From Los Angeles to Florida (Jacksonville, Miami: appointed, real estate market, apartment)

[jessemh431]

I'm currently going to college at University of California Santa Cruz (not Los Angeles) but I grew up in Los Angeles. I miss the fast paced lifestyle of a big city and amazingly I miss being stuck in traffic. But the home prices of LA are too much for me to move back once I graduate. My favorite thing to do in my spare time is to go to the beach, so I figured that Florida would be a great for place that.

So now I'm here, asking Floridians for help. I don't know anything about home prices or the job market in Florida. I'm thinking of moving to Miami because that would bring me the fast-paced lifestyle of LA, but I'm worried that if I move there permanently, is there a good job market for the dentistry or astronomy business or meteorology business. Also, how are the schools there, because I know that in LA, we probably have the stupidest people in the whole country, even more than Oklahoma. Lol. jk.

I'm also considering Jacksonville and Tampa since they are some other larger cities in Florida. But my mom lived in Tampa and said the humidity is horrible. Is the humidity mainly on the Gulf coast. I realize it is all over, but is it less horrible on the Atlantic side?

Thanks in advice for any replies.

[bale002]

Indeed, the top three job markets in Florida are Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Jacksonville, and you may also want to add Orlando to that list.

Not sure about astronomy, but dentistry and meteorology are strong in these major cities (well, isn't dentistry strong everywhere?, I mean everyone has teeth). I believe the national hurricane center, for example, is located in Miami.

At current conditions, overall, I'd say housing prices in Miami are about half, perhaps even less than half, than in the most expensive parts of California, and even less than that in other parts of Florida. For example, an average three-bedroom dwelling in southeastern Florida goes for around $350k and up, in Tampa and Jacksonville maybe around $250k and up. But the real estate market is in flux, mostly on the downside, right now.

I do believe that the humidity is worse on the Gulf coast, while the Atlantic coast offers the relief of an occasional ocean breeze, especially if you live near the shoreline.

"Schools", not sure if you mean grade schools or universities. Overall the quality of grade-school education in Florida is dismal, but it is a big state and there are many bright spots, both public and private.

Good luck!

[jessemh431]

so i guess the humidity kinda takes out Tampa for me. but my friend just moved to Las Vegas after being used to the coastal weather of LA and hated it for the first couple months, but then got used to the a few weeks ago. they have dry heat there so it isn't as bad. is it much harder to get used to the humid heat of FL.

so my parents live by the beach (about 4 blocks). the house is 2200 sq. ft. 1 story. 3 bed 2 bath and 1 1/2 car garage (too small for two cars but bigger than 1 car). it could sell for around 1.125 million. are prices that much in Jacksonville beaches and South Beach?

and i was talking about grade schools b/c if i like where i live, i may settle there for the rest of my life since i probably won't be able to afford LA.

if i did choose Jacksonville, do you think it is a largely growing city and my home price would go up at all. b/c i was thinking, hurricanes don't do as much damage to Jacksonville as they do Miami, so would it be difficult to maintain a home in Miami?

and is Miami more centrally located like Manhattan for NYC and downtown Chicago. b/c i grew up in the suburbs (really no suburbs of LA, though) and i'm looking for more of a downtown life. do you think i will be in for a big surprise if i move into a condo in DT Miami. oh and are there any midrise or highrise apt complexes in Jacksonville so that i could maybe check out the DT area for about a year. then i would head on down to Miami and get an apt. there also. would 1500 a month get me a lot in FL b/c i know you get a very basic 1 bed for that price anywhere in SoCal.

[bale002]

I would not discard Tampa off-hand just because of the relative humidity issue.

For $1500, you can rent a very decent one-person apartment in Miami's better neighborhoods, and probably well more than that in Tampa and Jacksonville.

As for the urban environment and economic conditions in Tampa and Jacksonville, I suggest lurking in the Tampa and Jacksonville sub-forums, respectively, doing thread searches on issues that interest you most, and posing queries there as appropriate.

As for Miami, there are several ongoing and past threads on how Los Angelinos view urban life in Miami. There are many aspects involved, such as your expectations, characteristics of a potential job, exact location of job and housing, how you view and deal with a majority or at least plurality Hispanic population, etc.

There is a wide range of views on public schools, and as mentioned the overall consensus is that the quality is dismal, though there are bright spots here and there, you must do your research. I have an extreme view: sending a kid to public school - in Miami, in Florida, in the US, in any other country - is tantamount to child abuse, better to research private schools or home school, but, again, this is an extreme view.

It seems you have to do more of your own primary research, including some detailed searches on the various sub-forums, and visit these three cities, preferably in the summer months so you experience the peak of the heat and humidity and can make a valid comparison. Then perhaps come back with more specific questions.

Good luck!

[TrueDat]

I moved from LA to Miami (now live in Dallas). I enjoyed S. Florida, especially the water and aquamarine vistas, but it's a different mindset from California. If you go expecting a carbon copy of LA but with topless beaches and better Cuban food, you're bound to be disappointed.

As a broad generalization (and there are always exceptions), the drivers are worse, general daily transactions can be ruder, customer service is often a foreign concept, local politics seem perpetually corrupt, and while there's a wide gap between rich and poor everywhere, it seems especially visible in Miami.

I found the hurricane-ridden summer weather (with torrential downpours nearly every afternoon) unpleasant. And I don't like humidity -- while Miami may be less humid than the Gulf side, it's still humid, especially if you're coming from Santa Cruz. And, in Miami-Dade, there's little of that laid-back surf culture you may be used to in Northern California. Unless a hurricane/storm is coming, there's very little surf on the beaches in Miami compared to LA. You need to go farther up the Atlantic coast for better waves.

As for the nightlife/club culture, especially in South Beach, it's much more lookist and centered around appearances than hang-loose Santa Cruz. Also, if you're more of an alt-rocker, you may be disappointed. Though things have improved a bit since I moved (clubs like Studio A have opened in Miami), lots of these types of bands don't make it all the way down to Miami. It's much more of a Latin pop/hip-hop/reggaeton type of town. And if you like Brazilian, Argentine, Colombian or Venezuelan rhythms (which I do), you'll be in heaven. Again, there are always exceptions. Folk-rocker Iron & Wine comes from Miami, a fact that catches most people by surprise.

If you scan these boards, you'll find many don't like that Miami is so aggressively Hispanic -- often you feel like you're in Latin America, much, much moreso than anywhere in California. I actually kind of liked this aspect as it makes Miami unique (sort of like taking a trip without going through customs!) but many non-Spanish speakers don't. So, if you don't speak Spanish, you need to be aware of that.

Housing costs probably have decreased since I was there when the boom was getting started. Now it seems a lot of those new condos are sitting empty. You probably can get a good deal.

As for education, I think higher ed is decent there with U of Miami, FIU, Barry University, Nova Southeastern (in Broward), and Florida Atlantic University (in Palm Beach County), and other colleges offering an array of choices. I've not attended any of them but people seemed to think they were OK.

As for the rest of Florida, it struck me as being more like the rest of the Southern US than Miami. This is especially true of Jacksonville. If the hustle and bustle of LA and the culture clash of Miami are things you find appealing, I don't know that you'd be very happy in Jacksonville. It doesn't really have these things. That's not a knock. It just seems much more family-oriented and is probably closer in spirit to southern Georgia than South Florida.

Good luck with your choice. Just don't go expecting California East and you should visit first -- spend a week or two just looking around and talking to people.

[Jon F Moss]

TrueDat's post reads like the real thing. I would reread it a couple of times to let it sink in.

My LW moved from So Cal to Florida after we got married. She took a 33% pay cut working in the same field, experienced hurricanes, South Florida drivers, and a different attitude in general of people. Let's just say that she never really acclimated to the area.

I'm glad she at least gave it a try.

[doggiebus]

I agree TrueDat made a fair and balanced comment. As far a humidity, all of Florida is humid, Miami being ont he coast we get a sea breeze, so the heat and humidity doesn't sit like it does in Orlando for instance. From aprrox. Mid-May through the Mid-Nov (but last year Nov, Dec & Jan. we spent mostly above 80 degrees and humid, global warming?????) it is really hot and humid. The rest of the year (Mid Nov - Mid May) is traditionally very nice.

[TrueDat]

I guess it all depends on what you're going to Miami for. If you're going to finish college/grad school, go to the beach, go clubbing, party and ogle all the beautiful people (and there are so many beautiful looking people -- female and male, depending on what you're looking for -- in South Florida) and then move on in a couple/few years, I say go for it. By the time the annoying things about life in S. Florida really start to get to you, it'll be time to leave.

But if you're going to settle down for awhile, send kids to school, and make a living expecting a huge salary commensurate to, say, the best of what Silicon Valley can offer, then you should take a harder look. From your post though, it sounds like you're at the stage in your life where you're looking more for the former than the latter.

[blksophisticado]

Miami will probably be a very big disappointment for you. The housing cost are less but you will make up for it in other ways. Also Miami is not fast paced by L.A. standards. Maybe for a southern city yes you could call it fast paced but compared to L.A. it is not. Ive waited 20 minutes behind three cars in a Miami drive thru on several occassions. There would be a riot in L.A. if that happened. Also if you like variety of food shopping and restaurants you will find Miami very disappointing is this metro is not nearly as big as the 16 million or whatever it is SoCal metro area. I left Miami and went to Orlando and lived there for six months. HATED IT. NO LIFE NO CULTURE VERY GHETTO CRIME RIDDEN AND NOTHING MORE THERE THAN DISNEY WORLD. Looking for something similar to Los Angeles but not quite as big and crazy I moved to Miami. MIAMI WAS MISTAKE NO. 2. The beaches were beautiful but the too slow or too fast drivers, lack of customer service, rude people are just way too abundant for such a small city. Miami is nothing like Los Angeles. Those two cities are as different as night and day. Yes they both have a strong latin presence but even that is a contradiction. You cannot compare Cubans Dominicans and Colombians to Mexicans and Salvadoreans. They are just way too different. The suburbs of Miami particularly Broward are a little bit better but they are also lifeless and boring. To sum things up I would say if you are ready to settle down and have a family than the backwards slow pace of Florida is probably for you if not you will probably find yourself very bored unless you can somehow reinvent yourself into a permanent South Beach Tourist who was lots of money play on that overpriced beach.

[jessemh431]

So i just found out that my friends sister just moved back to LA from Tampa about a week ago. She was a real estate agent down there and hadn't sold a house in 2 years. She said the homes are cheap, but insurance you have to pay for hurricanes is unbelievable and tons of people are moving out, but no one is moving into Florida in general and that's why the homes are so cheap. Is she right?