[TheJagMan]

I have read a ton on here and gathered a lot of information. We’re interested in FL because the beach and the relatively warm winters. Here’s our situation, will be able to move in about 18 months (after military obligation). My wife and I are in our late 20s. I will have a finance bach and she will have paralegal training and we’d both need jobs in FL. I understand the economy stinks and it’s hard to predict how things will be in 18 months. We do not have any kids, nor would we plan on having any for several years. We do have dogs, were hoping for a dog-friendly apartment or house rental. We will buy if we need to, but really prefer to try it out for a year prior to buying. Looking for good nightlife and want to be very close to the beach, most likely a Please correct me if I’m wrong about anything…

We have been to the St Pete area several times in the past year. We love the area, seems to be the safest gamble to our move to fl. Seems to be one of the best areas (relatively speaking) to find jobs in FL as you have all of St Pete and Tampa. From what I’ve read and my actual experiences, people are pretty friendly and not rude. Lots to do and still pretty close to other “fun” FL areas such Orlando, Daytona, even the pan handle. Only negatives I see are high taxes and high insurance, yet prices are pretty cheap in St. Pete Beach. A question I had about the weather. I heard that coastal SE FL’s weather is 10 degrees hotter in the winter than St Pete/Tampa and the SE FEELS 10 degrees coolers in the summer due to the colder Atlantic Ocean and stronger breezes. Is there any truth to that?

SW FL, I did spend a day trip in Ft. Myers beach, we liked that but didn’t experience it all. To my understanding, of the places I listed I’m going to have the highest taxes, most miserable summers, hardest time finding jobs and the lowest crime although it’s present. Also deals with friendliest people (relatively speaking). I have not been anywhere else other than Ft. Myers in SW FL. Will have the least amount of things to do of the areas I mentioned. Thinking Sarasota might be my best bet, didn’t find a ton about Naples nor do I know of any other cities.

SE FL, never been anywhere there and plan on taking a trip late spring. Seems like Ft. Lauderdale or Hollywood would fit my situation better than any where else in SE FL. Most likely the worst overall crime, will deal with rudest people, will have to deal with people who speak ZERO English at times. Both cities have great nightlife and Miami is also a short drive away. Also lots to do, potentially the best weather (if that rumor I listed above rings true). Are the taxes lowers than St Pete?

Anywhere else you guys might recommend? I have been to Pensacola Beach, Ft Walton/Destin, PCB and Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. None of them due to the colder weather really interested us. Also went to Orlando but we really wanted the beach. From what I read, the space coast wouldn’t fit my situation.
I would greatly appreciate any insights!

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

SE FL, never been anywhere there and plan on taking a trip late spring. Seems like Ft. Lauderdale or Hollywood would fit my situation better than any where else in SE FL. Most likely the worst overall crime, will deal with rudest people, will have to deal with people who speak ZERO English at times. Both cities have great nightlife and Miami is also a short drive away. Also lots to do, potentially the best weather (if that rumor I listed above rings true). Are the taxes lowers than St Pete?

Go with St. Petersburg, because you know what you are getting. The crime, actually edges lower in that part of South Florida, although the gap is narrowing, and "rude people" unfortunately can not be quantified or rated, however it also has a lot to do with your own personal attitude. You will encounter about as many people who don't speak ANY English as you will in St. Petersburg, which is to say not very many. However, you will encounter far more people who are open about speaking foreign languages in public, which is sometimes mistaken for "non-English speaking, rude, illegal alien who robbed me of my brain", but only on here. Still, I think the vibe is much better for you in St. Petersburg.

[TheJagMan]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Go with St. Petersburg, because you know what you are getting. The crime, actually edges lower in that part of South Florida, although the gap is narrowing, and "rude people" unfortunately can not be quantified or rated, however it also has a lot to do with your own personal attitude. You will encounter about as many people who don't speak ANY English as you will in St. Petersburg, which is to say not very many. However, you will encounter far more people who are open about speaking foreign languages in public, which is sometimes mistaken for "non-English speaking, rude, illegal alien who robbed me of my brain", but only on here. Still, I think the vibe is much better for you in St. Petersburg.

Thanks...Could you please elaborate on why you think the vibe would better suit us? Just trying to understand. Like I said, I will be vacationing in SE FL in 6 months.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

Thanks...Could you please elaborate on why you think the vibe would better suit us? Just trying to understand. Like I said, I will be vacationing in SE FL in 6 months.

It sounds like South Florida might be a little too intense or brash.

[gypsychic]

Based on your post, I believe you will be happy with St. Pete or Sarasota - both really beautiful cities with a lot going on. St. Pete of course is much larger, and with it's proximity to Tampa will have more to offer in the way of job opportunities.

Good luck to you!

[TheJagMan]

While I never visited SE FL, I think I'm routing for it to be the place we move to. I have the feeling SW will have the least amount of jobs and highest living costs. The ultimate factor is going to where can we get better career opportunities.

What kind of things should I look for when I visit SE FL? Any more insights on the weather?

[DailyJournalist]

SE FL would be my pick especially if you are in your 20's.

[Keeper]

The main issue is going to be a job now a days. There are a lot of financial organizations in Tampa. CoCo Cola, BoA, Chase, Met Life, USAA and PwC just to name a few of the larger ones.

You can live in St. Pete or Sarasota and commute to Tampa if you want to live on the gulf.

There is usually a nice breeze on the beach even in summer, with the exception being mid day.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Here's my take on how what you've said so far narrows (or fails to narrow) your choices down.

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

We’re interested in FL because the beach and the relatively warm winters.

That's anywhere in the state, depending on how far you want to drive to a beach. If you don't want to drive very far (it's basically impossible to be more than about 90 minutes from a beach wherever you go in the state--obviously the vast majority of places will be much closer than that), it's anywhere on the coast. There's a lot of coast to choose from.

I will have a finance bach and she will have paralegal training and we’d both need jobs in FL.

Well, there's sure no shortage of lawyers in Florida . . . if you would be looking for a higher end or more corporate, nationally or internationally-oriented place to work in the finance industry (that's the field my wife is in, by the way), you've got to stick to the bigger cities. That's definitely NOT someplaces like Hollywood, though Hollywood is certainly within commuting distance of a couple of them--Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. There will be FAR more of those kinds of jobs in Miami. The same thing goes for St. Pete--there will be more of those jobs right in Tampa, so I don't know if there's a reason you'd want to commute to the job from St. Pete instead. The widest array of those kinds of jobs (I don't know if you're looking for a very specific job or not), with the best pay, will probably be in Miami, Orlando, maybe Jacksonville (although I don't know enough about Jacksonville), maybe Tampa, maybe Ft. Lauderdale, and maybe Tallahassee (although there you'd be working in finance for the state government). Orlando and Tallahassee are further from the ocean. The office my wife is going to be based out of is in Miami.

If you're fine with a job that isn't as high-end, isn't in a specific area of the finance industry (or maybe isn't even in the finance industry, but just any decent-paying white collar office job), etc. any decent-sized city in the state should do. So you'd be back to at least 10s of choices along the coast.

Also, your wife is obviously going to have more opportunities being in a larger city--the more folks there are, the more lawyers there will be.

We do have dogs, were hoping for a dog-friendly apartment or house rental.

It's not as if that's difficult to find in any area, so it doesn't narrow your choices down.

Looking for good nightlife

Again, the larger the city, the more nightlife there's going to be, the more choices, etc.

We have been to the St Pete area several times in the past year. We love the area, seems to be the safest gamble to our move to fl. Seems to be one of the best areas (relatively speaking) to find jobs in FL as you have all of St Pete and Tampa.

Southeast Florida is much larger, Orlando is a huge city (with lots of big, very wealthy companies), Jacksonville is big (and again, maybe better for the finance industry--my wife heard from a couple people in her area of work that it is, but we didn't research it very much because we wanted to be closer to my family).

From what I’ve read and my actual experiences, people are pretty friendly and not rude.

I don't think we can get much more absurd than generalizing everyone in a large city--or an entire county, state or country for that matter--as being friendly or rude. You're going to find a mixture of people everywhere you go. The belief that certain areas are filled with rude people or friendly people is mythology at best.

Lots to do

Again, that's any populated area--there will be many different things to do.

still pretty close to other “fun” FL areas such Orlando, Daytona, even the pan handle.

Depending on what you consider close, and just what places you want to go for fun, this limits your choices much more. Florida is a very large state, so unless you drive like a madman (like a cab driver I once had who claimed that he drove from New York City to Chicago in eight hours), no matter where you live, there are going to be other parts of the state that are only accessible by car if you've got a three or four day weekend (well, if you want to have any time there to see anything). Miami to Orlando or Tampa is doable for a weekend trip--but it's a 3.5/4 hour drive. Just West Palm Beach to Key West is at least 4 hours. And Tampa to Tallahassee is 4-5 hours. You've got to think about what place you're going to want to spend the most time in for recreation. Each place in Florida has unique, interesting things to do.

Only negatives I see are high taxes and high insurance, yet prices are pretty cheap in St. Pete Beach.

Your insurance will go down the more inland you go, and as long as you have the right hurricane protection (and you have someone from the insurance company come check out your place). You can get cheap real estate just about anywhere in the state now. Miami is a bit more expensive than elsewhere, but it's not that much more.

A question I had about the weather. I heard that coastal SE FL’s weather is 10 degrees hotter in the winter than St Pete/Tampa

Google "Florida average temperatures". You'll get a link where you can quickly select a bunch of different cities and see what the average temperatures actually are in various locations throughout the year.

and the SE FEELS 10 degrees coolers in the summer due to the colder Atlantic Ocean and stronger breezes.

There's hardly going to be a fact that applies to everyone when it comes to perceived temperature. I have yet to find a good source for average windspeed data for various cities, but in my subjective assessment, there often seemed to be a bit more of a breeze right on the coast . . . but I don't remember it seeming like there was a difference there between the west and east coasts. What makes a bigger difference--whether you're on the coast or more inland, is how far north or south you go.

SW FL, I did spend a day trip in Ft. Myers beach, we liked that but didn’t experience it all.

I can't imagine that one could experience all of Fort Myers in a day, lol.

To my understanding, of the places I listed I’m going to have the highest taxes, most miserable summers, hardest time finding jobs and the lowest crime although it’s present.

I don't know about the taxes there, but it's difficult to believe that they'd be that much more than elsewhere in the state. The summers are going to be comparable anywhere from I-4 south at least. Fort Myers isn't one of the biggest cities, so especially if you're looking for something like a finance industry job, it may not be as easy to find there, there won't be as many lawyers as in the larger cities, etc. As for the crime, it's probably not something you're going to have to worry about wherever you end up.

Most likely the worst overall crime,

Miami actually had zero murders last month. But again, unless you're a drug dealer, gang member, etc., it's probably not something you're going to have to worry about very much.

will have to deal with people who speak ZERO English at times.

Again, anywhere from I-4 down, there are a lot of Spanish-speaking people. Most of them speak English, too.

Are the taxes lowers than St Pete?

Although we could talk about millage rates, what's going to matter is what YOUR property is assessed at, and given that, taxes are highly variable even in the same neighborhood.

[TheJagMan]

Some great info! I've heard Miami is awful anywhere but south beach...