You moved from Florida to North Carolina ... WHY?? (Raleigh, Apex: real estate market, crime)

[FLmom77]

get that question ALL the time! I actually loved growing up in FL and felt like we just needed a change and that's how we ended up here. I am not opposed to going back if I had to, but I really love it here and I think that MY kids will love growing up here vs. FL.

[ProjectE]

I lived in Tampa for 8 years before coming to NC and I would never go back to live there.

Always felt like Florida is pretty cookie cutter and doesn't have much personality. Visiting Florida is much better than living there.

[songgirl]

Like every state, there are some great areas to live in Florida, if you can tolerate the heat. I live in St. Augustine and love it here. Always have. It's one of the few places in Florida that I feel that way about. Live music on the streets, beautiful architecture, beaches that aren't overly commercialized or crowded, unpretentious friendly people and some of the best schools in the state. The only problem is the lack of high-paying jobs. But if you can find your niche, this is a great place to live.

Next week, we are moving to Cary due to a job transfer. We would really prefer to stay here. Hopefully, I'll enjoy living in Cary but I think my heart will remain in St. Augustine.

[saintpetegirl]

I'll be moving to Raleigh next week as well. I've loved my time in Florida, but the economy has gotten increasingly worse after the housing bubble crashed. Now we have this oil business out in the Gulf, so that became the last straw for me. Plus I got really tired of having hurricane threats for so many months each year - when you live on the water, it's a huge concern.

I'm excited about our move to Raleigh - it'll be great to have a change of seasons + fall colors.
Mountains to the West, Beaches to the East - the best of both worlds!

I guess I'll have to buy something other than flip-flops now.

[douknownam]

I've lived in C. FL and S. FL... S. FL still has it's perks over Raleigh and vice versa... I'm happy to be here for now though.

[BradfromNO]

You get a lot of romanticizing with Florida. That's why COPS is from Fla about half the time.
Kids threaten to run away, and they go to Florida. Rummies think they'd be fine if they could
just get to Florida. Child molies think, man if I could just get lost in the confusion of the beach.
As a result, Florida is full of people that live there and love it, and people who are stealing,
hooking, and swindling their way into enough money to get out and go back home. (to ohio)
I kid.
But Florida has no sales tax on groceries....nice.
Florida has what could be considered, I think, a low tax rate since half the nation pays for
your standard of living by visiting your parks and beaches.
Florida is fantastic for people that love water and water-related wildlife. I used to regularly
drive from Meridian MS to snorkle around the Orange Beach boat launch in search of blennies, seahorses, anemones and all kinds of carp...at a freaking boat launch. And I know, that's in AL.
Not much on the hotties though. If there were not a steady stream of AL and MS hotties
moving there to get away from their parents, it'd be slim pickins.
I like Florida fine, I guess cause I don't live there. But I would like to have steady access to
salt water.

[equestrian_mom]

I was born & raised in Tampa. My husband is 4th generation Tampa native. I cannot tell you what a wonderful childhood I had here. It was a great place to grow up.

Fastforward to now....I CANNOT WAIT TO GET OUT!! It's so disappointing what Tampa has become. We are spending the fall looking at various cities in S & N Carolina b/c I cannot stand the thought of raising my 3 children in this environment. Not to mention the heat & humidity ALL YEAR preactically! I know no place is perfect, but the Carolinas has to be better than this.

Raleigh is first on our list!! So excited to check it out in September. I understand in NC, us Floridian transplants are referred to as "flor-idiots"?!?!? How embarrassing...lol

[jperryrocks]

Florida sounds great on paper.

I was down there in 2000 and barely made in 8 months before I came back. Stayed in Tampa for a while. Jobs are ok, but lots of lower paying spots. Vacation and tourism is big.

My cousin really loves it down there and will never move. It's a great place to visit and get away. Just a very "slow" lifestyle down there.

Lots of shanty areas of town. Beaches tend to bring in transients and coastal towns just seem to be older and not as clean. Lots of the land was built up decades ago.

Moving inland seems like torture in the summertime. If I was forced to move to Florida - i would have to be on the East coast side. Western Florida on the Tampa /ST Pete is warm murky water. You don't get the waves and breeze you do on the Eastern side

[Sayantsi]

Originally Posted by skyykell

I just arrived here last week for a government job (transfer). I love the area so far but everyone at my place of work keep asking me why did I move from Fl to here? As if I made a bad decision. I explained that FL is wonderful to visit but not so much to live.

Does anyone else get this question?

Just tell them you wanted to see what a hill looked like.

[StoneOne]

The Florida Keys and parts of Miami-Dade County are wonderful and I would gladly live there over the Triangle if money were not an issue.

But until that happens, I definitely agree that Florida is far better to visit than to live in.