I live 3 counties north of Fort Lauderdale. Housing is cheaper up this way and with the softening of the market sellers are lowering their prices. But the drive via the Florida Turnpike or 95 would be a big pain during rush hours. I can’t really tell you how long of a drive it would be since between here and there are a lot of those highway boondoggles called “ under construction” Went to Miami today and it was about a 2 hour drive.
You could look for housing in Martin County. Houses are more expensive but the schools are a lot better. I forget, do you have children in school? There are several private schools and two Catholic schools in the area.
Rural areas are becoming scarce. In Palm Beach County you are most likely going to find it out by Wellington, a very posh Equis- oh heck horsey area or out in the Acreage.
Jupiter which is in North Palm Beach has a lot of rural area but development is encroaching there too. Rural area is usually west of 1-95. St. Lucie still has quite a bit of rural agricultural land but as I said the commute might be a problem.
Fair warning homeowner’s insurance rates are a problem. Many companies are not writing new policies and the ones that are seem to view consumers as the goose that lays the golden egg.
Whatever you do. If you decide to build a home please check out the Florida lein laws. We have some real gotcha ones which can leave the homeowner holding the bag is a contractor does not pay his subs.
A good website with information about State agencies, the Florida Statutes, etc is www.myflorida.com
PS. Most Floridians think the turn signal is an exotic tracking device put there by a nefarious fearless leader.
PS.
The Palm Beach Diocese has a wonderful Bishop. I don’t know much about the Miami Diocese. I think St. Martin de Porres in Jensen Beach has a Latin mass on Sunday evenings.
I’ll never forget my first visit to Florida, New Port Richey, to be precise. I flew into, I believe, Ft. Lauderdale. I’d heard so much about Florida, it was apparently so nice that people went there for their vacations. I thought it must be paradise.
Was I in for a shock. I thought I’d died and gone to hell. It was so hot and humid, even in the middle of the night, that my hair was sweating. It took me three days to cool off once I got home (California).
Without getting into further details, such as slowpoke traffic, hideous scenery, and some serious white trash people (not all, but quite a lot), I hated it there.
I don’t know what it’s like in Ohio, I know you have snow there and there’s DEFINITELY no snow in Florida, but I’d take a trip down there and check it out for yourself before making any commitments.
Crime way down since concealed gun law was passed here. Drugs are only a problem if you are into that. I don't even notice a drug problem since I'm not into that scene.
Are reasonable parcels of land available an hour outside an area like Fort Lauderdale (away from the coast) - I'd like something around 5 acres.
An hour away from the coast you are in the middle of Alligator Alley where there is nothing. South Florida population pretty well within about 15 miles of each coast with nothing much in between.
I'm currently single, in my late 30s, but I still have hopes of having a family.
Learn Spanish and meet lots of hot Latina chicks.
Lastly, what does a conservative Christian (Catholic) Ohio boy need to know about life in Florida?
Based on the parenthesis, you should have no hangups with drinking good rum. I recommend Flor de Cana. Aged rum. Drink hearty and enjoy the hot Latina chicks. BTW, I used to live in the Cleveland area (Euclid Park).
OK, BTDT, So here’s the scoop from my experience.
I grew up rural also, on Long Island (way,way out on LI, AKA “The Boonies”), then lived in rural NJ for years, before deciding, when my daughter was a toddler, that I hated the cold and hated being surrounded by liberal idiots, and we needed to move south. Our choices were Atlanta or Ft. Lauderdale (we had family in each place, and we didn’t want to go where we didn’t know anyone). Against my hubby’s better judgement, and without having seen ATL, I pushed and begged for Ft. Lauderdale (near my relatives), and so we went. The two years we spent there were the longest, most awful of my entire life!!!!!!
Here is what you can expect from a move to SoFla:
The Pros:
-As mentioned before, awesome Cuban food. Also, great seafood.
-Mild “winters”, in which “freezing” means you ought to wear a sweater or at least some long sleeves.
-Some pretty beaches, ***if*** you know where to go, and if you know where the metered parking lots are, as most of the “good” beaches cost 10 dollars or more to park at.
-Some pleasant places on the Intracoastal Waterway where you can spend some very pleasant hours looking at some beautiful views and boats.
And now The Cons:
-Expect to be treated as though you are untrustworthy and a petty thief wherever you go. Every cashier will scrutinize your signature when you use a credit card. Many will ask for a second form of ID. You will be required to pay huge deposits for initial startup of your utilities (it will be refunded after you prove yourself by actually paying your bill for a year.) This is SOP down there, as it is a very transient area.
-The cost of home owner’s insurance is outrageous since the last round of hurricanes. My aunt lives in a small 3BR villa (attached, one story home), and her insurance is running her 4K a year, because the house wasn’t built in the last few years with the newest building codes. Many insurance companies are just pulling out of the state altogether.
-Fort Lauderdale beach is overrun with teens, homeless, indigents, tourists, etc.. It sounds and smells like loud music and cars. If that’s your scene, you’ll be thrilled, I hated it.
-Everything is FLAT, and its all the same color. The soil is sandy, the buildings are flat and beige (mostly. There are some which are the hacienda style with peaked roofs and terracotta barrel tiles, and some that are painted pastel colors. You get really tired of houses that are aqua, pink, and mint) with flat roofs, and most houses have swimming pools with screenrooms built over them. The only break from the beige is the green palm trees, and tons of other green foliage, and the bright pink bougainvilleas when they are blooming.
-The weather is pleasant in “winter”, the rest of the year is so brutal, that I actually used to pray to God to make it rain and be cloudy. However, when it rains in summer, the heat gets worse, and the air fills with mist.
-You will see more butt cheeks, armpit hair, bare feet, etc. than you ever thought was possible, and that will be in supermarkets, shopping areas, doctor’s offices, restaurants, you name it. Additionally, expect to see men in no shirts in the cars stopped beside you in traffic, it seems to be a cultural thing.
-There are the biggest, strangest bugs I have ever seen down there, lizards get into your house constantly, and I have seen 6-7 foot snakes just slithering along in broad daylight.
-People drive and behave aggressively towards pedestrians. When you park your car and begin to cross a parking lot, you’d best step lively, because it almost seems as though the drivers are trying to run you down. If you and another person are heading for the door of an establishment, even if you are pushing a baby carriage or carrying a small child, most times the other person will hustle to get through the door before you (and let it slam in your face).
-They also drive aggressively on the road. It is almost a shock to see someone actually use their turn signals, and its common for people to race each other in between the other cars. My aunt (after 30 years down there) says that the reason she doesn’t use them is because when she does, the other people are clued in to what she is planning to do, and they deliberately try to get in her way. Keep in mind though, that a large percentage of these people are liberal transplants from the northeast who are letting their real selves hang out, and this all will not surprise you.
-There are a lot of people, in the winter, from Canada. The French ones are very rude to everyone, its a running joke down there among the natives. There are also lots and lots and lots of old people.
-The housing prices are INSANE! For example,My cousin lives in a very modest ranch (3Bedrooms, 2Baths) with maybe a third of an acre, and a pool, in a town called Sunrise. The other houses on her street (she is nowhere near any water, besides a canal at the end of the street) are currently selling for over 300k., and they are about 20 years old, IIRC. The canals, which are legion there, are basically trenches that run alongside many roads, which usually have a few feet of water in them (and alligators), and are considered desirable to live on. Many people fish in them and row/canoe/kayak, and many small animals get eaten.
-And the clincher for us, was when we drove past a middle school in Plantation (just west of Ft.L.) as the kids were getting out of school. The girls had shorts and belly shirts on that left very little to the imagination, the boys were dressed like street thugs, and they were (mis)behaving like college kids already. Some boys had their hands on the girls’ behinds as they were walking along, a couple were smoking, some were kissing, etc., and these kids were 11-14 years old. I was 3 months pregnant with my second child at the time, and we decided on the spot that we were going to move again, because we realized that otherwise, this is what our children would be dealing with someday.
We went to ATL to visit for a weekend, and experienced culture shock. There were scripture verses and inspirational quotes outside not only churches, but also car dealerships and other businesses. People ran to open the doors ***for*** us. Everyone was fully, and tastefully, clothed, and the children all looked like their parents. They were well groomed, nicely dressed, and perfectly behaved, even the teenagers. The housing prices were awesome too, so we went home and started planning our move! We moved to Atlanta and have never looked back. I still have nightmares that someone will force me to go live there again. I can’t even bring myself to go visit for fun, I only go as far south as Orlando.
If you are at a stage in your life that you might want to have the “experience” of living in that kind of anything goes kind of place for a while, then go for it and get it out of your system! However, if you are already past all of that and are looking to establish your foundation somewhere, it is probably not the place for you. Sorry this is so long, but I would hate to see a fellow Freeper make the same mistake I did! Hope it helps!
Here in the Acreage, zip code 33411, Royal Palm Beach area, the vacant lots are 1.25 acres and run from $150-200k. For another $200k you can have a 3/2/2 house built on it. Not a big house, about 2000sf under air. There are 2/2 condos for about $200k. It’s about an hour drive on the Turnpike to Ft. Lauderdale. Taxes on the home would be around $6000, and insurance around the same. You better rent a duplex or a small apt. if you are solo. Get yourself acquainted with the area, the lifestyles etc. before committing to a purchase. I,m here 38 years and still love it, but it,s getting so damned expensive to stay here much longer.
FUn Fact: Following the War of the Triple Alliance in the 1860s in which Paraguay declared war on Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, almost all its male population between 8 and 80 was killed off, leaving a nation of almost all women. As a result, the Paraguayan government advertised in Europe for men to immigrate to Paraguay in order to mate with the women to bring the population levels back. Imagine that job. Just lie around in the villages and service the women.
I love Florida. I moved here from New York City (I had spent about half of my life in NYC and half in California) and lived in Gainesville for several years. North Florida is beautiful, but filled with a combination of Protestants who do not believe Catholics are Christians, and raving university liberals who do not believe Christians are human beings. The Catholic Church in North Florida is, as a result, a little schizophrenic, although our relatively new bishop in the Diocese of St. Augustine (which covers most of North Florida above Orlando) is very orthodox and is restoring good faith and practice.
South Florida is a different ball game. I go to Miami occasionally to buy clothing, but it might be cheaper to go to New York. There are great stores in Miami, lots of fine restaurants, and a wonderful night-life culture, mostly because of the large, wealthy Latin American population. They dress up and go out for fantastic dinners every night after the paseo. I love it, but the problem with Miami is not whether you’re Latin American nor not: it’s whether you’re wealthy or not. It’s an expensive city; lots of fun, but very costly.
I live in St. Augustine now and I love it. It’s funky, although subdivisions are growing up around it and I fear its funky days are limited. But I plan to enjoy it for as long as I can.
I’m self-employed, so I have a flexible schedule. When I’m not working, I kayak, I go to the beach, I have a horse and go riding when I can. When I lived near Gainesville, I used to go to the springs and go tubing...if your family likes these things, they’ll be happy in North Florida. Feel free to ask any questions!
Wherever you go, you can find good people. I live in the Suncoast area (west central) and found great people and a nice church. The trick is not to expect it to be like the place you left, and you have to give anyplace you move time. Florida is different than anyplace else in the US.
Florida is loaded with strange people, but it is a red state - for instance, liberal gun laws and such.
Don’t expect too much of the state, police, etc - on the other hand, taxes are low. BEWARE OF HOUSE INSURANCE. In certain areas it is absolutely outrageous or impossible to get. It can be higher than your mortgage.
When it comes time to have kids, homeschool or go private.
We lived in Miami for several years. Had a friend who tried to move to Fort Lauderdale, wanted an acre of land. It was not possible/affordable. Land is at a premium and not too far from swamp areas. If you want land it is not a good place.
Also not family friendly. In our church, five members were crime victims [in good neighborhoods] in three years. One person got a brick thrown through the car windshield and the wife’s purse was snatched, husband was cut up from the glass. Another woman had her purse snatched in her driveway. She didn’t fight so no injuries. Another woman went with friends to a nice restaurant, had her purse snatched and arm broken in the process, and she didn’t fight them. They just decided to have fun with her.
People tried to break into our house in the evening hours when I was home with my children. They got through one lock but we had three on each door and metal bars on the windows.
Someone was arrested in our back yard for drug use, leading police on a chase.
Then there was the general nastiness. People cursed freely in front of my children at the library. We went to Wendy’s and stood in line and people tried to get ahead of us, pushing and shoving our young children and separating our family from each other.
Don’t go to Fort Lauderdale. We lived in a supposedly good neighborhood and close to Fort Lauderdale.
Some places might be all right in Florida, like the panhandle, but not Fort Lauderdale.
I’d never move to Ft. Lauderdale. Move up that coast a bit to Vero Beach or Melbourne.
I work in FTL. I enjoy it, but I've been here nearly 20 years.
But I wouldn't move to the area.
We have incredible problems with taxes and insurance premiums. Broward has a hellaciously terrible educational system and you will be compelled to use private schools.
Crime is rampant in Fort Lauderdale, traffic can be heavy. Unless you're wealthy, housing is still too high and lots are tiny.
There are many better areas outside of South Florida.
I wouldn't recommend South Florida to anyone right now. Not even for investment. The state (mostly local government that has raised property taxes to incredible heights) has to work out a proper tax policy and the market has yet to settle the insurance crisis. The Democrats have a monopoly on politics in SoFlo. Don't look for solutions to appear any time soon.
Oh, and AlGore says we're all going to die when the polar ice caps melt and flood all of Florida. Bummer, eh?
Either wait to see what happens in the next year or two or look elsewhere, amigo.
First, I am a native Floridian, born in Dade, but lived my entire life in Broward, just south of Fort Lauderdale. I went to public schools there and back then it was great (1963-1975). Then I had children, as you would like to. But by 1990 things had gotten a little too scary in the schools - the very same schools I attended.
I lived in Hollywood, just 8 miles south of Fort Lauderdale - unless you see a city limit sign, it's all urban - no open land in between.
It's not a good place to raise children. The schools are not safe, teachers are without the power to enforce real discipline, and devoid of anything Christian.
When I was in HS, I was in band and we played "Oh Holy Night" and Christmas was used. Today, those songs are off limits and forbidden and Christmas has been replaced with "Winter Holiday".
The local govt is mostly made up of former NYC residents, who never decided to become Floridians - it's more important that South FLA becomes the New NYC. Taxes have quintupled, and the housing prices have tripled since I left in October 1999.
If your company has any other Florida locations, please choose one north of Orlando - that will soon be what Fort Lauderdale is NOW!
Today, I live just south of Ocala - it is filling up with retirees from - you guessed it - from UP NORTH and from Fort Lauderdale.
I truly hate what has happened to my home town - a place that was a really great place to grow up and be a kid - always had fun going to the beach and climbing trees with friends.
Today, it's wall to wall malls, cars, homes, concrete, small trees, developments, and cranky people who rarely smile or say Hello.
A good friend of mine was relocated to Ocala with her family due to her husband’s job.
She was coming from a upstate NY small town family friendly area, and they did their best to find the suburb/type neighborhood they could fit in with.
I think she lasted 4 months.
she did find a large catholic community, but she couldn’t adapt to the city atmosphere - didn’t care for the schools - and it drove her crazy that walking barefoot in your back yard was painful.
She is VERY VERY happy to be back home even though the job market here does not have as much opportunity.
I would move to FLA without hesitation and not look back. All in all it is much cheaper living here and the quality and variety of females (if I can remember being single) is much much better than Ohio.
Like the rest of life, things are what you make of them.