Should I move to Florida?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live here, I love it. We were choking in northern Virginia/ DC and it is just easier here. Even with one stay at home parent, we can afford things like horseback riding, piano, ballet, vacations, good camps. At the same time it is way less pressure to perform on the kids, which can be freeing. Agree with the above poster that it depends on where - most Northerners (esp on DCUM) have a monolithic, negative view of the place but there are a lot of different places. Some good, some not so good depending on your politics and passions. Some people would absolutely hate it and I can see that. However I must add, ignore the judgey condescending Florida haters on here- not all of us have biglaw salaries or secure fed jobs and we need to do what is best for our kids. I have concluded that life is WAY easier here - but at the same time it is essential to go somewhere else once or twice a year. We try to go to the mountains for 2-3 weeka in the summer and back to Virginia to Grandma’s for a week at Christmas. We are working on saving for a second house / summer house somewhere up “North” like Asheville .

Yeah it's easier on the kids because the schools are crap there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live here, I love it. We were choking in northern Virginia/ DC and it is just easier here. Even with one stay at home parent, we can afford things like horseback riding, piano, ballet, vacations, good camps. At the same time it is way less pressure to perform on the kids, which can be freeing. Agree with the above poster that it depends on where - most Northerners (esp on DCUM) have a monolithic, negative view of the place but there are a lot of different places. Some good, some not so good depending on your politics and passions. Some people would absolutely hate it and I can see that. However I must add, ignore the judgey condescending Florida haters on here- not all of us have biglaw salaries or secure fed jobs and we need to do what is best for our kids. I have concluded that life is WAY easier here - but at the same time it is essential to go somewhere else once or twice a year. We try to go to the mountains for 2-3 weeka in the summer and back to Virginia to Grandma’s for a week at Christmas. We are working on saving for a second house / summer house somewhere up “North” like Asheville .

Agree with this - life is certainly easier in Florida / the South (though not necessarily better)

[Anonymous]

Couldn’t be me, I hate Florida for so many reasons.

[Anonymous]

I grew up on Florida and my parents had to send us to private school because the schools were so bad. I did one summer class there and there were literally no windows in the classroom. My black neighbors were constantly harassed by the HoA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would pay an additional 24k (and more!) not to have to live in Florida.

+1

[Anonymous]

Since so many families are moving to FL from the NE and Midwest….it is not your Grandma’s FL. There is also a large population who work from home and periodically travel. If you have the money it can be paradise for kids.

OP: There are MANY families who one spouse commutes from FL to northern cities. It would be nice for the kids to have family around in southern FL. But, it is crowded. NE FL is nice because it has a sense of the seasons. Drawback: It might take some time to find your tribe, but they are out there. I would suggest private school. There is not really any diversity but families and kids enjoy some great travel experiences. Another thought, travel can be hard on the family.

It’s a big decision and I would do my homework in terms of neighborhoods, schools, etc. As a side, many young parents are not vaccinated.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

So basically your SAH wife wants to live near her parents, while you fly back and forth earning the money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get a balanced perspective on DCUM where Florida is now an evil state due to the current governor (while praising Cuomo to the sky, but that's another story).

Despite the comments on this thread, hordes of wealthy people do move to Florida for tax purposes. It's not just anecdotal, but it's a real and proper fiscal drain and it's been noted by many state officials. What they do is establish Florida residency and as long as they spend six months minus one day in Maryland, Florida is their legal residency and there's not much Maryland can do about it. The kicker is that you don't have to spend six months plus one day to claim Florida residency. So you can spend the winters in Florida, summers somewhere cool, travel a lot, and still keep your old house in Maryland, and you're still a bona fide Florida resident.

Florida can offer a high quality of life, especially for those who can escape to cooler climates in the peak summer months. It's a huge state with the whole range of demographics from deep blue to deep red and everything in between. Just find your niche in Florida. If you live and breathe and die by politics, maybe you can't cope with Republican governors. But without those Republican governors, you wouldn't have the generous tax breaks. And summers in Florida aren't that bad. It's not hotter than the DMV, it's just more humid and for a longer period. Plenty of people don't mind humidity. Miami is both an international jet set playground and very interesting and dynamic Latin-American community that makes things interesting. The Gulf side has plenty of upscale communities. Florida is VERY diverse. Commenting about running away from Florida because of the racist people is a weird thing to say. Running away from Florida because you're racist would be more logical.

I don't think, "It's got a high quality of life, as long as you leave for at least 25% of the year," is the winning argument you think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live here, I love it. We were choking in northern Virginia/ DC and it is just easier here. Even with one stay at home parent, we can afford things like horseback riding, piano, ballet, vacations, good camps. At the same time it is way less pressure to perform on the kids, which can be freeing. Agree with the above poster that it depends on where - most Northerners (esp on DCUM) have a monolithic, negative view of the place but there are a lot of different places. Some good, some not so good depending on your politics and passions. Some people would absolutely hate it and I can see that. However I must add, ignore the judgey condescending Florida haters on here- not all of us have biglaw salaries or secure fed jobs and we need to do what is best for our kids. I have concluded that life is WAY easier here - but at the same time it is essential to go somewhere else once or twice a year. We try to go to the mountains for 2-3 weeka in the summer and back to Virginia to Grandma’s for a week at Christmas. We are working on saving for a second house / summer house somewhere up “North” like Asheville .

OK, where are the good places in Florida?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you'd still have to pay MD income tax (plus the non-resident tax) if you are worked for an MD employer and come to MD frequently to go to the office. States can assess income tax is based on where you earn income even if you live in another state (the rules are different within the DMV only because MD, DC and VA have an agreement to tax based on residence).

I'm not OP but this may be so. Talk to a MD accountant!

[Anonymous]

As someone who has lived in Florida and Georgia, I'd happily pay 24+k not to have to live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is literally no amount of money you could pay me to live in Florida, especially under their current leadership, and paying taxes is a basic civic duty and part of the social contract, so my answer would be no on that.

First of all, there is no state income tax, so whatever.
Also, FYI just under half of usFloridians also hate DeSantis. But he will probably be out next president so what will you do then? Finally move to Canada?

Shut it lady. Florida is trash

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since so many families are moving to FL from the NE and Midwest….it is not your Grandma’s FL. There is also a large population who work from home and periodically travel. If you have the money it can be paradise for kids.

OP: There are MANY families who one spouse commutes from FL to northern cities. It would be nice for the kids to have family around in southern FL. But, it is crowded. NE FL is nice because it has a sense of the seasons. Drawback: It might take some time to find your tribe, but they are out there. I would suggest private school. There is not really any diversity but families and kids enjoy some great travel experiences. Another thought, travel can be hard on the family.

It’s a big decision and I would do my homework in terms of neighborhoods, schools, etc. As a side, many young parents are not vaccinated.

Best of luck!

Yeah, southern Georgia is renowned for its variety of seasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get a balanced perspective on DCUM where Florida is now an evil state due to the current governor (while praising Cuomo to the sky, but that's another story).

Despite the comments on this thread, hordes of wealthy people do move to Florida for tax purposes. It's not just anecdotal, but it's a real and proper fiscal drain and it's been noted by many state officials. What they do is establish Florida residency and as long as they spend six months minus one day in Maryland, Florida is their legal residency and there's not much Maryland can do about it. The kicker is that you don't have to spend six months plus one day to claim Florida residency. So you can spend the winters in Florida, summers somewhere cool, travel a lot, and still keep your old house in Maryland, and you're still a bona fide Florida resident.

Florida can offer a high quality of life, especially for those who can escape to cooler climates in the peak summer months. It's a huge state with the whole range of demographics from deep blue to deep red and everything in between. Just find your niche in Florida. If you live and breathe and die by politics, maybe you can't cope with Republican governors. But without those Republican governors, you wouldn't have the generous tax breaks. And summers in Florida aren't that bad. It's not hotter than the DMV, it's just more humid and for a longer period. Plenty of people don't mind humidity. Miami is both an international jet set playground and very interesting and dynamic Latin-American community that makes things interesting. The Gulf side has plenty of upscale communities. Florida is VERY diverse. Commenting about running away from Florida because of the racist people is a weird thing to say. Running away from Florida because you're racist would be more logical.

I don't think, "It's got a high quality of life, as long as you leave for at least 25% of the year," is the winning argument you think it is.

You think rich people summer in Maryland too?

The money is going to Florida and people with money seem happy to go to Florida.

[Anonymous]

As someone who lives in Florida, I guess there are some savings, but we pay A LOT in home insurance because of the hurricane coverage. Our $1M home costs us $10K a year in home insurance, our property taxes, $13K.