[AustinTraveler]

Originally Posted by alan west

I don't kow. I live in Florida and made the suggestion because Florida is full. Maybe Austin has more room and needs more people. You look like you can speak for your city..Austin Traveler.

Austin is now the 11th largest city in the United States. It's full too.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by rtloucks

Dont move to FL. We made this horrid mistake... Tampa is a total snooze fest. I wont go on because iM sure to offend many people. But let just say it was the worst decision we made by far

Where in Tampa do you live? Land o Lakes? Wesley Chapel?

[Branal]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

It already has a significant PR population, and they likely have family/friends here already.

Then why still living in FEMA hotels after almost a year?


The use of Spanish here is very prominent.

Going somewhere where they have to learn English to survive might help improve them, instead of staying in a Spanish bubble.


It makes the most sense. The only other realistic option would be NYC.

You are joking right? You think there are only two places in the US they could go.

And what are these "better jobs" that other states will offer them that aren't available here?

We were assured back when Maria happened that the ones coming here would all be highly educated and skilled. Orlando is not the only place in the country with jobs for the highly educated.

My reply in bold.

[FloridaHappy]

I can give you two out of three in the Ocala area. We have diversity, everything from backwoods redneck living hand to mouth in the Forest to multi-millionaires (including John Travolta) and a billionaire or two, and there are jobs here. I assume management is management. We have several distribution centers here (FedEx, Chewy, AutoZone among others) that are crying for help. Plus the fire chief just quit last week and they're looking to hire another one, don't know how much experience one needs for that nor do I have a clue what it pays. There are two major hospitals here which both have branches throughout the county and one is building yet another branch. Twenty-eight percent of the population of about 368,000 is over the age of 65 and there will always be medical jobs.

However, the school situation, unless you go with private schools, is dismal. https://www.marionschools.net/domain/177

$350K will get you a pretty nice house on a good-sized lot. Marion County is slightly larger than the whole state of Rhode Island, so there's a lot to pick from.

Ocala is in the center of the state so we don't normally get the hurricane damage like the coast does, although I lost 5 huge trees to Irma and was out of power for 5 days. There's a small beach within an hour or so on the Gulf coast and Daytona is about an hour and a half on the Atlantic coast.

I will tell you that if you think living in Orlando means you go see the Mouse every weekend, you're sadly mistaken. In the course of day-to-day living, you won't have time to go to Disney and, in fact, finding time to go to the beach will be difficult. Everybody moves here thinking it's all sand and sunshine and that just isn't the case. Life has a habit of getting in the way of the fun.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by FloridaHappy

I can give you two out of three in the Ocala area. We have diversity, everything from backwoods redneck living hand to mouth in the Forest to multi-millionaires (including John Travolta) and a billionaire or two, and there are jobs here. I assume management is management. We have several distribution centers here (FedEx, Chewy, AutoZone among others) that are crying for help. Plus the fire chief just quit last week and they're looking to hire another one, don't know how much experience one needs for that nor do I have a clue what it pays. There are two major hospitals here which both have branches throughout the county and one is building yet another branch. Twenty-eight percent of the population of about 368,000 is over the age of 65 and there will always be medical jobs.

However, the school situation, unless you go with private schools, is dismal. https://www.marionschools.net/domain/177

$350K will get you a pretty nice house on a good-sized lot. Marion County is slightly larger than the whole state of Rhode Island, so there's a lot to pick from.

Ocala is in the center of the state so we don't normally get the hurricane damage like the coast does, although I lost 5 huge trees to Irma and was out of power for 5 days. There's a small beach within an hour or so on the Gulf coast and Daytona is about an hour and a half on the Atlantic coast.

I will tell you that if you think living in Orlando means you go see the Mouse every weekend, you're sadly mistaken. In the course of day-to-day living, you won't have time to go to Disney and, in fact, finding time to go to the beach will be difficult. Everybody moves here thinking it's all sand and sunshine and that just isn't the case. Life has a habit of getting in the way of the fun.

I thought you were kidding when you said that Marion County is bigger than RI. Then I looked it up and you were right. Lmaooo! In fact, there are six FL counties that are bigger than RI:

Palm Beach
Collier
Polk
Osceola
Marion
Miami-Dade

[indytoflgirl]

We love Tampa for many reasons. Starting our 11th year here, we moved from a small town in southern Indiana so our backgrounds are quite different. Your housing budget could purchase a nice home in a nice, safe neighborhood. With Tampa being somewhat in the middle of the state, you are able to visit desirable areas for mini-vacations, etc. My husband and I are teachers. I teach in a higher middle income area and my husband teaches in a lower middle income area. There are A rated schools and F rated schools. The ratings are not hidden so you are able to decide which area you would want to start to find a home.


I would agree with the other posters to find employment first. The commute times can be CRAZY!!


Best wishes on your move!!!

[VA Yankee]

Originally Posted by FloridaHappy

I will tell you that if you think living in Orlando means you go see the Mouse every weekend, you're sadly mistaken. In the course of day-to-day living, you won't have time to go to Disney and, in fact, finding time to go to the beach will be difficult. Everybody moves here thinking it's all sand and sunshine and that just isn't the case. Life has a habit of getting in the way of the fun.

Good Point! Living in Florida is not the same as vacationing in Florida...

[Bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by Branal

My reply in bold.

We were assured back when Maria happened that the ones coming here would all be highly educated and skilled. Orlando is not the only place in the country with jobs for the highly educated.

Who "assured" you of that?

I didn't know American citizens were subject to a economic & education litmus test to move around the country.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

I didn't know American citizens were subject to a economic & education litmus test to move around the country.

Great post

[justthe2ofus]

Originally Posted by SCPJP

.Where in FL should we move to? We would like to stay in any of the following areas: Orlando, Tampa, West Palm, and Ft. Lauderdale.

I have lived in Tampa Bay and in all 3 counties in SFL.

I think you and your wife will like the Orlando area.

Plenty of work, living options, not in hurricane evac zones, safe areas with decent schools, and proximal to kid-friendly stuff and the beaches (both gulf/atlantic).