I may have a chance to relocate to Florida and I was wondering what are some of the pros and cons of living in the Sunshine State. I’m currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada and have a young (5-7) year old family with husband.
We usually keep to ourselves and aren’t too active in our community save for any school activities. Which reminds me, how is the school district there?
Any and all information would be appreciated!! 
Do you not read fark.com?!
I love it, but then I’m a native, and all of our family is here.
I’ve never lived in Vegas, but I would imagine Florida is a lot more humid.
The schools…well, it’s hit or miss. We took our kids out of public school and got them into private because the system where we live is abysmal.
There is no place in Florida that is more than 60 miles from a beach. (I read that somewhere.)
No income tax.
Orlando is a fun place, if you know where to go to avoid the “touristy” places.
I think the schools suck, at least here in Palm Beach County (Boca Raton, to be specifit). I moved here during my senior year of high school, and they were WAY behind Herndon Va, where we moved from.
But, Herndon was way ahead of Phoenix, AZ, where I moved from before.
But… Phoenix was behind Erie, PA, where I lived originally.
Avoid Duval County (Jacksonville) - the schools there are terrible.
Clay county schools are better, but traffic into Jax sucks. Same for St. Johns county schools.
You probably don’t want to take any advice from me, tho - I’m leaving in a few months. I find this area to be far too conservative to my liking, rather intolerant, and sometimes downright ignorant. Obviously I don’t speak for all of Florida, but the northeast area is not to my liking.
FairyChatmom - I went to relativly nice schools in Duval county. I mean the high school are not great, but elementary and middle schools are okay. In Mandarin at least, I cant really speak for the rest of florida. Although I must admit, being close to the beach and such places as Orlando is nice, as a matter of fact, I just got back from Disney world the other day, ( I must tell you that Florida residents get a discount on tickets).
That’s interesting, because friends of ours who lived in Mandarin moved to St. Johns county to get their kids out of the school system. We deliberately lived in Clay for the schools. Still, when we moved back here from Virginia, my daughter was taking classes with seniors during her freshman year - classes that she took in middle school up there were sophomore and junior level classes here.
My BIL was a substitute in some Duval middle schools, and the stories he told, even if only half true, were pretty scary.
But there is the Bright Futures program, if it doesn’t go away. My kid’s about to enter the Univ of Central Florida with a full scholarship and $600 for fees and expenses each year. There are a few lottery dollars actually going to education.
Do you know by any chance what school the kid attended? I mean, Dupont is not a great school, neither is Wolfson, but there are worse schools in the world. Bright futures is a good program, wish it would have helped me , but what can ya do?
It’s a big state, which area were you interested in. We’re relocating to Florida this summer, with an eight year old and a six year old. So I’ll have done research for most of the Suncoast area if you’re interested. The schools we’re coming from are much better, but we’re not wild on our current location for a variety of reasons.
We’re in Tallahassee, which is apparently somewhat different from other locations in Florida. It’s the seat of government and a big university town, so it doesn’t have quite as ‘rural’ a feel as other places we’ve been. It’s fairly self-contained and has just about everything you’d wish to have in a small city. However, it’s about 3 hours’ drive to go anywhere, so everyplace between cities is extremely rural. My wife is from Jax (Mandarin - hello to Flowerchild!), and she received very good schooling there. Can’t speak to anyone else’s experience, though. We’re not having any children, so the educational system is not something we need be concerned about.
I’m from Canada. I think that Florida is the best place I’ve been, but I have my reasons for thinking so - it doesn’t snow here, I didn’t have any trouble finding or keeping employment (in a non-service field), as mentioned, there is no state income tax, I consider it to be very pretty here, the cost of living is not exorbitant, and TLH is not a tourist destination. Did I mention that it doesn’t snow? It does rain a lot, often every day in the summer, for an hour or so. And when the students go home for the summer, you can actually drive without getting stuck in a traffic jam for a couple of months.
We’re not active in the community, either. You can be left alone if you wish to. Well, there were these people who, when they noticed that we moved in, came to our door every freakin’ day wanting to convert us to their religion, but we never answered the door. It was weird, they just came to our house, not any of the neighbors. Once, I heard them talking, and one said “They never answer the door!” So they started sending us mail. We returned it, and it stopped coming. On the other hand, if you would like to go to church, there’s one every 300 feet. Sometimes less.
So I’d recommend Florida. Then again, I’m probably biased! 
I’m originally from Broward county (South Florida… Ft. Lauderdale area), so Tallahassee initially felt very much like moving to Mayberry with a couple of colleges. I’ve grown to be alright with Tallahassee, but I still despise south Florida with a passion.
South Florida may be more busy, but when I lived there, I was living about 40 feet away from Boca Raton, a rich town with lots and lots of people who will treat you like crap for no reason whatsoever. That includes most of the people working in stores as well, especially if it’s part of a chain of stores. Things cost about 20% more in Boca with a 20% decrease in quality most of the time. The schools are mostly atrocious (lots of failing schools, according to the FCAT), but some schools do offer good IB programs that aren’t graded through the FCAT system, IIRC.
As far as Florida goes, you really just have to do your research on all the different areas and decide what seems most amenable to you. There’s a lot of variation throughout the state, and some places have benefits that will outweigh the cost of living there. Good luck.
I lived in Gainesville a couple of lifetimes one year…
Hot AND Humid - A/C should be a birthright in that place.
Bugs. Ever see a 6" long flying cockroach? You will. Don’t know if they still spray insecticides just about every early morning, but that was how 'skeeters were dealt with.
Rednecks. Everywhere. Had an interesting experience when I asked a deputy sheriff for driving directions in Tallahassee - those stereotypes don’t miss by much.
“But you better keep movin’ and don’t stand still,
'Cause if the skeeters don’t get you, then the 'gators will”
on the plus side, wild chameleons, cheap beer, and “magic” mushrooms (found in early morning growing in cow patties (or so I read in a magazine 
))
Not quite true. If you head west from Okechobee, you’ll eventually be 70 miles from beach.
In Florida, the further north you go, the further South you get. Orlando and below are relatively redneck-free, and the ones who you will meet are generally pretty nice, even to a darkie like me.
It is going away. Bright Futures no longer covers summer courses (which you are required to take at least 9 hours of at state universities). The requirements to maintain the scholarships also increase every few years; 20% fewer incoming freshmen recieved Florida Merit scholarships this year, relative to my freshman year in '99.
Personally, I love it. I moved here from England 9-odd years ago, and I will, career permitting, spend a good portion of my life here. That said, I’ve never lived anywhere else in the U.S., so I don’t really have an American frame of reference.
Rent and/or property taxes are slightly higher than elsewhere in the South, but worth it, IMHO. Florida is beautiful. I lived in some of England’s most scenic regions, but it wasn’t until I came here that I started to appreciate scenery. The public school system is pretty bad; the university system is pretty good. Drivers are not very good, but not Boston or L.A.-style suicide machines either.
Besides, I’m thinking we only need three or four more to hold a Florida DopeFest, and wouldn’t that be worth the trip?
That’s one thing I can say about Gainesville. Sure, Florida may be conservative, but the people there treat you nice, at least in casual encounters. I prefer a redneck local who treats me with respect for the few minutes we’ll meet than the stiff cold glance I get from some of the (liberal) college professors and administrators.
Nevertheless, I cringe everytime I have to see the Confederate flag.
Saw one on a Honda Civic the other day. Priceless. 'Course, don’t have one of them newfangled camera-phones yet… 
As are we. Probably in July. We are bringing an eight year old, a seven year old and a four year old.
I am calling a couple of realtors today.
Ya know, if I was the paranoid type, I’d think all of you are moving to FL because I’m leaving…
Nah, couldn’t be.
misstee, I am a Florida native. I’ve lived in central Florida my whole life. I’m about half-way between Orlando and Tampa on I-4.
[ul]
[li]It is humid. The pleasant part of the year is from about November to March. The rest is hot and humid. But at least it doesn’t snow.[/li][li]Yes, there are bugs. Big ones, little ones you can’t see, but which bite, ugly ones, flying ones, crawling ones…not that big a deal to me.[/li][li]Schools are definitely hit-or-miss, do some research before you settle on a location, if possible.[/li][li]You may have to drive more than 60 miles to a beach, but it’s still pretty close, and worth the drive.[/li][li]Rednecks? Hell, yes. But most of them are pretty well-behaved, and the ones that aren’t, well, they’re ignorable.[/li][li]Traffic is hideous in the larger cities, but hey, that’s true of every state.[/li][li]I live in a rural area, and there are still some really pretty, unspoiled areas inland that most people never see. Make a point of it, you won’t be sorry.[/li][li]See a space launch, or at least visit Kennedy with your kids.[/li][/ul]
Overall, I love it and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
Another native checking in. I’ve lived on the east coast of Florida most of my life with the exception of when I attended the UofF in the early 80’s. As others have said the bugs here can take some getting used to, the weather is mostly nice, you’ll eventually get used to the humidity. My wife who is a transplant from Maryland still tries to curl her hair in the summertime only to have all the curls go out the minute she steps out the door, kinda funny to me. Schools here are definitely hit or miss, where our kids go is a good school but go across the river and schools are not nearly as good.
dutchboy208 said “Orlando and below are relatively redneck-free”
You really need to head west from Orlando to US Highway 27 and drive south. You won’t be able to swing a road killed possum without hitting a redneck.
What Beerfan said about the schools being hit or miss. The quality of schools in any county can vary widely. I moved to the town I live so my daughter could go to a particular high school that was highly rated. If your realtor knows anything they’ll be able to point you to the good schools.
The Orlando area is OK (where I grew up). Plenty of stuff to do and see and not too far from the beach if you like that sort of thing.
What I’ve learned is that central Florida, especially the Orlando area, is pretty transient. Lots of people moving in and out, lots of people who’ve moved here from other places. You’ll probably be very comfortable keeping to yourselves here because everyone else is doing that too. There are plenty of community activities but it’s also very easy to just blend in and keep a low profile.
Heat, humidity, bugs, rednecks here and there we’ve got it all!