Our company is moving to Florida

6/19/2002 | self

[agenda_express]

Pensacola. It's beautiful and conservative.

[livius]

Gainesville or Alachua County (and surrounding counties) in North Central Florida. Schools are generally okay (a lot of home schoolers, too), housing is still affordable, and the weather is pretty good. It's drier than some parts of Florida. You're about 1 1/2 hrs. from either coast, and there's lots of good inland recreation (fishing, kayaking, swimming in the springs, horses - oh, yes, and motorbiking and mudbogging...)

Plus, we need more conservatives here! (Gainesville is, alas, quite liberal, because of the presence of the University).

[operation clinton cleanup]

Avoid the Daytona Beach area! I lived there for 4 years and it is a gathering place for transients in the winter and criminals on the run, not to mention crooked election workers!

[cynicom]

Surely you jest if you desire all of that in FL.

[MassExodus]

Does your company need a highly qualified Image Editor / Pre-Press professional ?

*chuckle*

We homeschool our three kids and have flirted with the notion of heading for Tampa or Lauderdale.
Tough to leave the job I've got now, but Man I'd love to live down in FLA !

[RightFighter]

Yes, I've been here my entire life, except for the four years I spent in ultra-liberal Tallahassee going to school at Florida State. I love it here and don't plan on leaving any time soon. Most of our elected representatives in this area are Republicans, and Ormond is growing a lot right now. I'd love to have some Freepers move in around here.

[Wright is right!]

OK, let's see. Your company is moving to "Florida." Any place in particular? You can live anywhere in the state and still work for this outfit? Seems like you'd want to be where the company is, and companies don't usually just move to a state - they open up offices in cities.

I'm confused.

Michael

[sandym1313]

Ocala is nice, (but probably not good for business) Naples, etc. on the west coast. I liked the Ft Lauderdale area (used to live there)(awesome weather) (except it is crowded and english is kind of a second language, with Miami to to south and the snow birds from Quebec in the Hollywood area), on the east coast stay north of Miami and south of Daytona.

[thatsnotnice]

I’ve always liked northwestern FL. I’ve been to/through Pensacola but never lived there. I lived in and around Panama City for a while. I liked the Lynn Haven/Panama City area (Bay County). I’ve been told that the marina and areas in and around Parker are going downhill, but I haven’t been there for a while and can’t verify from personal experience. I don’t know what the business climate is like there right now and I can’t really think of a reason for a company to move to a place like Bay County either… except to get out of CA and that might be enough. Ha.

[MichaelP]

I can proudly recommend my Hometown Vero Beach.

I live in Michigan now, but will retire back there in 12 years. The beach is beautiful, as is the Indian River. Development has been controlled. No Highrises, good employment pool and good schools. Oh yea, great weather too;)

Mike

[stainlessbanner]

It seems to be pretty conservative. My family grew up there and went to Seabreeze and Mainland HS in the 60's-70's. The thing I love about Daytona/Ormond is so many people know each other. If I could work a deal with my employer, I would consider moving out that way. Orlando is getting crazy.

[kellynla]

Jake, we are in CA now. Because of the skyrocketing taxes, business operating expenses and living costs they have decided to move. I would like to stay but I was out voted.

[kellynla]

Because of the tax situation as long as we are in the state we are fine. And because of our business we can locate where we want. Phones, faxes and email make location of the business not essential but we would want a safe and clean area. We own the business.

[wheezer]

I'd love to have some Freepers move in around here.

My brother moved to Ormond about a year ago from Maryland...he loves it and wishes he had moved there years earlier.

I lived for a year in Lauderdale and liked Florida very much, but moved back north for biz reasons.

[jra]

Just moved to Florida myself...Tampa Bay area.

The weather is hot, but not stifling...plenty to do. In fact, Places Rated Almanac put Tampa in the top 5, I believe.

First word of advice: Pinellas county is a major no-no if you have kids in public school. They're still in the process of living up to an integration consent decree, and your kids stand the possibility of being bussed all over the county...

Hillsborough county is nice, the schools overall are quite good, and you're close to churches/shopping/entertainment, etc.

We've just bought a house in Plant City (Strawberry capital of the World), just east of Tampa proper--it's right off I-4, one of the better freeway corridors in the area (major widening project recently finished). We're in a rental home until we sell our house in Texas, and we spent every weekend for 5 months (really!) looking at neighborhoods, and we couldn't be happier with what we've found. Nice, down-to-earth people, slightly slower pace than the big city, but just a short hop to town. BTW, there are lush agricultural areas near here...been enjoying some of the best fruits/veggies I've EVER had.

If it had not been so far from my wife's office, we'd have given some serious consideration to the Lakeland/Winter Haven area...just drove through, but it looks nice.

[stainlessbanner]

They're still in the process of living up to an integration consent decree

So is Seminole County, FL - it's horrible!

[TruthNtegrity]

Over the past 6 years, I have visited friends in Inverness, Citrus County, and recommend it highly. It's not on the coast but a short drive from it. Schools are good, people are friendly, crime is low, everybody speaks English, folks range from young to old instead of a preponderance of retireds, and Churches are active. FReepmail me if you want more details.

OTOH, as I write this, I am preparing to move from Virginia to the panhandle, and am in the process of gathering more information myself, which is why I'm reading this thread. Good luck in your search.

[Mark S]

I've lived in Tampa for the last 3 years and Lakeland before that (lived all over in the Army before that). Tampa is the business capital of Florida, added more jobs than any other city in the country last year. The west coast of FL seems to have a much more relaxed, non-glitzy beach town feel to it. I would definitely recommend this area. There are decent schools throughout -- I have two kids approaching school age and have no reservations about the local elementary school. I like to think that Tampa has a lot of the benefits (entertainment, sports teams, universities etc..) of a large city without the magnitude of the typical problems (traffic, urban decay etc..).

[Fish out of Water]

Try the pan handle, the western strip along the gulf coast that even has a different time zone from the rest of the State.

[Armando Guerra]

What type of neighbors you may want can be affected by where you come from. Generally speaking, the east coast of Florida is heavily populated by northeasterners coming down I-95. Broward County and the neighboring counties have a high number of transplants from New York and that area. The west coast of Florida is populated by midwesterners coming down I-75. The panhandle of Florida has more in common with Alabama than most of the rest of Florida. Dade county is another country. Central Florida is a mixed bag. Having lived on both coasts, I prefer the Gulf coast as more laid back and friendly. On the other hand, it is not as lively and cosmopolitan if that is what someone is looking for. As to the school systems, my opinion is that they are poor overall in Florida (although it sounds like that is the case nationwide), yet you can find the few gems that do well. Personally, my family homeschools but there are a few public schools I might consider if homeschooling was not possible. I actually also considered Celebration (Disney's town) when it was looking like work would take me in that area. I still enjoy going there for dinner when in the area even though I never did move there. The homes are beautiful, the neighbors friendly, and my sense was that the politics were conservative. The school is also "A" rated and the kids can walk to school, or walk to the movie theatre or ice cream shop after school. It is very family friendly and pedestrian friendly with parks everywhere. They also have some nice commercial buildings, although a bit pricey, and conveniently located to the interstates and airports and are probably going to be a stop on the bullet train if finally built. The downside is that Disney still pulls the strings and it is an oasis surrounded by tourist traps and traffic jams. If you live there, hope you don't have to wander far too often. I would say north Pinellas (Dunedin or Palm Harbor) or Pasco sounds like it meets your criteria. Close to good fishing, small town atmosphere, affordable, but close to the "big city" if you need good shopping, the best airport in the country, or big league sports. Check it out, what part of Florida appeals to you is very subjective. You can also go to the MyFlorida.com website to link to the school scores.