Florida Members - Florida transplants question

I would like to get some feedback from other members who have moved from the north down to Florida. I am so sick of Michigan winters and I really want to know how others have enjoyed the move from a snowy state down to Florida. Are you glad you moved down there? If so why? If not why? I am moving from Grand Rapids, MI to the Tampa/St Pete area. Thanks.

I should also mention that I am looking at finding a job as a Technical Support Technician. I have worked at computer helpdesks for about the last 5 years. Thanks.

I live in PA for 14 years then moved here. I love the central Florida area. Just make sure you visit where you are moving, its just like any other state, there are shitty areas, and there are really nice areas. Check out the suburbs north of Orlando.

Hi, as much as I loved it when I first moved here I am ready to move someplace where it gets cold at nights into the 20's with the possibility of some frozen shit. Nothing like I had in CT but I can no longer stand this heat, the crowded area and the people that are rude as hell. When I got here in 1994 it wasn't crowded like it is now it's to the point of being intolerable. I mean you have no idea of the amount of homes that were built in our area it's now insane to drive at 5 on the main drags. It's taken me some nights 45 mins to drive the 7 miles home from work :bang:

But keep in mind I am in South FL specifically Palm Beach, had I been someplace on the northern or central West or East coast it's a different world. It is very sad because at this point in my life we have a bunch of excellent friends who all share the same interest with the cars. Real Estate here is barely moving now and has seemed to level off. I've been on the market going on the 3rd week and not a single soul has come to see it...........so I am getting a bit concerned that I may be 'stuck' here longer than I want to, but I am comfy........it's just let's get this thing on the road is how I am!!! :(

Anyway, you will like that area, and I too probably would as well. But we (my fiance and I) decided since our track here sucks, and home prices out of State are great along with low taxes we are opting for NC. Not much snow, but still get some cold seasons and I CRAVE the cold again.

You will be able to get a decent job doing what you are doing down here, and I am sure salaries will be close.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)

Yeah south florida is mad crowded. You wanna find a calmer area, I live on a lake and woods, and its always nice and easy going around here, but im only 20 minutes out of downtown orlano night life

Yea Orlando is another possibility for me. South Florida sounds too crowded for me. What do you guys think of Tampa/Bradenton/St Pete area???

Yea Orlando is another possibility for me. South Florida sounds too crowded for me. What do you guys think of Tampa/Bradenton/St Pete area???

Yeap definatly some nice areas. I like ft myers a lot also, in the historic district.

Yea Orlando is another possibility for me. South Florida sounds too crowded for me. What do you guys think of Tampa/Bradenton/St Pete area???

Well considering you have an ET posted in your sig............you will be near the BEST drag strip in FL to race at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

Anything within the proximity of that track within a 45 min ride will be pimp :hail:

thanks for the replies :)

I will be moving to Fla in a few weeks.I am going to rent for a while,Port Richey, and see where I want to buy.
I heard a lot about Bradenton,real good track,have to check area within 30 to 45 minutes away.
How far is Port Richey and Bradenton? Thanks

Racer88,hang in there,I live on Long Island,NY and 6/7 months ago the market was HOT until I wanted to sell[lol],took me 3 months to get a buyer and I lowered my price.NC and SC are still a bit of a sellers market but still well priced.Good luck on your sale and move.

been here for 2 years from columbus. I do not miss the 45-50 days of overcast in the winter and at this point snow is over rated. I say move

I was born here but if you move the winter park area is nice or if you move out into Bithlo there is a good dragstrip there :)

I will be moving to Fla in a few weeks.I am going to rent for a while,Port Richey, and see where I want to buy.
I heard a lot about Bradenton,real good track,have to check area within 30 to 45 minutes away.
How far is Port Richey and Bradenton? Thanks

Here's a local site with guys from the Gulf coast who go there alot.

www.sffba.net
And our local board www.pbfbody.com

Racer88,hang in there,I live on Long Island,NY and 6/7 months ago the market was HOT until I wanted to sell[lol],took me 3 months to get a buyer and I lowered my price.NC and SC are still a bit of a sellers market but still well priced.Good luck on your sale and move.

I am, as best I can do for now. It's pretty much a buyers market all over with rates going up. And yes, NC, GA, SC and AL are all areas Floridians are headed to.

To the guy talking about the Bithlo track, aka "Orlando Spinworld" or OSW does not compare to BMP for a test and tune. Events it may hook but I hear it doesn't for TnT.

I moved from detroit to miami 6 months ago (omg 6 months seems like yesterday)
Best thing ive done. So glad i had the balls to do it. I love it here.
the weather the girls everything.
I dont miss the empty stores where places went out of bussinesss
I dont miss daily news of people losing jobs
I dont miss the snow
I dont miss the year round pointless construction
I dont miss the weather
I dont miss the bored suburmban police
I dont miss the the ghettos that actually are ghetto

I do miss MY freinds and family
I do miss affordable housing
I do miss all the muscle cars


I do miss somethigns about mi but

for now


flordia > michigan

I moved from detroit to miami 6 months ago (omg 6 months seems like yesterday)
Best thing ive done. So glad i had the balls to do it. I love it here.
the weather the girls everything.
I dont miss the empty stores where places went out of bussinesss
I dont miss daily news of people losing jobs
I dont miss the snow
I dont miss the year round pointless construction
I dont miss the weather
I dont miss the bored suburmban police
I dont miss the the ghettos that actually are ghetto

I do miss MY freinds and family
I do miss affordable housing
I do miss all the muscle cars


I do miss somethigns about mi but

for now


flordia > michigan
Wait til we get a hurricane and Miami is notorious for flooding. Not much fun when your house is 84 degrees and humid as hell with no power.

Have fun! :)

I moved down to near the Tallahassee, FL region from Baltimore, Maryland back in '91 or so. Can't say I regret it at all. I HATE snow and ice. But nothing is perfect I guess. I guess you can look at Florida this way:

364 days of paradise. 1 day of category 5 hurricane..... :eek2:

But beyond that, no way in hell I would move back north again.

I will be moving to Fla in a few weeks.I am going to rent for a while,Port Richey, and see where I want to buy.
I heard a lot about Bradenton,real good track,have to check area within 30 to 45 minutes away.
How far is Port Richey and Bradenton? Thanks

Racer88,hang in there,I live on Long Island,NY and 6/7 months ago the market was HOT until I wanted to sell[lol],took me 3 months to get a buyer and I lowered my price.NC and SC are still a bit of a sellers market but still well priced.Good luck on your sale and move.Port Richey is about 1.5-2hrs. from Bradenton (at least the track) on average. It really depends on the time, as you'll likely be going down US19 or I275. US19 is going through some construction (adding overpasses at almost every light from Palm Harbor/Tarpon Springs to Largo), which may make it a bit quicker when it's complete.

As far as the original post, in general I like the Tampa/St. Pete area. I've lived in 3 different houses in Palm Harbor, went to high school in south St. Pete, college in Tampa, and currently work in Tampa. You could consider me a naturalized Floridian, though, so since I moved here from NC when I was 2.5 years old, so the whole season change thing doesn't really apply to me. I wouldn't mind moving out of Florida, though, as I do prefer the cold to the heat, and I like the change of seasons, even though I haven't ever had to deal with snow shoveling or other season change activities.

well coming from a fl. grown boy.....heres ur down sides

* hurricanes that will come for months
* not being able to speak anything accept spanish in south fl....damn cubans
* lightning capital of the world
* 99 degrees with 115% humidity
* to many damn people from out of state
* outrageous house prices
* expsensive gas
* fhp dont play
several other things, but hey have fun...weve got all the OJ in the world

well coming from a fl. grown boy.....heres ur down sides

* hurricanes that will come for months
* not being able to speak anything accept spanish in south fl....damn cubans
* lightning capital of the world
* 99 degrees with 115% humidity
* to many damn people
* outrageous house prices

several other things, but hey have fun...weve got all the OJ in the world

Some of the reasons I am leaving, IF my phucking place here sells :bang: And I hate OJ, gives me heartburn. :barf:

people sell 100k dollar houses for 300k dollars...wtf...i hope when castro dies we take over cuba so all the cubans who bitch to be here in fl, can go back home...and i cant surf right now cause its to damn hot...hmm i love this state

I am selling my home for one alittle more. Reasonable with less in taxes and alittle more cooler seasons and 5 drag strips to race at.

Life will be good if I can ever get out of this cess pool.

Well, you can't complain too much about Florida else the natives will just say GTF out :)

I moved from Iowa in the summer of '95, and I didn't have any interest in cars when I moved. Ironically, I came down basically doing the same position you're looking for. The company I was hired at turned into Electronic Arts' Florida studio.

- I miss seeing the seasons change (hurricanes don't count)
- It's still too hot for 10 months out of the year for my taste.
- The roads are much better down here
- There's a higher concentration of idiots on the road
- Easier to keep the cars clean (no salt, etc)
- No state tax

I wouldn't move to Bithlo just because the local dragstrip is there. As other's have mentioned, Bradenton is a much better strip...plus, you'd probably need to lose a few teeth to fit in over at Bithlo :)

so it sounds like mixed reviews for moving to Florida.

actually it sounds like most people have issues with South Florida. I am hoping the Tampa/St Pete area is better.

How Much Money do you have to make? Family and Stuff?

I might have a job for you in the Orlando Area ( If you qualify ) in the Car Industry.

How Much Money do you have to make? Family and Stuff?

I might have a job for you in the Orlando Area ( If you qualify ) in the Car Industry.

Where in longwood are you? I live there also.

actually it sounds like most people have issues with South Florida. I am hoping the Tampa/St Pete area is better.
Some areas in Tampa are just as crowded with rush hour etc. so check around from friends that live around there.

I'm off of Longwood Hills/ E.E. Williamson
and
Rangline.

I dont have a F-body though so Im pretty Inconspicous, Rocking the Daily Diesel

LS1 is a project in the Garage

all i have to say is....YBOR city.....garbage...move to zephyrhills lol

Moved to the Sarasota/Bradenton area back in 89. It was a quite a different place back then. Developer greed and bribed politicans are quickly ruining this area. Traffic has gotten insane, realestate price are very high now along with property taxes if you are coming in now.

I love where I live (bout 5 miles away from Bradenton Motorsports Park!), but the only reason I can is I built my house in 97.

I work up in Largo, and oddlly enough the route I take in has the least resistance. I can get to work driving 48 miles in the same time as it takes to go 17 working in bradenton or sarasota.

I can't imagine living anywhere else though. Maybe the carolina mountians, but the rich fucks and greedy ass devleopers are ruining that too.

I'm having a house built in Palm Coast, FL. Nice an laid back, just how I like it. I've lived in NYC all of my life and I'm sick of it now. I can't stand the snow too.

palm coast is niceee.....shhh keep that sht quiet

Bringit10s - I am looking to make at least 35k per year. I have 6 years experience as a Technical Support Technician I/II. I am also A+ certified and have my B.S. degree in Computer Information Systems. If you have a a job opening I would love to find out more and possibly come down for an interview.

As far as family, I do have a fiancee and two young boys who would be moving down after I have a job. Thanks.

PM Sent

I moved down to the Melbourne area with my folks back in 97. It was cheap living all around, atleast in this area, and it wasn't to crowded. Now that house prices have nearly tripled and the population almost doubled I'm no longer seeing any benefits to living here. It's getting to be like this all over Florida, seems to move from one city to another.

I miss the seasons in NY. It's to damn hot here, it's nice from December to about March. The rest of the time your sweatin your balls off. The roads may be in better shape, but they're also boring to drive on. Flat and straight for as far as the eye can see in most parts.

I went to Detroit for NAIAS, man I loved it! People seemed nicer, there were tree's (not these worthless providing no shade palm tree's), hills, and there's a history there that I just loved.

I'd suggest taking a nice long vacation at the location your thinking of moving to, before you do it.

I moved down to the Melbourne area with my folks back in 97. It was cheap living all around, atleast in this area, and it wasn't to crowded. Now that house prices have nearly tripled and the population almost doubled I'm no longer seeing any benefits to living here. It's getting to be like this all over Florida, seems to move from one city to another.

I miss the seasons in NY. It's to damn hot here, it's nice from December to about March. The rest of the time your sweatin your balls off. The roads may be in better shape, but they're also boring to drive on. Flat and straight for as far as the eye can see in most parts.

I went to Detroit for NAIAS, man I loved it! People seemed nicer, there were tree's (not these worthless providing no shade palm tree's), hills, and there's a history there that I just loved.

I'd suggest taking a nice long vacation at the location your thinking of moving to, before you do it.

You liked Detroit? Wow, I was born there but moved we moved to Indiana within a year. I know when going back to visit every year I could tell I sure didnt want to live there.