Looking at moving from Nor Cal to Tampa (Jacksonville, Orlando: real estate, renting)

[whoreadsthefineprint]

So I was born in South Carolina, and moved around a lot as a kid (navy dad). I eventually ended up in Sacramento CA. My husband works for a national corp, and they have an office around the Town 'N' Country area of Tampa. He has three kids with a 50/50 time split with his ex. Two are in high school, one is in middle school. It is very expensive to live here, and the schools are pretty bad. We have given a lot of thought as to moving to the Tampa area. I have traveled a lot, so I have a general idea of what to expect. The only area of the south my husband has been to is Charleston SC. So my questions are: what are the high schools like? What is the cost of living like (keeping in mind the high expense of CA)? If we move my husband actually gets to keep the same pay as what he makes now. What is daily life like? How is public transportation? What are some interesting places in the area to visit? Any information you would like to add would be helpful. Also I have family in the Jacksonville area, I would not want to live there. If I had all the money in the world I would love to live in Charleston on the battery, but I don't, so I can't. So my standards are; better than Jacksonville, but more affordable than Charleston.

[MortonR]

Having lived in the Bay Area and done a lot of work in the Central Valley, primarily Sacramento, as well as nearly moving to Auburn, I think I can give you some idea of what to expect:

Climate: Not as hot as Sacramento in the summer, but little seasonal variations. April-October are hot and humid, the remaining (winter) months are quite nice.

Cost of living: While I haven't lived in NorCal since the late 90s, I am sure the cost of living here is cheaper, especially housing. How much cheaper I can't say because my experience is dated, but I'm sure it's less.

Schools: Depends on where you live. You can be pretty selective about where you live and get your kids into good public schools here. There are a lot of areas with good schools, so you're not limited to a specific geographical area (I feel pretty confident on this, as I work for the school district and know it well.)

Understand that the lifestyle is definitely different, as is the flora and fauna. No 2-3 hour trips up I-80 to Tahoe for some weekend skiing. No major national parks like Yosemite, Big Bear, etc. That being said, you do have beaches and the Gulf or Atlantic within a short drive, along with all the "attractions" in Orlando.

Public transportation for the most part is nonexistent. If you live within Tampa proper it's available, but most areas it serves are probably not desirable to you. There are express lines in and out of the downtown area to some of the suburban areas, but even these are marginal at best due to their limited schedules.

The city and outlying areas are pretty accessible and traffic, while it can be bad in areas due to construction, pales in comparison to the Bay Area and parts of Sacramento.

If the spouse gets to keep his current pay he should be doing pretty well down here. Professional/technical jobs typically pay about 15%-25% less than those in the Northeast and Midwest, so by Florida standards you should be doing OK. Insurance, both home and car, is expensive, especially if you have teenagers that are driving. Not a lot you can do about it.

Hurricanes vs. earthquakes. My feeling is that hurricanes are better, as you can prepare and bug out if necessary. Not the case with an earthquake!

I loved living in NorCal, but knew I would never stay there due to the exorbitant cost of living. It's tough, because it's an absolutely beautiful place - even the Central Valley (except for Stockton, maybe. <grin>)

RM

[planedition]

You should know that Tampa and Jacksonville share similarities; a Southern feel, similar size populations, lack of a "Main Street", etc.

What is it that you hate about Jax????????

And if you love Charleston, Jax is A LOT more like Charleston than Tampa is.

Tampa is more like San Diego-lite.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by whoreadsthefineprint

So I was born in South Carolina, and moved around a lot as a kid (navy dad). I eventually ended up in Sacramento CA. My husband works for a national corp, and they have an office around the Town 'N' Country area of Tampa. He has three kids with a 50/50 time split with his ex. Two are in high school, one is in middle school. It is very expensive to live here, and the schools are pretty bad. We have given a lot of thought as to moving to the Tampa area. I have traveled a lot, so I have a general idea of what to expect. The only area of the south my husband has been to is Charleston SC. So my questions are: what are the high schools like? What is the cost of living like (keeping in mind the high expense of CA)? If we move my husband actually gets to keep the same pay as what he makes now. What is daily life like? How is public transportation? What are some interesting places in the area to visit? Any information you would like to add would be helpful. Also I have family in the Jacksonville area, I would not want to live there. If I had all the money in the world I would love to live in Charleston on the battery, but I don't, so I can't. So my standards are; better than Jacksonville, but more affordable than Charleston.

Your husband's pay will go 3 times as far here, no joke compared to CA. Public transportation in Florida is practically non-existent, you will need a car. Have either of you been to the Tampa Bay Area? There are a lot of nice places you could live, depending on what type home you are looking for (newer or older) and school district. Weather is humid compared to CA, but we have beautiful winters, and the humidity is only really bad during the summer (at least to me, depends on the person)

There are loads of interesting places to visit, but it depends on what you like - of course there are beautiful Gulf beaches (St. Pete down through Sarasota) museums, nature preserves, etc. be more specific and we can help you there.

As I said, your family should visit the area, see where the office will be and we can help you more specifically.

ETA: Poster MortonR summed it up nicely, and even though I have only visited CA (relatives there) agree with what he said.

[Pragmaticus]

I think you got excellent advice.

I would add though Sacramento is cheap compared to other CA places. If you are say renting in both places, there isn't much difference in cost of living (COL) compared to here. Your saving is in house ownership, even that's is not by much. People tend to confuse Sacramento with other high cost living areas in CA such as LA or San fran. I wouldn't bank on dirt cheap COL here.

You should be OK with school. If the kids are already in high school, I guess they have the foundation where ever they go. No one is going to turn kids to great achievers over night no matter how great the school they are joining is.

[SheaMc]

I moved to Tampa from right up the road from where you are in Chico 7yrs ago and never looked back. Like some said before your husbands pay will go farther and you can also buy a bigger house then you could in Sacramento for a cheaper price. There is also no state tax which helps get a little more of your paycheck in your pocket.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by MeInDenudinFL

I think you got excellent advice.

I would add though Sacramento is cheap compared to other CA places. If you are say renting in both places, there isn't much difference in cost of living (COL) compared to here. Your saving is in house ownership, even that's is not by much. People tend to confuse Sacramento with other high cost living areas in CA such as LA or San fran. I wouldn't bank on dirt cheap COL here.

Quite true. The Central Valley is cheaper than the Bay Area or SoCal, but it's still expensive relative to Tampa. I certainly wouldn't say the COL is "dirt cheap" here compared to California, but it will be less expensive. Since my experience isn't current, I can't guess at how much less, but I do know it will be less.

RM

[whoreadsthefineprint]

Thanks for all the responses. For the people who have lived in both areas, I'm not sure how recently you have been in the area. I have lived here for 14 years now, and I must say the cost of living in Sacramento has only gotten worse over the years. I had someone message me about cost, including food cost. From the research I have done it seems that the food cost are similar, but never more expensive than Sacramento. The one thing that seems to consistently be higher in Tampa is the cost of insurance. Other than that, the COL in Tampa is lower in general, and especially in housing cost. On a side note, someone said Jacksonville is not so bad, the only areas I have seen have been in the bad parts of town I guess, because it most definitely was not nice, at all. ( I was talking about historic Charleston, not North Charleston)

[corvidae]

Some of the interesting places in Tampa to visit are the beaches (I like Caladesi Island, Pass-a-grille, or Fort De Soto), Ybor City, the historic Tampa Theater, and Hillsborough River State Park.

The most desirable place in Tampa to live right now is South Tampa. I believe it has some good schools as well. However you'll get quite expensive real estate prices to go along with that... not sure if you'd think it was that expensive compared to Cali, though.

There are many other places to live that are nice, though. It depends on if you want an older home or a newer home, a city feel or a suburban feel. Also of course it would depend on where you are working.