Florida or Arizona? If you had to decide on a warm place to spend winter?

If you could, would you go to Florida or Arizona to escape the winter states?

  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .
I grew up in Tampa, Florida and lived much of my adult life in South Florida. I would never go back. Nor would I be inclined to live in Arizona. I'm not into cacti and lawns that are made of rocks. I'm happy in Dallas, and I would consider Asheville, NC as an alternative.
 

feywon said:
When i was a kid in Ruskin, Fl on the Little Manattee River my Dad bought a 25 ft cabin boat that needed extensive cleaning and repairs. We dug a ramp from river's edge and hauled it up with a winch using logs as rollers. Took a while, weeks, to finish and launch.

Several nights we heard awful noises coming from the ramp area but living rural chalked it up to critters bickering. Then one morning Dad got up earlier. I've always awakened at first light unless ill. I heard Dad walking past our bedroom to the ramp. Then he laughed, called to Mom. I went too.

There, nestled between the raised boat and side of ramp was rhe biggest gator any of us had seen. Dad marked the dirt even with each end of it just before it backed to the stern of the boat, turned, entered the river and swam for the uninhabited island across from us.

The space between the marks measured 8 ft and Dad said he looked old (tho i don't what that means in an alligator). He came back and snored repeatedly. But now we knew what that racket was and we made jokes about 'Grandpa Gator' waking everyone up with it.
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I grew up in Tampa. I am very familiar with Ruskin. Wasn't it famous for its' tomatoes?
 
I grew up in FL and went back some years later as an adult. By then the hot weather was just too much for me. I would take a vacation there but never live there again. As for AZ, I have been there and honestly did not care the western part of the country. I like the green forests and fresh water of the northeast.

I am happy where I am in my home state of NY and no plans to leave.
 
dseag2 said:
I grew up in Tampa. I am very familiar with Ruskin. Wasn't it famous for its' tomatoes?
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Yes and Gladiolas. There was a 'tenant farm' owned by the accurately named Mr. Dickman, who also was head of local KKK. When i passed thru there in 1985 (my brother picked me and my 19 month old daughter up in Tampa and we drove down to Ft. Myers) on way to Mom's funeral, i was heartsick to see they'd named the stretch of highway where it cut thru Ruskin after him. The change in terms of population, building i expected.

i was also heartsick when i learned about 12-15 yrs ago from a Floridian on now defunct senior site, that 'The Giant's Camp' had been razed. My folks spent about half my gestation there after having moved from NJ, and we lived there till just a little before i turned a year old. My sisters arrived from up north and Dad found a place to rent in Ruskin. As long as we were in Florida we'd stop going/coming from Tampa/Ruskin to visit with our friends there. Dad and Mr. Tremayne were were friends and Mom would visit with Grace McDaniels (who's sideshow billing was 'The Mule-Faced Lady) if she wasn't on the road with the circus.
 
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I love both Arizona and Florida, but the only thing they have in common is the heat.
Lived in Arizona for several years .. loved it! ... the 'other worldly' scenery is amazing there.

Vacationed in all parts of Florida many different times over the years ... loved it also.
The white sand beaches, around Destin especially, and those beautiful warm beaches on the ocean, give Florida an edge for me.
 
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@feywon as you know I also grew up in that area, mostly Dunedin on the other side of the bay. Things have changed so much since then that I have kind of given up trying to find something that really feels like home. The huge population growth has driven that.

As to the former KKK man, that was all too common back in the day... I am pretty sure there is less of it, and its much less socially acceptable today. Wish it would all go away.
 
As someone said earlier, one advantage of Arizona is the different climate zones within the state. You can spend the winter down in the Phoenix area but if you are in the mood to spend a day in the snow you can take a two hour drive up north and spend a day in the snow. And when it is too hot in the summer you can just go up north again and spend the summer in the mountains.

With that being said, if anyone is deciding between Arizona or Florida, please pick Florida ! Having another growth spurt here in Arizona and with the water levels as low as they are that is the last thing we need. New Mexico is a very nice alternative if you do like a dry climate and enjoy amazing scenery.
 

Florida or Arizona? If you had to decide on a warm place to spend winter?​


I'm sure that both locations are superb, but I'll be content sitting in my own lounge with some cans of beer, the occasional tub of you know what and the TV.....and I wouldn't need to wear a padlock on my Nike shorts. 😊
 
Aprilbday12 said:
What do you think? Arizona or Florida for 5 or 6 months out of the year to escape the cold climate states? Florida is swampy has gators, Arizona losing water and has fires. Which one do you like?
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Not all of Florida is swampy..but all of Florida has alligators. I moved here a few years ago and there are many lakes and sometimes it's mind-blowing to realize just how many alligators there really are and many of the lakes have them:oops:

Winters in Fl are excellent! Humidity is down..not too cold but cool enough to be refreshing...I picture most of Arizona as desert so that is not a place I care for...

I chose 'other' ...and probably would prefer being back in California because one can select mountains and snow or the beach...
 
Here's my first-hand experience and opinion.

We lived in AZ for almost 9 years. We moved there from PA mostly because my husband was injured in a fall in 2012 and the winters were tough on him so he got the bright idea we needed to move to AZ. The first 3 years (for me) weren't too bad because everything was so different then living in PA, even though we had lived in So. Cal for many years until hubby's retirement in 2001.

Anyway, we didn't fit in with anyone there and people were so unfriendly. Lots of transplants from CA there where we were and their attitudes were different. I won't go into the political snubbery we encountered but if you didn't think or agree with them, you were definitely an outsider. There are so many negatives about AZ that I could tell you, but I wouldn't be allowed to on this forum.

The biggest thing that was a concern for us was (and still is) the lack of water. There's too many homes being built and the aquafers are running low. We had one monsoon season in the 9 years we were there. I think they have had a little water this year but not enough to get them out of an extreme drought.

Yes, it gets hot (the highest we saw where we lived was 112*), but, like they say, it's a "dry" heat. No humidity. We lived at 3400 feet elevation so we got snow...sometimes, but it never stayed. If you go to Phoenix area than you have a lot of pollution and people and crime to deal with.

I've been to Florida to visit friends in October and it was so humid and sticky that you couldn't enjoy being outside.

I wouldn't pick either one, personally. We moved back to PA in February and loved the rain when it came and we're looking forward to the snow this year.
 
Colleen said:
we didn't fit in with anyone there
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The town I grew up in, Dunedin, Fl, was over 50% retirees, a lot seasonal snowbirds but some lived there year round. Most were from up north somewhere. My observation was that a lot of them were unhappy and did not feel like they fit in. I suspect that is because they uprooted to a place where they had no friends or family, and at our age making friends can be harder. The ones who seemed happiest had planned the move for a long while, vacationing and spending time in the area before making the final decision to move. I think that is probably true no matter where you go, Florida, Arizona or Timbuctoo.
Serenity4321 said:
Not all of Florida is swampy..but all of Florida has alligators. I moved here a few years ago and there are many lakes and sometimes it's mind-blowing to realize just how many alligators there really are and many of the lakes have them
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Yeah, but they only eat small children and dogs, usually...

When canoeing or kayaking always remember the poor hungry gator, he's just looking for a hand out.
 
Never Florida! That's DeSantis's kingdom. His reign is a bit too despotic for my liking. If it weren't a very expensive island, I love Hawaii. Sooooooooo I guess I'd stay right here in Washington State. Compared to the winters in Central New York - where I grew up, they are pretty mild here and the summers aren't as hot as California and some of the other southern states - although they've been hotter and drier lately. Don't have the tolerance for extremes of temperature that I used to have.
 
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