Retirement in Florida...recommendations

[Anonymous]

If I had the money, I'd live there November-February. But having two homes is probably not in the financial picture for me.

I think I could handle the politics for four months a year. I could b wrong, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a word: don't. Retiring in Florida is so cliche. And Florida sucks.

But sun, sand and most importantly no state taxes.

I know it's popular to hate on Florida, but it's actually pretty nice living here. We live in Orlando, making it pretty close to both sides for beaches, and I was just so pleasantly surprised by how friendly people are here. Yeah, our governor sucks, but a lot of places can say that.

It's not only the Governor.

While yes Florida is pretty, I went to the University of Florida and I will never give my tax dollars to Florida again. Florida voted in DeSantis, Gaetz, some twats down ballots, etc, and the non-masking idiots no thanks!

I mean, I don't disagree that there is some major stupid down here. But again, you could say that about just about anywhere. I've lived in a lot of states, and it's no different here. It's just the way the wind blew at that moment.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't invest in FL property unless it's a pretty popular location. Just imagine what will happen to home prices when the boomers die off and there's no large retiree population coming behind them to buy up the empty homes & condos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a word: don't. Retiring in Florida is so cliche. And Florida sucks.

But sun, sand and most importantly no state taxes.

I know it's popular to hate on Florida, but it's actually pretty nice living here. We live in Orlando, making it pretty close to both sides for beaches, and I was just so pleasantly surprised by how friendly people are here. Yeah, our governor sucks, but a lot of places can say that.

Fellow Floridian! I’m from Winter Springs. My childhood was so totally normal and suburban, I never really got where all of these “Florida sucks” people are coming from. Yes, there are places that are pretty republican but there’s also a lot of liberals here too. Pretty boring but nothing too crazy. I remember a great science museum and lots of cool art museums.

We go to Winter Springs a decent amount for our daughter's softball games!
For the bolded - They vacation here but never really get to know the place is my guess.
I can joke about it, but I find I defend it more because there are some really amazing people here. I have never lived anywhere with the sense of community I have here. I have commented before that it surprised me as much as anybody, so on some level I get the sentiments - if I only had our trip to Disney when my daughter was 5 to go on about whether I'd live here, I'd pass, too. But thankfully we didn't make a major life decision based on our visit to a theme park.

[Anonymous]

I may hate the politics around Naples, Fl, but I have to say that it seems everyone around the Vanderbilt Beach area is super nice to my mom, who lives alone now that my dad has passed. Of course, most of their neighbors are also from the DMV, which probably helps. (And there are a fair number of never-Trump conservatives to balance out the rabid crazies.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I come on every Florida thread to tell people that Winter Park is where it's at but nobody ever cares

Winter Park is a great place to raise a family, but it's in Central Florida and therefore doesn't have any beaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump, DeSantis, and Gaetz. Ewww...

As someone who’s wintering down here, yes. You have to be okay living in a place where your government officials don’t believe in government. And for many, that’s a big adjustment.

This is OP. Let's take the politics out of the conversation please. I would like to identify a place that is reasonably family friendly, walkability for elderly parents; nature for young children who love the beach/biking/fishing; access to museums/good restaurants. I'll look into the areas recommended. Appreciate the feedback thus far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a word: don't. Retiring in Florida is so cliche. And Florida sucks.

But sun, sand and [b]most importantly no state taxes.

First, you get what you pay for. Second, if not state taxes is that important to you, then I feel sorry for you. You must be broke.

Actually you don’t pay much in taxes if you’re broke, because you’re broke.

But the more money you have, the more Florida makes sense.

See, I can figure this out because I’m relatively smart.

Unlike you.

I can't imagine being in a position of having to take state taxes into account in deciding where to retire or move.

[Anonymous]

I would do a search on Niche and city-data for the highest-rated family-oriented areas. Then use schooldigger to determine what schools have the best test scores.

Unfortunately someone mentioned one of my favorite places already. I don't want to add to the discussion because I'm worried more Tri-Staters and DCUMers will buy there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would do a search on Niche and city-data for the highest-rated family-oriented areas. Then use schooldigger to determine what schools have the best test scores.

Unfortunately someone mentioned one of my favorite places already. I don't want to add to the discussion because I'm worried more Tri-Staters and DCUMers will buy there.

Is it Sanibel island?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump, DeSantis, and Gaetz. Ewww...

As someone who’s wintering down here, yes. You have to be okay living in a place where your government officials don’t believe in government. And for many, that’s a big adjustment.

This is OP. Let's take the politics out of the conversation please. I would like to identify a place that is reasonably family friendly, walkability for elderly parents; nature for young children who love the beach/biking/fishing; access to museums/good restaurants. I'll look into the areas recommended. Appreciate the feedback thus far.

OP, are you looking to retire and raise your own kids? Or are you looking to retire to a place that your grandkids can visit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may hate the politics around Naples, Fl, but I have to say that it seems everyone around the Vanderbilt Beach area is super nice to my mom, who lives alone now that my dad has passed. Of course, most of their neighbors are also from the DMV, which probably helps. (And there are a fair number of never-Trump conservatives to balance out the rabid crazies.)

My MIL lives in Naples (she used to live just off of Vanderbilt Beach Rd near the beach!) and I agree it's a friendly place with a lot of positives like restaurants, beaches, shopping. We never saw ourselves as "Florida people" yet we love visiting her and spending time down there. Very easy access to Naples from Ft Myers airport, which is a nice airport but small enough that you're not on trams or a million moving walkways...you can walk to the rental cars! Southwest flies to there regularly (at least from BWI, DCA is more seasonal) and in an emergency we were easily able to drive on Alligator Alley to Ft Lauderdale to catch a flight back north.

Yes, there are some political people who skew far one way in Naples but I think it's slowly balancing out as liberal people like my MIL and her friends move in. She's also found some good volunteer work that she can still do virtually right now because of Covid. Honestly if we could go live anywhere in the US, Naples would be up there as a choice.

[Anonymous]

I was talking with a neighbor who splits time between Rhode Island and Florida. Her general rule of thumb was that Atlantic coast is for the Trumper retirees and the Gulf coast was more progressive/liberal. But Miami, the Panhandle, and the Keys are not part of this trend.

I'm not sure if she's right, but it was an interesting thought exercise.

Also, generally I know that retires from the East Coast populate the Atlantic side whereas retirees from the Midwest are on the Gulf.

[Anonymous]

Other than Maine, Florida has the highest percentage of over 65ers in the country. I'm fine with old people -- hell, I'm only a few years away -- but I prefer to be around a younger crowd to keep me young. Everybody I know who moved to Florida to retire is zero fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump, DeSantis, and Gaetz. Ewww...

As someone who’s wintering down here, yes. You have to be okay living in a place where your government officials don’t believe in government. And for many, that’s a big adjustment.

This is OP. Let's take the politics out of the conversation please. I would like to identify a place that is reasonably family friendly, walkability for elderly parents; nature for young children who love the beach/biking/fishing; access to museums/good restaurants. I'll look into the areas recommended. Appreciate the feedback thus far.

OP, are you looking to retire and raise your own kids? Or are you looking to retire to a place that your grandkids can visit?

OP here, am looking to winter in Florida and also a place for my parents to retire if they want to stay there more permanently. I don't want to leave the DMV but the winter here is not amendable for my parents. This makes me think that I could buy a second home in Florida--my parents could live there when the weather isn't to their liking, I can winter there with my children as well as vacation there during the summer if the children want to spend the summer months at the beach. I don't want a location with all retirees. I want to location where my kids could enjoy the beach and water sports, fishing, biking, and other outdoorsy activities. Thanks again for all the great ideas so far.