possibly moving to SW Florida, looking for some insight on the area (Sarasota: apartment)

[SAR89]

My boyfriend and i are potentially moving to rotunda west. His grandma passed away last October, and his grandpa is now alone down there and offered for us to move in with him to help him out and keep him company.

My boyfriend already has a job lined up cleaning pools to at least get him started, and although it's not the most ideal thing to do, i will have to search for something once i get down there.

I've never been to the SW area of florida (i've only been to the orlando area once), although my boyfriend has been there MANY times. He loves the area, and he's told me quite a bit about it, but i'd like other peoples feedback as well so i have different views and opinions before i fully commit to the move.

I'd like an idea as to what areas to avoid, how the job market is, and the best areas to live in the SW area are. We wouldn't be moving on our own for awhile, but if i'm going to be moving down there i want to be sure there's an area somewhat close by that we could move to and potentially settle down (not necessarily in lee county, but i don't want to have to worry about moving to the other side of the state to do it).

I've looked through the forums to get somewhat of an idea, but i couldn't find anything about this particular area, so i'm hoping maybe i can get some insight this way

[mr&mrssunshine]

we live in rotonda. what would you like to know

pros. its a nice peaceful safe deed restricted are with various sub divisions surrounding it. close to beaches (Englewood and Boca) golf courses, wildlife, just a nice pace of life.
cons, not a huge amount of good 'better' restaurants nearby, the odd one yes- but Port charlotte has all the chains if thats your thing. the median age is also 'higher'' you get a lot of retirees, snowbirds and holiday makers. some families yes. this doesnt bother us one bit.


with respect pool cleaners are ten a penny down here, its hard work in the summer and there are hundreds of companies. its pretty cut throat so I cant see the pay being great. but then if your rent is free that helps

what sort of work do you do ?

a car will be essential
its a great place to live but not the cheapest

[MikeM8560]

Originally Posted by SAR89

. .....to help him out and keep him company

This sounds like your be helping pay the bills.
Id ask do you think you all could get along sre you going to be a live in cook? Or will your activities dirupt a old retired guys life who may be looking for company when you just want to go out that night?
I take it your young and i eould have looved the opertinity to get away from new england when i was still young. If gour to help out eith the bills its probably a good deal if you are all compatable and why would you have to kove nearby if your moving in eith him? Your boyfriend may become the favorite relative.

[Trbl39]

It is very difficult to find a job here other than minimum wage, so if you don't have one lined up then plan on having enough money to keep you going for 6 months or more. Even minimum wage ones aren't easy to come by, lol. If you are young and moving in with an older person, there will be a lot of adjustments on both parts. Heck, I'm only in my fifties and my kids are in their 20's and now that I'm here and they aren't, I really wouldn't relish them living with me full time again. And the older you get the more set in your ways you get. This could be a really hard situation to adjust to especially if you really don't know your boyfriend's grandfather that well. A lot of times on the surface things sound ideal, but when you get down to the everyday nitty gritty it's a different story.

[SAR89]

We are both 23, but he visits frequently for months at a time, and we all get along just fine I know once we get down there we wont have to help with bills right away until we secured a job, but i have bills of my own i have to worry about so i'm concerned as to how long it would take to find one. We both have our own car, and neither of us mind a 30-45 min commute. right now i'm an assistant manager for a sub shop, and my boyfriend is currently unemployed due to a lay-off, but he has landscaping experience and just general labor type jobs.

I had a feeling that the crowd was a bit "older", which i guess is a good and a bad thing. We generally don't hang out with people right around our age due to the fact that they are usually a lot more rowdy then we are (at least where we are now). We don't really go out all that much, but as long as there's some decent shopping areas, a movie theater and plenty to do outdoors then we would be alright.

it wouldn't be a permanent move in, we are more then welcome to stay as long as we'd like or need to until we got on our feet, but i'm not sure how long that would take to do or where we would even go. shortly before we made the move i'd like to send out our resumes so that we could hopefully have a head start, but i wouldn't even have the slightest idea as to what areas would be best to look in. I'm also not sure what areas to avoid when looking for a house or apartment, whether its in the same area or even moving an hour away from there. We want to be able to move down there and use that as a starting point, and then be able to buy a house, raise a family, the typical dream lol.

[mr&mrssunshine]

if your boyfriend can be
reliable
show up on time
honest
and drive
then he has a great head start as finding all those traits down here isnt easy. half the time you are lucky if someone arrives the same day let alone at the time they say. and first thing in the am seems to be about 10 !

and being willing to commute is another plus....I have heard 'we dont go that far' and its the next town !!!!!!!

for you (by sub shop I presume you mean food ??) there will be some opportunities in fast food retail or maybe serving but be aware things slow down in summer. AGain show the right qualities and you will stand out. North Port is expanding with lots of new shops and its only 25-30 mins drive

as for things to do. PC has a multi screen cinema, a reasonable mall,some shops. NP has newer shops and restaurants.
Sarasota is 45 mins Fort Myers maybe an hour
as for outdoor things hmmmmm oh yea we have these things called BEACHES :-) for a few $ to park or cross a toll bridge you can be dipping in the ocean in less than 15 minutes -thats the true Fla lifestyle