What's with everyone running to Florida??

[pb4uski]

Not EVERYONE runs away in winter to Florida...

I will admit to missing snowmobiling and skiing. We had a week ski trip to Colorado planned for February until DW hurt her 65-year old knee.

 

[Amethyst]

South Florida - Palm Beach, Broward, Dade counties - is almost completely developed, although it wasn't so when I attended college (lived with parents). In the early 2000's, I did a little scouting around my old haunts and realized it was not for us.

So when we moved to FL (which had always been my intent) we chose a location several counties north. Same winter weather, fewer people. Now, the issue is the limitation of our choices for services of every type. Every business owner complains of not being able to find or keep decent employees.

I agree about the beauty of western NC. We even looked seriously there, but for various reasons decided not to live there year-round.

My mother had a condo in Palm Beach Florida and I use to visit her but I hated it--way too crowded and hot for my taste. .

 

[harllee]

We're about 3 hours north of you and feel the same way, though few of the Virginia mountains are high enough to deliver truly comfortable summer weather.

Yes to get to cooler summer weather you need to be a 5000 feet elevation or above. That is why we have a place at Banner Elk NC

 

[Which Roger]

Put me in the camp of having absolutely no interest in Florida, It's hot and humid, crowded, and flat. I want the exact opposite on all of these.

 

[JP.mpls]

Had enough. My friends live in an oceanside condo in Golf Shores in the winter. It was her father's place.

I stopped to visit with them for a few days.

He said, he gets tired of hearing the ocean waves. We both looked at each other, and started to laugh.

JP

That looks awful. How can you stand it? Day after day, looking at that

 

[calmloki]

We thought about trading Oregon life for Florida, so we spent a couple weeks of February based in Venice Beach. Really liked going the gulf and not emerging covered in goosebumps. Really liked the fish meals, and I'm not a big seafood fan. Thought finding fossilized shark teeth was neat. Attracted by the lack of state tax. People are pretty much people, even the New Jersey transplants that seemed prevalent. HATED the flat landscape and the smell of rot/old steeping grey water that seemed common.

We bounce between Oregon and SoCal, La Quinta. Too darn hot here in summer and the taxes are high - but wearing a T-shirt for a walk in the winter sunshine and living in a bowl of mountains is pretty great. Oregon is lacking in a visible sun during the winter and spring and also has high taxes - but the hills and glorious greenery and fir forests in the summer and fall are wonderful. Keep looking for a perfect single place that has few people but plenty of stores and medical care, great weather year round, vistas that impress, and cheap taxes. Haven't found that yet.

 

[53anddone]

We had some land on Sanibel Island (where I would live if I did Florida). Just sold it.

I am thinking in a few years maybe we'll start doing a month somewhere in the Caribbean so we can sail and drink rum. Florida is just to much of a monoculture for me.

 

[harllee]

We thought about trading Oregon life for Florida, so we spent a couple weeks of February based in Venice Beach. Really liked going the gulf and not emerging covered in goosebumps. Really liked the fish meals, and I'm not a big seafood fan. Thought finding fossilized shark teeth was neat. Attracted by the lack of state tax. People are pretty much people, even the New Jersey transplants that seemed prevalent. HATED the flat landscape and the smell of rot/old steeping grey water that seemed common.

We bounce between Oregon and SoCal, La Quinta. Too darn hot here in summer and the taxes are high - but wearing a T-shirt for a walk in the winter sunshine and living in a bowl of mountains is pretty great. Oregon is lacking in a visible sun during the winter and spring and also has high taxes - but the hills and glorious greenery and fir forests in the summer and fall are wonderful. Keep looking for a perfect single place that has few people but plenty of stores and medical care, great weather year round, vistas that impress, and cheap taxes. Haven't found that yet.

Look at the area around Asheville NC, not in the city limits, but somewhere a short drive from Asheville like Weaverville or Black Mountain. Ashville has a very good hospital. NC does have income tax but the real estate taxes are low. Nice 4 season weather. Wonderful green mountains and waterfalls and lots of sunny days. It would be worth a trip if you have never visited.

 

[socca]

We thought about trading Oregon life for Florida, so we spent a couple weeks of February based in Venice Beach. ... HATED the flat landscape and the smell of rot/old steeping grey water that seemed common.

That's nothing - try red tide for a real treat. The quality of life for folks who live near the coast can be seriously impaired or even ruined by red tide for months on end. This is yet another risk factor to consider when thinking about your Florida dream home.

 

[Walt34]

I never had any desire to move to FL. Too crowded (I hate crowds) and too hot in the summer. My younger sister lived about a half-hour north of Miami for eight years or so and described the weather as "D.C. in August for ten months of the year" so I want nothing to do with that. My original plan was for one of the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, or around there. Basically the only ice I want to ever see will be in my drink. Yes I know that occasionally they do get snow but a "blizzard" down there is two inches and it's gone in two days. That I can handle.

DW had other plans that did not include moving that far from family, and not wanting to create that kind of rift, and really it's only cold for two or three months of the year here so I can deal with it.

Still, I have a dream: "House for sale. Snow blower conveys. Ha ha ha!"

 

[Out of Steam]

Yes to get to cooler summer weather you need to be a 5000 feet elevation or above. That is why we have a place at Banner Elk NC

The area in the Virginia mountains that I visit most often is at about 3200 feet, and it can still get quite hot.

 

[Dtail]

Well we love FLA with all the heat and everything else. My DGF gets cold at 60, so there is that.
It works for us in retirement and don't see moving out of state.

 

[Palmtree]

Well I heard a new term this week, halfback, so all the NY/NJ peeps that move to Florida but then realize its not for them, so they land in NC (ie. halfway back).

Not just NC. I'm a southern boy and live in SC on a beautiful lake near the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. Went to a meet and greet last week for newcomers. About 90% were from New York or New Jersey and half of them were halfbacks from Florida.

 

[Freedom56]

Real Estate at 22 cents on the dollar from the 2007 peak back in 2011 was incentive enough for us to buy in Palm Beach County. Who we move there permanently from Southern California? No way. The beaches are great and the Palm Beach area is certainly nice. Until international travel resumes, we will be visiting our condo more often.

 

[W2R]

I have been to Florida briefly maybe 5-10 times, on vacation or on work trips. I think it is very appealing. I love the sunshine, the warm weather, the beaches, the natural beauty, and the casual lifestyle in Florida.

However, it has one HUGE disadvantage that will keep me from ever moving there. That disadvantage is, that Frank doesn't want to live there. So, don't hold your breath. I would never leave him just to move to another state. LOL That would be silly.

Honestly I don't care because we are very happy here in Louisiana.

 

[Silver]

I have lived in central Florida for 20+ years. There is nothing good about it. Nothing to see here. We are full. Thank you for your interest....now please go away.

 

[dm]

I have lived in central Florida for 20+ years. There is nothing good about it. Nothing to see here. We are full. Thank you for your interest....now please go away.

It’s no better in SW Florida either.

 

[DayDreaming]

I have an older cousin who retired a long time ago. He's a big salt water fisherman who loved Florida in the winters but just could not stand it in summer. So he winters in FL and lives in NJ the other half of the year.
I spent a week in FL in May once and that was already too hot for me!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Weather and access to Quality Healthcare are the highest on our list. Florida satisfies both of these, especially healthcare, it really is top notch, as long as you do not live in podunk Fla.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Put me in the camp of having absolutely no interest in Florida, It's hot and humid, crowded, and flat. I want the exact opposite on all of these.

Those and bugs, alligators, storms, floods, sink holes and the dreaded Florida Man/Woman.

 

[Walt34]

I have lived in central Florida for 20+ years. There is nothing good about it. Nothing to see here. We are full. Thank you for your interest....now please go away.

I can say the same for West Virginia. Plus we get these terrible snow blizzards and you can freeze off um, important body parts.

 

[Amethyst]

The problem being that Florida has only two types of area: Podunk, and Insanely Overcrowded.

Weather and access to Quality Healthcare are the highest on our list. Florida satisfies both of these, especially healthcare, it really is top notch, as long as you do not live in podunk Fla.

 

[Dtail]

Those and bugs, alligators, storms, floods, sink holes and the dreaded Florida Man/Woman.

Yeah no more retirees.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

The problem being that Florida has only two types of area: Podunk, and Insanely Overcrowded.

Depends where you are, we are not so bad up here.

I would say Cheap and Expensive more describes it. Unless you are in South Florida that is, now THAT is crowded.

 

[rodi]

I have two BIL's planning or in process of moving to Florida. One just put his house in PA under contract and his new build home in FLA will be done in less than 2 months. The other has 5 years till he retires... but the plan is to move down there.

I, personally, see no reason to give up BETTER weather (no humidity, fewer bugs, no hurricanes) when I have a paid off house 2 miles from the Pacific Ocean. It might be quite different if I were struggling under a SoCal mortgage.

As others have mentioned - retirement states tend to be based on where you are moving from. I know lots of people who move to Arizona from the western states. But Arizona is another non-starter for a year round home - WAY too hot in the summer. I have family there and will only visit from late October through April. (Although cousins just bought a second house at elevation in Northern AZ... so maybe we'll visit there outside that window)

I'll stay in my Xanadu here in San Diego... I'm like Goldilocks - not too hot, not too cold, not too humid... perfect.