I’ve lived in SoFla for most of my life, 5 years at UF in Gainesville (Go Gators!) so I have some thoughts for you and others reading the thread.
House prices are WAY cheaper in Florida of course. Unless you are ON the beach or bay, you will be paying WAY, WAY less than SD.
Keep in mind though that Prop taxes are 2.25% (nearly double here) and insurance is crazy. My parents just got a bill for over $6k for a 1800sq ft house 30 miles inland in Ft Lauderdale AND in most cases salaries in Fla are way lower. (It all depends of course.)
People in Fla are way less “pleasant” but more “friendly.” Let me explain, people here tend to be very easy going at say Von’s or at school, BUT they also tend to be more cliquish and stand-offish (is that a word?). In Fla going to Publix can be a lesson in rudeness, but most people find making good friends pretty easy.
FOR ME, the reason to live in Florida is the ocean, that’s why I never really liked Orlando. We were in SoFla visiting last week and my kids were collecting crabs, shrimp, sea slugs and a fish in the seaweed just offshore (in 2′ of water). The water was gorgeous, the girls topless (South Beach) and it was perfectly warm. The fishing – bays, freshwater, offshore, etc, is amazing. (Waves of course are VERY different.)
BUT, getting there was crazy & parking nuts on Easter Sunday.
B4 we moved out here, we were advised that Cali was the weekend trip capital of the US. Think of where you could be in 2 hours, 4 hours or 7 hours drive from SD. In Orlando it’s all kind of the same.
KIND OF … check out the springs you can raft down. Visit St Augustine, the Keys, go to Miami for Art Basel, check out the Everglades, the beaches in the panhandle and find your favorite “close” beach.
All in all, I agree SD is great if you can afford it. There are a few other negatives to living here, it’s a bit provincial, but Cali is magical.
If I could live 3 months in the winter in Miami and the rest of the year in SD, I’d take it in a flash.
For those of your transplants, there are somewhere around 3.2 million people in San Diego County today, back in the 70’s there were 1.3 million. There were still the same amount of beaches, parks, mountains, lakes, and almost the same amount of roads in the 70’s, but 2 million less people, so please do not lecture the natives. Not everything was that great, here is a picture of Blacks Beach in 1974:
For those of your transplants, there are somewhere around 3.2 million people in San Diego County today, back in the 70’s there were 1.3 million. There were still the same amount of beaches, parks, mountains, lakes, and almost the same amount of roads in the 70’s, but 2 million less people, so please do not lecture the natives. Not everything was that great, here is a picture of Blacks Beach in 1974:
For those of your transplants, there are somewhere around 3.2 million people in San Diego County today, back in the 70’s there were 1.3 million. There were still the same amount of beaches, parks, mountains, lakes, and almost the same amount of roads in the 70’s, but 2 million less people, so please do not lecture the natives. Not everything was that great, here is a picture of Blacks Beach in 1974:
For those of your transplants, there are somewhere around 3.2 million people in San Diego County today, back in the 70’s there were 1.3 million. There were still the same amount of beaches, parks, mountains, lakes, and almost the same amount of roads in the 70’s, but 2 million less people, so please do not lecture the natives. Not everything was that great, here is a picture of Blacks Beach in 1974:
For those of your transplants, there are somewhere around 3.2 million people in San Diego County today, back in the 70’s there were 1.3 million. There were still the same amount of beaches, parks, mountains, lakes, and almost the same amount of roads in the 70’s, but 2 million less people, so please do not lecture the natives. Not everything was that great, here is a picture of Blacks Beach in 1974:
