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Thinking About Moving to Florida


Francis

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I've been here in Sarasota 25 years now, having moved from Alpena, Michigan.

 

As others have mentioned, it's hot & humid in summer which started a month ago and ends around Canadian Thanksgiving. I call them "cookie cutter days" because they all look the same, only the rain chance changes. 90+ every day, 77+ at night. (Of course, my sister lives in northern IN and it was hotter there almost all summer long last year.) But near the coasts it doesn't go hotter than 95. Interior is hotter in the day, cooler at night.

 

Sunscreen! Every day. Period. SPF 30 or higher.

 

"Winter" is January and February when it CAN get into the upper 20's on rare occasions (the national news carries the story) at night but usually is more like the 40's & 50's. You like Xmas/Hannukah shopping at 80 degrees? You'll like it here.

 

You can scuba dive all year, at least 7 months without a wetsuit. The beaches. Seriously great beaches. (Should I mention Spring Break?)

 

There are tons of restaurants! Being 50 can get you senior discounts, but usually it's 55.

 

We have 19 million residents and a lot of sports. 3 NFL, 2 NBA, 2 NHL & 2 baseball teams. Plus Arena football, spring training baseball, auto racing at Sebring, Daytona, St. Pete and Miami.

 

Your riding is different, too. Your summer jacket is good for 9 months or more. 12 months of riding weather but flat roads and loads of tourists from Halloween to May.

 

My area sees a 20%+ increase in "residents" (snowbirds, nearly deads, q-tips, early birders, etc.) for tourist season. This translates to a 40-50% increase in traffic during daylight hours because our "visitors" are all rich and old. You learn to avoid some of your favorite restaurants for "season" because you just can't get in. And some of the roads for the same reason.

 

It's a long state. I-75 ends in Miami but mile marker 470 is the first one you see crossing the line from GA. I'm at least 260 miles from the next nearest state. Yikes.

Highest point in the state in under 500' above sea level and it is right next to AL.

 

It can rain buckets on one side of the street and have brilliant sunshine on the other. Be prepared for a 5-15 minute downpour from May-October. Then you get to watch the steam rise off the asphalt. Or a tropical system will dump 12" on you over 5 days of non-stop rain. (The Weather Channel is your friend.)

 

This area (Tampa to Naples) gets people from the Midwest & Ontario, Southeast FL (Miami, Broward, Palm Beach counties) get all the NY, NJ & Northeast people. Orlando is quite liberal & young and seriously toursity, the panhandle (except Tallahassee) is rural, conservative & old as is the Gainesville/Ocala area generally. The rest of the middle is dairy, beef and sod farms plus orange groves. A lot of migrant workers, lot of Spanish speakers, very rural, very conservative. Haven't been to NE FL yet.

 

All that said, you should spend the month of August here before you decide. It takes some time to get used to, but you might just love it.

 

If I ever win(play) the lottery, I'd be a reverse snowbird. I'd live in the cold in the winter and summer down here. Snowmobile & ski for 3 months, scuba for 3 months, ride everywhere for the other 6 months.

 

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I've been here in Sarasota 25 years now, having moved from Alpena, Michigan.

 

Love me some Alpena. My grandparents moved from Bay City (home to both my parents) to Alpena, well, Presque Isle many years ago and we spent many a summer at their cottage on Grand Lake, at Whiskey Point. Great memories.

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I guess I'm lucky. Winters in SW FL (Bonita Springs) with little/no raid, moderate temps and low humidity. You can plan something weeks in advance with little chance weather will disrupt it. When it gets hot, we head to the mountains between Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC. Motorcycling in SW FL is lousy, so I do not ride much there, but I'm able to make up for it during the five months I spend in the mountains each summer. Plus the bicycling is great is SW FL. Usually do that 45-50 miles three days a week.

 

We travel a lot from both places and much prefer flying out of smaller airports like Ft Myers and Greenville to go out of the US. You can usually check your bags straight through and security is a breeze. Just make your connections in Atlanta, Dallas, JFK.

 

In FL I like to say the old folks live up around Jax, Tampa and Orlando. Their parents live down in SW FL with us!

 

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Lets_Play_Two

I lived in SE Florida for 20 years and spent the last five there looking for somewhere else to live. My problem with Florida is the sameness. Someone else said it takes a long time to get out of Florida and you can only do the Lake Okeechobee tour 100 times and then it gets boring. Summer heat is annoying and the threat of hurricanes gets old after your first one. The weather in the winter is beautiful but if you live there it becomes ho-hum because of the sameness. No interesting geography, snakes and alligators, and New Yorkers!!! Today on the Olympic Peninsula it was 70' and beautiful and I went from the valley to a bridge over the Puget Sound to 1000' in the foothills of Mt Rainier-and nobody honked at me.

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Lone_RT_rider

 

I hear Greenville, SC is pretty nice as well, and the airport is there. Feedback?

 

- Scott

 

Beware, there are a couple of nefarious characters that live in the area. :Cool:

 

Yes, don't move here. The people here are nice, diverse, care about commerce, enjoy life as a whole and unlike most area's in the deep south they DO NOT tend to stuff organized religion down your throat as a right of passage in order to feel comfortable living someplace.

 

Oh... and for those of you not familiar with SC (Yes Roadwolf, I know you live up the block from me), comparing Charleston to Greenville is a lot like comparing El Paso, TX to Austin, TX. Worlds apart.

 

I've been here 7 years. My mother just retired here last fall. Take that for what its worth. For me, this is home.

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Florida - the only US State I never want to go to again (sorry Calvin). Heat, humidity, no hills to speak of...

 

I have now been to 49 States (North Dakota has escaped me)..when it comes to spending the rest of my life Florida is last on my list.

 

I love my Florida friends, but I feel sorry for y'all.

 

 

....and I hate agreeing with Killer.

 

 

:dopeslap:

 

 

S'okay. Not my favorite state either.

 

But I take great exception to the "California without state income tax" crack. At least we can still defend ourselves.

 

I don't think so. Yankees are still moving there every day, seems like you need to increase your border surveillance :rofl: .

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I don't think so. Yankees are still moving there every day, seems like you need to increase your border surveillance :rofl: .

 

We call them (semi)human shields

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I guess I'm lucky. Winters in SW FL (Bonita Springs) with little/no raid, moderate temps and low humidity. You can plan something weeks in advance with little chance weather will disrupt it. When it gets hot, we head to the mountains between Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC. Motorcycling in SW FL is lousy, so I do not ride much there, but I'm able to make up for it during the five months I spend in the mountains each summer. Plus the bicycling is great is SW FL. Usually do that 45-50 miles three days a week.

 

We travel a lot from both places and much prefer flying out of smaller airports like Ft Myers and Greenville to go out of the US. You can usually check your bags straight through and security is a breeze. Just make your connections in Atlanta, Dallas, JFK.

 

In FL I like to say the old folks live up around Jax, Tampa and Orlando. Their parents live down in SW FL with us!

 

My brother moved down to Bonita Springs from Wisconsin and tells me it is a great place to live and to much is made out of the weather.

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Peter Parts

I'd also like to cycle when in Florida - except for the elderly driver hazards.

 

Toronto has a major amount of urban cyclists who seem to me suicidal people. Of course, they do keep up or even beat car traffic. I like to keep a 30-second safety zone between me and any moving car or 45-seconds for taxis. That should limit me to cycling in farm country after midnight and never in SE Florida.

 

Ben

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SE Florida is a very large place.

 

I grew up in Miam (s-sw) and rode frequently, often using the splendid bike baths (separate from roadway) and could get all over parts of Miami w/out road exposure.

 

Rode bicycle for years up in panhandle, only run over once.

:grin:

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