Calling all former Floridians...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I have heard the public schools in Florida are not good anywhere. Period. And, most people with money put their kids in parochial or private schools. My family lives full time in the DC Metro area but we own a home in Boca Raton. I would never move down there with grade school children. I have kids in middle school now. At least in the DC area you have a wide variety of school options but not in Florida. Plus, people down there are stupid (culturally, socially, politically...) at least in South Florida. OP, you should think long and hard about it.

You must have missed the part where I said I lived in florida for 7 years and love it.

But, you have kids now which is a critical component. You weren't concerned about schools when you were loving it.

I was mostly responding to the bolded. No one can be so stupid to think that there are literally no excellent public schools in the entire state of florida, so that I didn't even think to respond to that part of the PP's comment.

You are convinced you want to live there, so I think you should move. Im sure you will love the schools and people. Cheers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Florida and HATED it. I found the majority of people stupid or slow (or both), the schools were very poor, everyone was new money and flashy about it (think NJ Real Housewives).

If you have kids, I do NOT suggest moving to FL, or be prepared to put them in private school. Look into Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach.

I'm the OP. We loved Florida when we lived there for 8 years, in part because of the total absence of self-righteous narcissists like the PP, that are so omnipresent in the DC area.

+100.

Moved back to Fort Lauderdale last month and never looking back. Come home OP, it's happier here.

[Anonymous]

Spanish River High School in Boca is academically strong, but 400k-600k is a tough budget for the neighborhoods that feed into the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Floridians:
What's the vibe on Destin, Rosemary Beach, Miramar beach, Seacrest?

To die for, but not sure of the schools.
Prettiest part of Florida!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have heard the public schools in Florida are not good anywhere. Period. And, most people with money put their kids in parochial or private schools. My family lives full time in the DC Metro area but we own a home in Boca Raton. I would never move down there with grade school children. I have kids in middle school now. At least in the DC area you have a wide variety of school options but not in Florida. Plus, people down there are stupid (culturally, socially, politically...) at least in South Florida. OP, you should think long and hard about it.

You must have missed the part where I said I lived in florida for 7 years and love it.

But, you have kids now which is a critical component. You weren't concerned about schools when you were loving it.

I was mostly responding to the bolded. No one can be so stupid to think that there are literally no excellent public schools in the entire state of florida, so that I didn't even think to respond to that part of the PP's comment.

NP. I grew up in Florida. Don't do this to your kids. You understand great school ratings don't work across state lines? And though UF is not a bad school, it is the only viable in state option and decent university for like 600 miles.

Culturally there is a reason why Florida is the butt of many jokes. And summers are unbearable unless you live on the beach. No one will be walking in your cute downtown area for 5 months of the year because of the blistering heat. And it is the south with a bunch of lower income folks who moved down from up north to live large.


If you must do this, Gainesville is cute college town but kind of grungy, St Augustine is decent option, bayside in Tampa, parts of New Tampa are where all my friends with professional jobs ended up (but suburban sprawl). Maybe Celebration, but snooty. Winter Park I think is ok but less familiar with Orlando. Space coast might be nice but has been in decline since NASA outsourced everything to SpaceX and Russians.

You will not find cats and dogs and teachers and doctors living together; teachers make $30k, it just doesn't happen unless teacher marries a doctor. Gated communities are EVERYWHERE.

OP, people are just stupid. This poster has no idea what she is talking about. My daughter is a teacher in St Johns. Starting salary several years ago was 46,000 a year. That's just one small example of the nonsense on the board. There are several great colleges in Florida. Smart, high performing kids in Florida go to college at almost no cost. UF and FSU are good as are University of North Florida, University of Central Florida, Miami, ....... Plenty of good in-state options. We have lived in every region of this country (including several years in Hawaii) and in three overseas countries. We can't WAIT to move back to Florida.

Stop the presses. $46k! That is mad money.

Yeah, but when you have, say, two married teachers in their mid 30s who are now each making $56k (I'd guess that's a reasonable amount of raises for working for 10-15 years), and they aren't paying 8% income tax (like i do in DC), it seems pretty viable to buy a $350k house in a nice, new part of town on that salary. Lots of nice neighborhoods in Floirda with good schools where you can get something for $350k. So yeah, those kinds of salaries can afford to buy in nice neighborhoods in Florida.

My mom was a teacher in Florida. You don't get those kind of raises. She retired 5 years ago and made peak $60k by doing a lot of overtime/homeschooling. Every teacher in FL has to have a side hussle to cover summer of no pay. Or marry a doctor. Teachers are not valued in FL nearly as much as in MoCo or the like, though I guess in truth maybe the housing cost/salary ratio still works out in FL. But they aren't living next to doctors, which was the original point. Doctors by and large live in the gated communities that litter the state.

Okay, so even assuming crappy raises, the two teachers could possibly buy a $300k house a few blocks down from a $550k house where the early-career doctor working at the UF hospital with a sahm lives. I had a lot of doctor friends in their thirties in florida who were living in that house price point. They aren't all plastic surgeons! And same with lawyers down there. There are probably only 10 kids a year in florida that get hired out of law school at the big law $160/180k starting salary. Most lawyers are lucky to get offered a starting salary of $80k in the major cities; less in the smaller towns. So certainly lawyers are living along side teachers. Maybe not the same street, but in the same communities and sending their kids to the same schools. But in DC, the teachers aren't even living in the same county as lawyers (unless they married rich). Florida salaries are much more closely gathered around the mean.

Oh, I didn't see where in OP said she wanted to live next to lawyers.

I agree any lawyer in FL is not big law; I won't use the pejorative that is thrown around DCUM to describe it.

I'm just saying as someone who grew up in FL, I wish my parents had stayed in the NE, it was awful and I hope OP really things hard about what she is doing. It's fine for vacation or to party in your twenties. Why not look at someplace in Colorado or Seattle? Is it the beach? North Carolina or Jersey are doable options.

So you are saying that if OP likes the beach and easy life in Florida, she should consider Jersey as a viable option? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard the public schools in Florida are not good anywhere. Period. And, most people with money put their kids in parochial or private schools. My family lives full time in the DC Metro area but we own a home in Boca Raton. I would never move down there with grade school children. I have kids in middle school now. At least in the DC area you have a wide variety of school options but not in Florida. Plus, people down there are stupid (culturally, socially, politically...) at least in South Florida. OP, you should think long and hard about it.

You must have missed the part where I said I lived in florida for 7 years and love it.

But, you have kids now which is a critical component. You weren't concerned about schools when you were loving it.

I was mostly responding to the bolded. No one can be so stupid to think that there are literally no excellent public schools in the entire state of florida, so that I didn't even think to respond to that part of the PP's comment.

NP. I grew up in Florida. Don't do this to your kids. You understand great school ratings don't work across state lines? And though UF is not a bad school, it is the only viable in state option and decent university for like 600 miles.

Culturally there is a reason why Florida is the butt of many jokes. And summers are unbearable unless you live on the beach. No one will be walking in your cute downtown area for 5 months of the year because of the blistering heat. And it is the south with a bunch of lower income folks who moved down from up north to live large.


If you must do this, Gainesville is cute college town but kind of grungy, St Augustine is decent option, bayside in Tampa, parts of New Tampa are where all my friends with professional jobs ended up (but suburban sprawl). Maybe Celebration, but snooty. Winter Park I think is ok but less familiar with Orlando. Space coast might be nice but has been in decline since NASA outsourced everything to SpaceX and Russians.

You will not find cats and dogs and teachers and doctors living together; teachers make $30k, it just doesn't happen unless teacher marries a doctor. Gated communities are EVERYWHERE.

OP, people are just stupid. This poster has no idea what she is talking about. My daughter is a teacher in St Johns. Starting salary several years ago was 46,000 a year. That's just one small example of the nonsense on the board. There are several great colleges in Florida. Smart, high performing kids in Florida go to college at almost no cost. UF and FSU are good as are University of North Florida, University of Central Florida, Miami, ....... Plenty of good in-state options. We have lived in every region of this country (including several years in Hawaii) and in three overseas countries. We can't WAIT to move back to Florida.

Stop the presses. $46k! That is mad money.

Yeah, but when you have, say, two married teachers in their mid 30s who are now each making $56k (I'd guess that's a reasonable amount of raises for working for 10-15 years), and they aren't paying 8% income tax (like i do in DC), it seems pretty viable to buy a $350k house in a nice, new part of town on that salary. Lots of nice neighborhoods in Floirda with good schools where you can get something for $350k. So yeah, those kinds of salaries can afford to buy in nice neighborhoods in Florida.

My mom was a teacher in Florida. You don't get those kind of raises. She retired 5 years ago and made peak $60k by doing a lot of overtime/homeschooling. Every teacher in FL has to have a side hussle to cover summer of no pay. Or marry a doctor. Teachers are not valued in FL nearly as much as in MoCo or the like, though I guess in truth maybe the housing cost/salary ratio still works out in FL. But they aren't living next to doctors, which was the original point. Doctors by and large live in the gated communities that litter the state.

Okay, so even assuming crappy raises, the two teachers could possibly buy a $300k house a few blocks down from a $550k house where the early-career doctor working at the UF hospital with a sahm lives. I had a lot of doctor friends in their thirties in florida who were living in that house price point. They aren't all plastic surgeons! And same with lawyers down there. There are probably only 10 kids a year in florida that get hired out of law school at the big law $160/180k starting salary. Most lawyers are lucky to get offered a starting salary of $80k in the major cities; less in the smaller towns. So certainly lawyers are living along side teachers. Maybe not the same street, but in the same communities and sending their kids to the same schools. But in DC, the teachers aren't even living in the same county as lawyers (unless they married rich). Florida salaries are much more closely gathered around the mean.

Oh, I didn't see where in OP said she wanted to live next to lawyers.

I agree any lawyer in FL is not big law; I won't use the pejorative that is thrown around DCUM to describe it.

I'm just saying as someone who grew up in FL, I wish my parents had stayed in the NE, it was awful and I hope OP really things hard about what she is doing. It's fine for vacation or to party in your twenties. Why not look at someplace in Colorado or Seattle? Is it the beach? North Carolina or Jersey are doable options.

So you are saying that if OP likes the beach and easy life in Florida, she should consider Jersey as a viable option? Seriously?

Have you been to the small beach towns on jersey shore, like Cape May, etc? She will be near a beach and this area is truly the garden state, and have much better educational opportunities for her kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Florida and HATED it. I found the majority of people stupid or slow (or both), the schools were very poor, everyone was new money and flashy about it (think NJ Real Housewives).

If you have kids, I do NOT suggest moving to FL, or be prepared to put them in private school. Look into Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach.

Those neighborhoods exactly have the problems you are complaining about! Boca used to have a grocery store with valet parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funnily enough we just relocated to Gainesville, Florida after 16 years in DC. We love it. Warm community, great college town, great jobs, and you can get to the ocean and gorgeous beaches in a 2 hour drive. After commuting 1.5 hours each way, everyday from Baltimore to DC and back for work my husband loves making the beach trip. No sweat for us former DC drivers. We do it quite often.
We miss our longtime DC friends, our old neighbourhood, the Nats games and more but we come back and visit quite a bit. we love Gainesvile and our elem school kids do too. And don't get me started on the affordability. We made bank on the sale of our DC home and have cut our costs in half basically. Schools are great and again the warmth and kindness of this town is astounding. Makes me wonder why I put up with the vitriol of the DC metro area for so long. You deserve to be happy, OP. Consider Gainesville.

ohhhh OP here, tell me more about Gainesville. I know there's no beach right there, but the beach towns often correlate with traffic, tourists, retirees, etc, so we wonder if Gainesville wouldn't be a good fit for us. We've got kids - the oldest would be starting K when we move. How has it been to make friends? What are the neighborhoods like? Traffic and ease of life? What is life like generally? Tell me more!

[Anonymous]

^^New Jersey has good schools. Florida's public schools as a whole are ranked near the bottom. There are a few individual schools that are rated in the top but overall Florida schools are not great. OP, you should be prepared to set money aside for parochial or private school. However, at least they are not as expensive as the DC, MD, or VA privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Florida and HATED it. I found the majority of people stupid or slow (or both), the schools were very poor, everyone was new money and flashy about it (think NJ Real Housewives).

If you have kids, I do NOT suggest moving to FL, or be prepared to put them in private school. Look into Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach.

DH is a graduate of Deerfield High - he does not recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Florida and HATED it. I found the majority of people stupid or slow (or both), the schools were very poor, everyone was new money and flashy about it (think NJ Real Housewives).

If you have kids, I do NOT suggest moving to FL, or be prepared to put them in private school. Look into Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach.

DH is a graduate of Deerfield High - he does not recommend.

I grew up in Coral Springs. The new it places for families are Wellington, boynton beach (canyon developments) and parkland. But all these are very suburban, master-planned communities. As is Julington Creek up in Jax. While lovely, you said you didn't want that kind of lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funnily enough we just relocated to Gainesville, Florida after 16 years in DC. We love it. Warm community, great college town, great jobs, and you can get to the ocean and gorgeous beaches in a 2 hour drive. After commuting 1.5 hours each way, everyday from Baltimore to DC and back for work my husband loves making the beach trip. No sweat for us former DC drivers. We do it quite often.
We miss our longtime DC friends, our old neighbourhood, the Nats games and more but we come back and visit quite a bit. we love Gainesvile and our elem school kids do too. And don't get me started on the affordability. We made bank on the sale of our DC home and have cut our costs in half basically. Schools are great and again the warmth and kindness of this town is astounding. Makes me wonder why I put up with the vitriol of the DC metro area for so long. You deserve to be happy, OP. Consider Gainesville.

ohhhh OP here, tell me more about Gainesville. I know there's no beach right there, but the beach towns often correlate with traffic, tourists, retirees, etc, so we wonder if Gainesville wouldn't be a good fit for us. We've got kids - the oldest would be starting K when we move. How has it been to make friends? What are the neighborhoods like? Traffic and ease of life? What is life like generally? Tell me more!

It's grungy southern college town. My HS friends and I would head there to party, but its full of rundown apartments packed to the gills from kids from all over Florida. Unbearably packed with people during school year; sweltering ghost town in the summer. I would look at a college town in CT or MA which would have idyllic summers near the coast, and be busy only when weather sucks anyways.

And schools would be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funnily enough we just relocated to Gainesville, Florida after 16 years in DC. We love it. Warm community, great college town, great jobs, and you can get to the ocean and gorgeous beaches in a 2 hour drive.[b] After commuting 1.5 hours each way, everyday from Baltimore to DC and back for work my husband loves making the beach trip. No sweat for us former DC drivers. We do it quite often.
We miss our longtime DC friends, our old neighbourhood, the Nats games and more but we come back and visit quite a bit. we love Gainesvile and our elem school kids do too. And don't get me started on the affordability. We made bank on the sale of our DC home and have cut our costs in half basically. Schools are great and again the warmth and kindness of this town is astounding. Makes me wonder why I put up with the vitriol of the DC metro area for so long. You deserve to be happy, OP. Consider Gainesville.

One of the former Florida native posters, and I had to point out that a two-three hour drive to the beach was such a culture shock to me moving to the DC area. The first time friends took me to Ocean City, my reaction was "we drove three hours for this???" Anything more than a 1/2 hour drive to a good beach is uncivilized!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard the public schools in Florida are not good anywhere. Period. And, most people with money put their kids in parochial or private schools. My family lives full time in the DC Metro area but we own a home in Boca Raton. I would never move down there with grade school children. I have kids in middle school now. At least in the DC area you have a wide variety of school options but not in Florida. Plus, people down there are stupid (culturally, socially, politically...) at least in South Florida. OP, you should think long and hard about it.

You must have missed the part where I said I lived in florida for 7 years and love it.

But, you have kids now which is a critical component. You weren't concerned about schools when you were loving it.

I was mostly responding to the bolded. No one can be so stupid to think that there are literally no excellent public schools in the entire state of florida, so that I didn't even think to respond to that part of the PP's comment.

NP. I grew up in Florida. Don't do this to your kids. You understand great school ratings don't work across state lines? And though UF is not a bad school, it is the only viable in state option and decent university for like 600 miles.

Culturally there is a reason why Florida is the butt of many jokes. And summers are unbearable unless you live on the beach. No one will be walking in your cute downtown area for 5 months of the year because of the blistering heat. And it is the south with a bunch of lower income folks who moved down from up north to live large.


If you must do this, Gainesville is cute college town but kind of grungy, St Augustine is decent option, bayside in Tampa, parts of New Tampa are where all my friends with professional jobs ended up (but suburban sprawl). Maybe Celebration, but snooty. Winter Park I think is ok but less familiar with Orlando. Space coast might be nice but has been in decline since NASA outsourced everything to SpaceX and Russians.

You will not find cats and dogs and teachers and doctors living together; teachers make $30k, it just doesn't happen unless teacher marries a doctor. Gated communities are EVERYWHERE.

OP, people are just stupid. This poster has no idea what she is talking about. My daughter is a teacher in St Johns. Starting salary several years ago was 46,000 a year. That's just one small example of the nonsense on the board. There are several great colleges in Florida. Smart, high performing kids in Florida go to college at almost no cost. UF and FSU are good as are University of North Florida, University of Central Florida, Miami, ....... Plenty of good in-state options. We have lived in every region of this country (including several years in Hawaii) and in three overseas countries. We can't WAIT to move back to Florida.

Huh, so DCUM is not a great forum for asking about where to live in Florida? Who would have thunk it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard the public schools in Florida are not good anywhere. Period. And, most people with money put their kids in parochial or private schools. My family lives full time in the DC Metro area but we own a home in Boca Raton. I would never move down there with grade school children. I have kids in middle school now. At least in the DC area you have a wide variety of school options but not in Florida. Plus, people down there are stupid (culturally, socially, politically...) at least in South Florida. OP, you should think long and hard about it.

You must have missed the part where I said I lived in florida for 7 years and love it.

But, you have kids now which is a critical component. You weren't concerned about schools when you were loving it.

I was mostly responding to the bolded. No one can be so stupid to think that there are literally no excellent public schools in the entire state of florida, so that I didn't even think to respond to that part of the PP's comment.

NP. I grew up in Florida. Don't do this to your kids. You understand great school ratings don't work across state lines? And though UF is not a bad school, it is the only viable in state option and decent university for like 600 miles.

Culturally there is a reason why Florida is the butt of many jokes. And summers are unbearable unless you live on the beach. No one will be walking in your cute downtown area for 5 months of the year because of the blistering heat. And it is the south with a bunch of lower income folks who moved down from up north to live large.


If you must do this, Gainesville is cute college town but kind of grungy, St Augustine is decent option, bayside in Tampa, parts of New Tampa are where all my friends with professional jobs ended up (but suburban sprawl). Maybe Celebration, but snooty. Winter Park I think is ok but less familiar with Orlando. Space coast might be nice but has been in decline since NASA outsourced everything to SpaceX and Russians.

You will not find cats and dogs and teachers and doctors living together; teachers make $30k, it just doesn't happen unless teacher marries a doctor. Gated communities are EVERYWHERE.

OP, people are just stupid. This poster has no idea what she is talking about. My daughter is a teacher in St Johns. Starting salary several years ago was 46,000 a year. That's just one small example of the nonsense on the board. There are several great colleges in Florida. Smart, high performing kids in Florida go to college at almost no cost. UF and FSU are good as are University of North Florida, University of Central Florida, Miami, ....... Plenty of good in-state options. We have lived in every region of this country (including several years in Hawaii) and in three overseas countries. We can't WAIT to move back to Florida.

Huh, so DCUM is not a great forum for asking about where to live in Florida? Who would have thunk it?

I'm PP being called stupid. My parents were teachers, I knew many growing up, and have many friends who stayed in FL and now teach (because honestly, in MUCH of the state, the jobs are tourism, healthcare, or schools and that's it). I am guessing my numbers are a bit stale, but sure $46k could be inflation adjusted, but it's still far far below what a doctor would be making, and with low property taxes and no state income taxes, it just doesn't have much money to pay state employees like teachers. I don't know why all these PPs who vacationed in Florida are poo-pooing the folks who actually grew up there? I mean there is bias; DCUM posters will invariably be the folks who LEFT Florida if they grew up there, b/c otherwise why would they be on DCUM? It's a nice place for spring break vacations, but as a place to live its quite... different... than most metropolitan cities on the coasts.