[slcuervo]

Hello everybody,

I have just "discovered" this forum, and this is my first post here. What caught my attention is this thread:

//www.city-data.com/forum/flori...florida-2.html

I am Spanish and currently live in Madrid, Spain (EUROPE), but work for an oil company in Algeria, so I work on rotation of 4 weeks in and then home for 4 week's rest. I want to take advantage of the situation and move to a new place, since I have the possibility to live somewhere that is not where the workplace is.

My idea is to live in a place where I can enjoy caribbean weather, and I am very interested in Florida because I have been there on holidays with my family many years ago (at age 14) and I remember it was such a wonderful place. Of course, things would be a little bit different now that I'm 29 and that I live with my girlfriend.

So, in order to get to the point, which place would you recommend me to live in SW Florida? It would be great to live in Miami (I am used to big cities, since Madrid has over 3 million people), but I don't know if I could afford it (annual income of around 80k) because I would like to live in a nice posh area.

What do you think? Thank you very much in advance for your answers!

[Chromedome]

i live part time in southwest florida and go to college in Miami, i also visit spain often and have gone to madrid since my mother lives in Alicante.

with an income of 80k you could certainly enjoy miami.

"posh" would not be the word to describe southwest florida tho. and it would be a real change of pace from a city like madrid

perhaps the only area that has that vibe would be naples, but posh in the sense that many retired millionaires live there, it still lacks alot of the activities and entertainment of a real urban city. after 11pm the city pretty much shuts down

every other area of southwest florida is either farmland, swamp or retirement communities
fort myers is basically naples with less money and activities

cape coral has even less than fort myers and so on.

southwest florida as a whole really lacks cultural activities and entertainment,its basically a myriad of strip malls and chain restuarants. once youve driven one block on US41 youve pretty much seen all that s.w florida has to offer.

if youd be keeping your job and making your salary, money wouldnt be an issue here but if you were searching for a job here after you came expect to make less than half of that. jobs dont pay very much here.

Miami would be a far better choice with that sort of income, if you are looking for a posh, urban city atmosphere.

[slcuervo]

Originally Posted by Chromedome

if youd be keeping your job and making your salary, money wouldnt be an issue here but if you were searching for a job here after you came expect to make less than half of that. jobs dont pay very much here.

Miami would be a far better choice with that sort of income, if you are looking for a posh, urban city atmosphere.

Thanks for your quick reply! Yes, I would keep my job, so jobs searching is not an issue here. All I want to do is live there. I would first rent a house/condo, in order to get to know the area better, and then maybe buy a property.

Are there other areas in Florida besides of SW that could be interesting?

[Chromedome]

for the atmosphere youre looking for, i would stick to the major cities, TAMPA, orlando, miami, etc.

Miami would still be my number one choice

[slcuervo]

Thank you for your piece of advice!

By the way, where is housing more expensive: Tampa, Miami, or Orlando? And what about living in general?