OK Just Moved to Naples/FtMyers area-Here is a "Virgin" Impression (Tampa: school, living)

[hiknapster]

What I want to know is this; what specific things are you seeing, nhkev. If it is from posts that you are seeing on city-data, take it with a grain of salt. If it is a few personal anecdotes that you've received from friends and family down there, then it holds a bit more weight but it is not scientific.

I'm not being argumentative, but do you have some specific statistics that confirm your theory? And, once again, I truly want to know. I don't care one way or another but would love to pore over the facts and be able to analyze them.

If anything, especially on the main Florida forum, we see post after post about how people can't find a job in Florida because they are from out of state. I suspect that we see less of those posts on the Sarasota forum (although there have been a couple) due to the positive bent on that forum and rarely see any posts about the horrors of finding a job on the Fort Myers forum due to the apprehension of dealing with the "I told you sos."

Something to think about, anyway.

Frank, for the life of me, I can't imagine why taking your pension and starting a business in Florida would be a bad thing. I can think of several positives that can come from that scenario, however.

I agree with your advice to be careful with what you read on this forum as I wrote in paragraph one. I've seen more than a few folks on here that said they were doing great, only to find out that was not quite true or the complete opposite. I know of one young family, on this board, that recently moved down there and is doing well. That's it. And they were professionals to begin with. The rest seem to be retired, semi-retired or already there. And a lot of the existing folks seem to be struggling, too.

By the way, the pharmacist did not recently secure a job. He is being transferred.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

What I want to know is this; what specific things are you seeing, nhkev. If it is from posts that you are seeing on city-data, take it with a grain of salt. If it is a few personal anecdotes that you've received from friends and family down there, then it holds a bit more weight but it is not scientific.

I'm not being argumentative, but do you have some specific statistics that confirm your theory? And, once again, I truly want to know. I don't care one way or another but would love to pore over the facts and be able to analyze them.

If anything, especially on the main Florida forum, we see post after post about how people can't find a job in Florida because they are from out of state. I suspect that we see less of those posts on the Sarasota forum (although there have been a couple) due to the positive bent on that forum and rarely see any posts about the horrors of finding a job on the Fort Myers forum due to the apprehension of dealing with the "I told you sos."

Something to think about, anyway.

Frank, for the life of me, I can't imagine why taking your pension and starting a business in Florida would be a bad thing. I can think of several positives that can come from that scenario, however.

I agree with your advice to be careful with what you read on this forum as I wrote in paragraph one. I've seen more than a few folks on here that said they were doing great, only to find out that was not quite true or the complete opposite. I know of one young family, on this board, that recently moved down there and is doing well. That's it. And they were professionals to begin with. The rest seem to be retired, semi-retired or already there. And a lot of the existing folks seem to be struggling, too.

By the way, the pharmacist did not recently secure a job. He is being transferred.

in that the majority of people aren't from Florida. ALL the Tech staff is from all around the country, except Florida. The sales people generally are though.

I work for the school district here. I have worked in 4 different schools in Naples. I have only met 3 people who were from Florida. Almost all are from out of state, mostly the Midwest, and many who had retired from there and went back to full time teaching.

My husband got his job while still living in NY. I technically got mine after I moved, but sent my resumes while still living in NY, and all 3 places I applied to contacted me (including the school district) while still living in NY.

Granted this was 5 and almost 3 years ago. Does that make a difference? Maybe. The local economy was nowhere near as bad then as it is now, but my daughter got as job within 2 weeks of moving here and that was only last year. When she decided to move back, she was hired in NY with only a phone interview from Florida.

Maybe we are just "lucky".

[yoko]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I know of one young family, on this board, that recently moved down there and is doing well. That's it ! And they were professionals to begin with.

When people move, they cannot take their jobs with them!

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's population has declined for the first time in 63 years and economists blame the recession for empty classrooms, plunging tax revenues and a severe slowing of people moving to the Sunshine State.

The director of the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research Stan Smith the population dropped by 58,000 people between 2008 and 2009. This is the first decline since large numbers of military personnel left the state in 1946 after World War II.

http://www.bebr.ufl.edu/news/title-raw%5D-63

[apesxux]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

By the way, the pharmacist did not recently secure a job. He is being transferred.

Not 100% accurate... I have nothing lined up, nor does my upper management know anything of my intentions. If I decide to make the move I will need to find a location that needs me. This is in part what will make my determination as to where I might live. I am currently trying to decide where exactly to focus my attempts. I am considering the Fort Lauderdale area and north on the east coast, and Fort Myers and south on the gulf coast. I try to ask questions that give me an insight into not only the question at hand, but also the folks that answer it. It's amazing how much one can gather about an area from igniting a conversation among others.

[apesxux]

Originally Posted by TANaples

in that the majority of people aren't from Florida. ALL the Tech staff is from all around the country, except Florida. The sales people generally are though.

I work for the school district here. I have worked in 4 different schools in Naples. I have only met 3 people who were from Florida. Almost all are from out of state, mostly the Midwest, and many who had retired from there and went back to full time teaching.

My husband got his job while still living in NY. I technically got mine after I moved, but sent my resumes while still living in NY, and all 3 places I applied to contacted me (including the school district) while still living in NY.

Granted this was 5 and almost 3 years ago. Does that make a difference? Maybe. The local economy was nowhere near as bad then as it is now, but my daughter got as job within 2 weeks of moving here and that was only last year. When she decided to move back, she was hired in NY with only a phone interview from Florida.

Maybe we are just "lucky".

Maybe you are just motivated.

[hiknapster]

I agree. Most folks in Lee and Collier are from the Midwest. I'm not talking about about native Floridians vs. everyone else; I am referring to people already down there vs. people trying to move down there.

Originally Posted by TANaples

in that the majority of people aren't from Florida. ALL the Tech staff is from all around the country, except Florida. The sales people generally are though.

I work for the school district here. I have worked in 4 different schools in Naples. I have only met 3 people who were from Florida. Almost all are from out of state, mostly the Midwest, and many who had retired from there and went back to full time teaching.

My husband got his job while still living in NY. I technically got mine after I moved, but sent my resumes while still living in NY, and all 3 places I applied to contacted me (including the school district) while still living in NY.

Granted this was 5 and almost 3 years ago. Does that make a difference? Maybe. The local economy was nowhere near as bad then as it is now, but my daughter got as job within 2 weeks of moving here and that was only last year. When she decided to move back, she was hired in NY with only a phone interview from Florida.

Maybe we are just "lucky".

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by apesxux

I try to ask questions that give me an insight into not only the question at hand, but also the folks that answer it. It's amazing how much one can gather about an area from igniting a conversation among others.

Funny. I can gather a lot about people by the questions that they ask and the things that they write.

[jvelte]

Originally Posted by yoko

When people move, they cannot take their jobs with them!

Actually, many do take their jobs with them, either by transfer or working from home.

[soverly]

I was born and raised in new york city...love it there, then i moved to los angeles, i cant stand that place at all. and now i ended up in Naples. I absolutely love it here! I would live in new york city again in a heart beat but i cant stand the cold. Naples has the perfect temps. i love heat. usually when everyone complaining in the summer im loving life!! I don't think id ever move out of southwest Florida! Tampa will most likely be my next and last move, me and my girlfriend visit regularly and love it soooo much, we do miss the big city! so Tampa is the closest thing to it

[kroeran]

Tampa is great. Ybor city, the causeways, the old neighbourhoods, clean downtown, St. Petersburg attractions. I like the old part of Orlando, but Tampa has a slight edge for me, especially proximity to the gulf beaches and Orlando touristy stuff.

one caveat, apparently if a hurricane hits at just the right angle, the storm surge will rise to the third story of those buildings downtown, so I would study storm surge risk by neighbourhood

Tampa Bay's top 10 ZIP codes where a Cat 5 storm surge would wreak most damage



Who's most vulnerable? Here is First American's assessment of damage based on the residential property in ZIP codes likely to sustain the greatest storm surge damage from a Category 5 hurricane. Click on the ZIP code links below to see exact locations on a map:

* St. Petersburg, 33702 ZIP code: 7,613 homes, $835,990,300 in damage
* St. Petersburg, 33706 ZIP code: 5,431 homes, $947,845,180 in damage
* St. Petersburg, 33703 ZIP code: 8,495 homes, $1,026,758,830 in damage
* Tampa, 33611 ZIP code: 9,406 homes, $1,154,674,630 in damage
* Tarpon Springs, 34689 ZIP code: 8,552 homes, $1,174,396,700 in damage
* Tampa, 33626 ZIP code: 6,540 homes, $1,176,455,190 in damage
* Oldsmar, 34677 ZIP code: 7,096 homes, $1,185,175,800 in damage
* Tampa, 33615 ZIP code: 11,660 homes, $1,208,674,970 in damage
* Palm Harbor, 34685 ZIP code: 5,087 homes, $1,265,822,800 in damage
* Tampa, 33629 ZIP code: 8,271 homes, $1,449,129,090 in damage

Experts note the Atlantic Ocean, with the steep slope of its bottom, is less likely to deliver a storm surge deep into the interior of Florida. But along the Gulf Coast, the wide and shallow continental shelf allows surge water to stack up and push deeper inland. Here's more from a Miami Herald story.
-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist