Pros and Cons

[bambii]

of California vs. Florida

tring to decide where to move when are oldest graduates high school in a year and a half.. im getting a massage licence, my husband is retired... and my youngest will going it to high school..

 

[Rumpus]

All things being equal, why not move to a state with no income tax?

 

[bambii]

since im already living in a state with no income tax...

 

[katesorad]

I live in San Diego, and in all honesty, I don't like it. I think it's an okay place to visit, but living here just isn't fun. The dry heat in the summer can be unbearable unless you live on the ocean. It's incredibly expensive to live here. The average 1-bedroom apartment in a decent area goes for $1,400/month + utilities. These prices are the same almost throughout the state, unless you opt to be 3-4 hours away from a city.

I'd stick with Florida if I were you. California is past its prime...

 

[Rumpus]

I live in San Diego, and in all honesty, I don't like it. I think it's an okay place to visit, but living here just isn't fun. The dry heat in the summer can be unbearable unless you live on the ocean. It's incredibly expensive to live here. The average 1-bedroom apartment in a decent area goes for $1,400/month + utilities. These prices are the same almost throughout the state, unless you opt to be 3-4 hours away from a city.

I'd stick with Florida if I were you. California is past its prime...

Interesting. I love San Diego and I always considered it the perfect place to live in the continental US. Of course I have only been a tourist there. Reality of day to day life is often different.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I used to live near San Diego, but my kids were still young enough that schools weren't a major concern then. Housing in the "good school districts" can be very expensive there. There's a chance we will be moving back there soon (Dh is military) and that is a a major concern of mine.

Other than that, I would move back to CA in a heartbeat. Perfect weather 95% of the time, tons of stuff to do...I miss it so much!

 

[monkeybug]

I was born in raised in Northern California and I love it! We are very excited to be moving back this summer.
The pros?
Good food
Good people
Good shopping
No humidity
Breathtaking scenery (yosemite, monterey, redwoods, sierra's)
Mountains, ocean, desert, wine country...you name it, they've got it, and you don't need a plane to get to it!
A relaxed "live the good life" sort of vibe (this can be a con too)
No crocs or alligators (well maybe in the zoo and on rich peoples feet)

Cons?
Schools (though I don't know how they compare with Florida)
It's pricey!!!

I love California, and we would love to retire there, but the truth is there are lots of nice places where our money will go much, much further!!

 

[Feralpeg]

Not alot of earthquakes in Florida.

 

[monkeybug]

Not alot of earthquakes in Florida.

Not a lot of hurricanes in Ca.

 

[Feralpeg]

Not a lot of hurricanes in Ca.

Depending on where you live in Florida, not a lot of hurricanes either. 2004 was the first time in 40 years for Central Florida to experience a hurricane. Since then, we've had brushes with tropical storms, but they've turned out to be a lot of nothing.

 

[bumbershoot]

Interesting. I love San Diego and I always considered it the perfect place to live in the continental US. Of course I have only been a tourist there. Reality of day to day life is often different.

My brother and sis in law live there too and feel the same way. They LOVE it there. Then again, they have a very good lifestyle, live in a very nice home in a very nice neighborhood (in the newer parts of Chula Vista), and don't worry about schools etc except for if they are driving by when school lets out b/c they do not have kids.



Where is licensure easier? I think both CA and FL are pretty tough, at least for chiropractic, and maybe with massage as well. I would check into that, see what extra you'll have to do in either place, before making a decision.

 

[Wall-E1]

California! That's where I will be moving to when I retire... if not sooner.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That is a tough one....I suppose it depends on what areas of Florida and Cali you are looking at and how much you have to spend for a house.

I am doomed to stay in MO. I want land and a nice ranch.

 

[disfan07]

We live in a suburb of LA (north of the city) We moved here about 2 1/2 years ago and in all honesty, we love it.

Yes it is expensive, even outside of the city but for us, it was not too much of a shock because we moved here form Fairfax County, VA. The COL is pretty equal (housing, grocereis, gas, etc) so we transitioned pretty well.

Schools where we live are pretty good as a whole. It all depends on where you live though. Our county have different parts and the lower the COL, the lower the quality of the school. Even though were are part of LA County, we are not part of their school district. So none of our schools are anywhere near how bad LAUSD schools are but obviously some are better than others.

We are:
30 minutes from Beverly Hills
30-45 minutes from Downtown
45 minutes to Santa Monica
1-1 1/2 hours from DL

And to the PP who mentioned dry heat, the dry heat in the valley is absolutely NOTHING compared to the 100 degree with 90% humidity days in Northern Virginia. I would take dry 105 degrees our Virginia summers anyday.

 

[Pakey]

I've been in California 25 years and can't wait to retire and get out of here. I've lived in the north, south, northeast and Midwest and I liked all of them better than here.

 

[KCmike]

Depending on where you live in Florida, not a lot of hurricanes either. 2004 was the first time in 40 years for Central Florida to experience a hurricane. Since then, we've had brushes with tropical storms, but they've turned out to be a lot of nothing.

Just thunderstorms and rains everyday.
And the humidity makes me sweat when open the door in the summertime.

 

[taaren]

Biased because my husband is from NorCal, and I lived there for most of my 20's and loved it. Moved out here to Hawaii so my son be near my parents/grandparents for awhile, and immediately got island fever so we'll be heading back to Cali in a few years (schools are better there too, housing cheaper than Hawaii). Another plus is that the UC/CSU system is one of the best public higher education systems in the country, as is the CC system that feeds it and if your son graduates from a California high school those in-state tuition rates are nothing to be sneezed at when you look at the out-of-state tuition prices. My boy is currently 4 but we are determined that he will have the advantage of a in-state-priced UC education if he wants one.
I wouldn't do Florida for the humidity, but otherwise don't know much about it. California is awesome, though. At least Northern California (Greater Bay Area).
Do you have places within those states in mind? Both are huge and conditions can vary greatly depending on which part you pick. And will you be retiring? Neither is great for jobs, atm, which was a happy unintended consequence of us moving here.