Living in Florida

[BeyondTheGarden]

If you were going to move to Florida, where would you want to live and why?  

I'm familiar with Orlando but that's about it.  Thoughts on Atlantic vs Gulf coasts, central vs south, etc? Property values,  quality of life, climate considerations?  

[kinzyjr]

2 hours ago, Jesse PNW said:

If you were going to move to Florida, where would you want to live and why?  

I'm familiar with Orlando but that's about it.  Thoughts on Atlantic vs Gulf coasts, central vs south, etc? Property values,  quality of life, climate considerations?  

It depends on what you want out of the move and where you work if you don't work remote. 

• If you want to have the maximum range of palms that can survive the winter, you'll want to be in Southeast Florida close to the Atlantic. 
• If you want easy access to the amusement parks and International Drive, then Orlando/Kissimmee/Sanford it is.  The right spots in Orlando have a zone 10a climate.
• Interested in space?  The east central coast is great.  The space coast is ~10a on the mainland, but closer to 10b on a barrier island. 
• Want to be able to get a bigger lot and have a four seasons climate?  You'll love from Gainesville north and west into the Panhandle.
• Locations on the gulf are typically cooler and drier than their counterparts on the Atlantic side.

There are tons of other places with their own unique quirks. 

When I came here, the whole state was up for consideration, but I prefer to stay in the middle of the state on the high ground.  I'm good driving distance to most of the peninsula for when I have to travel to a remote site for work and for CFPACS meetings.

[BeyondTheGarden]

Thanks @kinzyjr, your area is one of the places I'm interested in.  

I would be looking for a few acres out of town.  Gotta stay close enough to the city to keep the wife happy though.  She needs her Disney Land Princess treatment and I need to grow my own Tropical(ish) Eden. 

It seems like real estate is as ridiculous down there as it is up here.  And many places are even worse.  I don't understand what has happened with housing prices in this country.  

 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

28 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

It seems like real estate is as ridiculous down there as it is up here.  And many places are even worse.  I don't understand what has happened with housing prices in this country.  

 

 

= Speculation & Greed  ( ..and everyone wanting to move to both places.. Though i've met numerous folks who'd moved to Tucson from the Pac. N.W. lately )

[BeyondTheGarden]

Well Christian Faulkner evidently doesn't like Lakeland! 

 

There are quite a few zone maps with conflicting info, @kinzyjr or anybody else know of a good zone map?  I'm guessing this one seems pretty close based off what I've heard Christian say? 

 

Seems pretty similar to this one:

 

 

[kinzyjr]

23 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

Well Christian Faulkner evidently doesn't like Lakeland! 

He's right.  This place is dangerous and not a good place to garden.  People shouldn't move here. 

My zone map on Google Maps is based on NOAA and WU data: https://tinyurl.com/35ud2aap

There were a bunch more posted on the Make Your Own Zone Map! thread.

[Fusca]

Try not to buy a house built over a sinkhole.  

[Silas_Sancona]

4 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Try not to buy a house built over a sinkhole.  

...Or next door to some guy who introduces himself as " Gator "    ...True story

[BeyondTheGarden]

22 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

...Or next door to some guy who introduces himself as " Gator "    ...True story

Who am I to judge what he self-identifies as?  

(It's a JOKE.  No need for political debate here.  It's a joke, that's all).

After watching Christian's video, he said, "This is where FloridaMan lives"...  I had to google this strange new super hero but now I get it.  It's not just Florida though, we've got 'em everywhere!  

Florida man desperate for ride to Hooters calls 911

Florida man arrested for trying to get alligator drunk

[kinzyjr]

46 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

Who am I to judge what he self-identifies as?  

(It's a JOKE.  No need for political debate here.  It's a joke, that's all).

After watching Christian's video, he said, "This is where FloridaMan lives"...  I had to google this strange new super hero but now I get it.  It's not just Florida though, we've got 'em everywhere!  

Florida man desperate for ride to Hooters calls 911

Florida man arrested for trying to get alligator drunk

A lot of the reason for the 'Florida Man' thing is our state's broad public records laws.

This one just sold for almost 50K over the asking price: https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/fl/lakeland/4710-hulse-ln/pid_47685365/

Besides, if you move to Lakeland you get to live with dinosaurs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp0wkrlPqxQ

[JLM]

So basically my opinion on this is somewhere around the Tampa/Lakeland area. For me i would want it to be warm enough most years to grow some tropicals but also still get the challenge of zone pushing.

[BeyondTheGarden]

37 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

A lot of the reason for the 'Florida Man' thing is our state's broad public records laws

The only reason I don't have a headline attached to my name is that I've never been caught!  I lived in Orlando in 2002-2003 while I attended Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in southern Orlando.  Heck, I could have been Floridaman!  In fact if I do end up moving back there, I think that'll be my new Palmtalk username.  I'll get Tshirts made or something.  I'll insist that the local papers reference me as a superhero rather than a statistic, "Floridaman blames rum for getting caught planting palm trees naked in public"...

37 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

This one just sold for almost 50K over the asking price: https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/fl/lakeland/4710-hulse-ln/pid_47685365/

Ridiculous.  In 1991, my parents bought my home childhood home for $30,000.  30 years later (today) it's worth 130k!  And that's in low-traffic, podunk SW Missouri.  Here along the I5 corridor of Western Washington, if you get a home for a 1/4 million you're either beating the market, or buying a POS.  Most of my peers purchased homes in the 300,000's in the last 5 years.  One of my friends bought a home in the 400's, 10 years ago, and he's getting ready to put it on the market at a million.  INSANITY!  

The craziest part about all of this, to me... say you bought a home 5 or 10 years ago and you sell it and make $100,000 profit... you essentially make NO profit because buying a new home is going to cost more than you made!  How does some 18 year old kid, who is getting his first job and has no equity, afford anything these days?  

Edited July 23, 2022 by Jesse PNW

[amh]

18 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

...Or next door to some guy who introduces himself as " Gator "    ...True story

Really any nicknames at all, but the biggest red flags are being introduced to someone named after any animal or color.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, amh said:

Really any nicknames at all, but the biggest red flags are being introduced to someone named after any animal or color.

Depends.. Sage, Rose, Wolfe, Finch, Sienna, Violet.. Not questionable..  " Gator" , " The neighborhood Pharmacist " ..or crazy lady that threatens to kill her husband at 3 am ( Believe her name was Kelly or Karen, ironically enough ).. Definitely red flags, haha.

[amh]

Just now, Silas_Sancona said:

Depends.. Sage, Rose, Wolfe, Finch, Sienna, Violet.. Not questionable..  " Gator" , " The neighborhood Pharmacist " ..or crazy lady that threatens to kill her husband at 3 am ( Believe her name was Kelly or Karen, ironically enough ).. Definitely red flags, haha.

Duly noted.

[spike]

And this

"Has Florida Man finally met his match? Meet Florida Sheriff"

https://apnews.com/article/police-florida-fort-lauderdale-ed03521826c0f70b1d455b4e7fc3e6cb

Edited July 24, 2022 by spike

[JohnAndSancho]

Polk County and the Tampa Bay area is wild, dude. I spent a few years down there and that's really all I can say. Just... Wild. Living in Polk County made Houston seem calm. And Houston is also wild. 

 

Obv this is purely anecdotal and has 0 to do with palms. Also when I was living in Polk County I was a repo agent for Rent A Center, so I admittedly did not deal with the best of what society had to offer. 

 

Still. Wild. 

[Looking Glass]

On 7/22/2022 at 3:41 PM, Jesse PNW said:

If you were going to move to Florida, where would you want to live and why?  

I'm familiar with Orlando but that's about it.  Thoughts on Atlantic vs Gulf coasts, central vs south, etc? Property values,  quality of life, climate considerations?  

SE Florida is pretty packed/urban and real estate prices are pretty high.  There’s a lot of neurotic, vanity loving folk in these parts.  I’m no expert on other FL areas, but I’d be curious about deep southwest Florida.   The difference between between the southeast coast of the state and the southwest coast is pretty striking.  Rest assured though, if you like strippers and blow, you can still find plenty on either side.   

[kinzyjr]

11 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Polk County and the Tampa Bay area is wild, dude. I spent a few years down there and that's really all I can say. Just... Wild. Living in Polk County made Houston seem calm. And Houston is also wild. 

Obv this is purely anecdotal and has 0 to do with palms. Also when I was living in Polk County I was a repo agent for Rent A Center, so I admittedly did not deal with the best of what society had to offer. 

Still. Wild. 

No wonder I fit in so well LOL.

8 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Rest assured though, if you like strippers and blow, you can still find plenty on either side.

LMAO!

[Silas_Sancona]

9 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

SE Florida is pretty packed/urban and real estate prices are pretty high.  There’s a lot of neurotic, vanity loving folk in these parts.  I’m no expert on other FL areas, but I’d be curious about deep southwest Florida.   The difference between between the southeast coast of the state and the southwest coast is pretty striking.  Rest assured though, if you like strippers and blow, you can still find plenty on either side.   

Ironic you mention this...  When i moved to FL. -the second time, we stayed in a couple hotels while looking for a place in Bradenton..   left the first hotel after  some  ahem, " Hotel Pharmacist's " guests started causing trouble..

Went to a different hotel in Bradenton ..only to end up in the room next to where the " boss " of some neighborhood " evening entertainers " were staying..  ..Needless to say,  a couple of those " entertainers " offered up some business in the form of warm greetings and smiles anytime i was outside my room..  Left that place too..

Before i moved to FL. - the first time,  stayed in Tampa while in town looking at job / apartment prospects in Clearwater..  Pulling into the parking lot of my hotel after a night out in Ybor,  rando guy walks up to my car.. Turns out, he'd just been released from jail after serving time for a pretty serious felony.. and was asking if i had cash to spare, or could give him a lift somewhere..

Things briefly got a little interesting  when i made it clear both requests were a definite " Hell nah ", lol..

Spring Hill / Brooksville?  ..Have Some interesting stories from there too while dating an ex when she lived there ( might still ).

..All that said, knew plenty of normal people when i lived in FL...   By the same token,  While entertaining faces exist everywhere i have lived  ( And no,  the " Golden Homeland "  isn't exempt from this phenomena - at all - )  there is definitely something about the sunshine state that attracts many of the more vividly colored folks / Porch-side Popcorn entertainment i have crossed paths/ witnessed with in my life..

 

[kinzyjr]

4 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Ironic you mention this...  When i moved to FL. -the second time, we stayed in a couple hotels while looking for a place in Bradenton..   left the first hotel after  some  ahem, " Hotel Pharmacist's " guests started causing trouble..

Went to a different hotel in Bradenton ..only to end up in the room next to where the " boss " of some neighborhood " evening entertainers " were staying..  ..Needless to say,  a couple of those " entertainers " offered up some business in the form of warm greetings and smiles anytime i was outside my room..  Left that place too..

Before i moved to FL. - the first time,  stayed in Tampa while in town looking at job / apartment prospects in Clearwater..  Pulling into the parking lot of my hotel after a night out in Ybor,  rando guy walks up to my car.. Turns out, he'd just been released from jail after serving time for a pretty serious felony.. and was asking if i had cash to spare, or could give him a lift somewhere..

Things briefly got a little interesting  when i made it clear both requests were a definite " Hell nah ", lol..

Spring Hill / Brooksville?  ..Have Some interesting stories from there too while dating an ex when she lived there ( might still ).

..All that said, knew plenty of normal people when i lived in FL...   By the same token,  While entertaining faces exist everywhere i have lived  ( And no,  the " Golden Homeland "  isn't exempt from this phenomena - at all - )  there is definitely something about the sunshine state that attracts many of the more vividly colored folks / Porch-side Popcorn entertainment i have crossed paths/ witnessed with in my life..
 

Interesting story about this hotel: https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8919764,-81.5996716,3a,23.1y,102.88h,92.96t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMVZrbW5txOqCYTxLK9B0VQ!2e0!5s20210301T000000!7i16384!8i8192

I stayed at this one for a week a long time ago.  Pulled up and parked near the queen palm.  There were a bunch of people outside one of the rooms that were obviously looking to see what all I had in the back seat.  Got out, unpacked the first piece of "steel luggage", tucked it away in plain view, and walked into the office to get a room until I could find a permanent place to stay.  Needless to say, no one wanted anything to do with my vehicle after that.

I stayed in the 3rd room from the left in the building on the right.

[Silas_Sancona]

32 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Interesting story about this hotel: https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8919764,-81.5996716,3a,23.1y,102.88h,92.96t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMVZrbW5txOqCYTxLK9B0VQ!2e0!5s20210301T000000!7i16384!8i8192

I stayed at this one for a week a long time ago.  Pulled up and parked near the queen palm.  There were a bunch of people outside one of the rooms that were obviously looking to see what all I had in the back seat.  Got out, unpacked the first piece of "steel luggage", tucked it away in plain view, and walked into the office to get a room until I could find a permanent place to stay.  Needless to say, no one wanted anything to do with my vehicle after that.

I stayed in the 3rd room from the left in the building on the right.

   Even the logo on the sign looks like a Liquor bottle with pour-er attached  ( If you've ever been in a bar, you know exactly what i'm referring to  < ...Almost said reefer..  > LOL )

The placed i stayed in Tampa was actually decent.. by " standard hotel " standards..  Everyone staying there pretty much kept to themselves / were average folks ...Rooms were good,  pool in good order...  Rando guy was the only surprise.  Remember having to drive thru a pretty dark neighborhood near Ybor when going back to the hotel on a couple nights, but didn't feel too intimidated about it..  Come to think of it, crossing paths w/ rando guy might have occurred on one of those evenings.. Not that i would, but, I'd likely be left alone if walking through such a neighborhood anyway...  Not to veer into any weeds but,  things that can be kept in " metal boxes " don't scare me either..  Actually had to get in the middle of a disagreement between some people where such a toy was pulled on one of those crazy nights at the " Green Lizard ".  ...Florida,  ...haha..

[kinzyjr]

Now that the comments from @Silas_Sancona , @JohnAndSancho and myself have ruled out about half of the state, @Jesse PNW I guess you're stuck with Orlando or JAX.

[JohnAndSancho]

7 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Now that the comments from @Silas_Sancona , @JohnAndSancho and myself have ruled out about half of the state, @Jesse PNW I guess you're stuck with Orlando or JAX.

A coworker and I went to go repo a washer and dryer in Kathleen. Their very very pregnant very very toothless daughter was throwing cinder blocks at us the whole time, that was fun. 

 

But man - the Cuban food makes up for a lot of it. Another thing to think about in the Tampa Bay area is traffic - most of the main thoroughfares are surface streets. 

[BeyondTheGarden]

I do appreciate your input gentlement. 

Currently interested in the southern outskirts of Orlando or eastward, south of Daytona down to Port St Lucie.  That area seems like it's up and coming and nice and warm!  I need to stop looking at the zone map, everything in Central FL is a BIG step up from my current situation, and I know even in Lakeland @kinzyjr and tons of other people are growing lots of cool stuff.  I keep looking at your Lake Wire thread. 

I'm also interested in SW FL like @Looking Glass mentioned.  I believe Christian Faulkner listed Immokalee as a place not to be but the greater Naples area interests me.  A little less party-city than Miami.  It's just hard to find acreage anywhere down south.  

The amount of waterfront housing in Cape Coral (and elsewhere) blows my mind but those places are way too densely populated.  

 

[JohnAndSancho]

5 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

I do appreciate your input gentlement. 

Currently interested in the southern outskirts of Orlando or eastward, south of Daytona down to Port St Lucie.  That area seems like it's up and coming and nice and warm!  I need to stop looking at the zone map, everything in Central FL is a BIG step up from my current situation, and I know even in Lakeland @kinzyjr and tons of other people are growing lots of cool stuff.  I keep looking at your Lake Wire thread. 

I'm also interested in SW FL like @Looking Glass mentioned.  I believe Christian Faulkner listed Immokalee as a place not to be but the greater Naples area interests me.  A little less party-city than Miami.  It's just hard to find acreage anywhere down south.  

The amount of waterfront housing in Cape Coral (and elsewhere) blows my mind but those places are way too densely populated.  

 

Lake Wales was pretty quiet and chill when I was down there. Davenport was pretty nice too, but it was growing fast - I moved to Texas in 2009 so this might be kind of dated info. 

[kinzyjr]

30 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Lake Wales was pretty quiet and chill when I was down there. Davenport was pretty nice too, but it was growing fast - I moved to Texas in 2009 so this might be kind of dated info. 

Lake Wales and the whole US-27 corridor is exploding.  You wouldn't recognize exit 55 anymore.

37 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

I know even in Lakeland @kinzyjr and tons of other people are growing lots of cool stuff.  I keep looking at your Lake Wire thread. 

Lake Wire is a nice collection.  The best palms are in these threads and tend to be downtown or in the highlands where the AAL-30 is above 30F (10a):

• Hollis Gardens: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/18482-hollis-gardens-in-lakeland-florida/
• Common Ground: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/61890-common-ground-lakeland-fl/
• Remarkable Palms of Tampa Bay: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/61172-remarkable-palms-of-tampa-bay/

In the Remarkable Palms thread, you can just search for my screen name and you'll see some real neat stuff.

Winter Haven has a lot of lakes and some really nice areas.

[JohnAndSancho]

9 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Lake Wales and the whole US-27 corridor is exploding.  You wouldn't recognize exit 55 anymore.

There was literally nothing but a Publix and a 7-11 when I lived there. 

 

I moved down to Winter Haven for a (now) ex, and had to hide in Lake Wales. I lived in some "cottages" on a dried up lake that used to be a bed and breakfast. I put a queen sized bed in this "cottage" and the door hit my mattress when I opened it. Maybe TMI but when I had to pee I could stand on the edge of the bed and hit the toilet. It was like a freaking doll house. 

 

But my rent was $110/week all utilities included. 

 

Is the "Wacky Nu Nu" guy still doing infomercials on TV? Lol my TV only picked up him and reruns of Scrubs. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Living in Polk County? *slaps truck* THATS WACKY NU NU

[BeyondTheGarden]

15 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Lake Wales and the whole US-27 corridor is exploding.  You wouldn't recognize exit 55 anymore.

Lake Wire is a nice collection.  The best palms are in these threads and tend to be downtown or in the highlands where the AAL-30 is above 30F (10a):

• Hollis Gardens: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/18482-hollis-gardens-in-lakeland-florida/
• Common Ground: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/61890-common-ground-lakeland-fl/
• Remarkable Palms of Tampa Bay: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/61172-remarkable-palms-of-tampa-bay/

In the Remarkable Palms thread, you can just search for my screen name and you'll see some real neat stuff.

Winter Haven has a lot of lakes and some really nice areas.

AAL-30?  

I just remembered to reference this website,  https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/  , it shows basically all of central FL as 9b and virtually no 9a.  However it also doesn't include 10b for most of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, like in the above "plant communities" map..  Here's the overall map;

 

So random plant hardiness question - in Orlando and surrounding areas you see lots of Croton.  This spring my small 10-12"ish Croton in pots were seemingly killed by a min low of 29.8f for one hour before the temp started to rebound and quickly got back above 32f.  Does this seem normal? Note these were houseplants that were recently moved outside - didn't think they were quite that tender. 

6 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

But my rent was $110/week all utilities included. 

That's cheap for anywhere even by 2009 standards.  Today you can't even finance a car for $440 a month, or even a spare room in your friend's house

[kinzyjr]

1 minute ago, Jesse PNW said:

AAL-30? 

Average Annual Low for 30 years

1 minute ago, Jesse PNW said:

I just remembered to reference this website,  https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/  , it shows basically all of central FL as 9b and virtually no 9a.  However it also doesn't include 10b for most of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, like in the above "plant communities" map..  Here's the overall map;

Not a bad map, just a bit dated from a data perspective.  The years it covers are 1976-2005.  You'll see a lot of different maps online and everyone has their own take on what they should look like.  Interestingly enough, Lakeland gets a reputation as a "cold spot" but it's the only city on the I-4 corridor that hasn't recorded a low below 20F.

6 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

That's cheap for anywhere even by 2009 standards.  Today you can't even finance a car for $440 a month, or even a spare room in your friend's house

Florida housing wasn't always insane.  Homes were expensive when I got here, but rent wasn't bad at all.  I lived on the 4th floor dead in the middle of the city for under $500/month and used to sit on my balcony and watch the fireworks at the baseball stadium.  Those same apartments are close to $1,000/month now.  A lot of it is because we mostly stayed open during the lockdowns and a lot of jobs went/stayed remote.  Anyone who had anything to spare was buying property here (and everywhere else) to get out of crowded areas and work from home.

23 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

There was literally nothing but a Publix and a 7-11 when I lived there. 

I moved down to Winter Haven for a (now) ex, and had to hide in Lake Wales. I lived in some "cottages" on a dried up lake that used to be a bed and breakfast. I put a queen sized bed in this "cottage" and the door hit my mattress when I opened it. Maybe TMI but when I had to pee I could stand on the edge of the bed and hit the toilet. It was like a freaking doll house. 

But my rent was $110/week all utilities included. 

Is the "Wacky Nu Nu" guy still doing infomercials on TV? Lol my TV only picked up him and reruns of Scrubs. 

I'll confess to not watching TV much at all.  This time of year is especially busy as the grass needs to be mowed twice per week and weeds are impossible to keep up with no matter how often you pull them.  Lake Wales makes a good "hiding spot" as there are a lot of underground-type environments and arrangements to be had.  In my case, I existed there for a while on the cheap as well - close to the Chalet.  Me, a military cot, and a computer - that was enough back then.

[JohnAndSancho]

17 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

That's cheap for anywhere even by 2009 standards.  Today you can't even finance a car for $440 a month, or even a spare room in your friend's house

Bruh 

 

It was a craphole. I sincerely hope this doesn't sound racist as that totally isn't me and that totally is not my intention here, but I was the only person living there that didn't get picked up on a grey bus to go pick oranges at sunrise every morning. I did, however, need a place to hide and there was 0% chance she'd look for me there. I've lived in lots of shitholes in my life, and this is easily #2 (no pun intended) 

[bubba]

Always great to hear from Christian Faulkner! Florida is a crazy mix of every gyration you can imagine. That is what makes it out of the ordinary and fun. South Florida is truly tropical and that is where you can grow tropical palms without great effort.
 

Jesse sounds like he has spent enough time here to know what he is looking for. He appears to be honing In on what I believe to be the currently least expensive and palm area with the greatest potential. Specifically, from Melbourne South to Stuart. That stated, I also love the Gulfside. Good luck!