I regret moving to Florida

[Anonymous]

I personally think you will regret moving here from DC.

I live in Central Florida. I moved to Central Florida from the Sarasota area, from Arlington VA.

I would never move back to Sarasota. I haven't even wanted to go back to visit.

Central Florida is 10X better.

However this area attracts a lot of failed Hollywood types. They were Disney performers with shattered dreams. They go into a lot of different fields, but mostly event planning with all of the conferences at the Orange County Convention Center.

I am white woman in my early 50s. I am not unattractive. I have a doctorate, years of experience in my field. People including employers are very shallow here. Every one is judged by appearances.

People are very class conscious. There are really two socioeconomic classes of people forming in Florida: the very wealthy and those who provide services to them.

I make six figures working remotely. I am seriously thinking of starting a service oriented business like mobile dog grooming or bakery.

There's been nothing but traffic and construction. Business is booming here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally think you will regret moving here from DC.

I live in Central Florida. I moved to Central Florida from the Sarasota area, from Arlington VA.

I would never move back to Sarasota. I haven't even wanted to go back to visit.

Central Florida is 10X better.

However this area attracts a lot of failed Hollywood types. They were Disney performers with shattered dreams. They go into a lot of different fields, but mostly event planning with all of the conferences at the Orange County Convention Center.

I am white woman in my early 50s. I am not unattractive. I have a doctorate, years of experience in my field. People including employers are very shallow here. Every one is judged by appearances.

People are very class conscious. There are really two socioeconomic classes of people forming in Florida: the very wealthy and those who provide services to them.

I make six figures working remotely. I am seriously thinking of starting a service oriented business like mobile dog grooming or bakery.

There's been nothing but traffic and construction. Business is booming here.

What didn’t you like about Sarasota?

[Anonymous]

Yes. I have relatives from DC who retired to FL, but found that they hated it and moved back.

But I'm not sure why you would quit your job. Especially a remote job that would allow you to leave, where a service job will be difficult to relocate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I have relatives from DC who retired to FL, but found that they hated it and moved back.

But I'm not sure why you would quit your job. Especially a remote job that would allow you to leave, where a service job will be difficult to relocate.

I don't plan to quit my remote job.

I also have a 1099 side hustle.

If I chose to stay here long-term, I would not feel comfortable in my retirement not working. Service businesses here seem to be doing very well.

My dog groomer charged $60 for a cut on a 12 pound dog using clippers, not even scissors.

For locals, the pay is very low.

A gym was built right across the street from my apartment and it is loud booming music from 5 am to 10 pm. I pay over $2K a month in rent.

When my lease is up, I am trying to find a more established neighborhood, but that is difficult to find here.

I love the palm trees and subtropical weather. I miss older tree lined neighborhoods and the seasons. I am currently weighing my options of moving or staying.

Any ideas on how to look at the pros and cons of living here, since I am already 54. I can soon be in a 55+ community here. I like Central Florida because it doesn't feel like a retirement community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think you will regret moving here from DC.

I live in Central Florida. I moved to Central Florida from the Sarasota area, from Arlington VA.

I would never move back to Sarasota. I haven't even wanted to go back to visit.

Central Florida is 10X better.

However this area attracts a lot of failed Hollywood types. They were Disney performers with shattered dreams. They go into a lot of different fields, but mostly event planning with all of the conferences at the Orange County Convention Center.

I am white woman in my early 50s. I am not unattractive. I have a doctorate, years of experience in my field. People including employers are very shallow here. Every one is judged by appearances.

People are very class conscious. There are really two socioeconomic classes of people forming in Florida: the very wealthy and those who provide services to them.

I make six figures working remotely. I am seriously thinking of starting a service oriented business like mobile dog grooming or bakery.

There's been nothing but traffic and construction. Business is booming here.

What didn’t you like about Sarasota?

I loved Sarasota prior to 2020. I lived there for six years. When there is a hurricane, you must get in your car and drive farther north. Or you can stay knowing all emergency services are suspended once winds reach a certain MPH speed and strength. This is now an annual occurrence. There is flooding afterwards.

Besides that, it's impossible to get on or off the Keys (Siesta, Lido, Longboat) during season with the traffic. I didn't live on the Keys, and I wouldn't. Off season, it's too hot and humid to spend that much time on the beach.

My good friend from high school got married in the San Francisco area. She and her husband sold their expensive house and moved to Siesta Key in that two years. I think she's unhappy there.

Another friend from high school moved with her husband from Central Florida to the Pan Handle, and then moved back to Central Florida after a Hurricane shut almost everything down.

Another friend of mine from high school just moved from Ft Myers with her husband to the Pan Handle area after the hurricane.

People here are like little ants moving boxes of stuff all over the state.

[Anonymous]

You summed it up very well in your OP. Florida is all about appearances, the house, the car, the looks. The dichotomy of the wealthy and their servants (which include well paid servants like doctors and lawyers). People moving from DC to Florida shouldn’t delude themselves that anyone will care about their degrees, pedigree, cultured-ness, creativity or kindness. Relationship are transactional.

[Anonymous]

Wait until you get his with increases for insurance. Insurance companies believe in climate change. Insurance companies increase their fees after every weather incident. That will get passed onto renters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait until you get his with increases for insurance. Insurance companies believe in climate change. Insurance companies increase their fees after every weather incident. That will get passed onto renters.

True. My insurance doubled in the last few years - thousands for low coverage (just covers the mortgage, nothing else).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You summed it up very well in your OP. Florida is all about appearances, the house, the car, the looks. The dichotomy of the wealthy and their servants (which include well paid servants like doctors and lawyers). People moving from DC to Florida shouldn’t delude themselves that anyone will care about their degrees, pedigree, cultured-ness, creativity or kindness. Relationship are transactional.

We moved to St Pete from DC and this has not been my experience at all. Maybe we just got lucky, where we picked to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You summed it up very well in your OP. Florida is all about appearances, the house, the car, the looks. The dichotomy of the wealthy and their servants (which include well paid servants like doctors and lawyers). People moving from DC to Florida shouldn’t delude themselves that anyone will care about their degrees, pedigree, cultured-ness, creativity or kindness. Relationship are transactional.

We moved to St Pete from DC and this has not been my experience at all. Maybe we just got lucky, where we picked to live.

Maybe you're younger and you have more time to work and save for retirement.

I personally would not raise a family in Florida.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally think you will regret moving here from DC.

I live in Central Florida. I moved to Central Florida from the Sarasota area, from Arlington VA.

I would never move back to Sarasota. I haven't even wanted to go back to visit.

Central Florida is 10X better.

However this area attracts a lot of failed Hollywood types. They were Disney performers with shattered dreams. They go into a lot of different fields, but mostly event planning with all of the conferences at the Orange County Convention Center.

I am white woman in my early 50s. I am not unattractive. I have a doctorate, years of experience in my field. People including employers are very shallow here. Every one is judged by appearances.

People are very class conscious. There are really two socioeconomic classes of people forming in Florida: the very wealthy and those who provide services to them.

I make six figures working remotely. I am seriously thinking of starting a service oriented business like mobile dog grooming or bakery.

There's been nothing but traffic and construction. Business is booming here.

I'm not trying to be snarky or invalidate your feelings but these are not real solid concrete reasons to hate florida to me.

Maybe provide exact examples because your post is so vague.

[Anonymous]

I am in Florida and know exactly what you are talking about in terms of superficial crowd, having experienced it, but that is really only some areas. We moved to a specific area because we wanted down-to-earth, normal people. Our area is very diverse in all ways including socioeconomic. When people talk about kids in the 70s riding their bikes with friends in the neighborhood, hanging out outside...I feel like my kids have that now, and year-round because of the weather. I don't think I will stay in Florida forever, but it's been a nice place to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally think you will regret moving here from DC.

I live in Central Florida. I moved to Central Florida from the Sarasota area, from Arlington VA.

I would never move back to Sarasota. I haven't even wanted to go back to visit.

Central Florida is 10X better.

However this area attracts a lot of failed Hollywood types. They were Disney performers with shattered dreams. They go into a lot of different fields, but mostly event planning with all of the conferences at the Orange County Convention Center.

I am white woman in my early 50s. I am not unattractive. I have a doctorate, years of experience in my field. People including employers are very shallow here. Every one is judged by appearances.

People are very class conscious. There are really two socioeconomic classes of people forming in Florida: the very wealthy and those who provide services to them.

I make six figures working remotely. I am seriously thinking of starting a service oriented business like mobile dog grooming or bakery.

There's been nothing but traffic and construction. Business is booming here.

Why are you writing like a robot? Did life in Florida cause that?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I found Florida very shallow also - shallow and ignorant. "So you're jewish - so you don't do a tree or anything?" "Wait, but do you celebrate Thanksgiving?" And I thought there were so many NY transplants - yet I seemed to meet every Floridian who'd somehow never met a jewish person. On my lunch breaks, women would show other women before and after pictures of their breast implant surgeries and nose surgeries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You summed it up very well in your OP. Florida is all about appearances, the house, the car, the looks. The dichotomy of the wealthy and their servants (which include well paid servants like doctors and lawyers). People moving from DC to Florida shouldn’t delude themselves that anyone will care about their degrees, pedigree, cultured-ness, creativity or kindness. Relationship are transactional.

Sounds a lot like California.