Younger Family looking to leave Long Island NY (Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral: transplants, rentals)

[Piskop24]

Good Morning, we are a family that just cant make it here on long island due to the high cost of living. I am currently seeking any one who has moved away and landed in this area except for family of my own, which is why we choose this area. I would be coming down to work in a family business, and my wife who is currently a New York City Public school teacher, has already been in contact with Lee County Schools. She is currently working on what she needs to in order to apply for a new teaching position in a school down there. My main question is, I'm sure many people ask this, is does anyone regret making the move? thank you for reading this and commenting on it. Areas to avoid?

[cfbs2691]

[quote=Piskop24;46407729]My main question is, I'm sure many people ask this, is does anyone regret making the move?quote]

Do a thread search as this question is asked constantly.
Like anything... some people like it and others don't.


Best of luck!

[Piskop24]

Thank you very much

[rikoshaprl]

My wife and I moved from Nassau county 4 years ago and love it here. I find it is similar to where I lived near Jones Beach in many ways. There is more shopping here, more restaurants, more bars. It seems like every bar and restaurant has live music. You can drive 10 or 15 minutes and see a play, or go to Downtown Fort Myers. Beaches are about 25 to 30 minutes away if there is no traffic. We have a small beach that is 10 minutes away. We are on the water with spectacular views. Our house is nicer and cost much less. The property taxes are a small fraction of what we paid up north and there is no state income tax.
The only down side for us is having loved ones back home. We travel back and forth a few times a year to visit.

[Kim in FL]

There are plenty of New York transplants here in Lee county..some of regret the move, some don't. You'll just have to come and see for yourself if this area is for you or not. It's different than up north and while you'll want to constantly point out the differences, please don't. It gets real old, real quick.

There are plenty of areas to avoid...and you'll get conflicting opinions on some of those areas so be sure to do your own research first.

[chiluvr1228]

If you don't have a problem with heat & humidity every day from June-October that would be a good start. As someone mentioned there are quite a few threads asking this question.


Areas to avoid: most of Lehigh Acres.

[LifeIsGood01]

I moved here in January, but I lived in Broward County which is the Fort Lauderdale area for almost 7 years. No regrets, the other coast is too expensive. I was able to buy a small home in North Fort Myers after renting for over 20 years in NJ and Florida. I really like it here. I'm from north NJ originally. I love the heat, I hate the cold, snow and ice.

There are parts of Fort Myers to avoid, Dunbar is the worst.

My only regret is not having moved to Florida when I was younger, and throwing money away on rent when I could have bought a cheaper house in 2008.

[chiluvr1228]

OP - keep in mind the "small beach" a previous poster is referring to is in Cape Coral and is actually the Caloosahatchee River. The city dumped sand there to make it look like a beach - it's not the typical beach you are used to on Long Island with the Atlantic and Long Island Sound. There will be no waves except make a wake or two from a passing boat. In my opinion it's pretty gross but to be honest, I haven't been in at least 6 years.


If you do like the real beach be prepared for a traffic nightmare to get there. For some reason, despite the heavy population, the powers that be have not seen fit to widen the bridge getting to Fort Myers Beach.


During season traffic is miserable. Ditto for getting to Sanibel/Captiva. One way traffic on the bridge and the toll is $6.


While there are some definite good points about living here: no snow, no winter coats or boots necessary, no frost to scrap off the car in the winter there are some not so good things. As a Long Islander, traffic is probably no big deal to you but down here we have a lot of older drivers and the snowbirds that flock down from Oct-Easter.


Unless you are a professional the pay can be iffy, housing costs & rentals have gotten very high and the rent increases have been the highest in the nature according to our local news.


But compared to Long Island you can buy a nice, brand new house and your taxes will be a fraction of what they were up north. Schools are "school choice" which means you have a choice of where to send your children. They won't necessarily be going to the school closest to where you live. High Schoolers have to be in class around 7:15. During Daylight Savings Time it is still dark at that hour which is scary for kids riding the bikes or walking to school.


How do you feel about putting your holiday decorations up with the a/c on? Right now at 7:30 a.m. it is 77 degrees with 87% humidity. We get our cold snaps but unless you love the heat your a/c will be on 24/7 from May-Oct and from Oct-April it will still be on but not every day. Can you deal with that for so long? Are you going to be okay watching your kids playing outdoor sports if it involves you sitting in the blazing hot sun with temps in the fall/winter round 80-85?


My family moved here in 1960 when I was 5 so I didn't know any better about heat and humidity until I moved to Long Island in my early 20's. Loved Long Island but when I married and had my first child we wanted to buy our own home which we could never have done up there. Moved to Cape Coral (hate Cape Coral, they are few shade trees like we are used to up north) in 1985, hubby got transferred to NC in 1990 and we lived there until 1999 when we returned to the area.


Right now I live in a beautiful part of Fort Myers called Gateway. The whole boulevard is lined with trees, reminds me of 25A on Long Island in the summertime. It's only been the last few years that I have gotten to where I like it here and would never move back to anywhere that gets a lot of cold weather.


If you like boating and don't care that Cape Coral is devoid of shade trees, then you might like it there. I much prefer Fort Myers. However keep in mind that most of the houses in Fort Myers are in HOA communities. You may like that, you may not. If you do decide to come down we will steer you away from the bad areas.


Good luck and feel free to ask us any questions that you can think of.

[LifeIsGood01]

If you want beaches that are easy to get to move to the Fort Lauderdale area. There is a road called A1A that runs for miles off the coast of the beaches there. You can drive along the beaches there with less traffic and easier to get in and out of the area. You can actually see the beaches from the road there. Along Estero Blvd in Fort Myers it is so built up you can't really see the ocean. This coast is calmer, the other coast is more like the northeast.

[AXEL276]

I currently live in Suffolk county (West Islip). I bought a house in Fort Myers almost 2 years ago (in a HOA) and rent it for now until I retire in another 2 years. I would add to buy a home with a pool. In my case the HOA has one but I prefer privacy and the convenience of having my own pool at my disposal 24 hours a day. When it gets hot, I'll be cool in the pool. Some might say to rent before you buy. I had a tenant from Penn. sign a 1 year lease only to ask out of it in less than 1 month because they loved FL so much and realized the deals are now to buy. Home prices are going up.
It was 33 degrees this morning on Long Island and winter hasn't even started. I've had enough. I've also had enough of paying high taxes and utilities. Two years for me can't come fast enough!