Relocating to FL

[syncsk8mom]

Has anyone out there relocated to FL?? If they have, were did you move from and were did you move too?? Also, are you glad that you moved??

My husband and I are considering a move to either Naples or West Palm Beach this year. We are currently from OH and have HAD IT with SNOW!!

Our oldest daughter will be away at school and the baby will of course not be affected and will essentially grow up in FL.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MiniGirl]

I moved here from Louisiana. I've been in the state now for over 15 years, and I've lived in the Ft. Lauderdale area, West Palm, and now Melbourne area. West Palm was probably my least favorite. We found it to be a bit more "cosmopolitan" than we're comfortable with. We love living beachside here outside of Melbourne. Very laid back. Good schools, and close to the Mouse.

 

[ducklite]

I moved into my house in a small but growing area near Orlando in September, 2004. I've been very happy here and am glad I made the move. I had a good situation, in that DH still works for a NJ company making NJ income, he telecommutes from FL about half the month, and is in teh office in NJ the rest of the time.

Good paying jobs can be more difficult to find here in Florida, and living near the coast as you suggest could present VERY high homeowners insurance premiums.

We waited until our son was finished with high school, I wanted nothing to do with 99% of the schools down here. With what I've seen, even most of the private schools down here offer a lower standard of education than most of the public schools up north.

Anne

 

[rapmarks]

We moved to Estero, which is 15 miles north of Naples. We only stay 6 to 7 months. We lived in the chicago area and we have a summer home in wisconsin dells. We have residency in Florida and it saves a lot in state income taxes, but our insurance is very, very high (5 times the amount of our Wisconsin home with a hugh deductible). We love our area in florida and the weatherf is fantastic in the winter.

 

[PatriciaH]

Some good info:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/

 

[winnyis]

I moved to FL 2 years ago from NJ and would say if you can do it GO FOR IT. Best move my family ever made. We hated the winters so we absolutely love the year round nice weather. I live in the Tampa Bay suburbs and the schools are good (All "A" schools - thats why we chose the area), its not too congested and reasonable commute to Lakeland where I work, while still being closer to the Gulf of Mexico. I am also lucky like Ducklite that my move was a corporate relo so I kept my northeast salary and they paid for the entire move.

Overall the cost of living is about the same. Housing is cheaper, taxes are cheaper but homeowners insurance is alot more. IMO the quality of life is so much better. Being able to play sports all year long and enjoy being outdoors is priceless to my kids. Oh and the fact that we were swimming on Xmas and New Years was pretty cool too. And you cant forget those awesome FL resident rates on DCL - saves you a bunch!!!!

good luck whatever you decide.

 

[jcc0621]

Moved to Davenport, FL in 1991. They LOVE IT! We do to, sicne they both got p/t jobs with WDW. They are 10 minute from the magic and the perks are fabulous
They were just here visiting last week. It was in the 70's and they were complaining that it was cold
If you can do it, go for it!

 

[Blondiex46]

Iwant to move but don't want to take the twins away from their siblings. They are in 7th grade (almost over though) and in 5 short years I am there. Well that is my intention anyways.

 

[TDERadulski]

My parents moved to Palm Coast from Connecticut almost 3 years ago. They love it! Espicially when they talk to friends back north and they hear how cold it it!!

 

[jckdisneybound]

We're doing it next month. I hope I love it!!!

 

[Savsmommy]

I live in West Palm Beach. I have lived here for over 22 years. I moved down here when I was 10 from Ohio also. Our house is currently on the market. We want to move to NC. I love it down here but we are ready for a change. Let me know if you have any questions about the area.

 

[Faerie]

I moved from SE MA to Broward County (Fort Lauderdale area) in 1994. I love living in Florida but I'm sick of South Florida and all that comes with it. My BF and I have thrown around maybe moving to Melbourne sometime in the next couple of years which would be nice.

 

[ducklite]

Some good info:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/

Just use caution with that site. While there is a lot of good info, there is also a lot of very out-of-date data.

Anne

 

[momoftwodisneykids]

I moved to Florida from Ohio 12 years ago. Best move I ever made! That being said, you might want to reconsider Naples or West Palm Beach, especially with having a young child. No offense, but both are definitely cities with a LOT retirees and not a whole lot of young families. We live in the Tampa area, where the average age of the residents is 33. Great place to raise kids, with lots of things to do. Housing is reasonable. You can get a nice house for around $220K. The schools are very good, assuming you live in a nice neighborhood. In general, I think Florida schools get a really bad rap. We are about 1 hr 15 minutes from Disney and 1 hour from the Gulf Coast beaches. Only about 2.5 hours from the Atlantic beaches. Unless you already have a job lined up in one of those cities, you should check out other areas before you make the decision. For us, Tampa ended up being the right fit. Good luck.

Joanne

 

[twinklebug]

I'm very interested in what anyone has to say about moving to FL with middle school aged children - particularly if anyone has moved away from FL to get a better education for their kids. I know I can get a decent paying IT job in the Orlando area, but my parents, who live in Clermont area keep telling me that I don't want to move there until after the kids have graduated as the schools just aren't nearly as "good" as the Massachusetts schools.

IMHO children can do well in any school system if they and the parents are dedicated to making sure the child learns. It starts and ends at home. Too many folk believe teaching & learning is for school time only.

If anyone cares to explain what the problems with the school systems in FL are (or can point me to a site) I would love to hear what they are because I'm reasonably sure that there are many public schools in my area that have the same issues. TIA!

 

[Faerie]

Twinklebug - I was going into my sophomore year when we moved - my sisters were in 6th grade and 4th grade.

I was ahead of a lot of my classmates, only because of the order of classes in my old school (World history there was a freshman class where here it was a sophomore class...). I can't fault my school at all, it's been both an "A" and "B" school in recent years. There was a lot of other things that were hard for me to deal with in the move. I was 15 so I was losing friends I'd known since kidergarten, going to a very clicky school. Lucky for me, I was a drama nerd so I found a "home" very quickly with my Thespian/Drama troupe.

 

[mercydisney]

I'm very interested in what anyone has to say about moving to FL with middle school aged children - particularly if anyone has moved away from FL to get a better education for their kids. I know I can get a decent paying IT job in the Orlando area, but my parents, who live in Clermont area keep telling me that I don't want to move there until after the kids have graduated as the schools just aren't nearly as "good" as the Massachusetts schools.

IMHO children can do well in any school system if they and the parents are dedicated to making sure the child learns. It starts and ends at home. Too many folk believe teaching & learning is for school time only.

If anyone cares to explain what the problems with the school systems in FL are (or can point me to a site) I would love to hear what they are because I'm reasonably sure that there are many public schools in my area that have the same issues. TIA!

I moved to FL from NJ 7yrs ago. Very near WINNYIS (HI neighbor! ) DD11 was just entering kindergarten, by 3rd grade she was reading Harry Potter
books, encouraged by her teacher. I have nieces and nephews in Bergen county schools and DD11 is doing so much more advance work then they are.


When DH was transfered here several of his coworker's wives were teachers. When they started working for the Hillsborough school systems they stated "FL school system expects more from the kids then NJ does".


I love the school system here. They Hillsborough County has a no tolerence rule. Any child w/any kind of weapon (even table knife) is expelled from the county not the school).

People will always have negative things to say about FL education. But people who live in Fl know better.

 

[winnyis]

I moved to FL from NJ 7yrs ago. Very near WINNYIS (HI neighbor! ) DD11 was just entering kindergarten, by 3rd grade she was reading Harry Potter
books, encouraged by her teacher. I have nieces and nephews in Bergen county schools and DD11 is doing so much more advance work then they are.


When DH was transfered here several of his coworker's wives were teachers. When they started working for the Hillsborough school systems they stated "FL school system expects more from the kids then NJ does".


I love the school system here. They Hillsborough County has a no tolerence rule. Any child w/any kind of weapon (even table knife) is expelled from the county not the school).

People will always have negative things to say about FL education. But people who live in Fl know better.

Hi Neighbor - I havent found anything negative about the Hillsborough School system, My kids were in 2nd & 5th grades when we moved here and my 5th grader STRUGGLED that first year because the curiculum they were covering especially in math had never been touched on in NJ. SHe did fine with alot of help from MOM at night but I felt they were more advanced than NJ. DS was in 2nd and did fine but I think its because they dont really start the fast pace of the math skills until 2nd-grade and he started it with all his classmates. With that said both kids are now straight A students and DS is even in the gifted program so I think it definately varies from county to county in FL but I am very happy in Hillsborough.

Hey MercyDisney - what schools do your kids go to - mine are in Nelson and Mulrennan.

 

[mercydisney]

Winnyis, DD11 goes to Randell Middle School and DD7 goes to Boyette Springs. Boyette Springs was a yr around school. So next yr DD7 will and DD11 will be on the same school schedule.

The only thing I miss about NJ are the malls (one in every corner) and no tax on certain items.

 

[zalansky]

I am in Tampa too and just wondering where you can get a nice home in this area for $220k, like someone had mentioned? Prices are coming down for sure, but not that much!