Advice about Moving to Florida

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  • Considering a Move to the Space Coast in Florida

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    May 3, 2022

    Hi All, 

    My partner and I are still considering a move to the space coast in Florida (everything south of Cape Canaveral).  My elderly mother is in assisted living now in the bay area (hates it, but that's another story).  I'm wondering if anyone knows of assisted living facilities on/near the space coast (Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Titusville, Melbourne and the Beaches, etc.).  Or, maybe someone knows how to find the good ones?  

    Alternatively, does anyone know what getting in-home care is like in that area and what kinds of senior day or other social programs there might be?

    Thanks!

    May 3, 2022

    You didn't mention if you've visited Florida much before.  If you haven't been in the summer, I would take a vacation there in July or August.  I'm from Georgia, and it can get mighty hot and humid.  After living in the Berkeley area for four years, even a short visit is too much for me.

    May 4, 2022

    I have visited before - my first real visit was at the end of June/beginning of July one year.  I agree that the heat and humidity are gross.  But I'm exploring all options!  :-)

    Jun 6, 2022

  • Moving from SF Bay Area to Florida's Space Coast - Crazy?

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    Oct 12, 2021

    Hi All, 

    My partner and I are considering moving to Florida, in specific the Space Coast.  This comprises the following towns (I believe): Cocoa Beach, Melbourne & The Beaches, Port Canaveral, Titusville, Palm Bay, and Viera.  My short question is: are we crazy?

    I'm wondering, from a logical point of view, if it makes sense.  We don't have kids but may in the next year or so.  Our parents are all in their early 80's. His are doing fine, my parent needs help.  His job could move him to the Space Coast, and would be his dream. Mine might allow me to work remotely (thought I'm not sure).  The emotional part no one else can answer, but in practical terms, I'm wondering if folks have any experiences moving from the SF Bay Area to Florida (specifically the Space Coast) (or vice versa) and have thoughts?

    Some more background info that may or may not be relevant to the logical decision question:  Basically, he's all for it and I'm not so much, but I realize I may be provincial in my thinking.    I don't want to be closed-minded or sacrifice an adventure and an easier financial future for current comfort and familiarity.  We have been there twice in the last 6 months and plan to visit again over the winter holidays.  

    He loves it there.  He prefers the weather (his sinuses do a lot better in a warm, humid climate), the people seem friendlier to him, his job would be his dream, and he thinks it's a better/easier place to raise a family than the SF Bay Area (we are trying but are not guaranteed a little one so the kids topic may be moot for us).  His parents would be closer by - about 1.5 hours away (though they're doing fine now, he is thinking ahead). It's likely that a few of his colleagues would also relocate, so he'd have some community. 

    I'm a bay area person and I love it here, although living here does seem to get harder and harder financially and otherwise (city government issues, the heartbreaking and seemingly insurmountable issues around unhoused folks, cleanliness and crime problems).  We probably could never afford to own property here.  If we did have children here, caring for them would be harder (our parents are not available for this).  My parent is local and needs help.  The suggestion is that she move with us, although she has some family and friends here (I do too, of course).  I have one friend about 45 minutes way from where we might live in Florida, and if I'm able to keep my current job, I'd be on my own out there (with likely trips back every other month or so to be in the office).  I love the weather here, and the access to gorgeous natural areas, with California topography.  I'm not a fan of the Florida heat, humidity, or bugs (who love me).  That said, we could own property there, and I have to admit I do find parts of Florida beautiful.  

    Thanks, All!

    Oct 12, 2021

    I have relatives in Cocoa Beach and I LOVE visiting. The ocean is amazing and the natural beauty is great. I find folks incredibly friendly and warm in a way they aren't in larger metro areas including the Bay. Very mixed politically, which can be a positive or negative depending on your view (I think it's nice to exit the bubble). If you don't like heat, humidity or bugs, summers there might be really tough for you. Have you visited in August? Maybe you could do a longer visit to test it out?

    Oct 13, 2021

    Hello! I have aging parents in Florida, so I've also been researching what a possible move there might look like. Here area couple of articles that I found helpful with some CA/FL comparisons: https://reason.org/commentary/from-amentities-to-taxes-why-florida-attr… , and https://www.stateoffloridaliving.com/california-vs-florida-which-is-a-b… . Anyway, I just googled moving from CA to FL and found lots of info when I dug around, including these two articles. It's a big change, for sure. I moved to CA from IL in 1997 and that was a crazy-big change, too. It definitely took several years of adjustment, but I love it here now! I like to think about what Anthony Bourdain said: "If I'm an advocate for anything, it's to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food, it's a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move."  Good luck with whatever you choose!

    Oct 13, 2021

    You are not crazy, and it sounds worth doing. (No experience living in the Space Coast myself). We own a small home here and have two kids (3 and 6 mos). The living is hard, even while owning a home, and all the stressors you cited will possibly stress you even more with kids, as it does me. If you have kids, there's all this additional inertia to stay but it also makes it much harder to stay, financially. We've made a lot of friends via daycare, parks, etc. I think it would be great to go through that process of having kids and building a community somewhere we felt we could afford more easily and live in permanently. Adults are unusually open to making new friends when they are having kids. At least that's been my experience - no one seems to ever mention that, but people seem to feel a stronger urge to build community and a support network and a new type of friend base once they have kids. Thus, I think your timing is really good and if you do have kids, it will help you build a nice community there. Add the family factor on top of it, that's another good reason to do this.

    Oct 13, 2021

    Climate change is already hitting the southeastern coast extremely hard. Sea levels are rising, storm surge is producing more frequent coastal flooding. Hurricanes are getting bigger and wetter due to warming oceans (frequency may be increasing as well, but may be due to normal cyclic hurricane activity rather than climate change). There was recent news that FEMA is changing how it prices federal flood insurance, with rates increasing dramatically in areas prone to flooding (here's a sample of the news: https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/01/us/flood-insurance-rates-going-up-fema-c…).

    Climate change risks appear to be impacting home values: https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmoore/2021/08/30/is-your-home-value-a….

    I wouldn't move there. Or at least, I wouldn't buy a home there. Maybe I'd rent there for a few years if I was tempted by a plum job.

    Oct 13, 2021

    Wow, there are a lot of moving parts to the decision that you are facing.

    I have never lived in Florida, but visited there when I had a space research job that took me to Canaveral.

    There are both good and bad aspects to anywhere one may live, so I won't discuss the less-wonderful aspects of Florida.

    You should be able to make friends in Florida and have a social life.

    However, let's analyze each aspect of this situation: your relationship with your partner, possible kid(s) with him, your Bay Area parent needing help currently, your job, and the potential for building wealth through owning a home in Florida:

    Top priority: your relationship with your partner: IMHO marrying the right person is the smartest thing any of us can do to ensure happiness in our lives.

    Is this the right guy for you? Your relationship could change a great deal if you move to Florida. The two top risks: if you don't like the place once you get there, or you cannot keep your present job or find another job that is satisfactory.

    That said, I know a couple who have been happily married for 30+ years. She is is from New England, he is from the Bay Area. She has complained for the entire 30+ years about hating California and wanting to go back to New England, but her marriage is so good she is willing to stay here.

    Your parent who "needs help now":  What kind of help does she need? How does she feel about the idea of moving to Florida? 

    What if she wants to stay in the Bay Area? That could result in a lot of airplane trips back and forth for you. How would things be for her if you had a baby or small child and could not do the travel? Adult children should not sacrifice their marital happiness for a needy parent, but parental needs are indeed a factor.

    If she moves to Florida with you, what if you ended up doing full-time elder care (and maybe also child care)?  How would the financial situation work out?  Would your partner (spouse?) be able to support you and your mother, while perhaps also helping his own parents?  Will he be earning enough money to cover that contingency?

    What is his relationship like with his proto-MIL? 

    Your job: it was an enormous shock to me when I had my first baby, and saw what an impact it had on my career.  I had been self-supporting for 20 years, and suddenly I had to depend on my husband to pay the bills. He has the old-fashioned idea that a man's role is to take care of his family.  But not all guys think that way.

    Some women have more robust career paths than others, and more portable jobs.  But you should seriously consider whether - even if you are able to keep your present job after moving to Florida - could you still keep your job with a new baby to care for?

    As far as real estate prices go. yes, one builds wealth through home ownership. Should you live in Florida for awhile and build up equity, it would likely still be a challenge to leverage your way back into home ownership in California. I don't know your financial circumstances; some people are able to move back and forth. But I have spoken with several people who moved out of the Bay Area because of the cost of living, and now regret that they can't afford to come back.

    If I were in your position, I would make a list of pro's and con's covering every aspect of this Bay Area versus Florida Space Coast dilemma, then follow my heart.

    I wish you the best of luck, whatever you decide.

    Oct 14, 2021

    Maybe you're crazy, but life's an adventure.

    My husband and I, after 10 years in the SF Bay Area, moved to the gulf side of Florida in July. I had a similar situation where it was my husband's idea and I at first absolutely didn't want to move to FL. I mostly grew up in the Bay Area and have family and friends in CA. (My husband doesn't and was really tired of bay area life). But we visited during a nice time of year (April) and it became easier for me to imagine living here. We both work remotely so that wasn't an issue. The move itself was terrible even though nothing bad happened. It just sucked moving across the country with our 5 year old and a cat. We had already purchased a property sight-unseen and moved into it without any of our belongings for the next 3 weeks. Having no childcare and working full time and not having our stuff, plus it was like the height of summer heat and humidity. It was pretty miserable. But, it's about 3 months later now, and the weather is starting to get cooler in the mornings. It actually was "sweater weather" this morning (I have not work any jeans or sweaters since moving here). We're more settled in now since our furniture and other belongings arrived, and our son has settled into kindergarten. We live a couple blocks from an "olde downtown" area, and we got bikes. Being able to ride around town on flat ground is pretty awesome. I'm still not a fan of the heat and humidity or bugs, but I hear that goes away in the winter/spring months. The red tide is a problem here in the gulf, which has put a damper on our enjoyment of the area beaches, but I'm hopeful that will also get better in the coming months. We don't have friends or family here but we plan to do most of our traveling to see family during the summer when it's kind of unbearable in FL, which seems to be pretty common.

    Feel free to reach out if you want to know more about my experience moving from SF Bay Area.

    Oct 18, 2021

    Hi Everyone, 

    Thanks for the input!  It's a complicated question for sure. 

    I think we may be able to try a hybrid model for a while - he may spend a week or so each month in/near Cocoa Beach for work while we have our main home here. We also may spend 7-10 days there at a time a few times a year in the coming year.  We've been there in late June and in early October, so I think I have a pretty good feel for what will be the worst of it weather-wise for me (hello June) and I have an OK idea of what the winter months would be like (more my style).  This might be a way to sort of "try on" the idea.  

    Further input is always welcome!

    Oct 25, 2021

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Where to Live in Florida?

June 2004

My husband and I are considering moving to Florida next summer and would like some recommendations on where to live. I am a school teacher and he is a carpenter (who prefers working on boats). Sad to say our story is being replayed over and over in the Bay Area:we cannot realize our dream of home ownership in this market and are looking for other opportunities. We are thinking of Florida because we want out son to grow up around the water and learn to sail, and I have family in Orlando (NOT even considering Orlando!). I have lived in the Bay Area since I was 18 (am now 33) and it's very hard thinking about leaving. So, we want to make sure to end up in a great place! It's important that we find a place that's diverse (in most senses of the word- I guess I really don't care if there aren't too many people that eat their bread with the butter side down), and that there are lots of different things to do. My husband is European and while he's assimilated well here, I'd hate to get him in to some small hick town where everyone knew our business and we felt smothered. (please no judgements on this, I used to live in one of those towns in Georgia, this is what I'm trying to avoid!) So if anyone has any ideas of a nice, diverse, teacher-needing Florida town/city (within 20 miles of the ocean) please share your thoughts. Thanks! margaret

I have lived in St Petes the areas around there. I love the area but the schools are horrible. Many race riots and fights. One that happened just before we left. There are very poor areas and it reminded me of the LA riots but on a much smaller scale. I understand your want of diverse areas but I can tell you that diverse in Fl means something much more different than the Bay Area. I am not sure how you can check on areas but maybe the local police or try subscribing to newspapers from the area or read them online. b3

Hi. I read your posting and thought I'd offer this website link to help you and your husband in your search for a new place to live: http://www.inc.com/bestcities/index.html

I'm using it in my re-location search. What I liked about this article is it discusses the need for a city to have a balance of businesses in order to continue to grow. If you read the whole article, they go into depth about how they went about gathering their data etc.

I have family and friends that live in South Florida. All I can say is Florida is changing faster than any other place I've ever been.

My Grandmother lives in Pompano Beach and it's not the same place it used to be when I was a child. That's not a good thing. All the local charm has been taken over by strip malls and chain restaurants.

My friends that live there used to live in Chicago for 12+ years. They moved because of work. One of my friends is a flight attendant with American. He's a senior flight attendant and his route that kept him in Chicago was cut. He now has the South American route, hence the move to Florida.

They live in Hollywood, which has it's good parts and it's bad parts. In the last 2 years since they've been living there, they've witnessed a tremendous amount of transition as well. Too long to get into in this email, but if you wanted to talk to me about it off the list, I'd be happy to tell you more.

You will go into culture shock. Sorry to have to break the news to you this way, but it is the truth. Miami, or I should say South Beach, is really one of the only places in Florida that is gay friendly.

I put this in because in my own search, I'm looking for places that have a gay/lesbian center. I'm straight, but I feel that a city that supports gays/lesbians will have some sort of an arts scene. They are also less likely to be as conservative than the cities that surround them.

Having said all that, have you considered Sarasota? I don't know what the culture is like, but it's beautiful and they do a lot of boating there. Same with Boca Raton and Naples.

One thing you absolutely need to know about Florida is this: Bugs and Critters like you have never seen in your entire life. The first year/year and a half my friends lived there, I'd get weekly updates on what bugs were taking over the house, the lawn etc. It was like being on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

The other things you should know about Florida is that it has really really bad health care, Dr.'s etc.

Also, it's the naked capital of the United States. If you can do it naked and make a profit, it' s in Florida. beth

Good on you for considering a move outside the Bay Area. My husband and I did the same search that you are doing just a few years ago (though we were moving from Europe) and narrowed our choices to Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. We opted for Jacksonville. Though, from your post, Miami is going to be the closest thing to what you think that you are looking for...

I will warn you, much of Florida is going to be very similar to the Georgia towns which concern you. For that reason, I would look to the cities rather than small towns. Also, other than Miami, there is not a lot of diversity (but really, how much diversity is there in Piedmont? Or, the Berkeley Hills. Or, diversity in political thought for that matter). Instead of using 'diversity' think in terms of 'can I find good Thai take- out nearby?'

Republicans and the Baptist Church have much of the same control in local politics that the far-lefties exert in our dear old Berkeley. Public education is not very good. Sex Education leaves an awful lot to be desired (no pun intended) We are still learning about international cuisine. There are too many confederate flags on pick-up trucks. That said, there are 'some great things happening here' and a crunchy, left leaning Berkeley girl like myself has found a home (a moderately affordable one at that) :-)

Miami (and oddly, Fort Lauderdale) were initially intriguing to us, but family moves to north & central Florida led us to focus on the Northern/Central part of the state. Like you we wanted to be near water so we narrowed our choices to Jacksonville and Tampa. Since then, we have found neat neighborhoods in Orlando (yes, really -- there are some great neighborhoods near Lake Oleola in downtown that were built in the 20s and have wonderful little shopping streets, diverse populations, etc). Tampa is definitely hipper and has a neat little light rail in its touristy section. It has decent museums and lots of nearby beaches. Certain aspects of Jacksonville could possibly be mistaken for 'South Georgia,' but we have managed to find a fabulous neighborhood where flamboyantly gay men rub elbows with the Lily set. We have great beaches and some small museums (just opened a Modern Art Museum).

Drop me an e-mail if you want to chat more re: a move to Florida or if you need any other help. Jan

We vacation in Florida every year, and while Miami/Ft. Lauderdale have a lot going on, Naples seems like a nice, growing community with a cute downtown. Michael

I grew up in St Petersburg. I wasn't going to post about this topic, since I didn't really like living there, but I wanted to comment on what someone else wrote about the St Pete schools being really horrible.

I actually had an incredibly positive experience at a public high school in St. Pete, and I am still grateful to have gotten such a great education. St. Pete High has a complete International Bacchalaureate program (meaning all of your classes, all 4 years, are pre-IB or IB classes - not just a class here or there like AP), which was just stellar - I have seen nothing to compare, anywhere else that I've lived. The teachers mostly had PhDs, and the students were really interested in learning. I felt challenged rather than bored in high school, and was well supported by teachers and staff. This was public school. St. Pete also has an arts magnet program at a different high school, also a public program, that was stellar when I was there.

Okay, that said - I think public middle and elementary schools don't compare favorably - my parents had us in private school until high school (that education was also really good), and my public school friends were pretty bored in their classes and had to deal with big race conflict issues.

As far as diversity goes... well, it's not all white. There are large parts of the population that are black, latino, and asian. But they are fairly segregated, location-wise and class-wise. My high school was probably 1/3 white, 1/3 black, and with big groups of asian and latino students, but they rarely intermingled, and there were big race tensions. There is a bit of local culture in that the area still has the local industry of fishing/sponge harvesting, and there are people who have grown up as fishermen and never left the area; but there is also a huge population of people who have moved in from elsewhere (my parents' community: entirely comprised of transplanted new york jews).

St. Pete doesn't have much in the way of an arts scene, that I could see, and they don't have a big alternative-lifestyle presence. Tampa and Sarasota seem better, but still not great. I think when I was there, the closest pride parades were in Atlanta or Miami.

Take all of this with a grain of salt, please, because I haven't lived there for 12 years. Jen