Should I move to Florida?

[diverrex]

By the end of the day, every person living in Florida earns my envy. You guys are much closer to America's best diving than I am. Hence the post!

I can't help but comment that there are a bunch of Californians that might dispute that claim. Best warm water diving, absolutley, best diving not so sure.

 

[The Chairman]

I can't help but comment that there are a bunch of Californians that might dispute that claim.

But then we would all laugh at you!

 

[The Chairman]

Then I went to the movie theater and even though it was a Sunday there were no lines in front of the ticket counter.

You say that like it's a bad thing. No Lines= kewlness!

 

[Ana]

Then I went to the movie theater and even though it was a Sunday there were no lines in front of the ticket counter. I was thinking where the hell are all the sunday movie-goers?

You say that like it's a bad thing. No Lines= kewlness!

Yep is very kewl.

From 2001 until about 2007 or so, my husband and I went to the movies almost every Tuesday or Wednesday in Panama City, FL and about 75% of the times it was just the 2 of us in the theater. Then they opened a new one in Panama City Beach so we don't have to cross the bridge. There is more people now, but still every once in a while we get the place to ourselves.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

That being said be warned there are downs to living here, cost of living is high, even though its lower then normal now its still high,

You say that b/c you're coming from Indiana, the OP is coming from Virginia. The fact that he commented about DC leads me to believe he is coming from Northern Virginia specifically. Trust me, the cost of living in Florida is CONSIDERABLY less than Nothern Virginia...

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Seahound, I moved from Sterling, VA to Broward County, FL (Fort Lauderdale basically) over a year ago and it's been wonderful!!

If you are coming from Northern Virginia you will find hardly ANY negatives.

The positives:

Traffic: WAY less traffic down here compared to northern VA and DC. People actually complain about traffic in the Broward/Miami-Dade area. If people here have to slow down to 40 mph, it's "traffic" I drive to work down 95 (yay express lanes) at 8 am and hit NO traffic, none! I would never attempt that in VA. I used to commute from VA to DC everyday and left my house at 5:15 am to avoid the traffic. If I waited until 6 am, I would always hit the congestion.

Cost of Living: Way less here for almost everything, especially housing.

People: I've found that people here are far more friendly than Northern VA.

Activities: There is soooo much more to do here. Obviously you have the diving, huge plus. There are also all sorts of water activities (beach, sailing, catamarans, kayaking, snorkeling, etc etc). They also have almost everything you could do in VA including the theater, concerts, camping, etc.

Weather: Wonderful. The summer can get hot, but you're from VA...you KNOW it gets hot as balls there too, and just as humid. The winters are beatiful and you can do outdoor stuff (like biking, hiking, jogging, etc) all winter long.

Travel: FL is a perfect gateway to Caribbean travel. You can fly to many of the islands for less than $100. Cruising is also a super CHEAP way to travel and brings you to some great diving spots. I just took my 7th cruise and it was only $300 (including lodging, food, taxes, port fees, gratutities, everything except alcohol) for three nights.

The bad stuff you hear that is crap:

Crime: I've lived here for a year and haven't been the victim of any crime. People talk about Miami's bad crime rate...well compare it to DC, DC is worse hands down, every time. Plus you're looking at Fort Lauderdale, so don't let the Miami crime chicken littles scare you.

Traffic: See above

Heat: See above

No one speaks English: This is another thing that I haven't encountered in Broward. In Miami yes, there are lots of areas were people speak Spanish. However, I actually don't find it any worse than areas of Fairfax, VA. Plus unlike VA, at least in South FL it's only a few cultures that you encounter. If you pick up a few phrases in Spanish you can get around in Miami, you don't really need any Spanish to get around Broward. I found in Northern VA I had to know Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, and about 5 other languages to talk to everyone.


If you are coming from central or southern Virginia though, then you probably will see more traffic than you are used to, and may not find that the cost of living is any better.

True Negatives I've found:

Drivers: The drivers here are the worst I've ever seen in the U.S. It sucks, you get used to it though.

Grocery Stores: I was very spoiled by the great selection of grocery stores in Northern VA - Wegmans and Harris Teeter being my favorites, then we had Giant, Safeway, Bloom, Shoppers, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. Down here you have Publix (the "good" one, I guess), Winn Dixie (ghetto), and Whole Foods. That's it :depressed:

 

[Ana]

Grocery Stores: I was very spoiled by the great selection of grocery stores in Northern VA - Wegmans and Harris Teeter being my favorites, then we had Giant, Safeway, Bloom, Shoppers, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. Down here you have Publix (the "good" one, I guess), Winn Dixie (ghetto), and Whole Foods. That's it :depressed:

I agree with the descriptions of the supermarkets. However, once you know the area you'll start discovering magnificent places. A few that come to mindI like a lot: "Carmines" in Palm Beach County, "Delicias de Espaňa" in Dade, a couple different ones in Weston, and some in Boca. Depending on what you're into chances are that you can find it in the tri-county area.

Now you are correct ... for the everyday grocery grind Publix is about it, but hey The publix of today in Broward is a not chopped liver. It's been improving through the years, and depending on which one you go to the progress is a lot faster.
Just like the Whole Foods, the one in Ft. Lauderdale is pretty crappy in comparison to the one in Glades Rd.

SeaHound, I'm sure you are aware that sometimes you can't judge a place by a couple of visits. It isn't my intention to sell you the place, but being a Florida resident since the early 80's I can tell you this place (Broward) is pretty darn good. And whatever it is that you can not find, chances are that if you keep looking and asking you'll find it. Either it was hiding or it gets here in short time. Hopefully snow will be a permanent exception to that.

 

[SeaHound]

The bulk of the diving media resides right here in Central Florida. ScubaBoard (Winter Park), Scuba Diving Magazine (Winter Park), Sport Diver Magazine (Winter Park), Scuba News (Jax), Advanced Diver Magazine (Tampa), Scuba Radio (Winter Park) and one other that I can't think of their name, all originate right here. Why? Easy access to the world, cave diving 2-3 hours north, reefs 2-3 hour south and if you have a growing family, there are all the theme parks here for them.

That is very useful info! Thanks.

 

[SeaHound]

. I used to commute from VA to DC everyday and left my house at 5:15 am to avoid the traffic. If I waited until 6 am, I would always hit the congestion.

That is my situation now. Every time I have been to FL I have never seen traffic! When people here were complaining about traffic I was thinking if I was wondering if it was a different Florida that I had gone too.

Thanks for explaining so many things so clearly.

 

[Glock Diver]

People down here in Florida complain about traffic.

They don't know traffic. I used to live in Fairfax, VA and commute to PG County Maryland, taking I-495 across the Wilson bridge every morning. OMG. Trust me, the traffic situation is much better here, even when the snowbirds return during the winter. But I think its just human nature to complain about the traffic, wherever you live.

Cost of living- way cheaper, like I said. $300,000 will buy you a NICE single family home in Ft. Lauderdale. It might buy you a 15-year old townhouse in Northern VA.

And I do agree with Princess-- horrible drivers down here. Especially in the winter. You gotta watch your back.