Move to FL?

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Considering a move to FL in 3 years.

Looking for recommendations on location for young-ish working couple. Currently in Northern MN. Things we like, small town (8-10K population), not too far from Urban areas and low crime. Access to stuff (healthcare etc.) is easy.

Are there similar size towns in FL that one could look at? Missus works in health care. I work in higher ed. Any towns that we could be looking at...

Re: Move to FL?

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JaxTeller wrote:Considering a move to FL in 3 years.

Looking for recommendations on location for young-ish working couple. Currently in Northern MN. Things we like, small town (8-10K population), not too far from Urban areas and low crime. Access to stuff (healthcare etc.) is easy.

Are there similar size towns in FL that one could look at? Missus works in health care. I work in higher ed. Any towns that we could be looking at...
Your criteria rules out South Florida almost entirely aside from some areas outside of Naples and around Lake Okeechobee. There are a couple areas in Central Florida along the i75 coridor but those areas are growing quickly and won't be small for long. What you're really looking at is somewhere along the i10 corridor between Jacksonville/Gainesville/Tallahassee, which again won't be small for long. The good news is in Florida you're never more than an hour from a major metropolitan area, and usually no more than an hour from the coast.

Re: Move to FL?

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kronkmusic wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:37 pm If I were you I'd be looking in Alachua County, plenty of small towns and all within an hour of Gainesville, which is one of my favorite cities in America. It's like a city and a small town in one, with a great grassroots counterculture.
Good choice.

Also, you could live outside Tampa/St Pete and commute to Tampa or Orlando. Lots of job opportunities for both of you in/near either city.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Move to FL?

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kronkmusic wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:37 pm If I were you I'd be looking in Alachua County, plenty of small towns and all within an hour of Gainesville, which is one of my favorite cities in America. It's like a city and a small town in one, with a great grassroots counterculture.
Yeah, that's not a bad place. Gainesville is a college town with the good history (Tom Petty) and the bad (Ted Bundy).

As far as crime goes everywhere in Florida (probably everywhere in Texas too) has it's share of druggies. They have two of our Texas fash that we'd reported to the authorities repeatedly locked up in Alachua County. They worked their way up to attempted murder of a local Florida activist and are serving some long sentences now.

I used to do a lot of business with a trucking company out of the town of Alachua (county and town have the same name).

The Sheriff's Department in Alachua County used to and probably still does have BMW motorcycles so you know that's a cool area. :lol:

If you want to be on the coast you might look into St. Augustine and some of those small towns south of there. I lived not far from there and have several friends to this day that commute in to Jacksonville to work but reside around St. Augustine.

Re: Move to FL?

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Many great areas and many bad areas to live in Florida. Don't forget to check out areas near Tallahassee, too.

Remember that smaller towns there are likely to be very right wing. Small town Florida can be like any other southern state (because it is a southern state). I would try to choose something closer to a city but small enough to be nice - and there are plenty of those in Florida.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Move to FL?

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Tallahassee area strikes me as a good area. I spent a lot of time in the East Point, St. George area over the past years, and while I wouldn't suggest living in them based on your criteria, Tallahassee is close and its a great area to be near if you like forests and beaches. It's the closest you'll find to old Florida that I know of.

edit: (By old FL I mean without a bunch of huge condos everywhere, and lots of 2 lane roads between point A and B.)
Be sure to make good choices when you're being stupid...

Re: Move to FL?

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YankeeTarheel wrote:I wonder: are there such towns that aren't Red Hat Hell, ("MAGA, USA")?
Sort of. Gainesville itself is around 130,000 but there are a bunch of little towns around there that are sort of hit-and-miss. High Springs, about 30min north, is home to Ginnie Springs, these really awesome natural springs that are kind of like Gainesville's beach. It's really popular with the college kids so the town has some funky little cafes and whatnot. Also a bunch of the college professors, doctors, university administrators and whatnot tend to live in larger houses in the outskirts in these smaller towns. So your neighbor could be a full on conservative or a doctor of philosophy or one of the world's foremost cancer research scientists or an assistant football coach for the Gators. You're still going into town for all your shopping and general public interactions anyway.

Re: Move to FL?

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:35 pm I wonder: are there such towns that aren't Red Hat Hell, ("MAGA, USA")?
It's a lot like most southern and midwestern states. Rural areas are red. I think every state is like that now to some degree.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Move to FL?

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Texas - IH-35 corridor - San Marcos, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Kyle, Buda, to So. Austin - schools and medical. No hurricanes, seldom tornadoes or floods.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: Move to FL?

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featureless wrote:Do check the sea level rise projections as well as the groundwater situatuion. Seriously.
That's another reason I say Gainesville/Alachua County area. I'm buying land there soon. It's much higher above sea level than most of the rest of the state and sits squarely on top of the Florida Aquifer, maybe the largest source of pure limestone-filtered spring water in North America. Hell, if you could control a natural spring there, you could become a rich and powerful man in the inevitable water wars.

Re: Move to FL?

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kronkmusic wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:09 am
featureless wrote:Do check the sea level rise projections as well as the groundwater situatuion. Seriously.
That's another reason I say Gainesville/Alachua County area. I'm buying land there soon. It's much higher above sea level than most of the rest of the state and sits squarely on top of the Florida Aquifer, maybe the largest source of pure limestone-filtered spring water in North America. Hell, if you could control a natural spring there, you could become a rich and powerful man in the inevitable water wars.
Yes, as long as it doesn't suffer from salt water intrusion! :)

Re: Move to FL?

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Marlene wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:14 am For what it’s worth, I wasn’t there long, but I really hated South Florida. Like, I liked Texas better and I didn’t like Texas.
I went to grad school in Florida (Gainesville) in the early 90s, didn't like it. I did some consulting work in Miami in the mid-90's, it was OK to hang out with some Cubans and shoot the shit in Kreyol with the Haitian cab drivers. I'm ok with visiting Miami but not living there. I shot a couple of USPSA Nationals a few years back and found I still hated FL enough that I won't shoot there again. I did have an OK time at Harry Potter world a year ago, so there's that.

I do live in Texas (it's home whether I like it or not), but I live in a bubble where my neighbors mostly speak Spanish, we have a community fridge for folks to stock or take as they wish, get togethers for no other reason than to build a fire and share food, and white folks think it's a bad neighborhood so they stay away (at least for now). I would probably move to New Mexico, if I was planning a move.

Re: Move to FL?

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featureless wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2020 8:49 am
kronkmusic wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:09 am
featureless wrote:Do check the sea level rise projections as well as the groundwater situatuion. Seriously.
That's another reason I say Gainesville/Alachua County area. I'm buying land there soon. It's much higher above sea level than most of the rest of the state and sits squarely on top of the Florida Aquifer, maybe the largest source of pure limestone-filtered spring water in North America. Hell, if you could control a natural spring there, you could become a rich and powerful man in the inevitable water wars.
Yes, as long as it doesn't suffer from salt water intrusion! :)
FTR, I am so glad not to be the one harping on this for a change. Y'all are great.

Re: Move to FL?

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I haven't read all the threads, but having lived in Jacksonville for seven years before my job was outsourced, I'd advise you to STAY AWAY from there
Also don't go near the Orlando area because of the heavy traffic. I'd vote for one of the smaller cities on the northeast coast such as Melbourne. Also, get a copy of the Places Rated Almanac.
Best of luck,
Bill in Cleveland
Bill in Ohio

Where Liberty dwells, there is my country.- Ben Franklin
Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever. - Jefferson
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.- Hunter Thompson

Re: Move to FL?

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I lived in Jacksonville for about 15 years.

Plenty of small towns near JAX.

Alachua County would also be good.

Tampa has a lot of small towns nearby. Gibsonton is a carnival town and it's a hoot.

Pretty much a win/win situation from your standpoint.

Good luck!

Re: Move to FL?

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Updating this thread since it has been a while. (Well over a year - but what a year it has been!)

COVID got to us - well not physically, but mentally I am in the pits. Things have been rough at work and it is time to move on. My father-in-law passed away in December and that brought about some change at a sudden pace. Mom-in-law decided to move away from the area and has relocated to be closer to her grandchild. That leaves us with no family in the immediate area.....

We've honed in on Gainesville and Tampa thanks to the input in this thread. Hoping to start the moving process in the next 2 months and we'll go from there... I know I said 3 years in my first post. But really have no reason to see another sub-zero MN winter....

Re: Move to FL?

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Dooooeeeeeit!
What more do you need?
Just watch out for the Florida Man.
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"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

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