moving from LA either fort lauderdale FL or austin tx (Miami: crime, job market)

[Jennifer(1981)]

Hi,
My husband and I are sick and tired of LA and we want to move out of California. We have visited Asutin tX and fell in love with nightlife, people, weather and the cost of living. I have not been to florida but we are planning to visit before the end of the year.

I want to know if fort lauderdale or Orlando is worth checking it out. We are young late 20s early 30s. we like outdoor activities, riding our mountain bikes, going out at night, etc.. he's in the Advertising industry and I am in the medical industry (administration)

the things we hate about los angeles are the traffic, the cost of living and the weather (we haven't had hot summer in over 7 years)

so fort lauderdale or orlando or austin?

Thanks

[OptimusPrime69]

If you like going out --Fort Lauderdale has plenty of nightlife. Also, you will be close to Miami which is nightlife central..


Traffic sucks in Fort Lauderdale, but nothing like LA...my gawwd. I just was in LA last week for work and spent most of my time in the car on the 405!! eff that.

Orlando is not exactly a bastion of younger people diggin the nightlife scene.
It's kind of "southern" for me..... and its to Disney-fied and like theme parked out, it's enough to make me wanna vomit.

Anyway. I havent been to Austin, so I cannot say anything about it

[jhlcomp]

Take a moment and visit Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed to get an idea of cost of living between the cities you are interested in.

Austin is 30% cheaper than LA overall | housing 54% cheaper
Ft. Lauderdale 18% / 35%
Orlando 29% / 57%

[Nolefan34]

Fort Lauderdale is great for nightlife, not so great for cost of living. It is also very hot and humid here most of the year. You still have tons of great beaches here with shops, restaurants, and nightlife right on the beach, sort of like LA. It is just much hotter here and you get more sun, less smog. It also rains a lot here. You also have bad traffic, but not nearly as bad as LA. If you live in an eastern area of Fort Lauderdale and don't need to commute, then traffic is a non-factor. It is really only a problem if you live in a suburb and have to commute from one area to another. Crime overall is bad here, but I doubt its much different than LA. The South FL metro area, meaning Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, and Palm Beach, is a large metropolis and now ranks as the 5th most populous metro area in the nation. It is very diverse here. Those are some of the positives. It is smaller than the LA metro area, but growing fast. Fort Lauderdale has a faster pace of life than Orlando or Austin.

Orlando is an inland city and the nearest beach is Cocoa Beach, about 1 hour east. Orlando is far more laid back, but does have some decent nightlife in the downtown area. For me, Orlando is just too spread out and doesn't have the same substance that Fort Lauderdale, Miami, LA, or Austin, TX has. I'm not saying its bad, I just don't really like it as much. Just my opinion. You will get bored of theme parks quickly. Most people who live in FL haven't been to Disney in years. You go once maybe every 10 years unless you have little kids.

I've never been to Austin, but it is a spectacular place from what I understand. It is probably more like a State Capitol with a Southern college town feel, but is getting pretty built up from what I know. I will visit there soon. Never been. I would venture to say its completely different than Fort Lauderdale.

[RoxasPF]

Austin is an amazing city, but I get tired of it, it's really mostly boring unless you go downtown. I highly suggest Austin over Ft. Lauderdale.

[Jennifer(1981)]

Thank you all for replying...I should have mentioned that outdoor activities are a big part of our life ( hiking, camping, biking,..). As far as for the beach, I live by the beach in LA and we may go biking but never in the water..too cold!

But can someone tell me little bit about the job market. I hear conflicts stories about Florida. Some say that there are no jobs and others say that the job market is good in some industries and bad in others.

I am in the health industry and my husband in advertising. I am guessing these 2 industries are in a better shape than others. What do you think?

Thanks again!

[things and stuff]

I lived in Austin. Austin has good demographics so it's here's a lot of good things happening but ultimately it's still a subject of Texas which I just can't stomach.

On top of that, Austin winters are colder than LA and south florida's, yet Texas summers are hotter than both as well. If you don't live near downtown then traffic is horrendous in Austin. Then there's droughts and weird tap water.

[sean1the1]

If your into hiking and biking and all that stuff then Austin is for you.Austin also has a really great economy right now the best in the nation. But because of the fields you and your husband work in there should not be a problem where ever you go. If you are really into night life and living the young hip life fort lauderdale is the place for you.The beaches here you can actually swim in they can get as warm as 80 degrees during the summer.If you are planning on having family then ft lauderdale has family suburbs just does not compare to what you would get in Austin or Orlando.

[garyhitchcock]

We live in Parkland one of the finest suburban areas of Fort Lauderdale. Our brother-in-law lives in Austin and we've been there many times. I grew up in Orlando. These areas are night and day different. You can DM me and I can answer any question you have about these areas. No way it can be done in a few sentences on this forum.

[roadtrip75]

Are you confident you can both find work in Broward? If so, then you won't be nearly as stressed out about traffic as the legions of people who have jobs in Dade but live in Broward. South Florida isn't very outdoorsy, except of course the greta beaches. It's humid and buggy during the long summer.