There are so many really adorable, affordable houses in Florida

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could not pay me to live in humidity, heat and bug infested Florida. That's below the gnat line--it's like living in the DC summer but with more bugs, for at least double the amount of time. And it's only going to get hotter.

I live in FL full time for a few years now, I just got back from a visit to NoVa to see friends and family and I saw way more bugs there than I ever see in FL.

Quite a few of you people commenting here sound like dull brained morons in your odd opinions and dense generalizations about FL.

I’m from Florida and there is no way this is true unless you were camping in NOVA or live in someplace like urban Miami where they nuke pesticides from helicopter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could not pay me to live in humidity, heat and bug infested Florida. That's below the gnat line--it's like living in the DC summer but with more bugs, for at least double the amount of time. And it's only going to get hotter.

I live in FL full time for a few years now, I just got back from a visit to NoVa to see friends and family and I saw way more bugs there than I ever see in FL.

Quite a few of you people commenting here sound like dull brained morons in your odd opinions and dense generalizations about FL.

I’m from Florida and there is no way this is true unless you were camping in NOVA or live in someplace like urban Miami where they nuke pesticides from helicopter.

I am from Florida and live in DC and the bugs are about equal? This is just such a weird comparison to begin with…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5301-N-Central-Ave-Tampa-FL-33603/45092661_zpid/

Like, this house is "cute"...but it's in a very...erm...up and coming neighborhood I personally would not choose to raise my family in. The schools would be an absolute non-starter for me (and I'm a product of FL public schools and always roll my eyes at the "FL schools are universally awful!" comments...if that tells you anything). And it's within viewing distance of one of the busiest interstate stretches in the entire state. I can't imagine paying $650k for it (although I'm sure someone will).

I'm familiar with the area, for work reasons. It's pending already! It's a walkable area, historic with beautiful trees. Most people get their kids into charter/school choice. Seminole Heights is a very popular neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Ten insurers have gone belly up in Florida in just the last two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

USNWR

Maryland
#23 in Education overall
#23 Pre-K-12
#15 Higher Education

These kinds of rankings are useless. Schools vary throughout the state depending on where you live. You are going to get higher ranked schools closer to DC in places like Bethesda (some of the highest in the nation). As far as higher education goes, again it depends on where you are going to college. UMD College Park has some highly ranked degree programs, many in the top 5. Being #15 overall is good in any case.

+1. People who are disparaging FL schools are comparing the best MOCO schools to the schools in poor areas in FL. We moved to one of the best school districts in FL and our elementary is far superior to the JKLM that we left. Our HS is so much better than Jackson-Reed too. For one thing it's a lot safer, but the academics and sports are better too. The FL schools are student-focused, not teacher-focused like DCPS. It's a viewpoint that affects everything.

It’s amazing how hard people on this board work to avoid acknowledging the disastrous effects of the school Covid policies in the DMV. They keep living in the pre-Covid world, before DMV schools slid down in test scores and rankings and the Red states moved up. So far, the biggest impact is in the elementary school years, but that is going to echo for at least the next decade as the kids who started school during Covid move through the system.

FL ranks 4th in the Nation in 4th grade math scores, while DC is only saved from being last by NM and Puerto Rico. Maryland ranks below both Alabama and Mississippi, btw. FL is #3 in reading. MS is #21 in reading. Not only did they open earlier during Covid, MS has done away with social promotion in lower grades and it has been immensely successful. You won’t hear about it much, though, since it’s not a fashionable approach. DC is 5 from last place and MD is 13 from the bottom. 58% of 4th graders in MD read at a basic level. 31% are at or above proficient. MS is 63/31%. AL is 59/28%. DC is 50/26%. FL is 71/39%.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=&sfj=NP&st=MN&year=2022R3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

USNWR

Maryland
#23 in Education overall
#23 Pre-K-12
#15 Higher Education

These kinds of rankings are useless. Schools vary throughout the state depending on where you live. You are going to get higher ranked schools closer to DC in places like Bethesda (some of the highest in the nation). As far as higher education goes, again it depends on where you are going to college. UMD College Park has some highly ranked degree programs, many in the top 5. Being #15 overall is good in any case.

+1. People who are disparaging FL schools are comparing the best MOCO schools to the schools in poor areas in FL. We moved to one of the best school districts in FL and our elementary is far superior to the JKLM that we left. Our HS is so much better than Jackson-Reed too. For one thing it's a lot safer, but the academics and sports are better too. The FL schools are student-focused, not teacher-focused like DCPS. It's a viewpoint that affects everything.

It’s amazing how hard people on this board work to avoid acknowledging the disastrous effects of the school Covid policies in the DMV. They keep living in the pre-Covid world, before DMV schools slid down in test scores and rankings and the Red states moved up. So far, the biggest impact is in the elementary school years, but that is going to echo for at least the next decade as the kids who started school during Covid move through the system.

FL ranks 4th in the Nation in 4th grade math scores, while DC is only saved from being last by NM and Puerto Rico. Maryland ranks below both Alabama and Mississippi, btw. FL is #3 in reading. MS is #21 in reading. Not only did they open earlier during Covid, MS has done away with social promotion in lower grades and it has been immensely successful. You won’t hear about it much, though, since it’s not a fashionable approach. DC is 5 from last place and MD is 13 from the bottom. 58% of 4th graders in MD read at a basic level. 31% are at or above proficient. MS is 63/31%. AL is 59/28%. DC is 50/26%. FL is 71/39%.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=&sfj=NP&st=MN&year=2022R3

In DC metro diff. districts have diff scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could not pay me to live in humidity, heat and bug infested Florida. That's below the gnat line--it's like living in the DC summer but with more bugs, for at least double the amount of time. And it's only going to get hotter.

Gnats are here in DC metro, they were horrible already during the heat wave in April Unlike FL, not many DC homes have screened in areas and pools, but it's getting bad here with bugs starting early afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FL has always been the best state for college because it has always had the lowest tuition. That dominates all other factors.

DeSantis's valor-stealing self-congratulation for not ruining one Florida tradition from long before his tenure, means nothing except that he is a liar who thinks you are stupid.

His current attempts to dismantle education from K through college will be seen in ratings in the future.

Important read about how Florida and specifically De Santis manipulate test data to claim the Florida education system is performing well. It isn’t. Rather, students have one of the most “catastrophic” learning regression rates from 4th to 8th grade.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2023/01/05/floridas-education-system-is-vastly-underperforming-column/

“Catastrophic” is a pretty hysterical way to describe this phenomenon. The tests showed that FL is at the top of the 4th grade scores and performs at the national average on 8th grade. The scores are not as good relatively, but that’s because the 4th grade scores were so good. FL 8th graders still do better in math than MD 8th graders (not to mention DC). But MD 4th graders didn’t do nearly as well as FL 4th graders, so they didn’t “regress” quite as much. Congrats, I guess?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5301-N-Central-Ave-Tampa-FL-33603/45092661_zpid/

Like, this house is "cute"...but it's in a very...erm...up and coming neighborhood I personally would not choose to raise my family in. The schools would be an absolute non-starter for me (and I'm a product of FL public schools and always roll my eyes at the "FL schools are universally awful!" comments...if that tells you anything). And it's within viewing distance of one of the busiest interstate stretches in the entire state. I can't imagine paying $650k for it (although I'm sure someone will).

I can get that whole list for $650K a 15-20 minute drive from downtown DC, why would I want it in Tampa?

I found Tampa one of the most boring cities I've ever visited. It's literally a bunch of really sprawly flat suburbs without any interesting landscape features. There is water and beach area, but that's now where most families would live. We went out downtown and found it underwhelming. We visited relatives who lived there in a family friendly suburb, it was homogenous and boring looking. Not to say DC burbs are amazing feats of architecture, but at least we have hills here and more breaks in uniformity. I am from CA, so I am not digging FL nature that much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

USNWR

Maryland
#23 in Education overall
#23 Pre-K-12
#15 Higher Education

These kinds of rankings are useless. Schools vary throughout the state depending on where you live. You are going to get higher ranked schools closer to DC in places like Bethesda (some of the highest in the nation). As far as higher education goes, again it depends on where you are going to college. UMD College Park has some highly ranked degree programs, many in the top 5. Being #15 overall is good in any case.

+1. People who are disparaging FL schools are comparing the best MOCO schools to the schools in poor areas in FL. We moved to one of the best school districts in FL and our elementary is far superior to the JKLM that we left. Our HS is so much better than Jackson-Reed too. For one thing it's a lot safer, but the academics and sports are better too. The FL schools are student-focused, not teacher-focused like DCPS. It's a viewpoint that affects everything.

It’s amazing how hard people on this board work to avoid acknowledging the disastrous effects of the school Covid policies in the DMV. They keep living in the pre-Covid world, before DMV schools slid down in test scores and rankings and the Red states moved up. So far, the biggest impact is in the elementary school years, but that is going to echo for at least the next decade as the kids who started school during Covid move through the system.

FL ranks 4th in the Nation in 4th grade math scores, while DC is only saved from being last by NM and Puerto Rico. Maryland ranks below both Alabama and Mississippi, btw. FL is #3 in reading. MS is #21 in reading. Not only did they open earlier during Covid, MS has done away with social promotion in lower grades and it has been immensely successful. You won’t hear about it much, though, since it’s not a fashionable approach. DC is 5 from last place and MD is 13 from the bottom. 58% of 4th graders in MD read at a basic level. 31% are at or above proficient. MS is 63/31%. AL is 59/28%. DC is 50/26%. FL is 71/39%.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=&sfj=NP&st=MN&year=2022R3

In DC metro diff. districts have diff scores.

You don’t think that’s true of FL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could not pay me to live in humidity, heat and bug infested Florida. That's below the gnat line--it's like living in the DC summer but with more bugs, for at least double the amount of time. And it's only going to get hotter.

I live in FL full time for a few years now, I just got back from a visit to NoVa to see friends and family and I saw way more bugs there than I ever see in FL.

Quite a few of you people commenting here sound like dull brained morons in your odd opinions and dense generalizations about FL.

I lived in south Georgia full time for decades and went to Florida frequently during the summer and now live in DC. Most everyone in DC is from somewhere else, and I am from about 20 miles north of the gnat line, thank goodness. I call bs on your response, unless you live in an area of Florida right on the coast, which is not "affordable" to most people.

I live about 5 miles from one of the top ranked beaches in the country so yes, on the coast. I bought a 2/2 condo here in late 2020 and my total mortgage payment and condo fee is less than $1200 mo. It would cost someone quite a bit more than that if they bought the same condo now but is still way more affordable than a similar nice condo anywhere in the DC metro area, and way more fun to live here. Yes there are bugs, but it's not the buggy, gator infested, sweltering hell hole so many seem to think it is. Doesn't matter though, if that illusion keeps more people from moving here I'm all for it, we're full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5301-N-Central-Ave-Tampa-FL-33603/45092661_zpid/

Like, this house is "cute"...but it's in a very...erm...up and coming neighborhood I personally would not choose to raise my family in. The schools would be an absolute non-starter for me (and I'm a product of FL public schools and always roll my eyes at the "FL schools are universally awful!" comments...if that tells you anything). And it's within viewing distance of one of the busiest interstate stretches in the entire state. I can't imagine paying $650k for it (although I'm sure someone will).

I can get that whole list for $650K a 15-20 minute drive from downtown DC, why would I want it in Tampa?

I found Tampa one of the most boring cities I've ever visited. It's literally a bunch of really sprawly flat suburbs without any interesting landscape features. There is water and beach area, but that's now where most families would live. We went out downtown and found it underwhelming. We visited relatives who lived there in a family friendly suburb, it was homogenous and boring looking. Not to say DC burbs are amazing feats of architecture, but at least we have hills here and more breaks in uniformity. I am from CA, so I am not digging FL nature that much

So you spent a few days walking in circles in Wesley Chapel or something and so all of Tampa Bay is 'boring' and has no hills. Ps-there are hills there. You missed some stuff.

[Anonymous]

I am 41. I am seriously considering becoming a snowbird. I guess i would be around 52 when it’s a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida is doomed. Just no.

Like it or not, FL is the future, despite the hideous politics and climate issues.

Just look at population/economic trends. Which states are experiencing population growth? Which are losing population? Where's new manufacturing going? (Hint, it's not the NE or Rust Belt).

We're in the midst of an historical transition, perhaps the largest we've seen since the post-WWII suburbanization.

Places like FL and TX are "winning" and places like NYC, Chicago are "losing".

Neither climate nor politics are likely to change that anytime soon.

THIS. A lot of people on this forum bash Florida and I wonder if they have any clue about the massive migration, including of wealth, that is going on in this country.

How much of that migration and "wealth" are retirees who will be a massive net negative on the economy?

If I retire to Florida and bring my $2MM retirement portfolio I'm bringing a ton of "wealth" to FL on paper, but how much of that will be sucked up by out-of-state based corporate "senior living communities?" How much of that will sit in a brokerage account doing nothing until I die and my liberal kids who would never willingly set foot in the state get it all?

No, Florida (and Texas) is one of the top states millennials are moving to.

+1 Sorry to interrupt the pp's liberal talking points, but it's not just retirees moving to FL.

No one thinks stupid is confined to the old. People of all ages can be short-sighted or weirdo conservatives.

There are no liberals anywhere who are crying over people moving to FL or Texas. Go ahead. Let's confine the crazy. Cluster together down in your sweltering summers, imminent flooding and God-awful politics. Buh-bye.

Unfortunately Florida has a huge impact on Presidential elections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5301-N-Central-Ave-Tampa-FL-33603/45092661_zpid/

Like, this house is "cute"...but it's in a very...erm...up and coming neighborhood I personally would not choose to raise my family in. The schools would be an absolute non-starter for me (and I'm a product of FL public schools and always roll my eyes at the "FL schools are universally awful!" comments...if that tells you anything). And it's within viewing distance of one of the busiest interstate stretches in the entire state. I can't imagine paying $650k for it (although I'm sure someone will).

I'm familiar with the area, for work reasons. It's pending already! It's a walkable area, historic with beautiful trees. Most people get their kids into charter/school choice. Seminole Heights is a very popular neighborhood.

I moved to Tampa in February of 2020. Not Seminole Heights, but I'm very familiar.

This area is basically struggling with being a run down place for decades. Now because it's trendy and expensive people think services are up to the norm, but truth be told there really aren't. I know more than a few young professionals who got married, bought in SH and as their kids approached school age moved elsewhere. The schools have lagged waaaaay behind the premium you pay to live in that area if you have kids.

I'm trying to remember how Hyde Park handled this, because back in the 80's no one wanted to live there.

Tampa has a pattern. Trend setters move into a poor area, because they are poor also. Fix up a few spots. Make the area cool to be in. Then wealthy people follow and the poor trend setters move on. But the city never seems to keep up.

It went from Ybor to the warehouse docks. From Hyde Park to Tampa Heights to Seminole Heights.

I wonder where the poor trend setters are living now? Sulphur Springs?