I grew up in South Florida (east coast), and, until the last year or so, I’ve lived there for most of my life. It’s changed a lot from when I was younger, and isn’t necessarily anywhere near as “touristy” as the Orlando area. You don’t get as many tourists in South Florida, but there is a “snow bird” season. Certain parts of it are retiree havens, and a lot of segments of the population are filled with people who’ve migrated from the Northeast. Property values and taxes are higher, but you get a lot more for your money with that, as services tend to be better maintained and closer together than in Central Florida. The weather is more humid, but there’s almost always a sea breeze that helps make the year-round 70s-90s more bearable. The beaches are reasonably nice, and fish is fresh in most restaurants within 30 miles of the beach. There’s a lot of shopping, culture, and entertainment to be found, but you might have to drive to get to your favorite variety of each. From my experience, South Florida is completely devoid of “Southern culture”.
Right now, I’m living in an area that’s slightly more rural than Orlando, but is a 20-40 minute drive away, depending on intended location and traffic conditions. The weather is definitely drier here than in South Florida, and there isn’t as much of a breeze; this can be a problem in the more urban areas, as there’s not as much in the way of trees to absorb the heat, so it can be miserable on some days in one area, and still relatively nice in another area with more plant life. Right now, the population is ever-changing. We’ve got a lot more conservative population around here, which is a mix of many different cultures. The biggest in my part of the area is a bit of the “good ol’ boy” Southern culture and relatively new Latin American immigrants, but there are still a lot of other cultures mixing in: British, Indian, “Northerners”, Midwestern types, nondescript Yuppies, and others. The population changes quite a bit from town to town, with the biggest change normally stemming from the background of the people living there, as the different groups tend to “cluster” into their own neighborhoods more commonly than not (in my experience; it may differ to others in this area).
In both places, people drive like idiots, but in different ways. In South Florida, expect people to try to run you over or cut you off if they get the chance. People are angrier drivers and are in much more of a hurry to get places. The one exception would be in areas that are retiree meccas; when in these areas, be prepared to have someone in front of you who’s driving way too slow, not staying in their lane, and isn’t visible beyond the poof of hair and the knuckles on the steering wheel. In Central Florida, be aware that you’re likely to be surrounded by tourists that have lost their minds at any given moment and be prepared for people to stop randomly, take three lane changes at the last moment, turn out of the wrong turn lane, and drive at a speed that is either 20 miles over the speed limit or 20 miles under the speed limit. As a secondary warning, statewide, we can’t get age related laws passed in regard to license renewal beyond two major regulations we have now: graduated licensing and an eye test for those 80 and above. This means that, between the ages of 17 and 80, there isn’t any retesting or capability regulations going on at all, which has led to us having more older drivers who aren’t capable of driving a car not having anything to stop them beyond a crash or a police officer revoking their license. This is common enough everywhere, but is especially common because there are more people who are retirees than in other states.
I spent about four years living in Tallahassee while I was in college at Florida State University. It’s an interesting town, but was really slow compared to what I was used to in South Florida, and is definitely quite a bit more conservative in nature than South Florida or Orlando. It does, however, have a mix between a college town feel and a “bustling capital in a tiny city” thing going on. FSU and FAMU football season take over the city like a plague, and can make traffic a nightmare if you’re not going to the game. There’s a lot of college-related culture there, but the downtown area and some of the “outskirts” of Tallahassee have some beautiful historic buildings and museums to look at. There are a lot of bars and nightclubs in the area, a small independent movie theater, and a handful of ethnic restaurants and two hookah bars. The summers, however, are brutal: 106+ degree heat with very high humidity and regular afternoon showers. If you’re not used to it, you better stay inside and drink lots of water. There’s a lot of little country towns nearby, and the gulf coast is not far away; it is, however, tannic water, so it’s not as pretty as other beaches along the coast. Tallahassee can be charming for its history, but it’s no Savannah.
As others have said, we don’t have state income taxes. This means that a lot of the governmental services you got used to may not be the same as what we’ve got here, as it’s all dependent upon property taxes. Florida passed a property tax amendment earlier this year for the next fiscal year which cut a lot of budgets across the state. This means that downsizing is happening in just about all the county departments that I know of, whether it is hiring freezes, requiring employees to do more work for the same pay, a decrease in raises and cost-of-living adjustments, or just plain firing people so they don’t have to pay more people. In Orange County and Seminole County, this means that teacher jobs are being reduced and that county services are becoming increasingly limited in what they’re able to provide. If you’ve got kids that are still in school, consider very heavily what the school districts and private schools look like before you move. Some schools in nearby zones vary drastically in the education they provide, and sometimes it’s better to homeschool or find a decent private school.
Florida is definitely an interesting place to live, but it all depends on what you want from it. There’s busier “metropolitan” areas like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa, and there are quieter areas of different varieties all over the place. If you’re looking for a more relaxed beach lifestyle, it’s easier to find on the Gulf Coast than it is on the East Coast these days.
