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Anyone who says that you can avoid hurricane damage by going 30 miles inland obviously hasn't lived in the Southeast. A hurricane is a huge amount of energy and it doesn't dissipate easily. It's common for areas 100+ miles inland to get heave flooding and moderate tornado damage from a storm (taking it to an extreme, my inlaws in south-central Michigan had about $10K worth of basement flooding damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ike last year) I'd rather take my chances down closer to the coast- once the winds die down it's not as bad since the sandy soil drains a lot better than the clay you find further inland.
Having said that, most tropical storm and minor hurricane weather is more of annoyance than anything else. More than 80% of the time a tropical storm is the Southeastern equivalent of a snow day.
We're in a low property tax part of Florida. Admittedly we got in before the boom, but we pay $1200/year in property taxes, and we'd pay more than three times than that for a similar value home in the Grand Rapids area if we'd stayed in Michigan. Insurance costs can vary hugely, but if you're not on a barrier island, at least 30 feet above sea level and your area doesn't have drainage or sinkhole issues, it's not too bad.
I was thinking more along the lines of Atlanta; much further inland than just 30 miles.
Tampa was were I was thinking, is Clearwater similar to Tampa. I have heard it's a really nice area, but what about crime and things like that? Are there any affordable condos/homes in the area(lower than 200,000)? Are there any other areas that I should look into around the Tampa area as well?
There is crime in FL, make no mistake. However, a lot of it is way overhyped by the media, and as long as you pick a nicer area and stay smart you shouldn't have any problems. Plus there is way more law enforcement in Florida than I remember there being in Michigan. The "dangerous" parts of the state are mostly confined to South Florida and the inner parts of the other cities, so just be careful about the City of Tampa itself, otherwise you should be fine...
You probably can find something in that range in a nice area, Tampa Bay does not have the outrageous cost of living that Miami does. But I must admit I don't know details...perhaps you should check out the Tampa Bay forum on CityData?
Clearwater is in Pinellas County....closer to the Gulf, so it'll probably be more crowded and more expensive than Hillsborough... but I've been there several times, and I really think Pinellas is a nice place..
Specifically, I have heard good things about Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater, Largo and some other cities in Pinellas County..
Other than Pinellas County... Hillsborough, Pasco and Manatee are pretty close....and if you want something a little less crowded and little more rural/conservative but still close, check out Polk County...
Where at in MI are you from? Just a fair warning....some of my friends from rural MI have had "trouble" adjusting to the big urban areas, so if your from rural MI you might want to look at a mid-size county like Polk or Pasco instead of a very crowded one like Pinellas or Hillsborough..
Have you checked out the unemployment rates in the Southern State? Georgia and NC and SC have unemployment rates almost as high as Michigan.
Michigan tops the list with 12.6%, but SC is 3rd with 11.4. NC is almost 11%. In fact, the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the Southeast is Louisiana, with 5.8%.
People are moving to those cities for a reason...... The reason is because those cities have good jobs
Well.... had good jobs. And are still doing okay. However, no place in the nation is immune to the soft economy. Atlanta lost 82,000 jobs between Dec 07 and Dec 08. I don't know about Houston and Dallas.
There is crime in FL, make no mistake. However, a lot of it is way overhyped by the media, and as long as you pick a nicer area and stay smart you shouldn't have any problems. Plus there is way more law enforcement in Florida than I remember there being in Michigan. The "dangerous" parts of the state are mostly confined to South Florida and the inner parts of the other cities, so just be careful about the City of Tampa itself, otherwise you should be fine...
You probably can find something in that range in a nice area, Tampa Bay does not have the outrageous cost of living that Miami does. But I must admit I don't know details...perhaps you should check out the Tampa Bay forum on CityData?
Clearwater is in Pinellas County....closer to the Gulf, so it'll probably be more crowded and more expensive than Hillsborough... but I've been there several times, and I really think Pinellas is a nice place..
Specifically, I have heard good things about Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater, Largo and some other cities in Pinellas County..
Other than Pinellas County... Hillsborough, Pasco and Manatee are pretty close....and if you want something a little less crowded and little more rural/conservative but still close, check out Polk County...
Where at in MI are you from? Just a fair warning....some of my friends from rural MI have had "trouble" adjusting to the big urban areas, so if your from rural MI you might want to look at a mid-size county like Polk or Pasco instead of a very crowded one like Pinellas or Hillsborough..
Yeah I was thinking Dunedin as well as Spring Hill, I'm not really looking fora smaller city. I'm from Sterling Heights, about 12 miles north of Detroit, so the transition will not be difficult. Thanks for the information on everything it is appreciated. After looking into the south I feel very shaky about it, I'm not to sure what to think. This is a much harder decision then I thought it would be. What about Colorado, does anybody have any information on Colorado, that seems like a pretty stable state to me, although it is completely different as far as weather than the southern state, but I feel it would be wise to look into it as well.
Have you checked out the unemployment rates in the Southern State? Georgia and NC and SC have unemployment rates almost as high as Michigan.
This is true, but up here we hear more success stories of people finding jobs that left our state to move down there then if someone stayed living in our own state.
For the OP, I remember hearing on HGTV's House Hunters that Austin, TX is a hip place for young professionals (28-30 somethings.)
Yeah I was thinking Dunedin as well as Spring Hill, I'm not really looking fora smaller city. I'm from Sterling Heights, about 12 miles north of Detroit, so the transition will not be difficult. Thanks for the information on everything it is appreciated. After looking into the south I feel very shaky about it, I'm not to sure what to think. This is a much harder decision then I thought it would be. What about Colorado, does anybody have any information on Colorado, that seems like a pretty stable state to me, although it is completely different as far as weather than the southern state, but I feel it would be wise to look into it as well.
My sister lived in Denver for 7 yrs.. origionally from Battle Creek, Mi. Depends where you live. Right now Loveland and FT Collins area is rated one of the best cities in the country to live in. The winters are pretty mild with the exceptionally snow storm every now and again.. It can litterly be 70 one day then 10 the next day with 5" of snow.. East of the mountain ranges usually get less then half of what the mountains do in snow falls... Since you are 5,000' above sea level you are closer to the sun and the sun melts all the snow off the streets/sidewalks unlike MI. Summers are mild with temps in the 80s usually... Cost of living is about twice what MI is. Lots of young people and TONS to do outside. My sister loved it but moved to Kansas after her car was broken into every 6 months in a denver neighborhood..
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