Best States/Cities to Live IN/Move to?????

[cynsaun]

BUT
My DD's friend's family are moving to Cary, North Carolina. Don't know about the health care BUT the schools looked very good.

We just moved FROM Cary, NC because the schools are NOT good in Wake County. Things aren't what they appear to be on the surface.

Be careful!

 

[Martha7]

Hey you guys in San Antonio! You forgot to mention the Mexican food! I'd have to spend all day on a treadmill to counteract the calories I'd be taking in! We keep trying to relocate to Texas, but DH's experience is all in industrial marketing/management, and we keep ending up in the Midwest!

 

[LilyStar]

I know this thread was started long ago, but I thought I would chime in just in case anyone was still reading it~

My fiance and I moved to Jacksonville, FL in Sept. of 2004 in order to get out of upstate NY. It's not that I didn't like NY, it's just my career could not flourish there and I was stuck in a job that was going nowhere. I was indeed though, looking forward to a reprieve from the snow and blustering cold, not to mention the darn taxes and laws against everything.

We really didnt care much for the Jax area. Very industrial and very sorry to say, "stuck in the south". Not that I mean anything negative against southerners, but compared to us damn rude, "hurry up and get it" yankees, Jax was just tooooo slooowwww for me. We actually lived in orange park, a suburb of Jax. We do not have children, but the schools didn't look good at all in Jax. They were run-down looking trailers that looked as though they were built in the 70's. I know I would not send my kids there. Everything was very "county" oriented. We lived in Clay county and when anyone referred to the schools, the grocery stores, the gas stations etc. ....it was always, the "grocery stores in Clay county suck" or the "schools in Flagler county are better". It was very weird for us since when we lived in NY, nobody so much even most of the time KNEW which county they were in sometimes! Not long after we moved to Jax, I was offered a really great job in Orlando, we jumped at the chance to move.

We have been in Casselberry, Fl now since March (A northern 'burb of Orlando). We do like it a great deal more than Jax, and the traffic isn't as bad. (go figure!) Again though, we do NOT live near the attractions for a reason! With the exception of I-4, most of the roads here aren't that bad. I do not see the county "segregation" that I did in Jacksonville. Which is nice actually, I got so sick of hearing that crap. The area is more established (where we live anyway) and everyone is friendlier and more down to earth. Everything in Jax seemed so political ALL THE TIME. The housing market here in Orlando though leaves MUCH TO Be desired. The houses you can buy for $200K are pieces of crap. In order to get a half way decent house, you have to make 6 figures. Combined my fiance and I bring in about 80K annually and we are not going to be able to afford a house over $250K. Not to mention, I do not want to buy a $100K house for $250K. And that's unfortuntely what is happening here. So for the time being, we rent...which is really wasting money. $250K in upstate NY where I lived would have bought me a MANSION.

I'm also not impressed with healthcare so far. I spent a week in the hospital in Winter Park and it was the most horrifying experience of my life. I was having an appendectomy. The nurses were fresh out of med school and for the most part everyone was incompetent in my opinion. My fiance had to complain to the head of hospital administration to get me discharged. Seemed as though the doctors at that hospital can get away with murder!!

Perhaps living in NY for 30 years tainted my judgement. All those laws in NY were there for a reason. The taxes that we paid out the butt, gave you things you take for granted in Florida.

The weather is great for me. I love the hot weather. Although I was very happy to see summer end here, I still think it is better than a blizzard in NY. Some people are very different though. I'm not sure I"ll stay here forever but in the meantime, I'm learning to live the "Florida lifestyle".

If anyone is contemplating moving from a North Eastern State and need advice....just drop me a line!

Jackie

 

[Mjasp]

In NY, each area (neighborhood) has a school district, in Florida it is the counties that run the schools. Which can work against you. Our friends just left Long Island (Talk about taxes being HIGH) and moved to Cape Coral, Florida this past summer. When she registered her kids, they didn't have any more room in the school right on her street (where ALL the neighborhood kids go) and instead they bussed her kids to another school, that wouldn't fly in NY. On Long Island its the area where you pay your taxes to, is where you go to school.

We almost moved to Oviedo, FL and then I found Avalon Park in Orlando. I hope to move there after my kids are out of school.

I agree with how you feel about the health care. Although my niece is an R.N. in Florida (There is good and bad in every field everywhere) I do not have anything good to say about it, so I won't say anything. And this is talking from first hand experience. All my family lives in Florida. (They all sold out of NY and moved there 20 years ago.)

So while I'm shoveling, they are laughing. And when they are sweating, I am enjoying summer. I warm my car in the winter, they cool their car in the summer. So it works out evenly in the end.

Anyway, Good Luck to you and hope to see you in Florida one day.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

In NY, each area (neighborhood) has a school district, in Florida it is the counties that run the schools. Which can work against you. Our friends just left Long Island (Talk about taxes being HIGH) and moved to Cape Coral, Florida this past summer. When she registered her kids, they didn't have any more room in the school right on her street (where ALL the neighborhood kids go) and instead they bussed her kids to another school, that wouldn't fly in NY. On Long Island its the area where you pay your taxes to, is where you go to school.

Even in Florida it is the area that you pay your taxes to that your kids go to school. There are usually several schools in close proximity.

 

[reddixie]

I would suggest California! The south is full please turn all vehicles around and head out. We aren't selling anymore!!! Seriously I live in Central Florida a hot community right now and we really are trying to encourage people to not come. Our traffic is bad and we don't need anymore people. We love it though.

 

[mookie]

If you have school age children, you might want to look at Kalamazoo Michigan. My sister lives there, and it's been all over the news of the announcement of the anonymous donors that are granting every Kalamazoo student from Kindergarten through Senior full ride tuition to any state college. Do a google search for "The Kalamazoo Promise."

It's a beautiful area, and that's just an added bonus!

 

[young&pretty]

Move to California if you like ethnic diversity. Stay away if you do not!

California has really changed. It is like the United Nations with almost everyone a minority group now. I go to a big shopping center and almost everyone is from Asia or Latin America. I am white but not racist but it is tough going into a mall and being the only white person in the place. Each group pretty much sticks together. The Koreans really do not talk to the Chinese, etc. The English language is hardly spoken any more in the eastern part of San Jose. The place that I work is 60% Asian and 25% Hispanic. There are few whites or blacks left. A culture shock!

 

[dis ms.]

The Koreans really do not talk to the Chinese, etc.

LOL. I'm sorry to even give this more attention than it deserves, but are you for real?

How do you know these people are Korean and the others are Chinese? Do they have on t-shirts that say "I am Korean"?

I'm curious how you have time to even notice such goings on when, as you stated in some previous threads, you've been busy checking yourself out in the mirrors at the mall and getting just the right haircut.

 

[GIOny]

LOL. I'm sorry to even give this more attention than it deserves, but are you for real?

How do you know these people are Korean and the others are Chinese? Do they have on t-shirts that say "I am Korean"?

I'm curious how you have time to even notice such goings on when, as you stated in some previous threads, you've been busy checking yourself out in the mirrors at the mall and getting just the right haircut.

Good one!!