Who has made the move to FL?

wendow

We create happiness.
Joined
Feb 11, 2012
And willing to share how you like it and have adjusted to FL?

We are considering moving from CO (we are native Texans) where we have lived since graduating from college. It's something we have been talking about for about 10 years. We're both a bit weary of the cold and longing for more of a 'warm weather state'. Our oldest graduates this year so it seems like an ok time to move and she is chronically ill and the cold here in CO is very hard on her physically. She does really well when we are in FL or back home in TX.

Moving back to TX is high on our list since all our family is there but we aren't closed to other states. I grew up vacationing in FL, and we vacation there once a year (mostly WDW). He has job alerts set up for both TX and FL and lots more comes up for FL.

Just wondering if anyone else has moved to FL, if you were not from there and knew no one, and how you like it? My dh sees a lot of jobs in jacksonville but I've never been to Jacksonville so I have trouble getting on board. I'm not 'married' to having to live in Orlando and just curious what the other cities are like...for families...I've got 4 kids, 1 will enter college, other 3 homeschooled but we stay very active in community activities.

Anyone want to share with me? I'd so appreciate it!
 
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Well, we’ve been here 14 years and I still haven’t adjusted. We moved from Michigan.

The summers are incredibly hot!!

I’m just not a southern girl and would move back to Michigan in a second.

I wish we lived closer to Orlando or Jacksonville. I think I’d be happier being near a bigger city. Our two oldest are in college so we can’t move right now because we would be charged out of state tuition. You may need to live here for a year before you can get in state tuition for your college bound child.

Home insurance premiums can be very high unless you buy a new home or fortify your house against storms.

I homeschool our youngest. We were very happy with the elementary and middle schools here. The high schools, not so much.
 
So, @floridafam, I am guessing you are more ok with the cold than the heat? That must be hard in FL. Colorado is such a lovely state. Just truly such great weather but being from the south, even the mild winters are hard on us. Can I ask where you are located in FL? And which major city would you rather be close to?

I had not thought about needing to live there for a year for instate tuition so thanks for bringing that up!

I appreciate your response. I'm really trying to weigh all this out.
 
We live about an hour north of Palm Beach.

I don’t really like the cold but the heat is unbearable in the summer.

We moved from a college town where there were so many things to do, the schools were great, and it was just better overall.

DH has a good job and our kids are settled here so we may be stuck unless they find careers in other states.

I just have a real issue with the overall feeling of the state. It is the deep south and it’s hard to adjust. Kids at the high school have huge confederate flags on their trucks, everyone has guns, etc. it’s not the life I imagined for my family.
 


Illness is one of the reasons we moved here. Our son’s asthma and constant respiratory issues pretty much went away after moving here.

Property taxes are a fraction of what they were in Michigan.

If you don’t like hurricanes, I’d stay inland near Orlando. It takes me about 90 minutes to get to Orlando from my house.

DS is at U of Miami and DD is at FIT. They are both very happy with their college choices. There are a few scholarships that are available to out of state students if they have done really well on their college entrance exams.
 
How funny that you are thinking about moving to Jacksonville. My DS just moved there 2 months ago. He loves it. He lived in an air b&b for a month before he decided where rent an apartment. One thing that he loves is how close he is to the beaches. He said most of the people he has met aren’t from Jacksonville, they have all moved there for jobs.

My youngest is graduating from college in a few months, so depending where she lands, we are talking about making the move to Florida. I hate our weather in the winter. No more snow, ice and cold weather for these old bones.
 
We live about an hour north of Palm Beach.

I don’t really like the cold but the heat is unbearable in the summer.

We moved from a college town where there were so many things to do, the schools were great, and it was just better overall.

DH has a good job and our kids are settled here so we may be stuck unless they find careers in other states.

I just have a real issue with the overall feeling of the state. It is the deep south and it’s hard to adjust. Kids at the high school have huge confederate flags on their trucks, everyone has guns, etc. it’s not the life I imagined for my family.

I do love college towns also :) We went to college in Waco, TX and while I'd love to get back there, we aren't finding many jobs for my dh.

I understand your feelings about the south. I'm from the south already so a lot of that is easier for me to deal with than it would be for someone from up north. I won't say I love all that but I'm more used to it. Living in CO has changed me a lot though. I'll miss so much about living in a state like this if we move.
 


Illness is one of the reasons we moved here. Our son’s asthma and constant respiratory issues pretty much went away after moving here.

Property taxes are a fraction of what they were in Michigan.

If you don’t like hurricanes, I’d stay inland near Orlando. It takes me about 90 minutes to get to Orlando from my house.

DS is at U of Miami and DD is at FIT. They are both very happy with their college choices. There are a few scholarships that are available to out of state students if they have done really well on their college entrance exams.

Two of my dc have really bad allergies and asthma and one of my ds's also has eczema. His skin is so much better in FL with the extra moisture. Both of their asthma & allergies are better, and again, my dd with chronic illness feels better also.

Our property taxes here in CO are super low but if we end up back in TX, they will be high. I definitely like FL's property taxes so that is appealing.

I grew up along the Gulf in TX so not a stranger to hurricanes.

Good to know on the schools and scholarships!
 
How funny that you are thinking about moving to Jacksonville. My DS just moved there 2 months ago. He loves it. He lived in an air b&b for a month before he decided where rent an apartment. One thing that he loves is how close he is to the beaches. He said most of the people he has met aren’t from Jacksonville, they have all moved there for jobs.

My youngest is graduating from college in a few months, so depending where she lands, we are talking about making the move to Florida. I hate our weather in the winter. No more snow, ice and cold weather for these old bones.

My dh has job alerts set up for several cities in FL (jax, tampa, orlando and tally) and he says Jax has the most jobs that fit him. He's really wanting to go down and drive around to scout out the area as well as some of the other cities.

I still love the weather in CO but being from TX, I am used to heat and don't mind it, and I do notice the older I get, the less I like the cold. Having a kiddo who does better physically in the warmer temps is pushing me also because I want her to feel better and not be in so much pain all winter.
 
I live here. I am still half asleep from the Allergy meds I took last night to sleep. The allergy seasons are rough here and it is going on now. I may call out of work. All of us starting having problems with allergies after moving here. My son (now 16) started having eczema issues at 18 months when we moved here when he was 18 months old.

My oldset son (26) when he had his allergy tests done, came back with him having allergies to every possible Florida allergen, even the St. Augustine grass in our front yard. Florida most likely will increase his allergies if he has them already. I never had any seasonal allergy issues until we moved here.

The military moved us to Tampa. We bought a house here when we were active duty and that is where we live today.

Things people don't plan for in Florida: auto insurance, home insurance, and property taxes will double or triple what you are use to. There are necessities like home water softners, etc.

I have a culligan top of the line water softner and still have extremely dry skin that causes the Rosacea on my face to flair and Eczema on my arm. These are year around issues for me.
 
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We moved from Virginia to Tampa in 2005. We were miserable. We found wages were low and property taxes were so high they more than offset having no state income tax. At that time our homeowners insurance was ok but I’ve heard horror stories. I think the schools are decent, but we had much better options in Virginia. I love visiting my parents in fl and can imagine retiring there, but it wasn’t a good fit for our family.
 
We considered moving from md to Oviedo. Cost wise it’s actually would be more to live in Oviedo than where we are now. It was a shocker since I thought it would be cheaper to live in Florida. We estimated all the costs for several houses. Dh ended up not interviewing so we didn’t move. The school system there is awesome if you wanted to not home school anymore. Ucf is 15-20 min away depending on where in Seminole county you live. DW is about an hour away :-)
 
We moved from Northern IL to Central FL two years ago. I regret nothing! I love it here! However, I was never one that liked winter. Nor the dreary days of November. Or January, February, mud of March, you get the idea.

The only time I miss being up north is during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is hard to get into the spirit of the season when it is 85 and sunny! But on the bright side, we don't have to look at the calendar to find the best day to brave the elements to put up and take down our decorations!

The summers are indeed hot and humid. We used to come here in the summer and stand in line for hours at the parks because that's when the kids were out of school. Don't have to do that anymore! Instead, we go in our pool. You can not live in Florida without a pool. If you move down here, get a pool with a screened enclosure. Even if it is too cold for the pool, sitting in your enclosure, eating dinner, in January, when your friends up north are sending pictures of the snow or ice storm, will make you happy to be here.

My family bought a home, with lots of land, up in the hills of Central FL. Every afternoon in the summer, around 6 or so, we have a breeze that my friend in the flat lands near Disney does not have. We chose the hills because we liked the change of scenery, lack or reclaimed swampland, and the quiet. And the sunsets here are magnificent!

Our home here was similar price to our house up north, much more land, and the value has increased over the last two years by a large amount. The price of our home up North has declined in two years. Central FL seems to be having a housing boom again, but I am not selling so I may be wrong with that observation.

Property taxes are half of what we paid in IL. House insurance is higher, but we have a house that is hurricane resistant and up to code, so at least we have some savings with that. Car insurance is more expensive, but not crazy more. If you live closer to the city here, you will pay more for car insurance than if you live rural or suburban up north. If you are coming from an urban setting up north, you may pay less. Either way, shopping around is the best call.

I find schools are what you make of them. We are involved parents, in that we follow up on homework, encourage band or a sport, etc. We attend meetings with teachers, and we make education the priority. As long as you find a school that offers enrichment opportunities (band, extracurriculars, etc), and has classes that offer various levels of instruction (gifted, advanced, middle, remedial, etc), most of the schools will be fine. Certainly, there do seem to be many more struggling schools here than in our area in IL, but we seem to live in areas that tend to have more of a tax base than other areas, encouraging more spending on pupils and avoiding the worst of the schools.

One caveat on schools - my daughter was at college studying to be a middle school math teacher when we left IL. She transferred here to FL, and pretty much had to start over. Teaching methods and curriculum here are very, very different. The politics here is very different (and Central FL is supposed to be more liberal, but for us Northern Liberals, it is still conservative), and this does affect the school boards. This is why I stress about being involved with your child's schooling. Follow up if they are struggling, ask for help, don't let them fall off the radar. Though the curriculum for teacher training is changing here, it still does fall behind what my daughter found up north.

So, look at schools, look at the type of surroundings you like (flat, hilly, rural, busy, etc), check jobs, and then build a pool. Good luck!
 
I have a tale of two relatives. Both have been in FL for many years now. One has adjusted fine, is very happy there, and I think will remain in FL for the rest of her life. The other never got used to the long, hot summers and is now going to retire and move to a more temperate climate.
 
Hello - another Coloradoan here. I actually did the move about 15 years ago, stayed for three years then got homesick for the Rockies. My daughters had both decided to go "home" for college and the thought of being so far away from them was too much for me at the time. I love April through October in Colorado and hope one day to find a way to be a snowbird. I crave humidity and this landlocked mermaid misses the sea.
As far as summers, I think you either pay for heat or air conditioning. Heat for the bulk of the year here, air conditioning for the bulk in Florida. Good luck with your decision.

Dawn
 
I live here. I am still half asleep from the Allergy meds I took last night to sleep. The allergy seasons are rough here and it is going on now. I may call out of work. All of us starting having problems with allergies after moving here. My son (now 16) started having eczema issues at 18 months when we moved here when he was 18 months old.

My oldset son (26) when he had his allergy tests done, came back with him having allergies to every possible Florida allergen, even the St. Augustine grass in our front yard. Florida most likely will increase his allergies if he has them already. I never had any seasonal allergy issues until we moved here.

The military moved us to Tampa. We bought a house here when we were active duty and that is where we live today.

Things people don't plan for in Florida: auto insurance, home insurance, and property taxes will double or triple what you are use to. There are necessities like home water softners, etc.

I have a culligan top of the line water softner and still have extremely dry skin that causes the Rosacea on my face to flair and Eczema on my arm. These are year around issues for me.

I think my kiddos may be in trouble either way with the allergies. Two of my four kids also test positive to every tree, grass, pollen, and mold in our area. Many here in CO don't have a/c but we had to get it because we couldn't open our windows. My kids stay half-drugged on allergy meds too. Eczema and allergies are just part of their life. However, when we visit FL or TX, we notice the humidity seems to help some. Not sure how long that would last though. I think the body just adjusts and then begins reacting again.
 
We moved from Virginia to Tampa in 2005. We were miserable. We found wages were low and property taxes were so high they more than offset having no state income tax. At that time our homeowners insurance was ok but I’ve heard horror stories. I think the schools are decent, but we had much better options in Virginia. I love visiting my parents in fl and can imagine retiring there, but it wasn’t a good fit for our family.

I know several people who moved to Tampa and then only lasted for a year or two and moved back to their home. Tampa seems like a nice place to live so maybe it's the things you listed...high COL and low wages...?
 
We considered moving from md to Oviedo. Cost wise it’s actually would be more to live in Oviedo than where we are now. It was a shocker since I thought it would be cheaper to live in Florida. We estimated all the costs for several houses. Dh ended up not interviewing so we didn’t move. The school system there is awesome if you wanted to not home school anymore. Ucf is 15-20 min away depending on where in Seminole county you live. DW is about an hour away :-)

Sounds like a nice town and good location. I'm not really interested in being right in Orlando, and really prefer living out a bit if we can.
 
We moved from Northern IL to Central FL two years ago. I regret nothing! I love it here! However, I was never one that liked winter. Nor the dreary days of November. Or January, February, mud of March, you get the idea.

The only time I miss being up north is during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is hard to get into the spirit of the season when it is 85 and sunny! But on the bright side, we don't have to look at the calendar to find the best day to brave the elements to put up and take down our decorations!

The summers are indeed hot and humid. We used to come here in the summer and stand in line for hours at the parks because that's when the kids were out of school. Don't have to do that anymore! Instead, we go in our pool. You can not live in Florida without a pool. If you move down here, get a pool with a screened enclosure. Even if it is too cold for the pool, sitting in your enclosure, eating dinner, in January, when your friends up north are sending pictures of the snow or ice storm, will make you happy to be here.

My family bought a home, with lots of land, up in the hills of Central FL. Every afternoon in the summer, around 6 or so, we have a breeze that my friend in the flat lands near Disney does not have. We chose the hills because we liked the change of scenery, lack or reclaimed swampland, and the quiet. And the sunsets here are magnificent!

Our home here was similar price to our house up north, much more land, and the value has increased over the last two years by a large amount. The price of our home up North has declined in two years. Central FL seems to be having a housing boom again, but I am not selling so I may be wrong with that observation.

Property taxes are half of what we paid in IL. House insurance is higher, but we have a house that is hurricane resistant and up to code, so at least we have some savings with that. Car insurance is more expensive, but not crazy more. If you live closer to the city here, you will pay more for car insurance than if you live rural or suburban up north. If you are coming from an urban setting up north, you may pay less. Either way, shopping around is the best call.

I find schools are what you make of them. We are involved parents, in that we follow up on homework, encourage band or a sport, etc. We attend meetings with teachers, and we make education the priority. As long as you find a school that offers enrichment opportunities (band, extracurriculars, etc), and has classes that offer various levels of instruction (gifted, advanced, middle, remedial, etc), most of the schools will be fine. Certainly, there do seem to be many more struggling schools here than in our area in IL, but we seem to live in areas that tend to have more of a tax base than other areas, encouraging more spending on pupils and avoiding the worst of the schools.

One caveat on schools - my daughter was at college studying to be a middle school math teacher when we left IL. She transferred here to FL, and pretty much had to start over. Teaching methods and curriculum here are very, very different. The politics here is very different (and Central FL is supposed to be more liberal, but for us Northern Liberals, it is still conservative), and this does affect the school boards. This is why I stress about being involved with your child's schooling. Follow up if they are struggling, ask for help, don't let them fall off the radar. Though the curriculum for teacher training is changing here, it still does fall behind what my daughter found up north.

So, look at schools, look at the type of surroundings you like (flat, hilly, rural, busy, etc), check jobs, and then build a pool. Good luck!

Your post is encouraging! You sound a bit like me in that I can tolerate the heat better than the cold...I guess already being from the south, it doesn't faze me as much. I can't imagine how hard the summers would be on folks originally from the north. Just give me a pool and I'm very content :) And dinners outside in January sounds lovely!!
 

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