Relocating to Florida...which city should I pick?

[RaginCajun]

I'm considering relocating to Florida and I'm trying to pick the right location to live. Naturally since I'm a Scuba Boarder, I'm a dive nut and want a place near good diving.

Here are my criteria:

I'll be working a 2 week on 2 week off schedule. Kind of like being on vacation 6 months out of the year--I know. My work location is near New Orleans Louisiana, so the place should be within a ~4-6 hr drive or have an airport with cheap regular flights since I'll be going to/from there once every 2 weeks. The Southwest hubs are: Tampa, Ft Myers, Ft Lauderdale, W. Palm Beach & Jacksonville.

So far I've narrowed it down to Panama City Beach and West (taking the drive option) or possibly Ft. Myers & Ft. Lauderdale taking the fly option.

I've been diving in Panama City Beach a few times and much prefer it to Destin. I've never been diving in S. Florida so I definitely don't know what I'll be missing.

Since I'm not a Rockefeller affordable housing is key. If I can get a 3 BR in a decent area for under $250k I think the MRS would be happy. I also plan to buy a boat to dive the near shore stuff, say <30 miles? If I could really swing it I'd love a house with canal access to diving, but so far in the Panama City Beach area those homes were closer to $300k

How bout it? If you were in my shoes where would you move to? I figure living in Florida with my schedule is kind of like living on vacation.

 

[cyberfed]

Living in Florida my whole life I would recommend West Palm Beach or the Ft. Lauderdale area. This puts you in a great spot for lots of diving. The night life is nice too in Ft. Lauderdale.

Stay away from Miami its horrible. You can't pay me to go to Miami..

West cost is nice, things are quiet and life is slower out there, but diving off the west coast does not compare to the east coast.

South Florida is not particularly cheap for buying a house...granted right now with our economy it might be a little better. Less than $250K puts you in a condo, probably not a very nice house.
The closer to the water the faster the cost rises.

Goodluck

 

[darylb]

What cyberfred said... Plus -

Not sure what kind of diving you're looking to do, but you won't find many lobsters (if any) or scenic coral reefs off the west coast nor will you find 'em out of the panhandles afaik. Southwest is nice, laid back, quiet and loaded with blue-hairs (twice as many in the winter months). Nothing wrong with the blues, they're really nice (in general), but watch out on the road! I gave up my motorcycle shortly after moving down here - it's just not worth the risk (and the risk is real!)

Inshore fishing is good here but you've got to go really far (60+ miles) to find dolphin, etc. Spearfishing here is really good within 30 miles of shore though.

We transfered here 2 years ago and love the area, however, thinking about moving to the other coast or into the upper keys to do more of the diving we like to do - wrecks, reefs, lobsters etc, as well as easier access to the kind of fishing we like (dolphin & whaoo!).

No f'in way I'd live in Miami, not sure about Ft Lauderdale, but West Palm or Jupiter might be a good place to look imho. BTW - if you DO decide on the southwest coast, Southwest operates out of Ft Myers airport.

 

[loquat149]

Since I'm not a Rockefeller affordable housing is key. If I can get a 3 BR in a decent area for under $250k I think the MRS would be happy.

I think you're MUCH more likely to find a place in this price range in Tampa vs. South Florida.

Dave

 

[DebbyDiver]

I love living in Dania Beach which is just south of Fort Lauderdale. I'm moments from FLL and lots and lots of beach diving, just 80 minutes to Key Largo. It's a little more affordable than some other local cities. You could probably get a really nice townhouse in your price range around here.

 

[Flfiremedic]

I drove to Abbeville from Panama City Beach for my hitch when I was in the gulf...not too bad a drive...and the diving is great here...and houses are in your price range as well. PCB is a great area. Come on down! Who do you work for btw?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I'd say West Palm Beach too. You'd be close to all kinds of diving.

 

[siegelreptiles]

cannot reccomend west broward enough--right now, you can get a nice house in west broward for around 250. Winston park, coconut creek area is much more quiet then surrounding areas and you are close enough to everything. We are currently house shopping, and houses that we looked at a year ago that were 470k are asking 350k. You can find a nice 3br for what you are looking to spend. You are also close to the turnpike and the sawgrass which will put you anywhere you want to go fast and without all the traffic and congestion. It is about 20 minutes for me to fll airport and 20 or so minutes to most of the dive boats. Probably 30 minutes to the boynoton dive boats and 45 minutes to the west palm dive boat. Where ever you go--I think south florida east coast is deinately the tops for scuba. You are a morning drive from islamorada to jupiter.

 

[safyrewulfie]

NOw me on the other hand, my town is boring, we are still in recovery from the last
hurricane lol. Depends on your age bracket down here too. Everyone has forgotten that.
Sarasota and tampa is a young enough area. While the smaller places are big mom and pop
spots. Agreed that Miami is for the birds, you cant find a job unless you speak 2 languages.
The panhandle is a magnet for storms, and as you are leaving Texas you should be comfortable
with losing everything you own every 7 months lol. But the big thing to remember, never admit
you like the Saints when you move here!

 

[RaginCajun]

To everyone, thank you for the advice. You all bring up some very good points that I'll no doubt research to death in the coming months. One thing is for sure I think I'll have to build in some diving into the house hunting trips for sure.

wulfie...yes I'm a Saints fan and bring my well worn brown paper bag everywhere I go. Although Ike forced me into a new roof with a 2% decuctible (thanks Katrina and Allstate), we did fare ok for this storm. On the topic of storms, should I be concerned when the house advertizes that it's already wired for a generator? (lol) I guess that says something about the area's succeptibility to a storm.

At first, I was leaning towards Panama City Beach & west since it's closest to the redneck cousins in Mobile and an easy drive back & forth to Louisiana. However, the east coast of Florida has its appeal and being closer to Miami should mean easier access to international dive destinations.

I definitely need to learn more about the demographics. We're in our early-mid 30's and unless it's about making me a good home made dinner like grandma did, I'm afraid of being the only 30 something in a neighborhood of snowbirds.