So, I'm considering a big move to Florida OR heading north.... help me decide

[belladonna]

I'm thinking seriously of moving to Florida, around the Lakeland area, since my little brother lives down there and seems quite happy there and my only sister lives in the Orlando area. Then again, I'm also thinking of moving north to be closer to my aunt and cousins in Maine, tho I don't want to actually live in Maine.

This is what I needs to know. First off, since I can't seem to get a really good answer out of my biased brother, what's the cost of living really like in the Lakeland/Tampa/Orlando area?? And people north of, say, Pennsylvania... sell me on your state. I'm leaning towards Vermont and Massachussetts at this point, but I'm willing to listen to any opinions here. :hi:

Edited cuz I cain't seem to spel tonite :freak:

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Pweeze come to Massachusetts...

I will make you feel at home ;)

Series. :loveya:

[belladonna]

6. Ahh, I want to in the worst way

Only thing that worries me is the cost of living if I'm anywhere near Boston, which is the one of the only reasons I'd move to Mass... you being one of the others :loveya:

[bicentennial_baby]

9. It can be done, trust me...

It's the actual city that's killer, as far as rents and such, but MA as a whole is totally do-able. We live on the South Shore (20 min by subway from the heart of Boston). I know a brazillion people that make it work here every day.

Plus, you get an automatic free babysitter :D

:loveya:

[belladonna]

11. You make a very good point, my sweet

Plus, lots and lots of doctors and hospitals up there, so I'd probably find a job fairly easily. Hmmmmm :D

[bicentennial_baby]

13. And I have about 20 years of babysitting/nannying under my belt

:D

Seriously.

And, you'd have mad connections up here. Me...Sniffa...DS1...SarahBelle and Finnfan in CT. You should consider it. :)

I'd even help you move. ;)

[belladonna]

15. Okay, so Mass just jumped to the top of my list

Just don't make me sit in the naughty chair :scared:

Now I gotta research the job market for my area of expertise. I gots a feeling that isn't going to be a huge problem tho :shrug:

[bicentennial_baby]

18. I thought you liked the naughty chair!!

:evilgrin:

I owe you one anyway.... ;)

We have mad hospitals and doctors here...it's bananas.

And, if you need some time to get on your feet, we have a spare bedroom that you and Maggie could inhabit, in the interim. :)

:hug:

[belladonna]

21. Ooops, I'm busted

I cannot tell a lie :blush:

And yeah, I could probably make good money in that area and have my pick of jobs with all the docs around there. I'm definitely going to be doing some research tomorrow. The kiddie surgeons didn't see patients Friday, so all I'll have is my ENT docs all day... lots of time for research :D

[DarkTirade]

2. I don't know about Lakeland or Tampa...

but Orlando is pretty much impossible to live in unless you have a decent enough job waiting for you that you can afford a car. Because it's impossible to exist in that city without a car.

[yellowdogintexas]

4. agreed, Orlando is sprawl. Boston is expensive but you can get along quite well

without a car. If I lived there I would not even consider having a car.

[belladonna]

7. THAT is a huge part of why I'd move to Boston

Gawd, to rid myself of my damn car :bounce:

[Lorien]

36. Downtown Orlando is nice. The rest? Forget it!

If I had to do it again I'd move to Vermont. It's less expensive than Boston but just as liberal. :-)

[LeftyMom]

3. Other than the weather, the bugs, the republicans, the poisonous wildlife (but I repeat myself)

and the pole-based economy, Florida's lovely. ;)

You'd have a pretty awesome semi-neighbor person though.

[belladonna]

8. Yeah, those are actually some of my objections

Mainly, the weather tho.... ack, the heat's oppressive down there.

True on the awesome neighbor tho... I'd almost forgotten that your man lived down that way :hi:

[flvegan]

5. Lakeland/Tampa/Orlando cost of living is much less

Plus, I'm here, so helping with lifting heavy stuff after a move is a foregone conclusion.

Seriously, if you move to Florida, I'd happily give you references when you're job seeking (I've got a really good name/rep in my field).

Tampa is the typical small city. Lakeland is more like "the south", and Orlando...well, that's Mouse hell.

[belladonna]

10. My brother really likes Lakeland

And that's pretty much what he's been telling me about Tampa and Orlando. The job would be the easy part. In the field I'm in, where there are doctor's offices or hospitals, I can find a job pretty fast.

LeftyMom just reminded me about the fact that you live down that way.... it's been so long I'd just about forgotten. Definitely one to put in the pro column for Florida :bounce:

[flvegan]

12. I would be

very close for *any* of your needs...

Plus, we really really really need more Dem voters here. The northeast is overrun with them.

[belladonna]

22. I think LeftyMom needs to come give you a good whack

:spank: :spank: :spank:

[LeftyMom]

51. He'd probably like it.

:eyes:

[OmahaBlueDog]

14. Look before you leap

I like Lakeland, but I fled Florida (Sunrise, near Ft. Lauderdale)

Some things to look at:

No income tax in Florida :-)

High homeowners insurance. Look at this closely. A typical home near the coast, for example, will have an annual bill between $2500 and $4500 an a 2%-5% windstorm deductible. Think about that: You buy a home for $350,000; you pay $3000 a year for a 5% deductible homeowners policy; a hurricane hits; the first $17,500 in storm related damage is on you. :-(

I found my auto insurance was half what it was in Florida :-(

Traffic on the I-4 corridor is miserable :-(

The Walt Disney World Florida Resident Pass is one of the world's great bargains :-)

No snow. Very little cold weather :-)

Charlie Crist and Mel Martinez :-(

Homes don't have basements. If you have a lot of stuff, you'll need to rent storage.

[belladonna]

17. Very good list of pros and cons there

Course, maybe I COULD help vote out some of the Repug assholes down there :D

[JeanGrey]

16. It will be a LOT cheaper in the lakeland area.

No state tax in Florida and that area is quite reasonable. Most places up north are expensive. Do you really want to be up to your ass in snow five months out of the year?

OTOH, I can't stand Florida except north Florida too. The furthest north I would move is Tennessee.
I grew up in Ohio and they can have it. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[belladonna]

19. Having been born in Maine, snow doesn't really bother me

The expense is the only thing holding me back on moving north. I'm really considering Florida mostly because of the family I have there.... that and the awesome neighbor I'd have :)

[JeanGrey]

25. Lakeland isn't too far from Jacksonville and I love that area.

I can't take the snow anymore, sorry!

[Pale Blue Dot]

20. The Florida economy is tanking even faster than most of the rest of the country.

I would NOT want to move there right now. :scared:

[belladonna]

23. Now see, this I did not know

Just how bad is it? :scared:

[Pale Blue Dot]

24. I have been tracking layoffs for the past several weeks in Stock Market Watch thread.

Florida has been one of the biggest sources of layoffs, and it's also one of the foreclosure "hot spots". Now, It's a big state, and not every area is in horrible shape. I would just advise that you do a little research before you move there.

It's going to get bad everywhere, IMHO, but states like PA and MA don't seem to have been hit very hard yet. I believe that my own state, CT, is teetering on the brink.

[belladonna]

26. Good info there, sweetie

I appreciate the heads-up :hi:

Oh yeah, and tell your lovely wife I said hi :)

[Pale Blue Dot]

28. She says "hi" back.

We'll have you over for dinner when you move up here. :D

[belladonna]

31. Now THAT sounds like a plan

:D

[JCMach1]

35. Yes, but always recovers from a recession earlier

it's the tourism economy thing.

[PleadTheFirst]

27. I'd say Maine

Mainly because I found Lakeland to be a very scary, bigoted place when I stayed there. My ex girlfriend back in the college days was raised there, and most of her family still lived there. Any time we had to visit her family, I couldn't leave fast enough.

Just my 2¢ tho. Good luck with your decision!

[belladonna]

30. Well, as I said, I don't actually want to move TO Maine

Just in closer proximity to Maine. Talk about a place where the economy sucks.... noooo way do I move there.

I have no idea about the bigotry factor in Lakeland... my brother's never mentioned anything like that, but I'll have to delve deeper into that part of it.

[Gormy Cuss]

40. Don't write off Maine entirely.

Seriously -- if you're considering Vermont but you have relatives in Maine look at the central to southern Maine area. Augusta's cheap and a nice enough large town for raising children. It's about 3 hours from Boston. Portland proper is walkable in most neighborhoods and has a lot going for it, including a strong economic base and the premier medical community in the state. It's also about 2 hours from Boston by car and has Amtrak and express buses to Beantown too.

Now to Boston: b_baby is right. It's workable to live in the Boston area. You just need to use your local resources to steer you to the right combination of safe affordable housing and a car-free commute to the Longwood medical area or other job locations.

Gormy, raise in the Ptld area and former long term resident of Boston.

[belladonna]

43. Portland's not bad, but IIRC it's not all that close to Rockland

Then again, my memory sucks...

As for Boston, it's got a lot of great things going for it... in my line of work, I'd be almost guaranteed a job, the fact that one of the coolest DU'ers ever lives there, my sweet bibaby :D

I'm reeeaaally leaning towards Boston right now. I thought I'd have plenty of time for research at work today, but alas, the docs kept me busy all day :(

[Gormy Cuss]

49. Rockland's a little over an hour away

except of course on Fridays in the summer and during snowstorms.

Boston's great (my first choice place to live, BTW) but if it doesn't work out look at Ptld. It will put you in the Northeast and I'm sure bi_baby would come up for a visit with a little arm twisting. There are some cool DUers in the Ptld area too. I won't name names for fear of leaving one out.
:D

on edit: see what I mean about Ptld?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7965152

[Digit]

29. How are you with ginormous flying cockroaches?

Besides, it is RED down there.

[belladonna]

32. Ewww... I'd forgotten about those damn things

The fact that it's red tho... to me that's a reason to move down there. One more Dem can't hurt :hi:

[csziggy]

33. Yeah, Lakeland and most of Polk County is red

But houses are pretty cheap there - Bartow is just south of Lakeland and a nice little town once you get past the conservative (like my parents). I grew up down there but would not move back after college.

[sasquatch]

34. Sweety, nothing good ever happens below the Mason-Dixon line, unless your a carpetbagger

:hi:
And might I suggest Ohio, we have seasons here.

[Connonym]

37. Long time no see Belladonna!

How are you doing?

[belladonna]

44. Hey there!!!

It's been too long! Still pounding the keyboard for a living or are you into something else these days??

[Connonym]

47. Yes and yes :)

I'm working for Webmedx now and I've also got a part time job at the library to feed my book addiction, get me out of the house and bring in a little extra.

How are you?

[belladonna]

48. Wow, I almost went with Webmedx myself

Then I put in my resume for the job I have now... one of those things where you never expect that you'll ever hear back from them... and, to my surprise, landed the job :D

Other than that, I'm just having fun with the kiddo and dealing with the fallout from the relationship with her daddy... not fun, but she's soooo worth it :)

[Connonym]

50. How old is she now?

I'm sorry, I didn't know about the relationship with her dad ending. I hope you're okay.

[belladonna]

55. She just turned 10 months old

And don't worry.. most people didn't know until I posted the other day. I think the only one aware might have been bibaby, but I haven't even been that good about keeping in touch with her these last few months :blush:

[mnhtnbb]

38. Lots of Floridians are giving up on FL and moving to NC

Think about it:

In the northeast, you will pay huge heating bills this winter. Many DU'er's have already posted
about the estimates for heating oil this winter. The economy in FL is tanking. Hurricanes
and insurance are big problems.

In NC we have seasons and so far, a decent economy in the Triangle area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill)
Cary just made the Money mag list of best places to live at -- it was #16. Chapel Hill is #65.
You can be 2 hours to the beach and 2 hours to the mountains.

You won't break the bank with heating costs in the winter here. Housing costs are also reasonable.
My son bought a new townhouse (built for him) 2 BR 2 1/2 BA 1350 sq ft for $149,900 base price in Cary--moved in last Feb. He did choose some upgrades but I challenge you to find new construction in FL or the northeast at $111/sq ft.

Frankly, I wouldn't consider living in either FL or the northeast.

[RebelOne]

39. Go north. Florida is the pits. I know as I lived there too many years.

[Tektonik]

41. Go North

Once global warming gets worse, you won't have to worry about the ton of hurricanes Florida will be hit by.

[FloridaJudy]

42. If you've got to live in Florida

Try Gainesville. We're progressive, and the surrounding area is really beautiful. The cost of living here is way less than New England, and you'd be within weekend driving distance of Orland and Tampa. There are a lot of jobs available here in the medical field: four good-sized hospitals and a medical school.

South Florida is an overcrowded, overdeveloped pit infested with Rethuglicans. Avoid if at all possible.

Be warned, the weather here is oppressively hot for over six months of the year.

[belladonna]

45. I know all about the heat

Lived in Orlando for about 6 months, but that was about 18, 19 years ago. I hadn't thought about Gainesville, but I'll definitely have to check it out now :hi:

[KG]

46. i live in St Pete. love it here. cool little town

i'd recommend living on the coasts against the interior - it a whole new redneck world there in there.

[nytemare]

61. I live in Orlando, but really like St Pete

My folks have a condo down there. Orlando is all corporate, not many family owned places, where in St Pete you find the mom and pop restaurants all over.

I also like Tallahassee.

[ornotna]

70. St Pete is nice

When my wife and I go out and about it usually involves St Pete, sometimes Tampa.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

52. Go north.

You'll still have dry property in 10 years.

[femmocrat]

53. Don't count out PA!

The cost of living is reasonable (probably more than New England), the scenery is beautiful, and the winters are a lot milder than states to the north of us.

The down side is that it is hard to find a good job here. Depends on your field, of course.

Good luck, whatever you decide! :hi:

[belladonna]

56. I hear the economy's not doing so well up there

Now, for my line of work, it could be different :shrug:

[Shell Beau]

54. What kind of weather do you prefer?

[belladonna]

57. As I get older, I find I like the cooler weather

Course, I guess I could be getting all menopausal and that's why I can't stand the heat so much anymore. Then again, I do love the beaches and I don't mind heat as long as I'm near water :shrug:

[graywarrior]

58. Please God, let me keep my big trap shut. Please God, let me keep my big trap shut.

Please God, let me keep my big trap shut. Please God, let me keep my big trap shut. Please God, let me keep my big trap shut.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmphmmmmmmmmmmmmph.

[belladonna]

59. Oh c'mon

Now I have to know what you're fighting not to say!

[graywarrior]

62. I moved to Florida 5 years ago

I just moved back to NH. That is the beginning and the end of my story. The middle is all tragic and filled with drama. I did not fit well in Florida.

[belladonna]

63. That bad, eh?

Geesh, I was already leaning towards Boston.... I may be falling that way after this :scared:

[graywarrior]

66. I'd choose Boston.

Trying to be nice here....Florida is flat, no seasonal change, freaks who have sex with kittens live there, hurricanes, republicans, republicans, republicans, you MUST wear shorts ALL the time, and for 9 months you are sopping wet from humidity and the smell of fungus and mold is everywhere.

[belladonna]

67. Sex with kittens???

I'm afraid to ask. I really, really am :scared:

[graywarrior]

68. Seriously, every freak thing that's on the news seems to happen in Fl

[belladonna]

69. True, I can't argue with that one

I wish the docs at work would take a freaking break so I can get some research on Boston done already x(

[graywarrior]

71. I grew up outside Boston

If I could afford to live there instead of NH, I'd be there tomorrow.

[TK421]

60. God Almighty, take it from someone who has lived there ( or tried to) DON'T FUCKING DO IT!!!!!!!

for the love of GOD ALMIGHTY....sorry.....( deep breath, sigh..... ) don't do it, please.

You will thank me later


Bookmarked- for fucks sake

[belladonna]

64. I'm assuming you mean Florida???

Care to elaborate???

[TK421]

65. My Gawd yes!!! Florida, indeed!!! Don't do it!!!

I have too many negative-weird stories of things that happened to me while I was there....don't do it.

I could get into them, but....how much time you got?

[GreenPartyVoter]

72. I lived in Maine all my life. It's not so bad, really :^)