Florida..HELP

[Yellowmobius]

HELP!

I have been stuck in North Dakota for 36 years, That is 36 years too long!

Anybody have advice of where to move to if I am looking at moving to Florida?
I have a wife, a 5y/o son and a 7y/o daughter.

What are some nice suburbs? We visited Orlando last March and it was AWESOME!

[Rusten]

You picked a good town to visit in Orlando. It's one of the quicker growing cities in Florida and although some people might argue, it's often written as the waterski capital of the world. Unfortunately, anyone who lives in Orlando can tell you that the traffic has come to a point where it's nearly as bad as a city 10 times Orlando's size, it's certainly got some of the hottest/most humid summers in Florida, and you're an hour away from the ocean/gulf (rather than minutes as wtih most Florida cities, being built around the coastline).

Despite the above, Orlando is a great place. Rent an apartment there for a month or two during the summer. If you are still interested in moving there, feel comfortable doing so at that point.

Probably the greatest piece of advice I can give you is this: do not move to the West Coast unless you are retiring or have your own, geographically independent business, or tourism-based business. Relative to conventional cities, there are very few executive-level jobs on the West Coast of Florida. Tampa is the exception. If considering something along the lines of Sarasota, Ft. Myers or Naples, you will learn very quickly the Florida saying "You pay for the palm trees." Salaries are low and the retiree count is high. Of course if you do have plenty of money and aren't worried about the pay, it's safe to say that Sarasota is one of the most beautiful locations in this entire state. Just about anyone objective, who has spent a decent amount of time there, will agree. The beaches are amazing and the sand is like cotton on your feet. Unfortunately, Publix (the leading grocery chain in Florida) is the largest employer last time I checked -- perhaps that'll give you an idea of the lack of significant income in the area.

One final tip: once you move to Florida, don't expect to get any special treatment because you're new ;-). One of the unique things about living in Florida, is running into about 20% of everyone you meet and hearing their stories about how they've just moved here, they love New York, wish they were back in New York, but for some unknown reason they still live here, yadda, yadda, blah. Once you've been here for a few years, you'll understand to what I'm referring.

Good luck with everything,
-Rusten

[Jrod06]

Dont move to Ohio, it sucks here too

[Yellowmobius]

Thanks guys, I will keep it all in mind and do some more research.

[waterboy]

While Ed is right about the culture shock (ever been down Hull Road, Ed?) we live in a nice part of Florida, in Clermont. Far enough away from the tourists, but close enough to work at Disney. Have you considered applying to Disney World? Let me know if you need some help contacting them.
Personally I love it here, I just wish the state would protect it's resources better.

Brian

[Yellowmobius]

Thanks Brian,

You work at Disney? Sure I would take any assistance, I work in IT, Networking right now.


My e-mail is [email protected]

[Yellowmobius]

What is it like living in Clermont?

Why don't people build 3 stall garages? I would say 95% of the homes in this hell hole (ND)
built 1990 and on have 3 stall garages with the third stall double deep.

Thanks

[Yellowmobius]

Ok one more,

What are the hurricane chances in CLermont? Looks like a nice location.

P.S. if you are bored/interested go to www.wakezone.biz and click the weather links at the bottom of the page, welcome to my world, ND weather - rain, wind, cold. FL - weather hot, calm. beautiful!