[chocomom]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Bam, you have a beautiful home and I'm also jealous. Maybe you'd like to invite us all over for a pool party????? Oh, it's got to be SO hard for you to leave your lovely pool and garden.

Choco, where are you moving to? There are other parts of the country that are beautiful, but it is hard to beat the all around nice things in Fla.

The suburbs pf Atlanta, GA. I live in South FL and there are not many all around nice things here. I don't like the sun or the beach, and I LOVE cold weather. I like southern charm and friendly people.....both of which don't really pertain to where I live.

I don't see what everbody gushes over. I live where I can afford. Period. Emotions have little to do with decisions I make of that nature. In fact, I'd live in Anarctica if they had cheap housing, good paying jobs, and decent schools.

I've stayed as long as I have because my parents and paternal grandparents are here. They are less than thrilled at the thought of me leaving, to say the least, and have been trying to talk me out of it.

[bamboosmom]

Jamie,
come on down! I'll get the pool all gussied up for the party

[summergal]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Summergal, where are you planning on moving to?

It's looking very much like Knoxville

[juju]

Hey everyone out there, you all are so helpful to people who are relocating. I laugh at some of the posting. Is Boca Raton a good area to raise kids? I live in the suburbs of California and I don't want to ruin my kids life by taking them into the wrong area........Any advice from you native Floridians?????

[Jammie]

Bam, ok where's my bathing suit. I'm heading to your house. LOL

Choco, since you like cold weather, you'd enjoy the So. Dak. That's where I'm from. Although we get some very hot summers, we can also get some very cold winters. Houses are very cheap compared to what you're used to. Come on up and check it out.

Summergal, good luck on your move to Tenn. I've heard it's beautiful there.

Hi Juju, Welcome!!!

[summergal]

Jammie - Thanx, and good luck to you as well on your move down here.

[bamboosmom]

Juju,
Boca is nice! We have friends over there and they do say that the kids are very spoiled...(fancy cars, fingernails done, clothes by the most expensive designers) Some of the kids try to outbeat the others!

But all in all, it is beautiful there. Just kinda richie rich, if you know what I mean!

[Dee2e]

Full time resident of Longwood, FL since 1991 and resident of Coral Springs prior to that!

[iamcrzymom]

Originally Posted by juju

Hey everyone out there, you all are so helpful to people who are relocating. I laugh at some of the posting. Is Boca Raton a good area to raise kids? I live in the suburbs of California and I don't want to ruin my kids life by taking them into the wrong area........Any advice from you native Floridians?????

I'm a native Floridan - Boca is nice but pricey depending on where you look. My husband and I work in Boca and live in Wellington which is west of West Palm Beach. It's about a 40 minute commute each way for us. Wellington is slightly more affordable than Boca and also has great schools, shopping, restaurants, etc. If you are going to be working in the Fort Lauderdale area Boca would be a better choice because of its proximity to Broward County. If you are going to be working further North you might want to consider Wellington. Housing prices are starting to come down a bit and there is plenty of inventory to choose from (including our house! LOL). We have a 3/2 with just over 2300 sq feet, large screened in back porch with roof, etc and are listed at $349 but based on some of the most recent sales that price will adjust down soon.

One thing to be very careful of is the school district for where you buy your home. The builders have been building nice gated upscale communities in very low quality school districts - so do your homework!

My husband and I are planning on a move to Georgia and someone put a fantastic link up over there (www.greatschools.net) (broken link). It lets you compare schools from lots of different angles.
GOOD LUCK

[pianogal]

Grew up in South Carolina and lived in TN, GA, NC, and CA. The ONLY place I would consider moving out of Florida to would be the Blue Ridge/Smoky Mountain area. I LOVE the mountains. My friend has a cabin on the top of a mountain in NC - no air conditioning - we spend a couple of weeks there every summer and it is just beautiful.

Wish I could afford to summer there and winter here - the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, there are NO jobs there for what DH and I do, so IF we ever live there it will be when we're old and cold and then we'll probably just stay here.

But, I can't complain this is almost like paradise here. We just built a lovely back yard entertainment area with a summer kitchen, paver deck, elite roof, pebble tec, saltwater pool with a large grotto made of Blue Ridge stacked stone all surrounded by tropical plants and then 2 1/2 miles of woods around us. We had planned on a screen, but LOVED the natural look of the grotto with the woods framing it.

Now when we get hot, we just jump in the pool. At night after work, it's so refreshing to relax while floating and looking up at the stars...and we get to do this almost year round. Our pool was finished last September and we've swam until MidNovember. We started swimming again in April and we don't have a heater installed, YET.

You can be happy almost anywhere you make a nest that is comfortable and meets the needs of you and your family. BUT...I must say living in middle and south GA was the pits...it seemed to me to be the hottest, most boring place on earth. My apologies to anyone reading this from middle or south Georgia. And to me (being a southern girl and all) California was really strange - plus way too expensive for us to afford a home there.

So of the places I've lived - give me Florida or the mountains any day!