Live in S. Fl? Why don't you move? The pros and cons...

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say some day down the road, say 5 or so years from now, my wife and I were thinking of moving to S. Fl. and living on a boat.

And let’s say I’ve been reading all the online opinions of what it’s like to live in Fl., and am surprised how many people who live there seem to hate it.

So, what are the pros and cons of living in S, Florida? I’ve been reading a lot of cons: Too hot and wet in the summer, to crowed with transplants and tourists, too much traffic, horrific drivers, too much crime, too many bugs, too expensive, too many non-English speaking people, residents are not friendly, too much trash on the beaches, corrupt government officials... And of course the hurricane season which has people constantly wringing their hands, staring at the news in wait for the inevitable evacuation and destruction of their homes.

Ah, paradise...

And yet, so many people keep moving there and so many don’t move away?

I guess there’s some good, though. No snow to shovel, miles of beautiful beaches, warm clear water, wonderful diving, 50 miles from the Bahamas, culturally diverse, excellent dining, no show to shovel, no state income taxes, and did I mention, there is no snow to shovel?

So, for you residents, what is the good and bad of living in Fl.? Why do you stay? I’m originally from S. CA and a lot of people move there and hate it, too.

So talk me into, or out of moving to S. Florida.

Rick, the bottom line is some people would be miserable anywhere.

I grew up in Georgia and spent my summers in Lauderdale by the Sea, and let me tell you, they had to drag me back to Georgia kicking and screaming. Does it get hot here in the summer? Absolutely, it also gets just as hot in many other places, every summer you hear of people dropping dead from the heat in Chicago but we never have to shovel our cars out of a driveway in the winter. Speaking of winter, it's going to be 78 degrees today. I can't imagine living anywhere else, is our diving the best in the world? Absolutely not, but it's damn good and we're not removed from civilization so after a day of great diving you have numerous choices of great dining or cultural activities. You say you and your wife want to live on a boat? What better place? Marinas everywhere and the Bahamas and Florida Keys are a days run away. As for the hurricanes, I've lived here almost 30 years, lost electricity twice and never suffered any damage, while they are always a possibility the media blows the hurricane threat way out of proportion.

Perhaps paradise isn't for everyone but for those of us with active lifestyles revolving around the ocean, this place is pretty tough to beat. Let the haters complain, we won't be able to hear them underwater.

No one should ever move to Florida. Come visit, then go home.

Walter:

No one should ever move to Florida. Come visit, then go home.

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I'm feeling the love already.

When I moved to the PNW from CA, people kept saying to me, "Don't Californicate our state!"

Walter:

No one should ever move to Florida. Come visit, then go home.

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I'm a recent transplant, am in south Florida, and am on a boat. I've been coming here for 10 years, but just moved. I'll share my observations.

I consider south Florida anything below Orlando. That gives you the options of 2 bodies of salt water, countless bodies of fresh water, a swamp, a megalopolis, small towns, teeny towns, ethnic diversity, redneck hell, island life (which is the same everywhere, but somehow different here), and Key West, somehow like no other. Yes, there is traffic. If I lived in Miami or had to commute there, I would be somewhat nuts. It's one of the reasons I left Houston. I don't deal with it day to day, so when I get stuck in it I've learned to be zen about it. I say that living on islands are the same everywhere because nobody stocks anything. Everything is at least a day away, so you learn patience. I've lived on islands a lot of my live, and the patience an island will teach you is one of life's great lessons.

Tourons can be a nuisance, but they are the sustain-er of life down here. Nobody likes a blue hair and her hearing impaired mate driving a 40 foot RV on Saturday morning down the keys at 25 miles an hour scared out of their minds. But everyone likes the cash they spend in restaurants and at the beauty parlor. So, it's part of the price we pay for living in paradise.

Hurricanes? Pish. You plan for them, make sure you are prepared and don't worry about them. There are places to store critical things that can't get destroyed like family papers, and heirlooms, and you insure the rest. When you buy a house, have it inspected before to ensure that the hurricane clips are sound, you get hurricane shutters, you make sure the gas in the drum is fresh every summer for the generator, you give a critical eye to the marina and ensure that the dock hardware is sound, not just in your slip, but the neighbors too. Marinas and boats do OK in a cat III, when a 4 or a 5 are coming in make sure you evacuate early and often carrying the irreplaceable stuff with you.

As far as corrupt government officials go, I've never seen anything like it this side of Mexico. It doesn't effect a resident, though, unless you want to build something. Sure makes me shake my head. It's like they get elected, and steal everything they can get their hands on before they get caught. When they get caught, their protection network closes in to shield them from having to give it back or go to jail (remember, the protection network is busy taking what they can get too), the official resigns, it hits the paper for 3 days, turns into a big joke, and we elect a new person with a whole new idea to steal the taxpayers blind. Honest folk aren't allowed to run for office because they might make the corrupt ones look bad. Keep your head down and all they steal is your tax dollars.

People are moving away. Florida is currently losing 50,000 residents per year. U-haul is trucking in trucks and trailers by the semiload into Key West because folks are leaving in droves. You can buy a decent house here for $200k. $200k is unheard of for housing in KW for the past 20 years.

I moved from Houston to here. The Mexicans in Houston were not bi-lingual and weren't going to be so. They want all of us to learn Spanish, and get offended when we don't. they are second tier citizens and non-citizens for the most part. Of course, there are exceptions. The Cubans here are at all levels of society. They are service personnel, store and bodega owners, industrialists, and politicians. They are bilingual and culturally diverse. They scratch their heads when I try my Houston Spanish on them, smile, and speak back to me in English that is more proper than most schoolchildren speak. Haitians can be another story. Like the Mexicans of Houston, they tend to congregate in their own communities and don't seem to want to become a part of what makes America great. It's a little irritating when in the local Publix grocery store and the Haitian bagger looks at the reusable shopping bags I brought and starts stuffing my groceries in plastic. When I protest, I get the stupid cow look like they don't speak English. That's when the patience lesson kicks in again, because I don't reckon I will change the Haitian culture in America by myself.

But best of all, you won't need to shovel snow.

People are moving away. Florida is currently losing 50,000 residents per month. U-haul is trucking in trucks and trailers by the semiload into Key West because folks are leaving in droves. You can buy a decent house here for $200k. $200k is unheard of for housing in KW for the past 20 years.

Why are people moving from Key west so rapidly?

wausman:

People are moving away. Florida is currently losing 50,000 residents per month. U-haul is trucking in trucks and trailers by the semiload into Key West because folks are leaving in droves. You can buy a decent house here for $200k. $200k is unheard of for housing in KW for the past 20 years.

Why are people moving from Key west so rapidly?

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I don't think he was talking about Key West in particular. I think he was speaking about Florida as a whole.

Key West is a ghost town. Commercial rental is as low as I've ever seen it. I'll bet 25% of commercial space is vacant. Dive boats are going to the Vandenberg with 2 divers on them. I'm watching travel threads with great interest including ITK. Divers are talking about saving cash to come to ITK. Cash? Who has ever heard of spending cash? The entire economy has just done an about face, and the fine folks in the touron industry haven't figured it out yet.

No one is using credit cards. Key West dumped high spending divers and fishermen for cruise ship passengers. The average person who flies in spends $1700 for their visit. The average person who drives down spends $1,000. The average cruise ship passenger spends $40, and that is in a t-shirt shop. Duval street is covered up with t-shirt shops and is dead by 9 PM. The pods eat a hamburger at Margaritaville at lunchtime, buy a t-shirt that says something classy like "I just farted", and get back on the ship and leave. 3000 folks buying a t-shirt from an ethnic individual who is family beholden to send the profits to Pakistan does not a local economy make.

Sport fishing tourists (crew of 2 for every boat, 1000 boats in the keys) are down 47%. Diving clients (crew of 2 for every boat, plus 4-10 in the shop, 50 shops, 150 boats) are down 51%. It will get better, but not until everyone has paid down their credit cards and saved for a vacation, like our parents used to do. Problem is the infrastructure will no longer be there when it happens.

Florida's economy is built on tourism and retirement. If the tourists aren't coming, and the retiree's just lost their life savings there is no need for the services that support those 2 industries. That's why 50,000 per year are leaving Florida.

Rick:

Wookie missed on the population number. It is (was) 50,000 for the year between April 08 and April 09. The global economy took it's toll and the loss of jobs in construction and the service field was a big part. Also, some of us at least are not having large families. The exodus will slow as the economy warms.

Summers are worse by far in the mid west than here where the Atlantic keeps the climate moderate.

Hurricanes for the most part are just big rain storms. The "major" hurricanes can be a different story but you can be confident in Palm Beach County if you live in a house built after 1994 (post Andrew building codes). Or as wookie alluded to, you can harden an older house. While Miami Dade has the strictest codes in the State, they seem to fail in the enforcement sometimes, lol.

I have lived in NYC, Long Island and Indiana. Would not trade this for anything. Diving, fishing, surfing, ocean kayaking, paddle boarding and maybe one day kite boarding. The Atlantic is friendlier than the Pacific. I also get to bike, cycle and blade year round.