Hoondavan said:
Lots more people, lots more development, more traffic/congestion...but rush hour is still well below pre-COVID levels in NEFL. Housing prices & home insurance are also considerably higher.
I should probably clarify...rush-hour traffic into the city is 10x better because more people are working from home w/regularity. ALL OTHER TIMES traffic is a bit more Berked than it should be. Simple tasks like a 6 mile drive to pick up the kiddo from school regularly encounters backed-up intersections. The crowds are here...they're just not jumping on I-95 & staying at their deck until 5PM. They're mostly just driving around running errands. I remember this whenever I try to accomplish a task that requires driving during the middle of a weekday.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
I have thought about MS. May have take a closer look.
Thanks to all for the info shared.
Mndsm
MegaDork
3/24/23 7:20 p.m.
Lof8 - Andy said:
Florida is full!
Seriously, everywhere I drive near Bradenton/Sarasota/Parrish, thousands and thousands of acres of forests are being stripped to the dirt to make way for condos and houses and strip malls and condos and houses and more condos. Its berkeleying disgusting. The traffic is getting absolutely stupid on I-75 or I-4 at almost any time of day. Everyday I consider what sacrifices would be needed to move to the panhandle area or GA or North Carolina or Kentucky. "Old Florida" is gone. Everywhere in the state will be Miami in no time.
That's the first thought I had. We full.
I can't say anything as I am a transplant as well, but the housing market and crush from upstaters has made me consider moving to the sun.
In reply to JBruin :
Send me a message if you want more details or have questions. We've been here going on 8-years & haven't found anyplace else we'd rather be.
Lof8 - Andy said:
Florida is full!
Seriously, everywhere I drive near Bradenton/Sarasota/Parrish, thousands and thousands of acres of forests are being stripped to the dirt to make way for condos and houses and strip malls and condos and houses and more condos. Its berkeleying disgusting. The traffic is getting absolutely stupid on I-75 or I-4 at almost any time of day. Everyday I consider what sacrifices would be needed to move to the panhandle area or GA or North Carolina or Kentucky. "Old Florida" is gone. Everywhere in the state will be Miami in no time.
Have you spent any time on the west coast? San Diego, LA. San Francisco?
Is it that bad? I just got a phone call from my Daughter. She was on the parking lot, er, freeway, bored to death creeping along at less than walking speed. She had less than a mile to go before her off ramp and we had a nice long conversation.
frenchyd said:
Lof8 - Andy said:
Florida is full!
Seriously, everywhere I drive near Bradenton/Sarasota/Parrish, thousands and thousands of acres of forests are being stripped to the dirt to make way for condos and houses and strip malls and condos and houses and more condos. Its berkeleying disgusting. The traffic is getting absolutely stupid on I-75 or I-4 at almost any time of day. Everyday I consider what sacrifices would be needed to move to the panhandle area or GA or North Carolina or Kentucky. "Old Florida" is gone. Everywhere in the state will be Miami in no time.
Have you spent any time on the west coast? San Diego, LA. San Francisco?
Is it that bad? I just got a phone call from my Daughter. She was on the parking lot, er, freeway, bored to death creeping along at less than walking speed. She had less than a mile to go before her off ramp and we had a nice long conversation.
I lived in downtown L.A. for 7 years. The traffic is bad, but actually not as bad as you think. The 405 sucks, but there are enough highways that you can find a route that isn't the 405. Traffic in Austin TX is worse than L.A. IMO.
CA west coast is some of the finest living I've ever experienced. The ONLY reason I'm not still living there is because my wife (at the time) and I had a total of 3 great-paying full time jobs and it was still a struggle to afford, and we had a pretty sweet deal on rent. We started feeling like we were 200% tied to making sure we busted our asses working as much overtime as we could and we were barely scraping by. Cost of living is very high, but again... not as bad as you might think. Right now in PA, if I want to buy an avocado, it's likely a shriveled, wasted brown mushy fruit and it costs $2. In L.A. you can get 4/$1 and they're wonderful. I can get cheap eggs here because there is plenty of local egg farming, but they're expensive in L.A. Milk was pricey out there because all of the cattle farming is beef... but that meant beef was relatively cheap. Wages are also higher, so if you have a profession that pays well, you'll get paid very well out there.
One thing I wouldn't do is retire there after working up a midwest nest egg. It will be gone in a few years.
I tried living in Florida. My grandparents lived in Ruskin (just south of Tampa/St Pete) so I had a lot of time spent there. My ex wife and I lived in an RV and we traveled where ever we wanted to live - L.A., Austin, New Orleans, Montana, a few dozen other places... and Miami. When we originally moved to New Orleans we thought we'd spend a couple months. We stayed for 3 years. When we moved to Miami we thought we'd stay for a couple years, but we left after 3 weeks. We hated it. Florida is not MY cup of tea, but I understand if someone else likes it. Florida (to me) has the worst possible climate - devastating hurricanes, peak humidity, and yet not immune to freezing. I have very little love for east coast climates. The Atlantic currents flow south-north which is why we have such varying seasons. The Pacific currents flow north-south which is why they are so temperate. That is also why the west coast tends to be so expensive. I joked that L.A. had three seasons: 50 weeks out of the year it was 72.6 degrees, then you had one week of winter where it was 50 and one week of summer when it was 95.
Well if Fl has their way permitless concealed carry will make things there even more interesting.
porschenut said:
Well if Fl has their way permitless concealed carry will make things there even more interesting.
Non gun owner here- Don't let the screen name fool ya. GA recently adopted "constitutional carry" and it's honestly had zero impact on my daily life. Gun laws seem like just another whataboutism to me.
Regarding FL - I lived south of Tampa for six years and could have stayed if not for the last recession. My folks have been snowbirds for 18 years but put their place up for sale this spring - just overcrowded (and they're tired of making the drive). I also realized that I like topography and change of seasons (and I hate humidity) so in hindsight FL was not the place for me.
But I did make a trip to Tampa last weekend and enjoyed visiting. I just wouldn't want to live there again.
Everything you need to know about FL can be found by googling "Florida Man Arrested" I know it's a tired trope and not representative of everyone in FL, but having lived and visited there a lot, it's not far off.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Thank you for doing your part to keep the northerners out of Florida.
It's a sunny day in Orlando today, probably 85 with modest humidity (that meaning that maybe half of your sweat will evaporate). I'm pale so I can't go outside showing skin with this UV index, I'll have to anyway if I want working sprinklers to keep my yard from being a bare sand pit with a smattering of sand spurs. I had new windows installed so my AC bill probably may stay below $300, the cost of maintaining a 75° house. I could go for a drive if I wanted to enjoy all that our local 2-minute timer intersections have to offer. I did get the opportunity to snake the AC drain line for slime mold, that's a monthly thing. It's nice not being buried in snow but I'll be hecked if I'm enjoying Central FL. Champagne living cost on Bud Light wages....
I've heard the Gulf Coast is nice and if I were a highway hour north maybe I'd enjoy it more but the retirees make sure that housing stays high so that's not an option. I'd love to go back to NC but even lowlands GA would probs be more livable. YMMV depending on the size of your nest egg.
docwyte
PowerDork
3/26/23 7:57 p.m.
In reply to frenchyd :
Time for her to ride a motorcycle, since lane splitting is legal in California. I wouldn't move back to So Cal without knowing that I'd be on my moto anytime I really had somewhere to go quickly solo.
One thing I will say: Respect the nature in Florida. Respect the swamps and the wildlife. So much of it is being developed out of existence.
SV reX
MegaDork
3/27/23 12:08 p.m.
In reply to Sarah Young :
That's a good point, but I have an honest question...
What can a potential buyer of a property in FL realistically do to curb the impact of development on wildlife?
For that matter, what can a developer do? If they are operating within the guidelines of the EPA and various agencies, are they supposed to just stop building?
I agree with you whole heartedly, but this seems like an issue for government and regulators to determine in conjunction with environmental specialists. If an area is being over developed, they should modify the guidelines and regulations, or STOP issuing building permits.
Im in the process of buying a FL property, and it's part of a very large development. My lot backs to wetlands. I understand that some people might not like the fact that the area is being developed, but that feels very far out of my job description as a property buyer.
Of course, I will need to avoid doing crappy things that impact the neighboring wetlands as a resident, but the development is really not in my control.
Lof8 - Andy said:
Florida is full!
Seriously, everywhere I drive near Bradenton/Sarasota/Parrish, thousands and thousands of acres of forests are being stripped to the dirt to make way for condos and houses and strip malls and condos and houses and more condos. Its berkeleying disgusting. The traffic is getting absolutely stupid on I-75 or I-4 at almost any time of day. Everyday I consider what sacrifices would be needed to move to the panhandle area or GA or North Carolina or Kentucky. "Old Florida" is gone. Everywhere in the state will be Miami in no time.
My aunt and uncle moved to Sarasota in the early 70's and my 4 cousins grew up there. My mother and I visited for the first time in 30 years this past Thanksgiving.
I can confirm Andy's comments above aren't far off what I experienced during my week there. Their development is well established and unlikely to grow (helps that Myakka State Park is directly to the east) but the areas closer to town are getting developed like crazy. Roads that used to be barely two lanes wide and my cousin told stories of hitting gators (not recommended) are now 4 lanes wide with traffic circles and lights.
Sarah Young said:
One thing I will say: Respect the nature in Florida. Respect the swamps and the wildlife. So much of it is being developed out of existence.
I have a lot of respect for this guy...
The Tampa Metro Area population has gone from 2M in 2000 to 3M in 2023. The planning authorities, traffic planners, etc. are trying to keep up but they are still behind the curve. Road projects are overwhelmed as soon as they are completed. This has definitely made getting around (and especially commuting) no fun at all.
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
My relative's property borders a creek. During storms the creek will overflow its banks and into the back yard. They've had 12' alligators a few feet from their back door. They also used to have a lot of dogs and cats and learned to never get terribly attached to them - since once in a while one of them would get too close to the creek at the wrong time and learned the hard way they are not at the top of the food chain...
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
My relative's property borders a creek. During storms the creek will overflow its banks and into the back yard. They've had 12' alligators a few feet from their back door. They also used to have a lot of dogs and cats and learned to never get terribly attached to them - since once in a while one of them would get too close to the creek at the wrong time and learned the hard way they are not at the top of the food chain...
We have coyotes here in Texas. They go after cats and smaller dogs but my dogs are bigger than the coyotes so they stay out of my backyard. There are actually rumors of stray German shepherds running with coyote packs near White Rock Lake which makes for some interesting pups and some rather large coydogs.
Whenever somebody complains about their pets getting eaten, all they can say at animal control is that the coyotes were here first. I would imagine that there were gators living in that Florida neigborhood long before they built those big houses there.
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
I hate to tell you, plenty of Coyotes here as well.
Again, dont move here people, it is not worth it!
10 AM
In reply to Slippery :
And my cousins claim to have seen the elusive Florida panther a couple of times as well as bob cats. I understand wild pigs are a big problem as well.
Interestingly, there have been confirmed sightings of Florida panthers in one of the state parks here in Gainesville. And yes to the hog situation. They are overrunning the area.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Slippery :
And my cousins claim to have seen the elusive Florida panther a couple of times as well as bob cats. I understand wild pigs are a big problem as well.
Yes, feral pigs are quite common as well as foxes. I have not seen any panthers or bobcats ... but there were a few black bear sightings down from me.
