Considering Relocation to FL

[RadioNate]

I just heard a news report about tourists areas in FL. They said some of the projects that were slated to be built/refurbished (sports arena, concert venue, etc) were on hold because the money that was supposed to be generated by tourist was down by 50% or more.

We are originally from MI and the prices down here for groceries are beyond ridiculous compared to what we were used to paying. Everything has cost us more (electricity, water, insurance, etc). On the other hand, a friend of mine is from CA and the prices here are dirt cheap for her.

That is why I said, seems. It all looks very shiny and bustling in much of the tourist area. Of course there are some bad signs on I-drive and we won't even go into 192 but for the most part things look ok.

I have a friend who is a big manager at the JW and he says while businesses are coming, they used to spend a week and a few million dollars. Now they are staying 3 days and spending a 1/4 of what they used to. Even at Disney, while it is busy people are on the 4/3 deal and other deep discounts. Revenue is down.

 

[glitterkittyy]

That is why I said, seems. It all looks very shiny and bustling in much of the tourist area. Of course there are some bad signs on I-drive and we won't even go into 192 but for the most part things look ok.

I have a friend who is a big manager at the JW and he says while businesses are coming, they used to spend a week and a few million dollars. Now they are staying 3 days and spending a 1/4 of what they used to. Even at Disney, while it is busy people are on the 4/3 deal and other deep discounts. Revenue is down.

This is true. Even attendance at Disney is down and that's with 4/3 and FD offers. Even busy days at the parks aren't as busy as they used to be.

 

[JKLLady]

We moved from Central NJ to Clay County, FL about 1.5 years ago and love it. We're 30 minutes from both Jacksonville & St. Augustine; there's great dining and shopping in both areas, along with many activities (museums, symphony, zoos, etc.). We also have a really good shopping area on Fleming Island (Target, Kohl's, Publix, Walmart. etc.). Health care is better than we had in NJ, including access to the Mayo Clinic.

The weather is also good; no hotter in the summer than in NJ and delightful the rest of the year. We had 5 days of winter last year with temps in the 30's. Here on the "First Coast", there's not the oppressive heat/humidity that there is further down in the state, nor does it last as long. The beaches are lovely and never crowded.

Clay & St. John's (St. Augustine & surrounding areas) counties have A rated school districts, and while the curriculum does not seem to be as tough as NJ's (I have a 12 yr. old DS in Jr. High), DS was selected for the Duke gifted program based on his FCAT scores.

We're DVC members and heads to DW about once a month; the drive takes us about 2 hrs. 15 minutes. The difference in temperature/humidity is always obvious as soon as we step out of the car.

We love our location and are very glad we made the move.

 

[RadioNate]

We moved from Central NJ to Clay County, FL about 1.5 years ago and love it. We're 30 minutes from both Jacksonville & St. Augustine; there's great dining and shopping in both areas, along with many activities (museums, symphony, zoos, etc.). We also have a really good shopping area on Fleming Island (Target, Kohl's, Publix, Walmart. etc.). Health care is better than we had in NJ, including access to the Mayo Clinic.

The weather is also good; no hotter in the summer than in NJ and delightful the rest of the year. We had 5 days of winter last year with temps in the 30's. Here on the "First Coast", there's not the oppressive heat/humidity that there is further down in the state, nor does it last as long. The beaches are lovely and never crowded.

Clay & St. John's (St. Augustine & surrounding areas) counties have A rated school districts, and while the curriculum does not seem to be as tough as NJ's (I have a 12 yr. old DS in Jr. High), DS was selected for the Duke gifted program based on his FCAT scores.

We're DVC members and heads to DW about once a month; the drive takes us about 2 hrs. 15 minutes. The difference in temperature/humidity is always obvious as soon as we step out of the car.

We love our location and are very glad we made the move.

I will say that my DH has 2 aunts and a cousin that live in this area and it is very nice! I think I'd be much happier moving up that way, lol.

We haven't been up there in a few months but last time we were things were doing better than they are down here. They are in St John's county.

I don't mean to knock Florida in general, I just wouldn't move to central Florida again if I didn't have to.

 

[mickey squared]

I totally agree with the above posters about trying it out first before you buy!! We relocated to Fl from Ny about 15 months ago. We hate it!! Even though we do have annual passes to disney, universal, etc., daily living here is brutal. We were transferred with my husband's job and hope we can go back. We originally rented in Celebration, big mistake. We went through a realtor and the house was in foreclosure before we even signed the lease. The counties are so backlogged it didn't show up in the counties records when we checked!! We had a sheriff knocking on our door and we had to move out the week after Xmas. Nice, with 4 kids. We had to pay for storage and ending up staying in hotels until we decided to rent again, in Orlando. The schools here are horrible. The cutbacks are ridiculous and the classes are a joke. My girls were honor students in NY and are bored to tears here. The teachers tell them they shouldn't know this stuff at the grade their in!! My 2 boys are special needs and that's a whole different nightmare.

While I did love the weather here, it can't make up for the lack of everything else. And the crime, it's everywhere.

Now, I need a cup of coffee, to calm down...

Sorry, just really research before you make any big moves.

 

[Feralpeg]

I moved to Central Florida a little less than six years ago. I love it here, but I am in a different position than many. I retired when I moved here. I've worked a couple of different jobs, including teaching, since moving here. However, I worked because I wanted to, not because I had to. I could not live on the money I made working here.

I agree with Radio Nate that the schools here are not great. When I moved here, my daughter was starting her junior year in high school. She went to one of the public schools for her junior year. I switched her to a private school for her senior year because I was not happy with the public school system. She is now a senior in college. She has had the benefit of Bright Futures. As a previous poster mentioned, Bright Futures is just another program feeling the effect of a bad economy. The amounts given out have been cut and will continue to decline. There is some talk of it being discontinued completely in the future.

Since my daughter will be graduating with her teaching credentials in the spring, I've been doing research on teaching positions in Florida. She will be secondary qualified, so I have not looked at elementary position openings. As far as secondary positions are concerned, there are very few unless you are a special education qualified. I don't see this changing in the near future. My daughter will be looking for work in the Midwest if things don't turn around quickly in Florida.

Unlike Radio Nate, my utilities aren't bad. I'm lucky, because I moved into an area with reclaimed water. I can irrigate my lawn twice a week. Those who do not have reclaimed water are restricted to once a week. My total water bill for a month, including irrigation twice a week, runs me about $45.00. I've talked to many, living in other areas here, who have water bills from $100 to $200 a month.

I love my area. I am very close to WDW, yet I am not in a tourist area. It is a very quiet, nice area. That being said, there are empty homes everywhere. Many are under foreclosure. Things are beginning to turn around a bit. I've notice a few sale recently. I can't wait until the empty homes are finally occupied. Recently, I received the budget from the HOA in my area. I was shocked at the number of homeowners in my neighborhood who are behind in the HOA fees. It was a large number. If this doesn't change, it will start affecting the upkeep of the neighborhood.

I agree with FireDancer in that I will take a hurricane any day over an ice storm and I don't mind the heat in the summer. I lived in the Midwest most of my life. The heat and humidity in Missouri in August was just as bad and, sometimes, worse than I've experienced living in the Orlando area. That being said, the hurricanes have made finding and keeping homeowner insurance a nightmare. I've been cancelled twice due to companies moving out of Florida. I am currently with State Farm. They will be dropping all policies in Florida the middle of next year, so I'm insurance shopping AGAIN! Each time, the cost goes up.

Don't misunderstand. I LOVE living here. It would take something really terrible to chase me away, but I am not having to support myself on the low pay that is offered for most jobs in this area. My daughter is almost finished with school, so education isn't a priority for my family. If my daughter was young and I was still part of the professional world, I'd have to think twice about living in Florida.

 

[palmtreegirl]

We moved to Florida 4 1/2 years ago from PA and we love it here. We both grew up in NJ and only lived in PA 18 months.

We did bounce around a bit when we moved down it took us a few moves to find "our spot". We spent 6 months in Ocala, DH's brother got him a job there and it got us to Florida. Then DH transferred to Orlando and we spent 6 months in Kissimmee, we hated it there. The only thing nice was that we were very close to Disney. We had a chance to get out of our lease when the apartments went condo and we took it. We then moved to Clermont and rented an apartment for a year, then rented a house for an additional year.

With housing prices so low we decided to finally purchase a home down here, we closed in May on a bank owned home and our mortgage(with taxes) is almost 300.00 less then we paid in rent. We love our house, neighborhood & town. Our summer electric bill stayed at around 190.00 a month and that's with the temps 75 at night and 78 during the day, very comfortable for us. Water, sewer & garbage run us about 45.00 a month total.

DH does make a lot less money then he made in NJ, but it's enough for me to be able to homeschool our children and not work. We don't have cable, we only have 1 car and I'm still using my old eMac but it's worth it for us.


We just love it down here, it's home. I feel very blessed.

 

[eeyore65]

Love it here! I have lived in western NY, NYC, Westchester, Chicago and here. I love it and hope to never move. We are in a rather affluent area North of Ft. Lauderdale. We have tons of snow birds here and while hurt by the economy - they seem to be able to keep the businesses alive with the seasonal peaks.

Education - I find is not great at the public schools at the elementary level - but they seem to have really improved the high school and middle schools. I think they will tackle the elementaries next - if there is money. We are at a private and we are very happy with it.

While others are right, that you are not on vacation in your every day life, I love never brushing off the car, bundling up to go out, slipping on ice, etc.

Pricing - I am part of a CSA here and I have learned a lot about FL agriculture. You need to remember we are reversed from up north so things like tomatoes, summer squash and cukes are just now ripening for picking here. If you buy in season things are cheaper. Summer prices are very high for produce as we import from everywhere else. I hit the green market for things I need and the docks for fresh fish. That is all really cheap.

We also have no income tax. Coming from NY that was a huge saving. My car insurance was no more expensive and homewoners is expensive but if I combine that and property taxes - I am about the same as I was up North.

FL is not for everyone. For example, my sis hates humidity. She would hate it here. But we love it and I think it is worth a try for your family.

 

[mhsjax]

We were transferred to South Florida five years ago from NY/NJ. We are thinking of moving back when my son graduates HS this year. Things are really bad down here. Teachers are being laid off because so many people are moving back out. I was just speaking to one of the teachers and she said that at one point they had 30 students in each class, right now they each have 19. Everything is so expensive down here. I pay more for rent now than I did when I lived up north. Our car insurance is double what we paid in NJ because we live in a nicer neighborhood where people like to steal cars. Groceries are expensive....I always tell my friends up north about the time my daughter wanted an apple - took it to the register and it rang up at $2.78! As for the schools, I can tell the teachers mean well, but the curriculum is just all screwed up with the FCATs. I work with engineers who were born and raised here, graduates of University of Miami, who can't write a simple letter to save their lives! I have to sit here and rewrite every letter that goes out of the company. Another thing that shocks me is the crime, every day the news is just filled with shootings, stabbings, robberies - its scary! Roadways are just as dangerous, people don't like to follow signs, they run stop signs and red lights, I guess they think they are decorations.

Yes, going to Disney whenever you want is great, but not worth it enough to want to stay down here forever.

I wouldn't live in South Florida either, but I was born in Orlando and moved here when I was 6, Ok I am old, they had just broken ground on Disney. Anyway, we are considering moving out of FL, we are close to St Augustine now and in a great school system, but ready for a change. A pp stated that she got used to the heat, well in 46 years I haven't. Also I have never paid $2.78 for an apple in my life, I think someone made an error. Even organic apples where I love are around $3.00 per pound, not for one. As far as the drivers, I will get flamed for this, but I attribute it to all the northerns that transfer down here, usually older people. Sorry if I upset anyone.