What part of Florida should we move to?

[PurpleHaze]

If there is a better spot on the boards for this to be, please move it.

My future wife and I have decided to pack up and move to Florida. We have it narrowed down to three areas, but would like some input from people that live in the state or have better knowledge of the pros and cons of each area. We want to be close to a bigger city. We enjoy things like concerts, sporting events, and just fun stuff to get us out and enjoy the city. We do enjoy traveling so having a large airport nearby is important. We do enjoy our boating so we want to be close to the water. We dont necessarily need to be directly on the water but close. No kids in the mix so schools are not an issue, but I've still got a good 15 years til retirement so we need a good job market.

All that being said, here is what weve come up with.
1. Tampa Area - This was always the first choice. It checks a lot of the boxes off, but the housing seems to be a bit more expensive than other areas.
2. St Augustine / Palm Coast Area - This came up as an alternative to Tampa after seeing some of the housing prices in these areas. since Jacksonville is about an hour up the road, we could still get a job, and the other city amenities.
3. Space Coast Area - Very recent addition to the list, again based on housing more than anything. Orlando is a bit further away than we would like for some adventures, and the only pro sports team is NBA, which isnt our favorite. It does look like a lot of good job opportunites close by given the aerospace industry.

So what do all you locals say? What are the pros and cons of those areas? The Tampa / Orlando lattitude is about as far south as we want to go so the Miami / South Florida area is out. Love to hear others input.

 

[aprilgail]

I'm looking at places in Naples Florida.

 

[fla4fun]

There is a wide variety in the Tampa area. We used to live in Pinellas county, which is where St. Pete is located. Tampa doesn’t feel touristy like some areas can. There is a lot of history, culture, and sports in the area. We lived a mile inland from the beach and it still didn’t feel touristy unless you were in St Pete Beach or Clearwater beach.

My sister/BIL live in the Space Coast area. It is harder to avoid the tourists there, and traffic can get brutal if you live in one of the beach communities during holidays and summer. The aerospace jobs can be a mixed blessing - just ask all the people who were let go after the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. There are quite a few people who live over there who commute to Orlando for work, but you are looking at about an hour commute or more, depending on where your job is located.

Are you thinking of commuting from St Augustine to Jacksonville for work? I would not really recommend that. Jacksonville is huge geographically and adding in the extra distance to St Augustine would make for a long commute. I have several cousins who live in the Jacksonville area, mostly in the Orange Park and Baymeadows areas, which are both nice and a more reasonable commute into the city.

My personal advice is to figure out where you want to work, and then look at the areas around that to see which one offers the amenities you want for your down time. In my experience, there is rarely affordable housing close to where the best jobs are, so you will have to commute. But some commutes are going to be better than others, and the ability to have several alternative routes can be a real blessing. Good luck with your search!

 

[JimMIA]

Other than lack of professional sports, is there some reason you don't have the Orlando area on your list?

There is a LOT to do in the Orlando area that has nothing to do with Disney. It's a booming area, and has good restaurants, a reasonable amount of nightlife, and lots of job opportunities. Great airport, both coasts are easily drivable for day trips to the beach. Lots of freshwater boating, sports, fishing in the immediate area and the Atlantic only an hour away.

Tampa is a 1 1/2 hour drive, Jacksonville is a little over 2 hours for MLB, NHL and NFL.

You may not want to LIVE in South Florida, but we're very reachable from Orlando. Miami is a little over 4 hours with sports, great dining and nightlife, cruise capital of the world, two national parks and the Keys just an hour further south. And we will be just 3 hours away once the Brightline train line opens up.

 

[marynpaul]

We moved to Lakeland FL. It's about 35 minutes to Tampa and 45 minutes to Orlando. So we get to do both areas fairly easy.

 

[Lisse24]

One thing to consider is that St. Johns County (St. Augustine) is the top school district in the state. It's also one of the quickest growing areas in the state. You'll get quality schools and are almost guaranteed to have your home increase in value.

St. Augustine itself is also a historic area, and even though I'm equally distant between St. Augustine and Jacksonville, I find myself heading to St. Augustine for dining and beaches more often than heading up to Jax.

 

[jump00]

What line of work are you both in? That may help with where people suggest you live.
Good luck!

 

[HeatherC]

I would also second the St Augustine area. Beaches are beautiful, it is near Jacksonville and the historic area. I also love this area because the last several times we were on the Gulf coast there was red tide so bad you couldn’t be outside. Dead fish everywhere and the sulfur smell burned your eyes and throats. And I know it can happen anywhere, but the gulf waters seem warmer with less of a “jet” stream through them which seem more ripe for this to occur more frequently.

I do love the Gulf Coast and it’s sunsets, but if boating and beaches are a big part of your life it is worth mentioning.

 

[PurpleHaze]

I work as a financial analyst, so that opens up pretty much any industry. I don't mind much of a commute, but an hour from the Space Coast back into Orlando would be a bit much. I understand it could be the same from the St Augustine area into Jacksonville but the long term goal of living close to the ocean does help offset both those sceanrios.

 

[Feralpeg]

I live in the Orlando area. If I had to do it again, I'd move to a smaller town within an hours drive of Orlando. Orlando is becoming so big and the infrastructure just can't keep up with the number of people moving here. The city should be renamed "Congestion".

 

[Southernmiss]

A couple of thoughts

My inlaws retired from Hawaii to Palm Coast in 2000. Within 5 years, the area had exploded with growth and was no longer the nice, quiet area it once was. They sold in market much like today (inflated home prices) and bought 15 acres in Tennessee where they built a home and MIL lives today.

We enjoyed visiting, but traffic was tough.

My sister lives in St. Mary's Georgia less than hour from Jacksonville. Her husband is in the military and works at the bases in the area. A quieter town on the water, but close to Jacksonville when they want big city amenities.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I'm looking at places in Naples Florida.

it’s beautiful … save ur pennies… houses are Insane right now in Any of the desirable areas .. going over ask is Not uncommon in the current market.

 

[NotUrsula]

Financial Services is much more a Miami trade; the bigger brokerage firms have Florida offices in Miami or nearby. There are certainly some in Tampa Bay, but not nearly as many. However, of those three areas, I'd choose Tampa Bay, though not necessarily Tampa itself.

You might wish to note that while the Jax airport has a lot of flights, very few of them are non-stops to anywhere other than Atlanta.

If I were you I'd wait until the worst of the pandemic housing crisis ends before moving if I could; home prices are really overinflated everywhere right now, and rents are climbing.

 

[AnnaS]

Have you also checked the city data forum website?

 

[White Cat]

Knowing those 3 areas like I do I would choose Tampa. Easily. .

 

[MillauFr]

I like the older parts of Naples.

 

[shoegal9]

We just packed up our stuff last month and moved from Alexandria, Virginia to Fort Myers. Our jobs went remote so we (like many others) decided to escape for better weather, disney proximity and the ability to buy a large home for under a million dollars.

Orlando was our first choice, but we ended up in Southwest Florida due to family connections in Naples. So far we are very happy. I’m not a huge fan of the Atlantic side of the state. I like a slower pace, sunsets, etc.

Our mortgage payment is $500 less per month than our D.C. rent and we went from 1,000 to 3,100 square feet. Plus… 2.5 hours to WDW.

 

[Travel60]

South of Tampa are Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice. All very nice, regional and national theatre, sports teams. But as earlier poster mentioned, the red tide can be a killer.

 

[LYSE]

St Augustine/ First coast gets my vote, we recently moved to Ponte Vedra Beach, primarily to be walking distance to the beach and in the best schools in the state within our budget...if you really don't care about schools that helps a lot, st augustine / st augustine beach its self has the worst schools in the best district in the state but is probably a good fit for a lot of people and riding off the school districts reputation is only helping appreciation.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I live in Tampa and I love it. I lived in Palm Coast about 10 years ago and I much prefer Tampa, although I think Palm Coast has changed a lot since my family left. Real estate prices were much more affordable in Palm Coast, but that was 10 years ago so that's probably changed too. I think there are still areas with more affordable housing in some of the Tampa satellites.