I want to move to Florida- suggesstions where

Since my parents owned a condo and resided there for 30 years for 6 months out of the year I did visit them and that was in Sarasota near St. Petersburg. It’s a very nice area. I’ve also been to Orlando, Miami, and Jacksonville. Being a avid swimmer I loved the beaches and water sports but nothing quite beat watching dolphins 🐬 and whales 🐳 jumping in the water. The pink flamingos 🦩 really add to the beauty of the state. It’s one of my favourite states; possibly since I love the water and animals so much.
Good luck deciding. Maybe rent a place first so you can travel and explore the state better before deciding.
 
I have a home in SWFL. The further south you go the warmer it gets.
I agree with Keesha - rent in the area before buying.
Hurricanes can hit anywhere in Florida, but no place is safe from natural disasters.
 
My B-I-L and wife have lived in Boynton Beach and Tampa. Tampa is their current residence and they love it, but loved Boynton Beach too...only moved because of job. They love nothing than more than sending pictures of themselves at thebeach house r sitting on the patio in the sun while weare up to our knees in snow here in WI 😂
 
Sliverfox said:
Didn't read all the posts.
Husband & I have been to Florida when my father was there.
Stayed a week or 2 when we were there.

Personally Florida is not for us,, we enjoy PA,, snow & all.
Click to expand...
Well I have super natural curly hair so you KNOW it’s definitely out for ME! 😂😂😂. Wisconsin summers make me look like one of the Supreme’s. I shudder to think what Florida would do!!!!
 
Pauline1954 said:
I remember a boating escapade I took with my then husband to a little island. It was close to sugarloaf key and actually could have been sugar loaf. Anyway, beautiful clear waters. I could see all the way down to the bottom. And the underwater life we could see was surreal. There were lots of small burracuda, stingrays and colorful fish. So beautiful. The keys are wonderful. But the seven mile bridge is another experience. It was so narrow you better not put your hand out the window if its long. I imagine its busier now than back in the seventies.
Click to expand...
The little island just offshore from Sugarloaf is known by the locals as Picnic Island. Just a bunch of mangroves and and lovely little sandy beach.
 
I have a blind friend who's considering moving to Florida to be close to her daughter. She has a son here but he's working all the time. She's at the point now where she feels she's going to start needing help. Only thing is she says there's a lot of alligators in that area (I forgot which town). Between that, snakes and sinkholes. There are lots of lizards in FLA too. I'm not afraid of them but wouldn't want them running around in my house. My honorary son who lives in an apartment in Tampa said they had to screen in the patios to keep the little lizards out. When I first got to his apartment on the second floor, there was a little lizard hanging off the outside of the screen. When I went to Ft. Lauderdale decades ago, a lizard had gotten into the hotel (more like a motel where the room was on the ground floor). I left that hotel and went to a Sheridan.
 
I have been to various parts of Florida in my lifetime and never found anything intriguing about it except for St. Augustine. It is one fascinating and lovely city and I think if I had to, I could live there. Lot's of history which I find inviting.
 
Everyone has the *capability* of being happy wherever fate or choice lands them. You just have to recognize that no place is absolutely perfect and adjust your expectations.

Florida is hotter 'n the hinges of hell in the summer, but oh! wearing shorts in January ....... priceless! Colorado is gorgeous in the summer but oh! those winters! Brrrrrr. Wisconsin is...... Arizona is....... Maine is........ California is....... Every area has its highs and lows.

One has to find one's Paradise and be able to put up with its Hell.
 
For 14 years, we spent several weeks in the middle of winter on Ft. Myer's Beach. Learned a lot.

Suggest you check out a place called "Dunedin" Florida. Its located close to Tampa and there is a beautiful beach and Honeymoon Island. The costs there are amazingly low and the people are very friendly and helpful. Lots of "happenings", you can walk around the nice little town and there are many restaurants and hobby shops. Its a very affordable and enjoyabl area:

Dunedin, Florida - Wikipedia
 
The last time I had to deal with snow was in 1972. I still don't miss it.
Largely the folks that wear shorts in winter are snowbirds and tourists who have not become acclimated.
We have not been to Disney in decades, there are plenty of other things to do.
Dunedin is a nice town about 8 minutes from here. We often go there.
The lizards are your friend, they eat bugs.
Been years since we last saw a gator. There are Mermaids in Weeki Wachee, up the coast from here.
I have seen 100° in Fl once ever, back in the early 1980s. In Arizona it is over 100 every day, all summer, dry and dusty.
St Augustine is fun to visit, but can get nippy in the winter.
The little Key deer are nice to see on Big Pine Key in the lower keys.
In 1973 it snowed in Clearwater, but the flakes melted about 6' above the ground.
 
I grew up in Florida and have lived there off and on since, more years than anywhere else. Florida is a very diverse place, the north is generally more like the rest of the south, the further south you get the more people and the less southern culturally. I would suggest spending some time in places you think you might be interested in. Being a resident is very different from being a tourist. I saw a lot of unhappy people who retired to Florida without doing enough due diligence. I also know a lot of happy ones.

As to hurricanes, they are a fact of life in Florida. My advice is to get a well built house at a higher elevation, do that and you can live most anywhere safely. Do your research before buying!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top