California or Florida?????

[Ken in Tampa]

Just FYI
I have lived in both NYC, and San Francisco and now live in Florida.
I just moved to a town about 35 miles north of Tampa, where unfortunately I bought a condo last year ( in Tampa ). It was a bust right from the beginning. I won't go into detail.

I have lived in the Tampa Bay Area now for fourteen years, and I still believe it has been fourteen too many! However it all depends on what you're looking for.

St Petersburg is a nice city, but small. It has a lot more to offer though than Tampa which is like LA, many suburbs searching for a city. Tampa is the pits, as far as I'm concerned. If football, and baseball are your thing then it's wonderful. It seems they consider sports venues are what make a city great. As far as anything else is concerned it really stinks. Oh, and if you are at all into using public transit, then it is definitely not the place. Public transit here is a joke, with most buses running once an hour and sometimes every two hours. They also stop running, around six or seven PM. People here seem to think the "mall" is something special, as if you ask for a restaurant, or someplace to go that's where they'll direct you. There is no real downtown to speak of other than some office buildings, and the whole place closes down by five. They are trying to develop a place called channelside, which is in a primarily industrial area. It has some nice overpriced condos, which are mostly empty and have lovely views of petro chemical plants. So that is my opinion of Tampa.

Now St Pete, has a nice but small museum, a downtown which stayes open after dark. It also has some nice parks along the bayfront and some artsy bars and restaurants. Now mind me, it's not California or New York. I lived near downtown, and loved it. Unfortunately I wanted to buy a home, and it was much too pricey in that area. After my bad experience in Tampa ( my first home purchase ) I decided to fix up my parents home, and live here. It's a nice area, but theres nothing to do. There are a few nice parks to go hiking or biking in, but that's it. And once again, you need a car to go anywhere, even to the market.

My advice, is: If you can afford California stay there. Even NY is better than down here. Also don't believe all the hype about cost of living, it is just as expensive here as most places in California ( with the exception of San Francisco ) one of the reasons I'm selling my condo is the taxes went up 250% since last year. I have also just read your last post. Good decision! ---oh yes, and I am also in the over 50 bracket. I only live here because my 87 year old mother also does.

Ken in Tampa ( not anymore )

[vtec525]

wow... another hater.. when u say tampa sux, do u refer to surrounding burbs?

[gypsychic]

The bottom line is, the answer to this question varies for each individual and their circumstance. Case in point: several years ago, my hubby and I were interested in possibly relocating to California, in particular we loved the central coast area. For about 3 years we visited and I received MLS listings daily, and checked out job opportunities (very few) for him, (he's and architect, 30 years exp.). Bottom line, FOR US, it was just not do-able. For personal reasons we would have to buy not rent, and the prices were about 4 times the cost of a similar place in Fla. Salaries did NOT pay any more than he makes in Hillsborough County, sometimes much less, in fact. Other items cost way more than here, also, restaurants, food, gas, etc. Beautiful place, but not at the price, IMO.

Being a native of Tampa, I agree with a lot of points (negative) made by "KeninTampa", the town lacks a downtown, and is into sports, not arts, and just a bunch of suburbs, but it's far from an awful place to live. For us, we found a paradise in Lakeland - a small city between Tampa and Orlando, which looks and feels like a cool little California town (reminds us of San Luis Obispo, which is where we wanted to move in Cal.) It's got a lot of culture here, with a top rated art museum, the Lakeland Center (performance hall), art galleries, art on the park, community players and more. And it's a tremendous bargain. We feel very fortunate.

Bottom line, is if you are in a profession where jobs are high paying and plentiful, and get a good offer in California you can probably do fine. Also depends if you are happy to just rent.

I don't care what anyone says, Florida is MUCH, MUCH CHEAPER, overall, than anywhere in California, the only places that come close in price might be Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and even there I believe it would be cheaper than Los Angeles.

Good luck to all trying to make this decision, it can be a tough one to make, I'm sure.

[Ken in Tampa]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

The bottom line is, the answer to this question varies for each individual and their circumstance. Case in point: several years ago, my hubby and I were interested in possibly relocating to California, in particular we loved the central coast area. For about 3 years we visited and I received MLS listings daily, and checked out job opportunities (very few) for him, (he's and architect, 30 years exp.). Bottom line, FOR US, it was just not do-able. For personal reasons we would have to buy not rent, and the prices were about 4 times the cost of a similar place in Fla. Salaries did NOT pay any more than he makes in Hillsborough County, sometimes much less, in fact. Other items cost way more than here, also, restaurants, food, gas, etc. Beautiful place, but not at the price, IMO.

Being a native of Tampa, I agree with a lot of points (negative) made by "KeninTampa", the town lacks a downtown, and is into sports, not arts, and just a bunch of suburbs, but it's far from an awful place to live. For us, we found a paradise in Lakeland - a small city between Tampa and Orlando, which looks and feels like a cool little California town (reminds us of San Luis Obispo, which is where we wanted to move in Cal.) It's got a lot of culture here, with a top rated art museum, the Lakeland Center (performance hall), art galleries, art on the park, community players and more. And it's a tremendous bargain. We feel very fortunate.

Bottom line, is if you are in a profession where jobs are high paying and plentiful, and get a good offer in California you can probably do fine. Also depends if you are happy to just rent.

I don't care what anyone says, Florida is MUCH, MUCH CHEAPER, overall, than anywhere in California, the only places that come close in price might be Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and even there I believe it would be cheaper than Los Angeles.

Good luck to all trying to make this decision, it can be a tough one to make, I'm sure.

Like I said I have lived in more than a few places. In my humble opinion ( and I admit it is only my opinion ) Florida has little plus points, other than the misguided idea that it is cheaper to live in than other places. It's all about the quality of life you are looking for. I also think Southern California is a worthless place. So if you love LA, you might like Florida. It has much of the same "fluff" as LA. If you love Northern California ( and it's laid back lifestyle ) you probably wouldn't like Florida.
I might also add that I am an older Gay man. As for living a gay lifestyle in Florida, it is particularly un-gay-friendly. Yes there are places like Miami, Orlando, St Petersburg, and even Tampa which are somewhat gay friendly. However that is left to interpretation as well. I have never felt comfortable here, and most of my friends who have come to visit felt the same.

It is about everything, not just cost of living. There is a saying. You get what you pay for. Exactly! If you're just looking for a place with cheaper real-estate then go for it. If you're looking for lifestyle, and infrastructure-forget it. Sorry to offend the Tampa natives. However I know a few Tampa natives who agree with me totally.

[rheadabovewater]

Hmm, very interesting. I'm following all these threads, even though I decided six months ago not to move to Tampa from CA.

However - I have since then found my close relatives that I have been looking for all my life (long story, won't go into it now), and one lives in Brooksville and the other lives in West Palm Beach. We all hit it off from the start - we're ladies at about the same age. So once again I'm considering Florida.....

2 questions about Lakeland - how is the medical care situation there, and how is the job situation? If you live in Lakeland, where do you work? Although I have such a good job in California that I may not move until I retire, which is in six years.....

Thanks, Rheadabovewater

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by rheadabovewater

Hmm, very interesting. I'm following all these threads, even though I decided six months ago not to move to Tampa from CA.

However - I have since then found my close relatives that I have been looking for all my life (long story, won't go into it now), and one lives in Brooksville and the other lives in West Palm Beach. We all hit it off from the start - we're ladies at about the same age. So once again I'm considering Florida.....

2 questions about Lakeland - how is the medical care situation there, and how is the job situation? If you live in Lakeland, where do you work? Although I have such a good job in California that I may not move until I retire, which is in six years.....

Thanks, Rheadabovewater

Hi there! The great thing about Lakeland is that it is a beautiful little self-contained city, yet is situated between two of Florida's major cities - Tampa and Orlando. This whole area is a developing "high-tech corridor. Lakeland is in Polk County, which has one of the healthiest economies in Florida right now. This year Polk County won a prestigious award "All American County", one of only ten in the country, based on the community and civic pride. Lakeland is about to break ground on the new USF branch campus which will be a polytechnic university focusing on bioresearch, among other things.

We have great medical care here, there is a fine hospital, Lakeland Regional, and all manner of other health care professionals, plus easy access to Tampa facilities. There is too much to tell you about in one post, but please check out this great business website which will give you an insight not only into Lakeland but the whole county.

CFDC.org - Welcome! (http://www.cfdc.org/home/ - broken link)

And the city website:

Welcome to the City of Lakeland!

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by marymarymary

Anyone out there lived in both CA (Sacramento) and FL (Tampa / St Pete) recently or have any thoughts on the differences between the two? I am desperate for answers and this forum and it's participants seems pretty interesting. I've been agonizing for days on whether to stay in Sacramento (CA in general) or move to St. Petersburg / Tampa (FL in general) area. I moved to Sacramento from NYC last year for a lobbying job that now went away. The timing now is actually perfect for me to take the July bar exam and become a lawyer (hopefully) since lobbying wasn't as interesting or stable as I had hoped. Now I just need to decide if I will settle in Florida or California for most of the future. I DO NOT want to have to take the hellish bar exam more then once but you really need to take the exam in the state where you will be working. I need to make my decision NOW and here's what I've come up with:

CALIFORNIA:
No humidity and relatively nice winters depending on where you are (I don't dig cold)
Way to high housing costs (I'd really rather own then rent)
Only 2 friends in San Fran and 1 in Sac and I'm finding it hard to connect to people and have no family in the area (I think I'm a bit NY abbrasive for these nice folks over here)

FLORIDA:
Big cities like Tampa have higher rents then Sac and on par with LA
Much lower housing costs to buy and property taxes seem similar to CA
Oppresive humidity in summer but beautiful winters (I'm kinda used to bad summers from NYC)
A little bit of family in area and a cousin who's already offered to set me up with a guy (lol ) and I haven't met anyone in Sac since I've been here
Bigger Jewish population (Which I am, although I'm not AT ALL religious but really relate culturally )

FINALY, My last concern is with the job market. I would like to do Wills, Trusts, Estates law but I figure that both states are full of older folks and rich folks in general so I think the job market should be pretty much the same.

SO, ANY THOUGHTS ANYONE???????????

OK, first, regarding the legal market here, it is small. I have a friend who looked in Tampa for 2 years before finding a job (was right out of school). My boyfriend (who has 2 years experience in commerical litigation) searched for 5 months before moving from Chicago to Tampa and then moved to Tampa and gave the search 4 months here before calling it quits and moved back to Chicago! It's not impossible, but it's really not a great market. My advice would be to look for a job and find one before making that decision!!!
Regarding the rents, I'm not sure how you are comparing Tampa to LA rents! I have a very large, 1000 sq ft 2 bedroom 2 bath for $1000. My friend in LA has a small studio (400 sq ft) for 1300. Regarding humidity, you can't compare the humidity to NYC, trust me! It get's humid in NYC, but not for that long!!
Now, all of that being said, if you can find a job here and you have family, it can be worth looking more into it and giving it a try. You don't have to start studying for the bar exam until May, so you can think more about it, and visit more and see what you think for yourself!
If you decide to move, I would check out St. Pete's. It has a cute downtown area and actually, the legal market is a bit more open. For instance, my boyfriend had good luck meeting other attorneys who were open to networking in St. Pete's but everyone at the Tampa bar events were more formal and less open...
Good luck!

[jessiegirl_98]

And now I see I just replied to a post from April so this individual would have already taken the bar exam and moved (or not)