OK Floridians, help me out here...

I've lived in Lost Angeles California (or as Arnold pronounces it, KAL - E - FORNY - AH) for the past 38 almost 39 years now (since I was a kid).

I am in the middle of a career change and will be entering private practice, so I could technically live anywhere I want.

The quality of life here in Los Angeles has dropped to all time lows.

I used to have family in West Palm Beach / Palm Beach Gardens area and used to visit them each year. I enjoyed it but that certainly is no indicator of living there.

So my question is....how do you like FL, especially if you are in the Palm Beach area? Is the quality of life there now good? Dislikes?

Here's what sure looks good to me...no state income tax, housing is nearly free (compared to Lost Angeles...it just so happens I'm looking to buy a house and for the price of a down payment here I can get a house on the golf course at PGA National or Iibis C.C....fully paid for!!!), plus, cell phones work there.

So share your FLA stories/experiences.

All responses appreciated.

Thanks

k

 

Hey Kobi,

I grew up on the Gulf Coast but have spent some time on the Atlantic coast.

It probably won't be too unfamiliar to you. Everybody here calls Florida, the next California. You know political caos, stupid laws, property values doubling and tripling in very short time.

The gulf coast is far less congested. The Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale area is very nice but not my cup of tea.

Florida is a great place overall. The weather is great in Jan, no state income tax, reasonable cost of living to income ratio.

You may also want to check out Naples and Ft. Meyers. It's at the other end of Alligator alley on the Gulf Coast. ONe thing about Floirda is everything is pretty close. I can be in WEst Palm in about three hours, Orlando in two, Daytona in three and Tampa in about 30 minutes.

Check out Sarasota too, I live in Bradenton which kinda grew into Sarasota. This has been the fastest growing area in the country overall for 13 years. It is a very well run city. I live in Bradenton and hang out in Sarasota.

I have friends that live in Santa Monica, if it wern't for emplyment reasons, they say they would move here in a heartbeat.

 

Shoot me an E-mail if you want the straight dope. South Florida can be either Heaven on Earth , or Hell with palm trees.

Depending on a lot of personal reasons that I'm sure you don't want to discuss in an open forum, it may or may not be for you. Send me a message or a phone number and we can chat.

 

i live in south florida, great place if youre young like me (beaches, nightlife, etc...), but personally i really really like the naples/sarasota area. my brother just bought a house there and the place is great. much like here in south fl, except not as "hectic"

 

Exactly my point Donate. If you're young and want to have fun this can be the place. If you are a skilled tradesperson wages are 30-50% lower than other places. If you have school-age children the public system was rated 49th last time I looked.

Moving here is not for everyone, and really is a decision that should be based on very personal circumstances.

 

one word: Hurricanes!

 

Which is why the insurance of your cheap house is 10 TIMES rates in the Midwest. That's right folks: I paid less than $400 a year in the Chicago Burbs, and pay nearly $4000 here.

Even if it doesnt hit you the hysteria is a major PITA. Imagine for a moment kobiashi, what would life be like in LA if everyone knew there was an excellent chance of a 7.0+ Earthquake hitting in 3 days?

 

screw it. move to Seattle and wear birkenstocks and eat granola.

Its only a short drive from Vancouver where pot smoking is now legal.

 

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HURRICANES!!!

lol, just kidding, i know what you meant . i moved here the year andrew hit, and THANK GOD it didint hit my area too hard, bit since that one i dont think we've had any serious hurricanes.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about hurricanes. Thanks to them and hysteria and general public laziness, we now have those lovely Dade County building codes. they make new home construction costs skyrocket. And now you need a permit to do everything.

That is what made the homeowners insurance go up. I had some quadruple.

And snowbirds, they haven't been as bad the past couple of years since the economy sucks. When the economy recovers they will be back.

You know, on second thought Florida is kinda starting to suck.

 

Where I live sucks, because I'm a teenager. Titus-freaking-ville. I'm 20 min from the big cities though, so it's not that bad. Get a perfect view of the shuttle. Nice beach, guess I can't really complain.

 

Been living in the Orlando area for 7+ years now. I moved here from Oregon and it's a BIG change in climate. I got used to the heat (I think). Cost of living isn't bad here, school systems are spotty in quality. If you want to spend the money there's ALWAYS something to do in O-town. If you like to fish or boat there's always a place to go.

General life is cool in my opinion. I do miss the mountains. If you're an outdoorsman I would really consider looking at Portland, OR, but they don't have the theme parks and stuff there. Of course the political system is a mess there too in recent years. Every place has got it's issues I suppose.

 

What do you practice? If it is Law you may find stiff competition, unless you specialize in suing other lawyers.

If it is medicine the shocker would be malpractice insurance. California is often used as an example when comparing the rates Doctors pay for insurance. Apparently there is a cap on jury awards, or maximum rates that can be charged in CA, not so here. A specialist (neurology) can pay $100,000 a year.

The bright spot in medicine would be if you were an infectious disease Doctor. YTD we have more cases of HIV, East Equine Encephalitis, West Nile, Hepatitis, and Malaria than ever. It could be a good thing, well for you.

 

Thanks everyone for your responses so far…

Seacrow:
“I live in Bradenton which kinda grew into Sarasota. This has been the fastest growing area in the country overall for 13 years.”

That’s the thing about Lost Angeles. It is growing so much that it is far beyond it’s capacity. Traffic is worse than anyone’s worse nightmare. I live on Wilshire Blvd. About a mile from the 405 freeway and there are times when it can take half an hour to go that one mile. Thanks everyone for your responses so far…

Seacrow:
“I live in Bradenton which kinda grew into Sarasota. This has been the fastest growing area in the country overall for 13 years.”

That’s the thing about Lost Angeles. It is growing so much that it is far beyond it’s capacity. Traffic is worse than anyone’s worse nightmare. I live on Wilshire Blvd. About a mile from the 405 freeway and there are times when it can take half an hour to go that one mile. (ask your FL friends what traffic is like on Lincoln Blvd at 4:00) And speaking of the freeways in the area, they are jammed 24/7 almost. Surface streets, especially in West Los Angeles and in the Santa Monica area are no better. It’s just nuts.


flafonman: The skilled tradesperson isn’t me, the kids are not a problem (by the way, if FL is 49th in schools I can guarantee CA is 50th, and the LAUSD (Los Angeles) is the worst in the world. As for insurance, I have a hard time imagining insurance rates (especially car insurance) being worse than in L.A. However I can see house insurance is more expensive…Here in CA you can not get earthquake insurance anymore. And speaking of quakes, I was in the big ones in 71 and 94. 94 destroyed my condo I lived in at the time and luckily earthquake insurance was available and was something we had. And, knowing a hurricane is coming and not knowing an earthquake is coming….I’ll take advance knowledge any day. I don’t ever want to experience what I experienced in 94. If I get close to doing this then I’ll send you an email. Thanks. Oh…just read your last post…malpractice…yikes…(I’m an intern at present, psychotherapy) That really high malpractice scares me…a lot more than hurricanes. This I will have to check into.

ViperGrendal: I hear you about the heat…I am not a big fan of it but all I know who have lived there say you get used to it. Plus…I’m a big golf fan and living at PGA or Ibis….golf heavan.
As for politics…it sucks here under Gray Davis and the state is about to make The Terminator the Gov.

 

kobiashi... I'm fed up with California myself. It used to be great but not anymore for soooo many reasons. I'm looking to move to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in about 2 years. Good luck wherever you end up.