Relocating to South Florida / Keys area

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SheilaRee:
Thanks, everyone for your responses. I have friends around Singer Island and that area is nice and I've heard good things about Boynton Beach and Dania Beach. I have heard good things about Key Largo schools. Cost of living is about the same as where I am now. I'll probly concentrate my search from WPB down to Key Largo. I actually live on an island now. I enjoy the small town feeling but near enough to a larger city. I will definitely check Plantation, FL. Sounds intruiging!
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First thing you need to do is jump the hoops to get your Fla Nsg license if you do not already have it. It can take anywhere from 6 weeks to several months. Should you decide on the keys. Fisherman's is in Marathon and Lower Fla Keys is in Key West. I think there may be a couple of nursing homes if you want to be overworked..

You might consider West Central Fla, Ste Pete area. Lots of good diving, schools are tolerable. Traffic not bad at all. Much cheaper for housing than the Keys or SE Fla. LOTS of nursing jobs open at the moment if you are a hospital nurse. Dont get me wrong, I love the keys, lived in key west off and on for yrs.. but I love it up here as well of course the grandkids are the main incentive for living up here.. ;)
'bella

AND as an alternative we have springs diving as well just north of here. Contrary to popular belief, we dive on this side of the peninsula as well.. :D
 
I'm a former Broward and Monroe resident with some random thoughts...

LOVED my home in upper Key Largo, great neighbors, relaxed lifestyle. The last time I lived there I also had a home in Broward; while divorcing, I had to sell one of the two...wanted to keep the Keys house but couldn't find a good paying job there, so I had to sell that house and live and work in Broward full-time.

I LOVED my home in Dania Beach for a number of years, but I found that South Florida (Broward/Dade counties) had gotten so congested, and the economy so bad, making people become more and more short-tempered, I decided to retire ten years early and leave. But that's just me, you might not mind the overcrowding and the boorish public behavior of SoFla's citizens. I initially planned to return to the upper Keys where I've lived so happily a few other times, but I had an opportunity to go to the Virgin Islands instead. Had that opportunity not come along, I'd probably be living in Key Largo.

I chose Dania Beach so many years ago because:
- I wanted to live in Broward County because it's the only place that has great beach diving (Keys don't have that)
- I wanted to live near the beach, and that city has the least expensive "East of Federal" homes in Broward County
- You can be in Jupiter, Key Largo, or Naples in about 1-1/2 hours
- Close to pretty much any shopping and medical care you'd need
- Public schools are sucky but I don't have kids so I didn't care; you still have access to lots of private schools
- Not far from Fort Lauderdale or Miami if you have business to conduct
- Close to I-95, I-595, Turnpike, U.S. 1, A-1-A, international airport, and huge cruise port
- Close to lots of great restaurants
- Dania Beach is a small enough city that you can get involved (I served on their Marine Advisory Board for years)
- You don't have to suffer the horrific west-to-east a.m. and east-to-west p.m. traffic on a daily basis if you live in one of the bedroom communities and work east

Good luck no matter what you choose!
 
mike_s:
that's because Florida is "filling up with old people" moving there and retirement homes.
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NOPE not true at all.. old folks can no longer afford florida... the retiree mecca now is lower south Georgia and Alabama.
I am ecstatic...
 
That's what's been in the news for years, Mike, seniors aren't going to Florida anymore, the state has been losing population for a while now as people can't afford it.
 
DebbyDiver:
That's what's been in the news for years, Mike, seniors aren't going to Florida anymore, the state has been losing population for a while now as people can't afford it.
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This is a good thing.. one of the several reasons my car insurance has kept going up is the number of claims in Fla from the older generation.
House insurance is expensive here due to the threat of hurricanes, cost of living is up. It is far cheaper to live in southern ga or alabama.. in truth I sometimes wonder how so many of those yankees take living in the real south. lol..
 
DebbyDiver:
I'm a former Broward and Monroe resident with some random thoughts...

LOVED my home in upper Key Largo, great neighbors, relaxed lifestyle. The last time I lived there I also had a home in Broward; while divorcing, I had to sell one of the two...wanted to keep the Keys house but couldn't find a good paying job there, so I had to sell that house and live and work in Broward full-time.

I LOVED my home in Dania Beach for a number of years, but I found that South Florida (Broward/Dade counties) had gotten so congested, and the economy so bad, making people become more and more short-tempered, I decided to retire ten years early and leave. But that's just me, you might not mind the overcrowding and the boorish public behavior of SoFla's citizens. I initially planned to return to the upper Keys where I've lived so happily a few other times, but I had an opportunity to go to the Virgin Islands instead. Had that opportunity not come along, I'd probably be living in Key Largo.

I chose Dania Beach so many years ago because:
- I wanted to live in Broward County because it's the only place that has great beach diving (Keys don't have that)
- I wanted to live near the beach, and that city has the least expensive "East of Federal" homes in Broward County
- You can be in Jupiter, Key Largo, or Naples in about 1-1/2 hours
- Close to pretty much any shopping and medical care you'd need
- Public schools are sucky but I don't have kids so I didn't care; you still have access to lots of private schools
- Not far from Fort Lauderdale or Miami if you have business to conduct
- Close to I-95, I-595, Turnpike, U.S. 1, A-1-A, international airport, and huge cruise port
- Close to lots of great restaurants
- Dania Beach is a small enough city that you can get involved (I served on their Marine Advisory Board for years)
- You don't have to suffer the horrific west-to-east a.m. and east-to-west p.m. traffic on a daily basis if you live in one of the bedroom communities and work east

Good luck no matter what you choose!
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How do you like living in St Croix?
 
deeper thoughts:
How do you like living in St Croix?
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Even though we are a USA Territory, we live as though it's a third world country. This place makes the Keys look downright civilized. Still, I love it.
 
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