Um, yeah. That would bring you into my territory.
TroubleAgain I figured from your other post that you were somewhere around Lakeland. My quip about the rednecks was aimed at dutchboy208’s post about rednecks mostly being north of Orlando, so I figured I’d aim him towards such metropolitan areas as Arcadia and other points south.
Now I think I’ll go find some place nice to sit outside and have lunch at today since the weather is freaking gorgeous. Beach or the Port, hm can’t decide.
I am in Seminole—just outside of St. Petersburg and about a mile and a half from Madiera Beach. From what I am told, people move to Seminole just to get their kids into the Seminole schools. Lots of younger people here, though there are plenty of older ones as well. Seminole is close to really good shopping; houses are reasonable and traffic isn’t too bad—relatively speaking, that is. Pinellas County has a really great bike/hike/skate trail that covers 40+ miles from north to south. We have some great county and city parks, plus good beach access. Not every beachfront area has good access. Lee County, for instance, has terrible beach access. I’m pretty much a Pinellas County booster, although Citrus County has a lot going for it, too.
LouisB: schools in Pinellas don’t work that way anymore. They changed the whole system last year. A family might move to Seminole for the schools, but there’s a very good chance that they wouldn’t end up in the schools in Seminole. Might end up bussed to some of the worst schools in St. Petersburg instead. It’s part of a settlement between the Pinellas County school board and the NAACP that is intended to end bussing as a means of eliminating segregated schooling. The net effect is that it has instead created bussing for almost every single student in Pinellas County. It looks especially bad for people moving into the district. Although the new system is called “School Choice”, if you move in you have essentially no choice at all. They’ll use your children to fill in whereever there is space (depending on the age of the kids the county is broken down into 4, 3 or 1 zone(s)). Most or all of the good schools are already filled. So new kids will most likely be assigned to the schools with the worst FCAT grades in the county. And every time they change school levels you enter a new lottery to see what school you get. Proximity is included as a factor, but just one of many. Random draw (and supply and demand) are the largest factors. But the choice only happens at kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grades. After you’re assigned to a school you can request a transfer, but it’s another lottery then based on space available. Siblings of current students get priority in that case.
Net, it’s a big, confusing, unattractive mess. I expect that as it becomes widely known how unattractive it is to move into Pinellas that the housing demand for Pinellas will start to taper off. Hillsborough seems to have a slightly better version of the same system in place. In their system, as I was told, the school is assigned based on where you live, and then you can request to go to a different school if you want to. To attract children to under performing schools they’ve set up a magnet school system. To be fair there is a magnet system in Pinellas as well, but all of the magnet schools are located at the southern end of the county, and the deadline already passed for next year.
{slight highjack}
I was born in Orlando and currently live in Altamonte Springs, about 20 or 30 minutes North of downtown O-town. I’ve never lived anywhere else! Nor have I seen snow! 
lol!! That said…I’m in my 30s and single, so answers to questions you might be interested in as a family with kids moving here shouldn’t probably be directed to me. However, if there is something specific you’d like to know, that I might be ablet to help with, please feel free to e-mail me.
AND…if there is going to be a Florida Dopefest…LET ME KNOW, I’M THERE!! 
[end highjack]
Another Florida resident checking in just to say: what they said. I love it so much in Florida that I’ve moved here twice! (To South Florida from Ohio and to Northwest Florida from South Carolina)
I don’t have that much to add besides one random thought: There are great things and terrible things about every place you live. I bet, you can think of a pro and con list about where you live, right now. We all can. So you if hate snow and ice this is a good place to be.
My point is: geography has nothing to do with your happiness. That comes from within.
I would suggest, before settling on a location, surf the 'net for online newspapers in the cities you’re interested in. Or you could do what I did: I made a list of all the things I hated about all the places I’d lived, then another list about all the things I loved. Then I prioritized the “things I love” list and decided what was the most important. (Not seeing snow was right at the top! Being 60 miles or less away from a beach was #2) Then I contacted the Chambers of Commerce for the front running cities to see how they matched up to my list. Once I narrowed it down to Tally-town… I’ve been here ever since.
And really, avoid Miami.
I’ve been checking out as much as possible. The possible job offer is in Pinellas County.
It will still take a while to find out but the response has been tremendous help.
Bugs. 
There are some nice places here in Florida, but for the most part…well look elsewhere. I’m 18 right now, and ever since I moved here at the age of 9, I’ve had nothing but hate for this place. Deep, intense, overwhealming hatred. The schools are horrible (I read they were the second worse in the country on one of the newspapers down here), it’s dirty (I’d never eat a fish that I caught in a fresh water lake here), it’s always hot and humid, and I just flat out don’t like the people here. As a matter of fact, it’s safe to say that florida is on the top of my list of Things JoeSki Hates. Even above telephones. I have even daydreamed of shoveling snow. The moment I leave this Godforsaken state, I honestly hope the entire thing just sinks right into the ocean, family memebers and all. They had their chance to get out. And if I ever die before I see the day when I move to a different state, I will come back and make everyones life a living hell untill they relocate my dead body to a different state. I really can’t think of a single word that could express my hatred for this place. Do you know what it’s like to live the majority of your life at a place that you despise with your entire being? Constantly thinking about other places you have lived and visited? It’s a wonder that I have never woken up in a sweat, and try to hitchike out of this sandbar.
Hmmm…Maybe I should have taken this to the pit. Anyways, if you do feel this need to move to this…place…I’d reccomend Gainsville. My dad lived there for a while, and it was pretty nice. Orlando is a fun area too.
Like I said, Happiness comes from within. Geography has nothing to do with your misery JoeSki. I think you’re miserable for a lot of other reasons besides the fact that you live in Florida. Just because you want to get off this sandbar and live somewhere else… I promise, that once you do live in another state, that doesn’t mean you’ll be happier there. Unless you’re living right and your soul is happy – and then you’d be happy anywhere.
**Joeski[\b] I’d like to know, specifically, what it is that you hate so much about this place besides the heat, humidity and school system. What is it about the people that makes you dislike them so much? I mean, I live here and I’m a nice person. 
I’ve lived here since 1968 and while I often dream of moving elsewhere just to broaden my horizons I’ve been happy here. Public schools and all. My daughter is 17 and attends public school and while she’s not overly fond of high school (what teenager is) she doesn’t hate it.
I’d also like to echo what **Dogzilla[\b] said about happiness coming from within. The geographical cure usually doesn’t work because you take your problems with you.
That’s the end of that little highjack but if you need someone to talk to **Joeski[\b] you can e-mail me.
One more little thing: West coast beaches are way better IMO.
Pinellas is my “home turf” and LouisB lives there as well. If there’s anything I can do to help you out in your decision process or relocation, let me know. I’ve been doing a lot of research since that’s the general area we’re moving back to this summer. Feel free to send any questions via email if you’re more comfortable with that.
- Shibb
Should have mentioned: read my post in response to LouisB about Pinellas ‘School Choice’. Not a great situation, but there are ways to mitigate it and possibly come out okay. Do you know which part of the county the job would be in? Here’s a q&a session with a St. Pete Times reporter about the whole school choice thing.
Also, maybe helpful, here’s a list of the best restaurants in the area, also from one of the papers. (I like to eat)
Will your spouse be working? If so, what field? I might be able to help there, too. (Can’t promise anything)
Florida is actually like three different states. I lived in all 3 areas and each has its good and bad points.
North and west of a Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach line is very southern and the more north you go in this region, the more southern it is…with the exception of the two big university cities of Tallahassee and Gainesville where deep in their cores you’ll find liberals and moderates out number the conservatives. This area has some of the most diverse and natural beauty found anywhere in the state, but this area of the state is home to the most rednecks.
Central Florida along the I-4 corridor and down the southwest coast is/was settled mainly by midwesterns, so it has that midwestern feel to it. Here you’ll find cosmopolitan cities…like Tampa and Orlando, but you’ll still find your share of rednecks, especially in the rural areas. Orlando and Daytona buzz with tourist 24/7 365 days a year while Tampa and Sarasota seem more laid back and not quite so tourist oriented…when compared to Orlando and the Kingdom of the Mouse.
Urban South Florida…Stuart/Ft. Pierce to Miami/Dade is just an extenstion of the Northeast. It seems that everyone in this region either moved from the Northeast or from another country say like Cuba. Euporean visitors are very numerous in this area too. The area moves at a much faster pace than the rest of the state and is more liberal and tolerant than any other area of the state. Rednecks are far and few here, but nasty people abound (not to say that all people here are nasty.) This is the most crowded area of Florida and you’ll certainly feel it’s density in Broward and Dade counties. But this area has the warmest temps year round.
The state is covered in humidity and bugs top to bottom, so if you are gonna live here, just get use to it.
I cannot find a cite now, but I read from the FCAT scores that the four best school districts in the state are Alachua County (Gainesville) Leon County (Tallahassee) Sarasota County (Sarasota) and Palm Beach County (West Palm, Boca Raton etc.) I’m sure many of you will have a difference of option on this, but this was based on the average FCAT scores district wide in these places.
Finally the worst thing about Florida is that we are held captive by our awful Governor JEB!..brother of GWB. He’s in his second term and only has 3 more years left. Hopefully after his reign of terror our environment and schools will improve, but I’m not holding my breath!
Poonther That was a great synopsis. I never thought about it like that but you hit the nail on the head.
[sub]see, sometimes I do get the coding right[/sub]
I didn’t know about the changes in the school situation. I don’t have kids and don’t pay a lot of attention. I do, however, have a sister in St. Pete who is in the real estate business and who has been in that business for 20+ years. Not that I am soliciting business or anything, but my email address is on here somewhere.
Another native checking in. Like, OneYogini, I also live in Altamonte Springs, aka “Orlando sprawl” (I’ve also never seen snow as well… spooky). I’m a product of Seminole County public schools and FSU, and I’ve done pretty well.
Now for the stream of consiousness commentary on life here:
I’m one of those natives that absolutely detests the beach, so I make do with horseback riding and canoeing. If you do become a beach goer, make sure everyone becomes a good swimmer and learns what to do in an undertow (swim parallel to the shore).
If you’re a theme park junky, there are frequent FL-resident deals in the off-season. Yearly passes also pay for themselves if you’ve got kids - a coworker takes hers to Disney every few weeks for a couple of hours. They all really love it.
The cost of living is just fine, IMO. Myself and most of my friends (all 20-somethings) already own houses. Property taxes can be a bitch ($1600 for a 3-bedroom condo & that’s with homestead exemption), so it’s a good thing there’s no state income tax.
In terms of natural disasters, central Florida has been damned lucky with hurricanes. But woe to ye with beachfront property. We get tornadoes every so often, but they’re usually low caliber (granted, I wasn’t any less freaked out when I saw one in the treelines while driving on I-10). Storm flooding is a problem in other areas of the state, though, so if you’re in a flood plane, make sure you’re insured and have a disaster plan. Sinkholes have also been problematic for at-risk property owners.
Wildfires happen yearly, but large-scale burns not as often - I can’t recall if we’re still officially in a drought. Since I no longer have a lawn, I can’t tell based on sprinkler rationing. We’ve been able to have fireworks the past few years, so maybe we’re OK again. But, it isn’t as if the entire state catches on fire on a regular basis.
On the plus side, if you like gardens and having a lawn, you’ll be glad for it to stay alive year-round. However, I never found it very fun to mow twice a week in the summer.
Get used to summer rain and lightning. We’re the lightning capital of the world, too, so have a UPS system for your computer and come inside when it starts to rain - don’t think you can still swim or play some golf in a light shower.
If you’re from Nevada, I’m sure you’re used to the heat. But, as they say “it’s the humidity that gets you”. I’ve visited Vegas and was totally amazed how tolerable 100+ degree weather was when there was no humidity to speak of. I strongly recommend having a pool.
With regards to the “wildlife” - I have more problems with lizards, frogs, and spiders than I do with palmetto bugs. For which I’m very thankful. Palmetto bugs (FL roaches) are mean and outright arrogant bastards. I have lobbed large objects at them and all they do is stare.
That’s about it in a nutshell. I keep mostly to my circle of friends, so I can’t comment much on the community. Though it is often easy to forget you’re in the “south”. I absolutely hate the climate and wish there was a bigger symphony presence, but all in all, it’s not a bad place to live.
I forgot to mention – BrightFutures scholarships might be getting harder to get, but Florida prepaid is still around –http://www.florida529plans.com/. A friend of mine has been using his leftover money to fund graduate school.
I’m a little East of Tampa. I definitely agree with what everyone here has said, especially about the schools. If you want your child in a good school, I would recommend a Magnet school. Hillborough County also is starting a school choice program.
Good luck, and keep us posted!
Man, this is why I love the SDMB! It’ll be a couple of weeks, to find out the skinny on a job. My husband works tech support, but has a degree in MIS so hopefully he will find employment in a jb he likes.
I already supplement my kids learning at home, so if the school district is bad, we will work around it until we can find a better alternative.
The heat here is Vegas is like baking your lungs when you breath in.
I disagree. There are variouses differences between places. some places are hot, some are cold, some are clean, and some are dirty. Certain illnesses and such are more common in some areas than others, and there’s no denying that people have different attitudes in some parts of the country than in others. Southeerners are known for talking fast, northerners are known for talking quickly. There are many things that make Florida what it is, and I dislike many of those attributes. Some people love the heat and humidity here, I’d much rather live in a place where it snows a few times a year.
I’ve never got along with people here. Before we moved to Florida, I had plenty of friends in every state we lived in. Once the third grade started, it was like I couldn’t pay people to like me. I was always a nice guy, but I was chubby, had a speech impediment, and didn’t have the money for name brand clothing. I switched classes in the fourth grade because people in the first class didn’t like me, couldn’t make friends in the second class either. After the fourth grade, the school actually wanted to hold me back because the other kids didn’t get along with me. My grades were fine. My parents had me continue to the fifth grade where I ened up switching schools just so I wouldn’t have to deal with the same groups of snot nosed kids. I switched schools 2 more times before I finally convinced my mom to home school me. And ever since then, I’ve been a shut in for the most part. There are nice people in florida, we know a few, but I’m tired of looking for them. I’m 18 now and am attending a community college. I wanted to get involve in a club or something to try socializing one more time, but there are no clubs to join, or at least none that don’t involve sigining up for a class I have no interest in (and there’s a very limited amount of those). Besides online firends, I have almost no one to talk to and I’m driving myself nuts.
It seems like half the people where I live have blue eyes and blonde hair. Can a look get anymore saturated? How about not dying your hair and letting people see what you really look like?
As I pointed out before this place is polluted. when we first moved here, I remember seeing turtles on logs and fish swimming in certain creeks. Those creeks are now clogged with garbage, and I can’t think of a single wooded area that doesn’t look like bums were partying there the night before. There’s trash everywhere. I see people littering all the damn time, it doesn’t even matter if a trash can is near by. I even see people littering in nature parks. That’s right, there’s people here that pay money to see a place that hasn’t been polluted and still has native animals living in it, just so they can throw crap all over the place again. This is just another thing that get’s under my skin.
Most of my time spent here hasn’t even been spent living, but rather exsisting. My life is draining away, and I haven’t done anything with it yet. I feel like my entire life has gone straight to limbo since we moved here and even if this is all just in my head, there’s enough painfull memorys I have associated with this state to justify me moving.