Florida... Love it, hate it???

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JLSchmittou

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My husband and I are probably going to be closing our small restaurant this Summer, forever, in Arizona. We are talking about moving to Florida to raise our son an plant some roots.

The biggest question is: where in Florida to go? We want to be in the Gulf, North of Tampa, close to water... But, there is still a lot of places to choose from given those parameters. Being this is the only forum I'm involved in.. I'm going to post it. I know there are probably a lot of Floridians here. Where do you live and do you like it???

Thanks,

Jacki :)
 

dmmj

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All I can say is that florida is a pretty good place to raise tortoises ( oh and your son to)
 

zzzdanz

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Great place to raise torts, and a nice place to visit. I moved down there back in the early 90's..wasn't for me.
I was there for 4 months or so and headed back up North and never looked back.

Maybe it will be great to you, and the only way you'll know is to go for it. You can always leave if you don't like it.
 

SulcataSquirt

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We have a condo down about an hour south of Florida in Siesta Key - I know you said you prefer north. But I absolutely love the town and atmosphere of the area. Very laid back atmosphere and people. And the whitest sand you can find on a beach! :D
 

DeanS

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Tampa runs less risk of hurricanes then say, South Beach...but if I had to move beck to FL...I'd still have to choose West Palm Beach...and the beaches from PB on down are the BEST in the US...if you don't mind the occasional jellyfish:p
 

JLSchmittou

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SulcataSquirt said:
We have a condo down about an hour south of Florida in Siesta Key - I know you said you prefer north. But I absolutely love the town and atmosphere of the area. Very laid back atmosphere and people. And the whitest sand you can find on a beach! :D

I love the keys!! But.. We're gonna have to get jobs.. So we need industry of some kind... I'm almost dreading the bugs... Not a whole lot of bugs in AZ..
 

cemmons12

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I was born in Orlando. I got moved to lousy Indiana when I was young. I moved back down to Tampa in 97 and then missed my kids so I came back to crappy Indiana. All I can say is I miss Florida soooo much! I loved Tampa, but my favorite place by the water is Clearwater. Best place I have ever been and I have been all over this country. Good luck with your big choice! :)
 

ALDABRAMAN

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Naples, SW Florida is great. Clean, great weather, and low crime rate, however expensive!
 

SulcataSquirt

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JLSchmittou said:
I love the keys!! But.. We're gonna have to get jobs.. So we need industry of some kind... I'm almost dreading the bugs... Not a whole lot of bugs in AZ..

Very true! Jobs.. Psh didn't even cross my mind! :p Sarasota is right there as well and is built up a bit more for jobs. Haha. Good luck and hope you find a great town/city that suits all your needs!
 

JLSchmittou

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SulcataSquirt said:
Very true! Jobs.. Psh didn't even cross my mind! :p Sarasota is right there as well and is built up a bit more for jobs. Haha. Good luck and hope you find a great town/city that suits all your needs!

Hahaha! Who needs a stinking job?!?!?

Oh wait?!?

I was thinking Sarasota.. They have one of the highest ranked grade schools in the state.. And it's not so touristy like Orlando.. Scouting trip in the spring.. So I guess we will see...
 

tortoise-kid

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I use to live in Florida and the weather is fantastic to raise tortoises.
 

Tom

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FL, AZ and CA are my three top choices for where to live. I've been to FL. West Palm Beach area that Dean mentioned. Loved it. I'm sure you'll be happy there.
 

FourTortoise

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I like Florida just not Miami so much. I have lived in Miami my whole life. I am not sure if its the best place to raise a child. Not to mention I would be afraid to have my tortoise outside unsupervised. I would look around the West Palm, Tampa, Orlando area. Who knows though I could be wrong. Good luck on your move.
 

nikki0601

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I live in the Florida panhandle, have u ever heard of Panama City? My town is just a bit from there, I love this part of Florida, bout 40 minutes from the most beautiful beaches u have ever seen and also right here in the country, beautiful land, woods, animals, privacy if u want it, its great!!

JLSchmittou said:
My husband and I are probably going to be closing our small restaurant this Summer, forever, in Arizona. We are talking about moving to Florida to raise our son an plant some roots.

The biggest question is: where in Florida to go? We want to be in the Gulf, North of Tampa, close to water... But, there is still a lot of places to choose from given those parameters. Being this is the only forum I'm involved in.. I'm going to post it. I know there are probably a lot of Floridians here. Where do you live and do you like it???

Thanks,

Jacki :)
 

JLSchmittou

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nikki0601 said:
I live in the Florida panhandle, have u ever heard of Panama City? My town is just a bit from there, I love this part of Florida, bout 40 minutes from the most beautiful beaches u have ever seen and also right here in the country, beautiful land, woods, animals, privacy if u want it, its great!!

Yeah! We talked about the panhandle. Still talking about it. I really want to be in a small town (or small town feel), close to the beach, that's more "Southern" than Florida, ya know? I kind of thought Panama City is more touristy, since I recall turning the city upside down myself one spring break during college.... Do you know of any towns that might fall in that category, being that your right there?
 

nikki0601

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Oh yeah, thats where I am, Bonifay, very small town, lots of small towns near, the nice ones are Sunnyhills, Poncedeleon, Greenhead, Chipley is ok, then there are some a little further from the beach but still close enough, Marianna, graceville, cottondale.. I love living in a small town out in the country, but still close to the city folk, I stay away from Panama during spring break and times like that but when the college kids are not flooding the place its really nice.. The realestate this way is at an all time low, and there are a ton of very nice homes that have been on the market for so long the price has dropped to nothing.. I think u would love it here, I'd pick a town like Sunnyhills, its just 20 min or so from the beach but its very small and quiet, I'm actually looking at homes in that area, the land is gorgeous!
 

JLSchmittou

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nikki0601 said:
Oh yeah, thats where I am, Bonifay, very small town, lots of small towns near, the nice ones are Sunnyhills, Poncedeleon, Greenhead, Chipley is ok, then there are some a little further from the beach but still close enough, Marianna, graceville, cottondale.. I love living in a small town out in the country, but still close to the city folk, I stay away from Panama during spring break and times like that but when the college kids are not flooding the place its really nice.. The realestate this way is at an all time low, and there are a ton of very nice homes that have been on the market for so long the price has dropped to nothing.. I think u would love it here, I'd pick a town like Sunnyhills, its just 20 min or so from the beach but its very small and quiet, I'm actually looking at homes in that area, the land is gorgeous!

I'll look it up this afternoon... Low crime, decent schools, and of course the ability to work, are important... But land, picturesque scenery, are also important.. The more I think of about this, the more daunting it seems.
 

nikki0601

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The schools in this area are great, thats something my family and I always discuss, how we love the school systems.. crime rate is very low, well there are a fair share of drug related crimes in certain counties but not violent crimes and threw out the recent years the drug crimes have decreased.. As for jobs, it really depends what career field you are in
 

JLSchmittou

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nikki0601 said:
The schools in this area are great, thats something my family and I always discuss, how we love the school systems.. crime rate is very low, well there are a fair share of drug related crimes in certain counties but not violent crimes and threw out the recent years the drug crimes have decreased.. As for jobs, it really depends what career field you are in

Ha!! This left leaner is ok with drug crimes... They usually keep it to themselves...!!!

This is overwhelming. Anyone have any advice for moving cross country??
 
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