I want to move to Florida. Can anyone tell me:

[livinbella]

What area do you like?
How is the job market (I am a cook/bartender and a painter)?
How is the housing market?

[Warpy]

1. I hate Florida with a purple and undying passion

but suit yourself.

The best market for your talent would seem to be in the Orlando and Miami areas, and I have seen plenty of adverts for cooks and bartenders in those areas. You can generally find classified ads from the Orlando Sentinel and Miami Herald online, but I think you need to register for the latter.

Florida is a big tourist state, so if you stick to any of the beach resort areas, you'll likely not go hungry.

Good luck!

[livinbella]

2. Please tell me why you hate Florida

[Warpy]

7. It's hot, humid, swampy, buggy and politically Neanderthal

It's more the physical climate than the political climate, although if Florida were solidly left the physical climate might be easier to take.

I live in the high desert for that reason.

[catzies]

52. 4 out of 5 of those I consider to be fabulous. Chacon a son gout.

I live in the artifical oasis that was once a desert (Southern California) and even though I've been here for 25 years, I still LOVE hot, humid, swampy and buggy Florida.

So there. :P

The original poster: by all means move to Florida. It's beautiful there.

[TexasSissy]

60. It's not as hot as HERE in Texas. Humidity is good! It's good for

the skin, and great if you're a gardener.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

16. Reasons why I hate Florida.

Really the only thing I like about Florida is the weather, but I am not fond of the hurricanes.

1. People around here are way too pushy about religion, in particular Christianity.
2. The public schools are awful. I know this first hand from working in one as a teacher, and my husband has been working as a teacher in a public school for going on three years now.
3. Lack of technology jobs, though this seems to be a trend across the country now.
4. Lots of Republicans, more than I'm used to anyhow. I grew up in Maine.
5. News has a republican slant and they love to trash on teachers.
6. The environment doesn't seem to be a major concern to people here, but it should be. It is weird because no one recycles here, and they make it a bitch for you to recycle if you want to. At my apartment complex they just have one big dumpster for trash.
7. Over development and urban sprawl. It is sad because I can tell the state once had a lot of natural beauty. They've developed the hell out of this state.
8. Poorly designed roads, crazy I-4 drivers, and suicidal pedestrians.
9. The laws suck here. For example there is no equity in health insurance law for women in Florida, which means insurance companies don't have to cover birth control.
10. They also are big on throwing people in jail for no apparent good reason around here. There was a guy in Seminole county that went to jail for 6 months because his neighbors didn't like the sculptures and other junk he kept on his property.
11. They have lots of uninsured children because Florida Kidcare is underfunded (long wait list). There are also loop holes. For instance, at my family's income I could get Kidcare for my child at a low monthly cost and with copays if my child was 5 to 17 years old. However, my child is just now turning two. He is not eligible for the insurance because he is too young!
12. Lots of rich people, lots of poor people, very small middle class.

That's all I can come up with at the moment.

[livinbella]

18. yikes!

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

21. Oh I forgot

High crime rate in Orlando and lots of dumb, senseless crimes commited.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

62. It depends on the area- haven't seen most of those things where I've lived

I've lived in Tampa, St. Pete, Venice and Naples.

[graywarrior]

4. Less crowded on the West Coast

Sarasota is wealth wealth weath, but lots of clubs and restaurants. Still some rural areas to live. Less expensive than the east coast, but you have to look around. I just found a classy 2b/2b for $800.

AND, hopefully Katherine Harris will be gone by the time you get here.

[shrike]

44. Heard a funny story about the Sarasota area

Met a man while on vacation who is a Florida native (a rarity) He works in the construction industry and says that the bane of his existence is Longboat Key, a very exclusive island community. They treat him like dirt under their shoes and many contractors even refuse to work there.

Whenever it's hurricane season the locals on the mainland root for the storm to hit Longboat Key.

[graywarrior]

54. Sounds like how I feel about Martha's Vineyard

Just a note here that Longboat is divided 50%/50% dems/repubs, alot of whom will be at the debate tonight.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

8. I hate Florida as well.

Don't move here if you don't have too. I'm currently living in Orlando, but I'll be leaving this state and moving back to the north east next summer.

You can probably find jobs as a cook pretty easy. The whole state seems to have mostly service jobs, especially in Orlando.

Housing is expensive, even to rent. The cheapest we could find was about $649 a month for a two bedroom. This is pretty expensive considering the low wages most jobs pay around here. My husband works as a public school teacher, and we can just barely afford it. BTW, minimum wage is still $5.15 an hour here. You might be able to get cheaper than that if you are willing to live in the Pine Hills area, but I wouldn't suggest that. That locals call it "Crime Hills", and most of the crime that occurs in Orlando seems to happen in that area. Apartment complexes will credit check you, and probably do a criminal background check before they'll let you sign a lease. Many want proof of income before they will allow you to move in.

[Lorien]

3. I'm here in Orlando, and can't wait to get out

by "painter" do you mean fine artist or house painter? The latter would find a lot of work here. We also employ a lot of hospitality workers in this area, for obvious reasons.

Best areas (for liberals) to live in Orlando; downtown and college park.

[livinbella]

5. house painter

Please tell me why you can't wait to get out.

[Lorien]

47. See posts #9 and #25 -I agree with them both

ZERO sense of community and a me,me,me attitude is a big part of it. Shallow doesn't begin to describe the type of people I've met down here (I'm originally from Ohio, but was hired by Disney 15 years ago as a founder of their now defunct animation studio at MGM).

As soon as I can afford to, I'm moving to Asheville, NC. Vermont would be my second choice (but Fibromyalgia makes the cold weather tough). If I had more cash, I'd move overseas in a heartbeat!

[livinbella]

48. I love Asheville NC. Where overseas would you move?

[Lorien]

51. Ireland, England (Cotswolds, lake district, Canterbury),

or Switzerland.Even with as conservative as parts of Switzerland are, they're flaming liberals compared to most Americans!

[livinbella]

55. Ireland! County Cork, are ya? Or are you a Dubliner, then?

I am too insecure for that.
Canada, maybe.

[Jack The Tab]

6. As I understand it, Florida is next to Texas in Freep-like population..

I think there are Democratic outposts here and there, but I believe the state for the most part is populated by swamprat Repugs.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

10. Orlando is about half and half

for repubs and dems.

[Bridget Burke]

13. Then why did Florida vote for Gore in such numbers?

More Floridians did vote for him than for Bush, you know.

[camero]

30. Miami, Jax, and St Pete were mostly for Gore

The rest of the state was pro-bush. I'm another one who can't stand Florida. It's the wild west of the east.

[ima_sinnic]

33. don't forget Gainesville in that pro-Gore list!

I believe Alachua County as a whole leans Democratic. And I know the county elections commissioner is in full agreement about Black Box Voting and has no plans to abandon optical scan of paper ballots.

[camero]

37. You're right, I forgot Gainesville

I lived in FL for 9 years and I agree with everything people have said here. It also has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country.

It was mostly urban areas that went Gore in 2000. In Pinellas where I was it was 60-40 for Gore. That beside the fact that in 2002 it went 67-33 for Jeb Bush. Go figure.

[Orangepeel]

38. Orange County (Orlando) also went for Gore

people who are claiming that Florida is a republican haven are misinformed. It is true that our state house and senate are gerrymandered to be heavily republican, but statewide, it truly is a swing state. It is pretty much even, in contrast to many other states (Texas, Montana, the Dakotas, the entire South, etc.).

The cost of living and crime rates in Orlando are also not high, compared to many other cities.

There are parts (downtown and east orange near the University, for example) that are not very touristy. There is surprisingly good theater, a decent opera, ballet and theater, and a growing art community. 6 months of the year the weather is fantastic, and about three additional months of the year it is okay (3 months, it sucks).

[ima_sinnic]

9. I also hate Florida with a passion & am doing everything to leave

--I hate it for its abysmal climate, which is so hot and HUMID it's unbreathable and impossible to enjoy oneself outside, from about March through October, for its overdevelopment, in which every square inch of land must be tamed and manicured, for its strip malls and tackiness (very few homes more than about 40 years old, lots of new high-priced ghetto developments in which $400,000+ homes are about 5 feet apart in "planned" conformist communities) and rednecks and ignorance. Orlando especially SUCKS the huge hairy one, it is the most pedestrian-UNfriendly city I have ever lived in. Everything is rush, rush, rush, grab, grab, grab. Florida seems like a place where people come to exploit, not to live a committed quality life.

If you MUST move here, Gainesville is an oasis of liberality in a sea of reactionariness. However, if you're not a football fan prepare to be annoyed--and unimpressed by convoys of big-ass $450,000 RV-buses devoted to tailgate partying.

on edit: housing in Gainesville is still reasonable. You can find a decent 2-bedroom for $450-$550/month. Still a few basic houses around for under $75K.

[bullimiami]

11. southeast florida is modern

and very democratic leaning. except for little havana.

lots of bartending work i would think. lots of nightclubs.


what do you like and dislike and maybe we can help more.

[livinbella]

14. I want to work on a cruise line

So i need to be where the ships are.
I can stay with some people in the Keys for two months,
then I have to figure out where to go.

[Warpy]

15. Try the Titusville/Port Canaveral area on the east coast

Several cruise lines go out of that port, although Disney is trying to nail it down for their use, exclusively.

Housing prices in that area are still pretty reasonable, too, thanks to the constant boom and bust cycle in the aerospace industry.

An added benefit is that there is no record of a direct hit by a hurricane there, ever, although having Frances and Jeanne come through to the south messed things up quite a bit.

Men often find things to like about Florida. Women generally despise it.

[livinbella]

17. Have you lived there?

Did you like it?

[karlrschneider]

12. I lived in Tampa for 17 years and would never go back. I confess I miss

a couple of things...lots of good eateries, and the beach, but I absolutely despise the climate, traffic, the flying cockroaches and the politics. Left in 92 and have not been back since. It's not the 'paradise' a lot of people think.

[Cleita]

19. I don't really like Florida myself. It's

too flat, hot and humid for me. Many people like that though, like people who like the desert. I heard that the Keys are nice though and since they mostly cater to tourists, there should be plenty of work in the resorts for a cook or bartender.

[vetwife]

20. Expect low wages and don't think it doesn't get chilly !

Lived there for 10 years and it was hard to find a decent wage. I loved the ocean and the gulf. It is a place one has to experience living to understand. In rural areas, you fit in or don't..Period.
Up near the pandhandle, small towns, many small minds. Gainesville is nice. Tampa is not one of my favortie places and Bush runs the show down there.

[The Chronicler]

22. If you want an all year round hot climate, move to the SW

Suburban Las Vegas, Phoenix, NM etc. The heat is much better (dryer) and it isnt as redneck. You don't have the beach though.

[livinbella]

24. I want to work on a cruise ship

Floridaseems like the best bet for that

[livinbella]

23. Have you been to the Keys, how do you like them?

[Kosmos Mariner]

26. Very Nice, But....

Very expensive...The climate can be extremely humid, much more so than the rest of Florida. Also you are a sitting duck on a sand bar in a hurricane alley. Google hurricane and the keys and you'll see what I mean. Unless you are already wealthy, I just don't see how you could afford to live in the Keys with a service job income. A nice place to visit, but that's about it...


:dem:

[livinbella]

28. very helpful advice

[Sparkle]

31. My friend visits the Keys ever so often and she pointed out to

me that most of the shop owners are gay. BFD. I should have asked her if that bothered her but then, she is after all, a republican.

[RebelOne]

34. The Keys are great. Lots more liberal-minded people there.

[Kosmos Mariner]

25. Don't do it!

I live in Tampa, and have lived in Florida for 20 years. This state just flat out sucks, especially for the left-leaning. :thumbsdown: I second all the critiques already written here. Just say no. :-)

There is no middle class, housing is getting very expensive, low pay, the weather is unbearable, public schools are a joke, massive urban sprawl, zero sense of community, horrible traffic, dwindling fresh water supply, REPUBLICAN dominated state government, lots of violent crime, hurricanes, deadly reptiles...and that is just the beginning. Just a bunch of me, me, me lemmings jumping off a cliff.

Paradise it isn't. If you want to live in a banana republic, move to central america, it's a lot cheaper.

My wife and I are moving next summer, and I can't wait!

:dem:

[livinbella]

27. Where are you moving to?

[ima_sinnic]

32. excellent summary! "zero sense of community" says it all (n/t)

[shrike]

46. I agree n/t

[RebelOne]

29. Well, I lived in South Florida since I was 5 years old.

I moved to North Georgia in 1989. And unless you speak fluent Spanish, I would advise against moving to the Miami area.

[bikebloke]

35. I tried it about 5 years ago.

After 7 years in Seattle, I reckoned I earned the weather. Before shifting, my research showed a good employment climate. It went bust just as I arrived. Barely any temp jobs through pimp agencies. Restaurants and nightclubs had a high turnover. A lot of folk seemed whacko. Whether it was lack of sleep, the heat or something else. After seven months, I cut my losses and head north. A smart move it was, though I mourn the passing of summer every year about this time.

[FlaGranny]

36. Nearly 30 years in Florida.

I would never go back north. Wages here may be a bit lower, but state income tax can take a huge chunk of what you'd earn elsewhere. Florida is the best place in the world if you work in any service industry. Cooks and bartenders are in demand. Painting - EASY. You can get all the work you want. My husband started his own business (janitorial) when we moved to Florida. He has NEVER been short on work. Two sons did very well here as programmers. One moved out of state because his job moved, but he still comes back every chance he gets. He says Florida and Arizona are his two favorite places because of there being so much to do (entertainment-wise). He travels a lot.

I find the political climate in Florida to be just about the same as in most parts of the country. I tend to live with a lot of other Democrats because the kinds of places I can afford to live are usually the places where more Democrats live. Florida has produced some great Democrats - Pepper, Chiles, Graham. It's lousiest republican (Jeb) is not even really a Floridian. If you like Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mass, and other states like those, you won't be lonely - most of the people here are from those states.

The weather here from October through April or May is GLORIOUS. The summer from May/June through September is sticky and humid, with daytime temps usually around 90 to 94.

In summary, Florida isn't a whole lot different from most other places except for better weather (most of the time) and lower taxes. If you want to work on the cruise ships, just pick any city near a port where cruise ships depart.

Where you like to live is a "frame of mind." You can find lots to love and/or hate about most anyplace. I've found that people who hate where they live often move to other places and after a time they start to hate that place too. Satisfaction comes more from within oneself and how you react to situations and not so much from your surroundings.

[livinbella]

40. In what part of Florida are you?

very interesting

[libertad]

57. I disagree. I've lived a lot of places, and Florida is the worst.

The people are not like any other people I've ever lived around. They are very backward. The people I knew in TN and VA (the only other southern states I've lived in) were more progressive than the people here in Florida.

[Synnical]

39. I Love Broward County

Solidly votes for the Democratic Party. I have seen only one B/C 04 sticker in the county. It is very hot and humid and traffic is horrible, but I wouldn't live anywhere else. Loads of jobs in the service industry, not so sure about the cruise lines. They generally hire through recruiting agents, the wages are horrible, and the hours are long.

You might be interested in this article:

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/ot.html

[livinbella]

41. thank you

[Ezlivin]

42. I like the Inglis area

But then I want to escape the suburban nightmare that North Texas has become.

My wife and I bought 5.5 acres in the little fishing village of Inglis. It's about 75 miles north of Tampa and only has about 1,600 people. Very quiet little town (that "banned" Satan a few years ago).

I'm a 100% disabled veteran and Florida does not have property taxes for veterans like me. Very, very nice.

We plan to build a hurricane-proof monolithic dome (www.domeofahome.com) that's "green" and extremely energy efficient.

I grew up in Tampa and left when I joined the Navy. (Boot camp in Orlando, can you imagine?) I've got a lot of family and friends "down there" and I don't care about the political climate that much.

I'm a portable Liberal.

[livinbella]

45. that is a nice area

[vetwife]

53. Hey EZ Livin..Forgot to tell them about Crystal River Nuclear plant LOL

Welcome Home !

[shrike]

43. Lived there two years and hated it

There are folks that love the place, but I hated it for all the reasons listed in this thread and more. If you want a warm climate, there are frankly prettier places to live -- California comes to mind.

For some reason, Florida (at least southeast Florida) tends to attract a lot of wackos and con artists. Have no idea why.

But if you want to work in the cruise industry, Florida's the ticket. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did.

[dryan]

49. Have lived here since 1962....

and could not imagine living anywhere else. I went through the public school system through college and feel I received a good education. I live in Orlando where there is no shortage of service industry jobs. We are also close to the coast where there are a lot of cruise ship jobs. There is also a lot of work for housepainters. No, Florida is not a perfect place, but what place is. I went to the produce market the day before Francis hit and the cashier was saying that she gave her notice to move back to San Francisco so she would be safe from the hurricanes. I said but don't they have earthquakes there and she said yes, but she wasn't scared when the last quake it. Go figure.

[livinbella]

50. thank you for the slice of life

[libertad]

56. I HATE FLORIDA. It stinks, the weather is horrible, the people

are STUPID for the most part. I've been stuck here for 11 years now. All this talk of the housing being affordable may be true, but the wages are also very low.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

58. Tampa, St. Pete and Clearwater is a great area to live in.

Lived there for 3 years and loved it. I'd still be living there if I hadn't gotten a job in Naples.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

59. Naples is beautiful but pretty expensive and has a lot of Republicans.

A lot of wealth. On the other hand, they have a lot of liberal activists and groups here who are very outspoken.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

61. There are tons of cookand painting jobs.

Not sure about bartending but I'd think there'd be a lot of those jobs - I know there are many waitering jobs and tons of restuarants.

[livinbella]

63. I love bartending

I was born to tend bar