Best place to live in Florida?

[Alicehunter2000]

we have some of the nicest beaches in Florida. We also have some of the most easy going people and lowest cost of living for a coastal area. We have great fishing. We are the top destination for wild Spring Break college students.

We are also one of the coldest area's of the state. We have some of the lower salaries for employees in the state. We got lots of Red neck and good ol' boy's. Pickup trucks are as common as cars. Deer sausage is given as gifts.

I would probably be in the Keys ..... but I'm married with children and business interests.

Merritt Island is a pretty nice area.....or Stuart Florida. ....you should check those areas out..plenty warm...good surf and prettier water over there than more northerly east coast areas.

[edric]

My Tillandsia say, Oak Hill, where the air is clean, the Dypsis don't agree, so if Dypsis are a priority, then "California is the place you wanna be" Ed

[waykoolplantz]

My Tillandsia say, Oak Hill, where the air is clean, the Dypsis don't agree, so if Dypsis are a priority, then "California is the place you wanna be" Ed

Tillansias in oaks and 85 Dypsis....S Florida is second only to Hawaii

[tank]

I could tell you where I wouldn't live although I wouldn't want to upset any folks who may live there. Needless to say, its where I grew up and its centrally located in the state. Some of the more bizarre news items come from there and it is historically the brunt of many a redneck joke.

[DoomsDave]

I could tell you where I wouldn't live although I wouldn't want to upset any folks who may live there. Needless to say, its where I grew up and its centrally located in the state. Some of the more bizarre news items come from there and it is historically the brunt of many a redneck joke.

What place in Florida lacks bizarre news?

[Silas_Sancona]

Dooms Dave: Tampa, (for the most part), St. Pete... and Sarasota proper.. Nothing overly bizarre in the news from here. Agree that the epicenter of weird / aka: "only in Florida" stories seem to surface from the center of the state.

As far as beach life, Siesta Key and St. Pete Beach have been in the top 5 beaches on numerous occasions according to Dr. beach and a few other surveys.. Id also include Clearwater but as crowded as it gets down there, let alone the cost to park, which recently went up, again.... it has sort of lost it's allure, imo. Siesta Key has better water anyway.

-Nathan-

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

"Final thought: Florida is a BIG state, if you were to drive from Key West to the western panhandle/Alabama border it would take you close to 15 hours. It's also incredibly culturally diverse with communities catering to every kind of person. Compared to Kansas all of Florida can grow a decent amount of palm species so that's not really a concern at all."

Well said, people say things like I don't like FL because blah blah blah... all of FL is not the same, Tallahassee is nothing like Miami.

Generalizations abound. A lot of people think Southern California is a pit, because when you go down there, it's wall to wall strip malls, freeways and everything is super crowded. Stereotypes abound on plastic surgery and superficiality. But I lived there, so I know there are some real cool places to live, and some places I'd avoid like the plague, and there are nice people and duchebags like everywhere else. I bet Florida isn't all mosquitoes and swamp. While I'd never trade my Central California paradise for Orlando, I bet there are lots of places like for example the Florida keys that are awesome.

[redant]

"Final thought: Florida is a BIG state, if you were to drive from Key West to the western panhandle/Alabama border it would take you close to 15 hours. It's also incredibly culturally diverse with communities catering to every kind of person. Compared to Kansas all of Florida can grow a decent amount of palm species so that's not really a concern at all."

Well said, people say things like I don't like FL because blah blah blah... all of FL is not the same, Tallahassee is nothing like Miami.

Generalizations abound. A lot of people think Southern California is a pit, because when you go down there, it's wall to wall strip malls, freeways and everything is super crowded. Stereotypes abound on plastic surgery and superficiality. But I lived there, so I know there are some real cool places to live, and some places I'd avoid like the plague, and there are nice people and duchebags like everywhere else. I bet Florida isn't all mosquitoes and swamp. While I'd never trade my Central California paradise for Orlando, I bet there are lots of places like for example the Florida keys that are awesome.

I actually prefer my area (Jupiter) to the keys. I'm 2 hours by boat to some of the clearest water, most beautiful islands and best fishing and lobstering around. While I can't grow some of the great palms others can further south of me the trade of of what I have here is worth it to me.

[Jeff Searle]

At our age, who's laying around the beaches anymore? Unless your into the skin cancer thing.

[waykoolplantz]

Prior to finding my place (5 acres in the 'city', 10 miles east of Jeffs fabulous garden) I looked at Jupiter...and Estero Bay.

I love the vibe up the river in Jupiter....and Estero Bay is a idyllic natural paradise

[Eric in Orlando]

My top places in FL;

Sanibel Island

Mt. Dora

Micanopy

Jupiter

Oakland

Crescent City

Merritt Island (Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach)

Orlando, great growing climate in the metro area and lots of things to do but way too crowded,congested and crime ridden. It is now the new Miami.

[redant]

My top places in FL;

Sanibel Island

Mt. Dora

Micanopy

Jupiter

Oakland

Crescent City

Merritt Island (Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach)

Orlando, great growing climate in the metro area and lots of things to do but way too crowded,congested and crime ridden. It is now the new Miami.

Micanopy, now that old school, the land that time forgot!

[redant]

Prior to finding my place (5 acres in the 'city', 10 miles east of Jeffs fabulous garden) I looked at Jupiter...and Estero Bay.

I love the vibe up the river in Jupiter....and Estero Bay is a idyllic natural paradise

Estero bay is great, Naples is pretty darn nice is you have a load of cash for a house.

[DoomsDave]

Places in Florida I liked best, no particular order:

Homestead

Naples

Ft. Myers

Miami (warts, middle fingers and all)

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

[Zeeth]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

I actually like the heat. To me it means crazy fast palm growth. I'm immune to mosquitoes (they bite me, but don't leave welts), so I have no comment there.

[redant]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

It's great that it's not for everyone, there are way to many people here as it is. Please do not live here.

[DoomsDave]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

It's great that it's not for everyone, there are way to many people here as it is. Please do not live here.

Ha!

Florida's not crowded.

So-Cal is crowded, with 20-25 million in so-Cal alone. Florida has, what? a mere 19 million for the whole state. Wide open spaces . . . . (start the Good-Bad & Ugly theme)

[Zeeth]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

It's great that it's not for everyone, there are way to many people here as it is. Please do not live here.

Ha!

Florida's not crowded.

So-Cal is crowded, with 20-25 million in so-Cal alone. Florida has, what? a mere 19 million for the whole state. Wide open spaces . . . . (start the Good-Bad & Ugly theme)

Florida is a little over 53,000 square miles of land with 19.5 million people, So-Cal has 22.4 million in an area of 56,000 square miles. We have 368 people per square mile, whereas you have 400. I don't see much difference.

[DoomsDave]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

It's great that it's not for everyone, there are way to many people here as it is. Please do not live here.

Ha!

Florida's not crowded.

So-Cal is crowded, with 20-25 million in so-Cal alone. Florida has, what? a mere 19 million for the whole state. Wide open spaces . . . . (start the Good-Bad & Ugly theme)

Florida is a little over 53,000 square miles of land with 19.5 million people, So-Cal has 22.4 million in an area of 56,000 square miles. We have 368 people per square mile, whereas you have 400. I don't see much difference.

You're correct, as an overall average, assuming we all lived evenly spread all over the place.

But we don't. No one lives in most of San Bernardino, Riverside, or Imperial counties. If you lopped them off and forgot their populations, you'd still have about 18 million or so in an area of about 21,000 square miles, or about 857 per square mile.

And, that doesn't take into account that LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara also have very concentrated populations; so being generous and taking that into account, lop off another large chunk of land with few people and I'll bet the number goes way above 1,000 in the populated areas.

Hmm. This is an interesting exercise . . . .

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in FLorida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

I actually like the heat. To me it means crazy fast palm growth. I'm immune to mosquitoes (they bite me, but don't leave welts), so I have no comment there.

The heat in Florida isn't bad. It's the humidity !

Here in modesto we see temps over 100f many times per year... But the humidity is low... Less than 20 percent.

Winter is nice in so fl!

Jeff

[redant]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in Florida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

It's great that it's not for everyone, there are way to many people here as it is. Please do not live here.

Ha!

Florida's not crowded.

So-Cal is crowded, with 20-25 million in so-Cal alone. Florida has, what? a mere 19 million for the whole state. Wide open spaces . . . . (start the Good-Bad & Ugly theme)

Florida is a little over 53,000 square miles of land with 19.5 million people, So-Cal has 22.4 million in an area of 56,000 square miles. We have 368 people per square mile, whereas you have 400. I don't see much difference.

You're correct, as an overall average, assuming we all lived evenly spread all over the place.

But we don't. No one lives in most of San Bernardino, Riverside, or Imperial counties. If you lopped them off and forgot their populations, you'd still have about 18 million or so in an area of about 21,000 square miles, or about 857 per square mile.

And, that doesn't take into account that LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara also have very concentrated populations; so being generous and taking that into account, lop off another large chunk of land with few people and I'll bet the number goes way above 1,000 in the populated areas.

Hmm. This is an interesting exercise . . . .

Google a map of FL, nobody lives in the middle, and hardly anyone one in the middle north, very coastal other then Orlando and that's the fault of Walt Disney.

[Zeeth]

Hmmm? What is the name of the city in Florida where the heat and humidity are tolerable during the summer and there are very few stinging insects?

That's where I want to live !

Noplacein, FL

Lol

It's great that it's not for everyone, there are way to many people here as it is. Please do not live here.

Ha!

Florida's not crowded.

So-Cal is crowded, with 20-25 million in so-Cal alone. Florida has, what? a mere 19 million for the whole state. Wide open spaces . . . . (start the Good-Bad & Ugly theme)

Florida is a little over 53,000 square miles of land with 19.5 million people, So-Cal has 22.4 million in an area of 56,000 square miles. We have 368 people per square mile, whereas you have 400. I don't see much difference.

You're correct, as an overall average, assuming we all lived evenly spread all over the place.

But we don't. No one lives in most of San Bernardino, Riverside, or Imperial counties. If you lopped them off and forgot their populations, you'd still have about 18 million or so in an area of about 21,000 square miles, or about 857 per square mile.

And, that doesn't take into account that LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara also have very concentrated populations; so being generous and taking that into account, lop off another large chunk of land with few people and I'll bet the number goes way above 1,000 in the populated areas.

Hmm. This is an interesting exercise . . . .

Google a map of FL, nobody lives in the middle, and hardly anyone one in the middle north, very coastal other then Orlando and that's the fault of Walt Disney.

I was going to say precisely this. Our population is almost entirely concentrated along the coast, with Orlando the notable exception. For my area, from downtown Sarasota to 8 miles in it's like you're in a different state, and you can go miles without seeing anyone. The biggest difference is that in Cali you can get away with growing a similar variety of palms if you leave the big city, but in much of Florida, once you're a few miles in, the amount of stuff that you can grow becomes staggeringly low. By the coast over by me is a solid 10b, with coconuts having survived the freezes of the 80's (and 2010), but if you drive 4 miles inland you're reaching into 9b territory where coconuts won't grow, and at 8 miles in you're getting into 9a, where no crownshafted palm is long term.

[Jimbean]

If you ever consider moving to the central/east central part of Florida, let me know. I commute to Orlando on a weekly basis (I go to UCF), and I live in Brevard county.

[Jimbean]

I also have several friends that live in places like Oviedo and beach side, so I have been all over the place around here.

I'll tell you everything you want to know about this area.

I will also tell you that Florida is not one of those places that you can just go to without knowing something about the area.

[DoomsDave]

I also have several friends that live in places like Oviedo and beach side, so I have been all over the place around here.

I'll tell you everything you want to know about this area.

I will also tell you that Florida is not one of those places that you can just go to without knowing something about the area.

I will (as a visitor) affirm:

"Be careful out there" to quote Sgt. Esterhaus . . .