NY vs FL

[The Mystery Machine]

If your dh is a "hard no" you have to go with it. We moved to TX and dh could not stand it so we moved back to MO. He missed it.

Now granted I thought TX was pretty boring as a state compared to MO with regards to camping, outdoor activities, more things to do, etc... Shopping, eating out, sports, fitness, & weather TX gets a #1.

Not sure where we will end up retiring to be honest. He said that he wanted to retire here however with his mom passing last yr and the fact that when we do retire my parents probably will have passed on, we might have to change that plan.

You might get to Florida eventually, all hope is not lost.

That being said, I would rather live in NY.

 

[PrincessV]

Native western-New Yorker, 20+ years as a Floridian...

The two biggest items to consider are jobs and schools, which, in turn, will force you to also consider different areas. FL's a big state with lots of very different metro areas. IMO, you can't even answer a "NY v. FL" question without first identifying where in FL. And you can't really nail the "where" down without knowing where you can find work. So I'd start with some research and see where that leads you both.

FWIW, I'm in the Tampa Bay area and, while I miss WNY summers and a whole lot of friends and family up there, I'll take our brutal summers over WNY's brutal winters any day. Good public schools can be found; my son goes to a very good charter school. And we have some of the best universities in the country. No state income tax is nice, but we pay very high prices, relative to income, for housing. Other costs of living are about comparable to WNY, with insurance being quite a bit higher here. (I realize costs of living could be a very different story when comparing to your part of NY, though.) As a Disney fan, it's nice to be near enough to visit without the cost of travel; we'd probably never go at all if I had to factor in airfare.

I grew up loving summers and time at the beach, so situating myself in an area surrounded by water and with 30 miles of amazing beaches was a good fit; I have friends who love winter and hate the beach and would never be happy here. You really need to assess what lifestyle elements mean the most to you in order to consider FL at all, and then to think about where in FL.

Good luck!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

If your dh is a "hard no" you have to go with it. We moved to TX and dh could not stand it so we moved back to MO. He missed it.

Now granted I thought TX was pretty boring as a state compared to MO with regards to camping, outdoor activities, more things to do, etc... Shopping, eating out, sports, fitness, & weather TX gets a #1.

Not sure where we will end up retiring to be honest. He said that he wanted to retire here however with his mom passing last yr and the fact that when we do retire my parents probably will have passed on, we might have to change that plan.

You might get to Florida eventually, all hope is not lost.

That being said, I would rather live in NY.

My parents split time between MO and TX. Can't take the endless TX Summer heat, not the cold we're having now

 

[lovegrumpy]

We so plan on moving back to Fl when dh gets out of the military. We have lived there twice and loved both places. We well be looking in to the Tampa area when the time comes.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My parents split time between MO and TX. Can't take the endless TX Summer heat, not the cold we're having now

They must be south then?

We were in DFW and the heat there is nothing compared to St. Louis. Now granted the season did not end in Sept, you had another month of heat. That being said, after that it was months of pure heaven temp wise. I would call family back home in MO and mock them.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

They must be south then?

We were in DFW and the heat there is nothing compared to St. Louis. Now granted the season did not end in Sept, you had another month of heat. That being said, after that it was months of pure heaven temp wise. I would call family back home in MO and mock them.

Yup, they bailed within hours of Christmas ending They're in Bastrop (near Austin).

 

[momto2girls]

I personally would never move to Florida. My mom lives there but even that holds no appeal. Finding a school district as good as ours would be very difficult. There is also the bugs, sulfer smelling water and lack of seasons that turn me off. Just remember that moving somewhere is completely different from visiting on vacation.

I agree and could add many more reasons that Florida doesn't appeal to me. Actually, I lived in Florida for 13 years (from when I was about 11 to 24). I was so glad to move away! DH knows that even suggesting that we move back to Florida would be grounds for divorce. Luckily he didn't enjoy living there either.

If we ever decide that we want to move someplace further south, there are plenty of other places we will consider, but never Florida again!

 

[Feralpeg]

I moved to Florida ten years ago from the Midwest. I love living here. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Yes, it gets hot and humid here in the summer. It was hot and humid in the Midwest in the summer. The actual temperature has never hit 100 degrees here since I moved here. The heat index may make it feel hotter, but the actual temp hasn't exceeded 99. The actual temp in Missouri was often over 100 in August and it was very humid. People often think of the heat here based on their theme park experience. Walking on asphalt all day in the heat is totally different than being in and out of your air conditioned home a few times a day. Even working in the yard isn't as bad as walking around WDW in the heat.

The winters here are wonderful. Yes, it gets cold (by Florida standards). It will get down to 29 on Tuesday, but in a day or two, it will be back in the upper 70s. NO SNOW! I loved the majority of my life dealing with snow and don't care if I ever see it again. I just watch other people dealing with it on the news! lol.

I love the wildlife here. Someone mentioned not moving her because of alligators. I love the alligators. I don't live right on the water. I'm a couple of blocks away. I've never had a gator in my yard. I have seen them in the lake and retention ponds, but they move them when they get too large. We have all sorts of other wildlife nearby that are really cool. I love the Sand Cranes! We also see eagles, hawks, egrets, storks, bobcats, wild boar and wild turkey. There are black bears in some parts of the city, but we don't tend to see them in my area.

I live ten minutes from DTD. I am about a mile behind MK. Yes, we can see the fireworks from MK every night. I don't even notice them anymore. I love being able to be in the parks within minutes any time I want. I only live about 15 minutes from Universal and Sea World. Florida Resident annual passes are great. They have special payment plans. I have the types with no blackout days and free parking. For both Disney and Universal, I pay about $60 a month total. Well worth it, IMHO!

I can be at the beach on either coast in an hour. I can be in the keys in 4 hours. There is so much to do in Florida and it is available year round thanks to the weather.

Hurricanes are not a big issue for Central Florida. As long as you keep your roof in good repair and the large trees in your yard well trimmed, the damage is minimal. That wouldn't necessarily be the case on the coast. That is why I live in Central Florida. I've been through 3 hurricanes and 3 tropical storms and had no damage.

As for the schools, you just have to do your research. Some areas are much better than others. I live in Windermere. Ours schools are very good.

You said you both work from home, so the traffic situation shouldn't be a big problem for you. If you had to commute to work, I'd tell you to make sure you live close to where you will be working. The highways are very busy and the tolls are expensive. I rarely get on I-4 or the other highways. Most of what I need is in my area or I've learned back routes to get there.

OP, if you have any specific questions, please feel free to PM me.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yea whatever Feralpeg.

Guess what we are doing? Getting out the snowblower from the basement for the 6-12" of snow coming our way, starting this evening.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yea whatever Feralpeg.

Guess what we are doing? Getting out the snowblower from the basement for the 6-12" of snow coming our way, starting this evening.

Don't you love Missouri?

 

[Feralpeg]

Yea whatever Feralpeg.

Guess what we are doing? Getting out the snowblower from the basement for the 6-12" of snow coming our way, starting this evening.

Make a snowgirl and name it after me! lol!

 

[Dismom914]

One thing people keep mentioning to me is that FL is sinking. I have see one or two stories about sink wholes but is it as bad as everyone says?

 

[mhsjax]

there are alligators in FL... I would never move there!!

lol. I am 50 years old, lived here all of my life and other than a zoo, I have never seen one in the wild.

 

[mhsjax]

I agree and could add many more reasons that Florida doesn't appeal to me. Actually, I lived in Florida for 13 years (from when I was about 11 to 24). I was so glad to move away! DH knows that even suggesting that we move back to Florida would be grounds for divorce. Luckily he didn't enjoy living there either.

If we ever decide that we want to move someplace further south, there are plenty of other places we will consider, but never Florida again!

Everyone is different. I love living here and would never live anywhere else. I know a whole family that cam down from Long Island and they would never consider going back and love it here.

Florida, you either love it or hate it.

 

[Feralpeg]

One thing people keep mentioning to me is that FL is sinking. I have see one or two stories about sink wholes but is it as bad as everyone says?

No. There are sink holes in Florida, but there are sink holes all across the country. If you Google sink hole map, you'll find that they are everywhere.

Sink holes have nothing to do with sinking per se. There are natural aquifers beneath us. Sometimes, the water in those aquifers goes down making the ground above unstable. If the ground becomes too unstable, it can drop down in the spot previously filled with water. The recent changes in weather and drought has aggravated the problem.

 

[Zandy595]

I personally would never move to Florida. My mom lives there but even that holds no appeal. Finding a school district as good as ours would be very difficult. There is also the bugs, sulfer smelling water and lack of seasons that turn me off. Just remember that moving somewhere is completely different from visiting on vacation.

I have lived in FL for 18 years in 2 different counties and have never had sulfur smelling water.

We moved here from western NY and you could not pay me to move back there. I LOVE living here and will never leave.

 

[New2DisneyWorld]

My husband and I moved from Long Island to FL back in 2009. My boss allowed me to telecommute and I still work for the same company on Long Island. My husband now owns his own business here. We rented a beautiful apartment until 2011 and then purchased our home. I love it here and miss NY at Christmas - that's about it. It's 2014, we have Facebook, Skype, Facetime, email etc. for family plus I make 2 trips up there per year to see everyone. I have an almost 2 yr old and just purchased the FL Resident annual passes to Disney - and I'm 2 hours away from the parks. Snow? Freezing windshields? Icy roads? High taxes? Insane traffic everywhere? Don't miss it at all! Advice: Rent first then buy a house with a pool because it gets hot.

 

[Kimmers127]

Oooh. Definitely subscribing to this thread! My husband and I are in CT, not NY, but we have always thought that at some point we would love to move down to central Florida. Windermere seems perfect because it is so close to WDW/Universal but from the little research we have done, seems to have a great community itself. A quick glance at houses tells me it may be a bit pricier than we'd like though - one of the things we dislike about our area is the high cost of houses. I don't want to be house poor - there are too many other things I want to be able to spend money on! (And flights home to see family, if we did move)

Definitely some great info on this thread. I'm embarrassed to admit I was a little worried about gators - I'm actually kind of fascinated by them, but we have a small dog so that had me a little nervous. Snakes do too, same reason.

 

[Zandy595]

Oooh. Definitely subscribing to this thread! My husband and I are in CT, not NY, but we have always thought that at some point we would love to move down to central Florida. Windermere seems perfect because it is so close to WDW/Universal but from the little research we have done, seems to have a great community itself. A quick glance at houses tells me it may be a bit pricier than we'd like though - one of the things we dislike about our area is the high cost of houses. I don't want to be house poor - there are too many other things I want to be able to spend money on! (And flights home to see family, if we did move)

Definitely some great info on this thread. I'm embarrassed to admit I was a little worried about gators - I'm actually kind of fascinated by them, but we have a small dog so that had me a little nervous. Snakes do too, same reason.

You'd have to live right on a lake or canal to ever see a gator in your yard. Our neighborhood has two lakes and a canal running behind it (all within a 5 minute walk of our house). In the 12 years we've lived here we've only seen one once and it was right beside the lake. They don't venture very far from the water.

 

[Zandy595]

Some cool animals I've seen since moving to FL that we didn't have in NY.

Roseate Spoonbills, seen at the lake/pond near DS's school.
Wild Green Parrots, at my birdfeeder! So Cool!
Sandhill Cranes, these beautiful big birds are all over my town.
Ibis and Egrets, seen everywhere
Osprey, always sitting on the bridge railings over the waterways.
Caracara, in the country
Armadillos, I only see them early in the morning in my neighborhood.
River Otters, at the lake/pond near DS's school.
Wild Hogs, in the country
Manatees, seen at the intercoastal drawbridge where my stepdad works.
Dolphins, in the inlet by the park we go to.
Sea Turtle nests on the beach.
Tarpon, we swam with them in the ocean (not on purpose). They were huge, we got out of the water quickly.