[backtofla]

i know a lot of ppl retire to fla, but where i live in orlando area, i see more young ppl than anywhere else i have lived. it seems like everyone in my neighborhood is b/w 30 and 50 yrs of age. wherever i go in the area, i see young ppl everywhere...

and illgal immigrants are a problem everywhere, not just here.

[Terry Gross]

I've lived in Cleveland all my life, and my boyfriend is originally from Israel. We're done with the winters. We want to move somewhere around Venice, Ft. Meyers, Sarasota. We are young 50's and want a fresh look at life with warmth and sun. I will be leaving my 3 children and grandchildren which is heartbreaking for me, but we've had it with Cleve. My parents lived in Boca, but we visited the west coast and liked it better. Any advice on which city is affordable, interesting and not full of retirees? We don't want cookie cutter subdivisions and would like to be near the beaches( 10 min. drive)

[1sunlover]

We moved to Florida to leave the harsh winters and we loved the weather. We we outside every day. We could have our coffee in the morning on our porch 360 days a year in our shorts and just loved that. We loved not having to get the house and yard ready for spring/summer and then having to take it all down and get the house ready for winter. There was gardening year round, being able to be outside year round riding bikes, tennis or just walking. We moved from FL because of the traffic and some of the family missed the change of seasons, but...we are going back hopefully next spring. We truly miss what we had there and some one else said life in FL is not going to be the same as some other state. It was fairly easy to make friends there as so many people are transplants and haven't been friends since the first grade with their neighbor. Good luck!!!

[seeriously]

Originally Posted by LeavingFlorida05

I want my children to grow up in a place where people live, not retirees and immigrants.

Retirees and immigrants are people.

[NO1LKME]

Originally Posted by LeavingFlorida05

I'm happy. I just know that Florida is a place where I don't want to raise a family. I want my children to grow up in a place where people live, not retirees and immigrants.

And, where would that be? I was a military brat and trust me, retirees and immigrants are everywhere. However, retirees offer a lot of financing to communities so I would not be so quick to shut them out.

[induhvidual]

Originally Posted by verobeach

Retirees and immigrants are people.

Is that why they call immigrants "aliens". Now I get it.

[JimKing]

The latest trend is for retired alumni to move back into apartments on campus at many colleges. The students find it makes a better blend of ages and experiences. I would think that raising children in an area with lots of retirees could have many pluses.

[Floridabound09]

Originally Posted by pslOldTimer

Jupiter is one of the nicest communities in any area of the country, let alone Florida. It is considered expenisve in this area, so if you can afford it, you are in excellent shape. It is a small town but very pretty with a lot to offer. For example, my wife and I are considering taking up Kayaking (at our advanced age, strictly as slow recreational paddling), and I just discovered the Jupiter Outdoor Center where I can rent kayaks and get expert advice. The Loxahatchee area is just West of Jupiter, more rural and home to a wild and scenic river.

Of course, West Palm Beach is just a hope, skip and jump down I-95 from Jupiter, and basically you can find anything you want in that area. It is certainly more developed than Port St. Lucie, where I live, but I've found enough to do that I rarely head down to Palm Beach County. I think the last time as several years agbo to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Kravitz Center in WPB.

I confess that I have no clue what the other posters are talking about when they say crime and gangs. My kids went to public schools inthe area (we played Jupiter HS in football and soccer), and there was no gang activity. I have heard some reports of gangs in the high schools recently, but every school has School Resource Officers on campus, and there are few reports of any problems. The vast majority of the thousands of students go through their entire schol career without encountering any problems -- unless they are products of families who don't pay much attention to their kids in the first place, and that type of kid has problems in any school in the nation.

The same thing is true of crime in neighborhoods; I hear about it, but neither I nor anyone I know has ever encountered it.

You'll do fine in an upscale and quality community like Jupiter.

By the way, in specific answer to your question in the subject of this thread, [color="red"]I moved to Florida almost 35 years ago, have lived here more than half of my life (we're 66, now), and have been deliriously happy the entire time. Moving to Florida was the single best thing we ever did in our lives. We've been successful in business, raised two excellent kids and are now enjoying our grandkids, and can't imagine living anywhere else.

Thank you, to hear other tell it your lucky to have survived all the problems


For 18 of those years we owned a cabin in the Northwestern mountains of North Carolina (West Jefferson) and visited there often; we sold it last year and never considered moving there full time. We are retired now, and are moving to rural Okeechobee, FL, where we purchased 5 acres next to our daughter about 4 years ago. We plan to build a new house this year. I doubt we will slow down much; there is too much to do.

I appreciate your honesty, it puts a whole new outlook on things for us.

[Floridabound09]

Originally Posted by LeavingFlorida05

I'm happy. I just know that Florida is a place where I don't want to raise a family. I want my children to grow up in a place where people live, not retirees and immigrants.

This goof ball is a true Florida hater and if you are not a local or a native you not a person, I am quite sure you are an immigrant as well, not many of us are not immigrants of some sort in our history.

If it is so bad there, leave !!

What do you have against retirees, my guess is they have lots of money and you do not.

Sad, when people like you think you own outside your little 1 x 2 piece of ground.

[vendela]

We left Delray Beach, FL last year after just a year when we were due with our 1st child and have regretted it ever since. We returned to the Boston area which is actually very nice and where my family resides BUT....We REGRET IT! Why?...We love the ease and simplicity of the place and just basking in the soft warm weather. People in New England say "wow what a beautiful day" when it's sunny and in the low 60's, like today, and i just cringe...I like 80's. But more than that Florida represents a much more relaxed and easy lifestyle at least it did for us. I miss grilling out in January by the pool after work while having a big freshly made lemonade and then strolling down to the beach for an evening sunset walk. I miss the dynamite delray beach restaurants and all the happy tourists walking up and down Atlantic Ave. I miss our modern style townhome brightly painted amidst little palm trees and brilliant blue sky. I didn't hink I would but I do miss it. It hurt to ome back to Boston. We purchased a home last year, hated it, put something else under agreement but then couldn't sell the first house, held two mortgages and then finally sold the first house at a $150k loss just before filing for bankruptcy and/or going into foreclosure. Ahhh...if we had only stayed in our jobs in FL>...my husband misses his job and company very much in fort Lauderdale and has looked into returning but no luck yet..
We decided we can find a way for our daughter to receive a good education in South Florida and that she'll grow up happier if we can return there because we'll be happier...better education was one of the reasons we thought returning to Boston was a good idea