Moving From California to Florida HELP ME PLEASE!! (Jacksonville, Miami: renting, crime)

[K.McGhee86]

Hello all,

I am forced to relocate to Florida from the beautiful Southern California area. My husband and I along with our 3 Kids (oldest 5 and youngest 2 months) will be moving this coming spring. We have saved up for years and we are prepared to moved... The question is where? My husband Loves Florida whenever he visits on business. I am a Licensed respiratory therapist and he is a Pastor. Our bishop has told him to relocate to Florida and become Senior Pastor to expand jurisdictional territory. He has left the choice up to us and he will be purchasing the church and taking care of all the needs of the ministry. We are lost... We need help on choosing a location. We have been praying but the Bible tells us to ask and it shall be given to you so here we are asking you all. My husband is on Salary and he makes around 60,000 a year. I hope that I have provided enough information. Also I would love to live close to any attractions for my children. Im going to miss Ca! thank you and God bless.

[algia]

This is a bit vague....Florida is big......this is the Tampa/St Pete board, so we can answer questions related to Tampa.....

What schools are you looking for, renting/owning? do you like water sports? fishing? fine dining? not so fine? chain stores? there's not much walking around here to get stuff and farmers markets are not close (unfortunately) we have 1 Whole Foods the next one is in Sarasota (1 1/2 away)........and oddly enough it is pretty darn far from the heavily residential areas around! not sure WHY we can't get one up north in Lutz somewhere or even Carrollwood...........that is beyond me!

Tampa is great if you have a job and make money at it.....NOBODY beats our beaches.......of course there are draw backs......he may make $60,000 there, not so sure if he can make the same here.....? is that deal sealed at that amount for FLORIDA???

There are a LOT of family friendly places here, mostly cookie cutter neighborhoods....there are a lot of high end areas as well as crack towns!?

Florida/Tampa is a bit different than other cities, I can't recommend Orlando as we lived there 4 years and hate it it........Miami is full of crime and expensive in general....and you'll pretty much have to speak Spanish very well to get a coffee......no offense but who's been there knows that, let's not be hypocritical about it....... and I don't know much about North of here except avoid Jacksonville's down town, they've been working on I-95 for 10 years now and it is still not finished.....can't even imagine rush our there.......

Overall, to us, (others may disagree) we found Tampa to be the BEST of cities to live in Florida (so far)....my complaints against it are people who can't drive, people who are uninsured drivers and make my premium sky rocket, and people who don't appreciate good quality service or want the world to zero dollars! and there are plenty of those around unfortunately.

Other than that, Tampa is very nice.

You will have a cultural shock especially if you expect it to find a CALIFORNIA type mentality...prop 8 included. You have to take it for what it is.....

If you can be more specific we can have more details on different areas.....

Alex

[Sunscape]

What territory will he be expanding? Have you been given certain areas, because you don't say and it's a big area we are talking about. If you can give a better idea of the area , there will be many suggestions from our ppl.

[Keeper]

I too am confused as to what you are looking for other than for us to tell you where to move to Tampa or St. Pete. You might want to look into Riverview area. I don't know what the church situation is there but it is 'newer' area.

Tampa Bay is a HUGE area and it really depends on what you are looking for in the area. You might also check out Wesley Chapel or Land O Lakes.

[north_is_best]

Tampa or Orlando. Both are great cities with so much to offer.

[lauramarieee]

Something tells me you guys would love Sarasota. It's a little nicer, a little cleaner than the Bay area. And they have the best beaches in the State. Check it out before you decide on Tampa/St. Pete!

[Search4Justice]

I would have to agree with the post from Keeper. The Riverview area is booming with new communities and some wonderful older ones as well. The Fishhawk area is particularly nice and a wonderful setting in which to raise a family, with a lot to offer for your children. Several new Middle and High Schools have been built in the area, and Riverview High School is an "A" rated school by the State.

With I-75, I-4 and the new elevated expansion of the Crosstown Expressway all easily accessible, you can be most anywhere quickly. The Brandon/Riverview area offers a small town feel with lots of shopping and dining options. I love it that the downtown cultural area is only 15 minutes away. Attractions? What can I say... it is central Florida!

I am not sure what you are looking for regarding your husband's profession, but there are lots of churches in the area, so there is clearly a population devoted to supporting church ministries.

Hope this helps!

[jjeska30]

Hi!
As I was reading your post I feel that God wanted me to read it. I randomly chose the page and your post stood out. I am from California also. I was born and raised there. Though I did live in Hawaii for a few years. All my family is there and I miss them so much. I am also Christian, and I have 2 children, 21 months and 8 months old. So I definitely feel a connection to you just in what I read about you.
We live in Largo, FL. My husband is from PInellas county, that is why we chose the area, among many other reasons, ( more affordable than the parts of California that I would want to live in).
Until recently I was really struggling with finding joy in living here. I missed all my family, I missed all the beauty of Ca. (beaches, mountains, valleys, driving up PCH, etc.) The list could go on, but then I realized that it was not all that, I was in need of, it was God. Since moving here, we have had alot going on and life got the better of us and we both drifted from Him. As you well know when we try to take charge of our own lives before you know it, it gets hard, and negativity quickly spills into ever aspect.
I thank God for never letting me stray for long. Now I am on fire for him again, and everything is looking good. I am thankful to have a home, a husband and babies that I LOVE!
I know I am rambling, but I just want to say that you will find where you are meant to be and you will love it and everything will be alright cause you are never alone. You know that God is guiding you and your husband.
If you do move and decide to move to PInellas county I would love to check out your church. We are going to start looking for a home church. What type of church does your husband pastor?
Also about this area:
Great hospitals and doctors. Our son has Down syndrome and we have been blessed by the amazing doctors and all the wonderful therapists (speech, occupational, physical) that he sees. They all really care and take there time to answer all your questions. Have yet to have one bad experience. Their pediatrician is amazing, spends easy a 1/2 hour with us each visit and longer if necessary. I could give you her name. She is the best. Also we do not immunize and she is ok with this. Others were demanding it.
Beautiful beaches, warm water. Great neighbors, at least on our street = )
Disney world and virtually every theme park you can imagine is all in Orlando and it is not that far at all.
In Cali all those theme parks are spread out in very different cities.
There is alot to do here. I would love to chat with you more and answer any questions you have.
I sent you a friend request. I see that you wrote this post awhile ago, so I hope you still look back at responses.
OK hope that I made some sense. It is late and I am tired.
God Bless You!!!!!!!

[SouthTampaSurfer]

I was born and raised here but I have always dreamed of living in Southern California. About five years ago, I didn't think my life would be fulfilled unless I moved out there. I could never convince my wife to move out there but in hindsight I am glad we didn't. My wife had a baby boy in April that came nine weeks early and he spent 44 days in the NICU. All of our family lives in this area and they were constantly there for us throughouy that time. I can't imagine if we have moved to California away from our family and this sort of thing happened. My point with this post is that like JJeska30 it was important for me to find fulfillment in God and family instead of fulfillment in where I lived. Also, this is a good area to live and besides California, this is the only other place I would ever live.