Calling all Floridians...

[dafirebird]

My girlfriend and I are kickin' around the idea of pickin' up and moving to the sunshine state to get away from the arctic winters here in Wisconsin. We were lookin' at the central area (Orlando, Kissimmee, somewhere in there) So I have a few quetions...is the grass really greener on the other side?¿?

1- Work? What kind of work is available for someone with no Degrees? I have a HS Diploma, and have been working here at Manpower Corporate Headquarters for 16 years, doing Building/Office Maintenance. So I fix things - and make $15.00/hour. How would I find a job that pays OK. How would I do that from here?

2- A place to live? Around here in Milwaukee (surrounding areas), an 800-1100sq foot appartment, 2 bed, 1 or 2 bath could run about $700 - 850/month. How could I find a place in a decent (low crime) area for about the same?

3- Traffic? insane or what?

4- Freeways/Tollways? In Wisconsin you can jump on any freeway just to go accross town, or accross the state with no cost; hence "free"way. Thats cuz we have a state tax that pays for the roads. In Florida, are there any "free"ways to go accross town say, to work, or do you need a boatload of change with you(or in Illinois, they use an I-Pass for frequent Tollroad travelers).

5- Hurricanes? Thats why we would choose the central area, to somewhat avoid evacuations - or does it really matter, you get slammed anywhere?

6- Recreation? Obviously, yearly passes to Disney, and all the other super-fun places, but I love mountain biking. I'm what you might call an expert-beginner. I absolutely love the off road biking paths/trails we have here. Most are within city limits - just toss the bike in the trunk, drive a few miles, and hop into the woods for some technical and challenging riding. Is there anything like that in Florida without having to drive 60, 80, or 100 miles for some biking bliss?

7- How hot is hot and humid? The summers here are between 70-90*F, 50-85% humidity. When its 90*F, and dew point is 70, it's a bit uncomfortable, but not worse than 0*F with windchill of -10 (like it is right now here)

8- Bugs/mosquitoes? It can get rough here with the skeeters, but I've heard it can be downright nasty down there.

These are a few questions that have been rollin' in our minds. We would like to join you down in Paradise, but is it really Paradise? Would any of you move up here to frigid Wisconsin?

[4thgenowner]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

1. Theres plenty of jobs down here you just have to know how to look.

2. Theres nice apartments in the Orlando aera but then again you have to reseach them too. lol rent.com is nice. Do not live in Sanford. Crime capitol of Seminole county.

3. Traffic. haha. Can be insane in the winter with all those damn snow birds. In the summer its not bad really.

4. No freeways here. The Florida Turnpike will take you from northern Florida to southern Florida. It goes diagonally across the state so you can take it anywhere. I went from West Palm Beach to past Orlando for $10. But that was in 98.

5. Hurricanes aren't all that bad in central Florida. Just very rainy and some mild wind. We haven't had a bad hurricane in years though.

6. Of course the theme parks are here. There a very nice biking trail in Orlando. It goes like everywhere. Theres camping around the Wekiva River. Theres natural springs to swim in and other camping/outdoor recreation places in the Ocala National Forest. You can also swim at the beaches. :P

7. The summers down here can be hot as ****. But imi from NY state so its hot to me. Most temps in the summer are between 85-95 with dewpoints of 80 with humidity of 100%. Every afternoon we get the evening thunderstorms. Lots and rain and lightening. Can be severe enough to produce tornadoes but There hasn't been any tornado related damage around here that i know of. Winters are mild. Right now its cool 66. Very Nice.

8. Bugs. lol Love bugs... omfg. They are two bugs stuck together that are mating. I think spring and late summer they are out IN SWARMS! They are harmless. But when you hit them with you car and dont wash them off their guts will eat your paint. We have spiders, big and small. Poisonous and not. I have never seen a poisonous spinder since I moved here 9 years ago. The skeeters are so bad that they have a truck drive around most neighborhoods spraying with insecticides.

All in all its not bad place to live. I like it. I would move up there in the winter. I LOVE snow. Any fl members that want to add to this or slap me for something wrong please add because im sure im forgetting something.

[DAS BOOT]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

1. I am actually a manager but do building maintenance as well, I get $12.75 an hour. you could probably get more. But oddly enough I don't know where to find a job for it? I just was a manager at my job that was good at fixing ****, and they gave me a raise to do both.

2. 2 bed 2 bath apartment i lived in, was nice, but government subsidized, and a little ghetto. cost $700 a month rent, but is income restricted. (can't make too much)

nicer places will get in teh $1k range. You can also check out houses in nice neighborhoods.

3. Traffic can be pretty crazy at times, but I have lived in FL my whole life, so i have always lived in bad traffic.

4. in orlando Everything is a toll road. We have a thing called E-pass and sun-pass. So you don't need a box of quarters. But honestly if you are visiting here for a few days, not exageratting get a roll of quarters. I live in east orlando for me to drive downtown, I spend like $2 in tolls.

5. Hurricanes are just over emphasized. In 2004 we got rocked, but that is because the area wasn't prepared and hadn't been hit in Years/decades by a storm. So big trees, around powerlines. Worst one to hit was Charley, my work never lost power but my apartment did for 6 days.

Yes they cause damage, close down the city for a day. And lots of places are out of power for a few days, but its not that bad. We don't flood. Florida emergency management knows what to do. Gas gets a little scarce with gas stations having no power(S. Florida stations are now built with generators so that doesn't matter now) But the big scheme of things? Not too bad, especially if you rent.

If you own a house, little more of a headache with homeowners insurance, usually does damage but doesn't really annhilate houses unless your house wasn't built to code.

If you do bulding maintenance, you will likely be getting overtime LOL hope you don't mind changing drop ceiling tiles from leaky roofs. :)

6. Obvioulsy a million theme parks you don't even know exist. They are a little pricey but cool. Orlando and FL pretty much is flat as hell just to warn you. Up towards gainesville it starts to get a little hilly.

I assume there are biking trails, there are recreation stuff. If you want, you could always get into watersports(not peeing) but jetskis, skiing, fishing, etc...

not sure but if you enjoy swamps lots of stuff to do airboating and such. I am sure you can find stuff. You might have to drive out a little bit though.

7. Central Florida area sucks in the heat department, it gets chilly in the winter I think we are going to hit 30s and 40s has hit 20s. Yes I now its colder elsewhere but 30s is still cold. You will likely never use the heater on your house.

now hot, it gets hot. your AC will run nearly year round except a few select weeks here and there. Central FL is the worse because we are inland, no real ocean breeze to cool things down. Seems like everyting is newly developed(last 10-15 years) so no shade trees around. It gets killer, but everywhere has AC, and people adjust to it. The rain surprises peope, it doesn't rain daily like it does near the coasts in the summer. But it will rain alot.

Unknown fact, alot of parts of florida actually hs more days of rain then sunshine, which is funny because we are the sunshine state. But its FL, it can rain hard and strong, be hard to drive in, then 2 hours later be a nice sunny day and the rain is all dried up.


I wouldn't call it paradise here by far... Thats a misconception alot of people have they think FL is a 24/7 vacation... I don't know anything abotu wisconsin, but I would move to the midwest, I was born in St. Louis, and my family is from indiana, near chicago.


Just things to think about with florida, some good, some bad...

-No state taxes.
-but 7% sales tax on every item sold(including cars, buy a $10k car have to pay $700 taxes.) This is to get tourists to pay for the stuff they use.
-Tourists, lots of tourists not a huge problem but don't be surprised to see people driving around like idiots because they are lost, and are not paying attention to the roads
-Roads are a little crazy some parts have crazy traffic but others don't But in orange county alone has over 1 million people living in it, and in the "orlando area" it sprawls out over into 3 counties
-Stuff is sprawled out. I live in Orlando, woudl take me 45 min to drive to disney world, 20-30 min to get to downtown. And I live in a highly populated area.
-If you have to take anyting related to a road called I4 during rushhour you will have nonstop traffic.
-gas at the moment is like $2.29 a gallon for regular


anotehr important thing to worry you about a little bit. Is if you don't have a trade, or degree, Orlando is a HIGHLY HIGHLY hispanic area. Lots of them are immigrants. So it does flood the market with the slightly unskilled area.

This incudes construction, tilers, etc... not saying you can't get a job, but it may be less pay then you are used to. Just seen people come from the northeast who are used to unions and such, and are upset to not get paid as much as they used to but the cost of living is still a little high.

If you are motivated you could move on. I do building maintenance too, but if I wanted more money I could probalby train to be a Locksmith, electrictian, plumber, etc.. my job touches on all of these and I know a decent amount about each. AC repair is a big job in FL, no one just lives without AC.


Just mentioning it because not many think o that of Central FL. Kississimme is more of a hispanic area then orlando, Orlando is problaby 60%hispanic, and I think kississimee is like 75% hispanic.

[DAS BOOT]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

also might want to check out... FL section of some of the v8 boards. Lots of people in the FL section on www.ls1tech.com

also check out www.orlandoforums.com Its a site that has alot of carstuff but also talks about rent, jobs, just central FL living.

[dafirebird]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

This is great Info, I'll share this with my hunny. 1,000 thanx - Paul

[youngsc]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

1- Work? No degree, you can find something that pays good but it would be best to know someone to have an in to a place.

2- A place to live? I just bought a condo in Sanford for 80k. There are some parts that are pretty bad but that area I moved to is good, as it can be. Orlando area is decent but the closer you get to the center the more it will be. You can find places in orlando for 800-900 per month but the ones over 1200 are going to give you the most security.

3- Traffic? Don't get to close to I4 during rush hour and your ok

4- Freeways/Tollways? A few but but I really don't know as I never take them

5- Hurricanes? That's half the fun of living in Florida. Hurricane parties hell's yeah.

6- Recreation? Plenty to do no matter what your into

7- How hot is hot and humid? A little hotter than where your at and the humidity is bad but it's all tolerable, look how many people already live here

8- Bugs/mosquitoes? I'm allergic to mosquitos so I say they suck, they should be nominated the florida state bird, some of them are friggin huge.

I say shop around and talk to a few employers and see what you think. I don't think it's half bad I say go for it.

[youngsc]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

Do not live in Sanford. Crime capitol of Seminole county.

:spank: Don't tell him that. I just bought a condo in Sanford all areas there are not bad. I will agree that the closer you get to downtown is pretty scary. You feel like you should be flashing some gang symbols just to stay alive. Total :bs: they don't do more about some of the problems there.

[DAS BOOT]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

oh yeah don't ow a honda... they are stolen on daily basises and raced in "la fiebre"

[StrtRacer98]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

I moved down here from chicago recently... I don't like it.

The only thing i really do like, is the weather.

For us, living up north.. the drivers down here are F'ing ridiculous.
Traffic blows.
Accidents and rubberneckers everywhere + tourists holding maps in front of their faces instead of watching the roads.

Alot of the jobs are taken by the mexicans that will work for cheap.. much worse in florida then up north as well.

I wanted to get away from the cold winters and stuff too but now i plan on moving back when school is over.

As for bugs, they dont bother me too much, except love bug season.. that is horrid! most cars are black from all the bugs but my camaro didnt seem to catch them that much so :)

the toll roads around here are pretty rediculous too, theres always a way around them i guess but the easiest route to travel will cost you.

Recreation... theres so much to do here, beaches, fishing, watersports, racing, shooting, boating, theme parks, great nightlife downtown orlando too.

I live right by disney , kissimmee area.

If your into mountain biking, a good place to go is north to ocala, about an hour or so... they have a big forrest with trails, and whatnot.. just watch out for the bears lol

[youngsc]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

Yeah I've lived here most of my life so I guess I just don't notice how bad the traffic really is. It is pretty bad, the biggest problem I have is people not moving the **** out of my way. Makes me wish I got a big truck so I could push them out of the way.

[FirebirdGT]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

My girlfriend and I are kickin' around the idea of pickin' up and moving to the sunshine state to get away from the arctic winters here in Wisconsin. We were lookin' at the central area (Orlando, Kissimmee, somewhere in there) So I have a few quetions...is the grass really greener on the other side?¿?

Wrong direction.

People from WI move to AZ. Even have da*n fish fry on Friday night around here! LOL

P.S. Car photo was taken in Germantown, WI before I got the f*ck outa there!

[josh98bird]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

like horses? kentucky is nice :)

I have family friends that moved to New Smyrna beach i believe...

When i went to visit i was really hot but they said they got use to it...

but the bugs drove me nuts!!

[4thgenowner]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

:spank: Don't tell him that. I just bought a condo in Sanford all areas there are not bad. I will agree that the closer you get to downtown is pretty scary. You feel like you should be flashing some gang symbols just to stay alive. Total :bs: they don't do more about some of the problems there.

I agree not all are bad. But pretty much past the mall towards the airport progressevly worse.

[Everglades W68]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

You are asking many good questions. I have lived in Florida most of my life, including 20 years in Orlando / Kissimmee. Here are my candid responses. I offe them for your consideration.

1- Work?
Central Florida has many low-paying jobs. If you do not have a degree, you will definitely be behind the curve. All employers have seen numerous candidates who are moving to the area and looking to "make as much as they pay up north". Look past the many rental cars in the tourist areas, and you will see there are lots of beater cars running around. That is a reflection of the many folks getting by on low-end wages.

2- A place to live? Around here in Milwaukee (surrounding areas), an 800-1100sq foot appartment, 2 bed, 1 or 2 bath could run about $700 - 850/month.

You will need to go somewhat higher, IMO. I highly recommend MetroWest. It is a master-planned community, has rolling hills and lots of beautiful landscaping. They have many good, upscale apartments. On the south end (near Kissimmee) is the big Hunter's Creek development. Not as upscale as MetroWest, but still very nice. They have built plenty of good-looking apartments there in the last 10 years.

3- Traffic? insane or what?
I have travelled all around the country on work as well as vacations and firmly believe Central Florida has the one of the absolute worst traffic situations anywhere. The roads are mostly under-sized (two lane roads that should be six lanes. There is only one interstate, no alternate interstate route (eg there is no I-104, I-204, etc, just I-4). Additionally, the many lakes make for natural blockages of some routes.

Bottom line - Way too many cars with too few (and too small) roads.

4- Freeways/Tollways?

Orlando has only one freeway, I-4. All other Central Florida expressways are tolls. They are very expensive, except for Florida's Turnpike. You are looking at $5+ per day for tolls typically.

5- Hurricanes? Thats why we would choose the central area, to somewhat avoid evacuations - or does it really matter, you get slammed anywhere?

Hurricanes do hit Central Florida, but they can be SOMEWHAT weakened by being inland. Nevertheless, there was extensive damage to Central Florida from the '05 hurricane season. The safest place in Florida as far as hurricances is Jacksonville. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it has worked out. You are definitely WAY less likely to be slammed by a hurricane in Orlando than in south Florida.

6- Recreation? Obviously, yearly passes to Disney, and all the other super-fun places, but I love mountain biking. Is there anything like that in Florida without having to drive 60, 80, or 100 miles for some biking bliss?

Biking trails in Central Florida are very limited. There is a "rails to trails" path in west Orange County, but that is about it. The terrain is almost completely flat except for west Orange County / Lake County and a bit of Seminole County. East Orange County and Osceola County (Kissimmee) are perfectly flat.

Bike lanes on Central Florida roads are still in limited supply.

We have some good trails in north Central Florida (eg Gainesville), north Florida (panhandle - eg Tallahassee) and South Florida, but those all do not meet your 60 mile criteria.

7- How hot is hot and humid?
Summers = 90's with 100% humidity - mostly true throughout the entire state. Winters can get cold in Central Florida with 40s common in January and some freezing days to be expected at least every other year. The colder climate is the reason why very tropical trees (eg, coconut palms) cannot grow much in Central Florida.

8- Bugs/mosquitoes? It can get rough here with the skeeters, but I've heard it can be downright nasty down there.
Orange County (Orlando) was originally called Mosquito County - that was not so good for tourism and was changed to the current name long ago. Nevertheless, I've not found mosquitos in Central Florida are NOT very bad. By contrast, South Florida has very bad mosquito problems.

Is it really Paradise?
IMHO - I love Orlando, but I've also been very fortunate to be able to afford some of the nicer areas. I'm being a snob here, but I don't think of living in a cookie-cutter tract house on a treeless lot on the outskirts of town as being "paradise." Same goes for living in an apartment complex with big parking lots, tiny trees and cheap appliances.

On the other hand, my wife and I always remember the sign outside the Key Way Discount Liquor Store in Key West:
"Paradise CAN be cheap!"

Again, this is just the candid view of one old-time Floridian.

[Everglades W68]

Re: Calling all Floridians...

Oh and YES, Sanford is the crime capital of Central Florida. On the nightly news, there is always some awful police report from Sanford. Either there or Edgewater over in Volusia County.