don't know about you, but as a property owner, I want to know that such busy years can happen. And that even tropical storms can cause damage - particularly to boats, trailers, and older homes with poor roofs or below-flood living space.
Only 2 years later, in June of 1968, tropical storm conditions from Hurricane Brenda dropped 8 inches of rain, again causing some damage.
Since the spotty records that were kept in 1714, there have been some 53 storms that have been recorded as causing some kind of damage to the Upper Keys. This does not necessarily include all major hurricanes, as I'm sure no one who deals with storms is ignorant enough to believe that extremely high wind speed is the only thing that causes damage. A lot of people who write in this forum are interested in living in liveaboards, trailers, below-flood pre-FIRM housing, and even tents. NOT Cat 5 rated houses. So this kind of information is really relevant to them. 80mph and 2ft of rain can really cause a lot of damage. Hell, 40mph and 2ft of rain can cause a lot of damage!
The Keys are so low-lying, that even without a storm, high tide events like king tides cause damage to property. For example, several times recently tides have caused flooding to certain low-lying roads in the Keys, Upper Keys included, that have made neighborhoods impassable, destroyed docks, killed landscaping, etc. These issues are costly, and Keys residents need to be prepared for them as a reality. A neighborhood in Key Largo, which I have previously posted multiple local newspaper articles about, has repeatedly endured flooding, to the point that their road had a depth of 1ft in the center of salt water for a month solid and was impassable, and bred hordes of mosquitoes. Wind speeds have nothing to do with it. Weather events impact us daily here.
I could go on an on with documentation of specific storms and what damage they caused up here, but it's not really worth my time. It's a fact. And the only reason I post it is because I know there are people out there like me who would want to know. It does not affect those who don't care, and don't like to plan ahead. But it is a fact that the Keys are hurricane-prone, and that even if we only got 1 significant damaging storm per life time (whether that was a Cat 4, a Cat 2 with a tide event combined, or a tropical storm with a ton of rain and tornadoes), that is enough for people moving here to need to be aware, prepared, and to come with savings to mitigate the issue. If the Keys had been prepared and all the naysayers hadn't been so loud about "oh, you don't need to worry" we would not have near the damage we have had in this county from Irma, the exorbitant costs to remove trailers and below-flood structures (many of which were illegal in the first place), and hands out all across the county for FEMA and the federal and state govts. to come in and pay for roof damage and tree debris and boat hauling. If people were adequately prepared and expected a Cat 4 every year, the trees would already have been trimmed, the boats would have been secured, the houses would have been strengthened, nobody would be living in unsecured trailers and have downstairs enclosures, and the cost of Hurricane Irma would have been some 20% of what it ended up costing us.
We have enough lazy people coming down to the Keys dumping their stuff all over below-flood areas, including parking RVs loaded with human waste right near the waterfront during hurricane season, etc. etc. - we certainly don't need anyone encouraging more people to come down here and be unaware of the real threat of damaging storms, increasing exponentially the cost of future storms (of whatever Category they may be) that cause damage to Keys properties.
As for Corrie22, I don't know why she is so rude, but I have never anywhere claimed to be a Keys native (quite the opposite, repeatedly), nor have I ever claimed to know it all. Such a miserable person should not be on the Keys in the first place, because clearly it is not doing any good. But there is nothing blowhard about cold, solid facts. Whatever a person like that says is totally irrelevant - only mean-spirited personal attacks to give, and no actual facts to help posters who come here for real information. I feel very sorry for people like that who don't actually aim to help others, but only waste their limited time on Earth posting more negativity into the world.
I write extensively to help people to make good decisions about the rest of their lives, so they are well-prepared if they want to come down here and will be happy and stay a long time. No one who lives here can deny that a huge percentage of people move in, and then move out in less than 5 years very surprised and dismayed that the Keys were not what they expected, and cost much more than they thought they would. A lot of people clearly are not prepared for storms down here, because you have an exodus now of a lot of people who couldn't cut it post-Irma, had no emergency savings, lived in unsafe housing, and now are leaving all their trash for others to pick up as they backpack out of here. That's not a happy story for anyone, and is bad for the local environment (with all their RVs, etc. still lodged in local canals next to the manatees), so I aim to help prevent situations like that, so people can move here and be really happy long-term.
Last edited by StarfishKey; 02-01-2018 at 09:40 AM..
Another misunderstanding is the 'things have gotten much worse in the Keys' mentality. Someone new to the area which Starfish is just doesn't have the background to know that within the past 30 years conservation law, zoning restrictions and overall growth policy has been strengthened and protections have been put in place from the national to the state to the county levels. The Keys has a very stringent building permitting process and the overdevelopment that has blighted most of Florida simply hasn't happened there. The law known as Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO) prevent a lot of the worst abuse. Environmental standards are incredibly higher now--Starfish never grew up in the Keys when raw sewage could be simply dumped offshore (my husband remembers those days vividly) and when a homeowner could hire a dredger to bulldoze as far out as the wheels and bucket could reach to create a homemade canal. So that's vastly improved. Of course there are still offenders but I can assure anyone considering moving here a phone call will get problems addressed by the authorities-we're not the Wild West in a bikini around here.
As for housing of course it is pricier than the mainland but if you are ok with a dry lot house you can easily find nice places that aren't a million bucks, or even a half a million bucks. There's a 3/2 house with a guest cottage for sale down the street from me that's got an asking price of $350K. For another hundred bucks you can join the homeowner's association and pick up your key which gives you launch access to the homeowner's ramp and park and bingo, you're living in paradise and ready to hit the water any time you feel like it.
Internet access in the Key is also fine; not sure why Starfish seems to want to portray the Keys as some kind of backwater backcountry wasteland with no modern conveniences or infrastructure. In fact we still have a place in Miami and the power was out there for 14 days....and back on in the upper Keys in 3!
It is a small community--a lot of the houses belong to seasonal residents so on a daily basis living in the Florida Keys is just small town life with an island flavor. The tourists come and go, there is indeed only one way in and out and certainly there are lots of things that people have to get used to. However I'm speaking up as a Keys resident with, between myself, my spouse and his family close to a century of experience living in and around the Keys and its towns and waters...there is a lot to like here and for anyone reading, please don't be swayed by information that doesn't really add up factually, presented by a relative newcomer.
Ah, I see now you didn't really even read my comment, and that's where the personal attacks are coming from. I never said we don't have internet. I specifically said we get 300mbps internet, which is as good as nearly anywhere in the country. But this person is talking about being a liveaboard offshore, where they can't hook up to fiberoptic cables unless they want to come onshore, and even then they will be subject to whatever the marina or local coffee shop has installed. It's too bad you didn't bother to read the OP's post, or mine. Reading comprehension goes a long way.
I also never said anything about ROGO, or septic. I don't even know what they have any to do with what I posted. You knowing your husband is no different from me knowing all my neighbors who have been here 20+ years, and in some cases were born here. You're not privy to any special information anyone else in the Keys doesn't have access to.
What I said was "consider that the Keys are changing a great deal, and have already changed a ton in the past few decades. Life here is likely a lot different from when you came down as a kid - drastically so if you came down in the early 90s or before. The reef and local fish populations are also much worse."
You are just flat out lying if you have been living here and you don't agree that the Keys have changed since the 90s or 80s. People who are actually from the Keys say that constantly. They also constantly talk about how few fish there are on the reef, and how much bleaching, compared with the 80s and 70s. Of course, there was septic. Or course there were fewer regulations. But why do you think those regulations needed to be put into place? Because the Keys were rapidly changing since those earlier decades! Obviously. Now we have far more traffic, which Conchs love to talk about all the time, versus how they used to be able to lie in the middle of the Overseas Hwy in summer and wait for a car. There is more environmental awareness. But due to warming ocean temperatures, chemicals, previous overfishing, seagrass die-off in Florida Bay due to high salinity, and various other factors, the fish have really taken a hit on the reef. The Keys do not have the abundance they once did. We only stopped septic within the past few years, and I know of a few properties that still have not built sewer lines and are accumulating fines daily. It takes time for all those changes to really impact things. Also, environmental protections and permitting on land is great, but consider that there is very little property left on the Keys, especially in the Upper Keys, that is undeveloped, and has no plans to develop. You can't deny that the population of locals, as well as tourists, has grown in the past few decades. That has an impact on roads, as well as on natural resources.
I never said the Keys were horrible. I repeatedly say just the opposite in this forum, that its wonders are obvious, and that of anywhere in the country I could live, I choose here. But, it has downsides for newcomers (not the least of which is the rude treatment people who have been here longer sometimes give to people who are newer simply because they are newer, as if that automatically makes them dumber, or less valuable as human beings and taxpaying residents). People who want to move to the Keys need a balanced, honest image of both the good, and the bad. All of it. The Keys are NOT paradise. They are a place to live, like any other, that has tons of natural beauty, as well as pitfalls such as storms, expense, and typical human issues of vacation destinations.
I'm not sure why anyone would take personal offense to that, and attack a fellow Keys poster for stating obvious facts that all Keys residents see in front of them every day. Unless you unfairly want to drive up prices, the only way to actually help people is to be honest that not everything here is perfect. Just like it's not perfect anywhere on Earth.
I love the Keys dearly and want to protect them. I want to encourage only well-prepared, responsible people to move down here. I want to encourage them to understand our fragile ecosystem, and how storms impact things like finances and damaged property ending up in canals and around the reef, so they can be mindful when they move down to prevent both financial and environmental disasters. We don't need more homeless people living in the mangroves depositing their human waste directly into nearshore waters, or more sunken vessels damaging our seagrass and coral in storms. That should be the aim of anyone who lives on these islands. The more information we give people to prepare them for the worst, the more likely they will be to move down here and treat these islands well so they will be beautiful for decades, if not centuries, to come.
Last edited by StarfishKey; 02-01-2018 at 09:47 AM..
if you have ever been about a mile offshore of key west you will find lots of boats anchored and people living in them year round. main thing is to make sure you use a pump out service and and can prove it when the law comes asking. life on a boat not at the dock is pretty tough. i would not want to do it. most offshore boaters pay a monthly fee to park your dingy at the city marina dock and go to their job in key west. I am sure there are marinas that will allow you to do the same thing in the upper keys. in marathon the city has a municipal marina and a large mooring field and you can rent the mooring ball from the city. they have marina showers and bathrooms privileges if you pay to moor or dock at the marina. its in boot key harbor. My advice and its worth a grain of salt certainly not $500 like other posters seem to think. first off avoid listening to the naysayers. life is what you make of it come on down and give it a try make sure you got a few dollars to support yourself for 2 months. ramen noodles are still cheap! you should be able to secure employment easily if you can show up for work. a place i frequent in marathon called sparky's landing can only open from 3:30 to 10:30 due to lack of available staff. Lots of the workers left after hurricane Irma when the rents went real high due to fema reimbursements to landlords. if in 30 days you cant stand it well you came from somewhere you can go back or someplace else. some people only want this place to be rich man's paradise. i have friends that have been living in the mangroves and near shore for decades. these so called "bums" and live-aboard boaters friends are more happy and content than most of the millionaires that live on my street. the keys are meant for everyone willing to do what it takes to make a place for themselves here worse comes to worse there is always KOTS on stock island. not everyone needs a expensive roof over their head or big money in the bank to survive in the keys.
I enjoy your insights...killed about an hour this morning reading them back to 2014. I am guessing there is just some resentment there that a newer resident is taking the time to thoroughly document things, rather than a native.
I'm thinking of buying mid to upper keys- maybe marathon since can get some airbnb income, or Key Largo since less than 2 hour drive for me, so your postings are proving valuable, though rather worrying in some respects. (A crocodile in your canal? Really?)
Also elsewhere you post that your windstorm insurance is 6000 but that you get "top wind credits" - but I have to imagine you could do better with hurricane windows? Probably cost you 10-15k for them but you might save a lot on that insurance yearly? Probably a nice ROI even if you had to finance them. You do however say new, strongly built houses can be as low as 2500 for windstorm. But you use a number for homeowners ins of 2000-6000 yearly which sounds way high to me, and windstorm you are listing separately so that isn't the issue. My homeowners with wind in Palm Beach is only 3500 and the homeowners portion (they are in one policy since W of I95) is less than 1000. Is there something else going on in Keys with homeowners that I'm not thinking of?
Last edited by thinkofanamefast; 08-21-2018 at 06:47 AM..
Having lived in Florida for 40-45 years, we've visited the Keys at different times over many years. From my perspective, the Keys have gone from being a Hemingway-esque beach community, to somewhat of a "zoo." ... but, different strokes, etc.
IMO, instead of asking "What's it like?; does it have?, etc., new potential Florida residents (not just the Keys) should compile a prioritized list of expectations and important (for them) requirements. Do you, for example, need a specific IT job or a job paying $x-amount?; Will you be happy living in the narrow confines of a sailboat (or is that only a childhood dream)?; Can you afford to live in the Keys (and where) if the job or sailboat thing don't work-out?; Will you keep a vehicle there?; How do you see yourself living long-term ... beyond lounging on a tropical beach or sailboat or visiting local bars? - (daydreams of Florida beach/keys life and reality, are often different things).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
