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Native Floridian here.

Before I could even begin to offer advice about moving to Florida, I would ask, first, why do you want to move to Florida? What do you want to do here? What kind of lifestyle are you looking for? What kind of people do you want to be surrounded by? What kind of community do you want to live in? And what kind of budget do you have?

Do you want to spend your days playing golf? Boating and/or fishing? Relaxing by a pool? Going to the beach? Shopping & dining in upscale retail centers? Hiking & camping? Do you want city lights & nightlife, or would you prefer someplace where the whole town is buttoned up by 9pm? Urban or rural? Acreage? Single-family home on a suburban 1/4-acre lot? A low-maintenance condo? A gated community with strict HOA rules, or someplace where you can do your own thing and your neighbors do their own thing and everyone leaves everyone else alone to do their own thing?

Do you object to bugs? Do alligators terrify you? Can you stand to be outdoors when it’s 96° in the shade with 95% humidity?

There are places like Naples: overwhelmingly white, rich and conservative. Places like Miami, where, when you see “help wanted” signs that say “bilingual preferred,” it means that it would be nice if you also speak English. The Redneck Riviera in the panhandle — more like Alabama. You got your touristy Orlando. Boca Raton, filled with rich old ladies from NYC. Horsey Ocala. College town Gainesville. Tallahassee, filled with cockroaches of the legislative kind. St. Augustine, the oldest continuously populated city in the U.S. Key West, filled with gay people and old-Florida descendants of the early settlers.

Florida is a large and very diverse state. I can almost guarantee that there are communities where you’ll be happy, and I can guarantee there are communities where you’ll be miserable. But you need to be more specific than just “Florida.”