Moving to Florida: HELP!

I might heartily suggest unlooking at Port St. Lucie. I say this with some experience.

 

Super Bowl.

Hook me up, Doc.

 

Why is that?

 

Port St. Lucie is a strip mall, basically. It has few redeeming values -- no nightlife, few good restaurants...it doesn't even have a downtown. There are a few good qualities: good golf, the Mets have spring training here, you're right on the water and you're still relatively close to Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando.

It used to be a cheap place to live, but that's changing. It's essentially a residential area for people who work in Palm Beach or Broward counties, who bought here because they couldn't afford it down south. And it's been hit hard by the housing crunch, because really, this is just a bedroom community for other places.

It's also a haven for weirdness. I swear, each week it seems like there's a new story coming out of PSL that leaves you scratching your head. Take, for instance, the story a few years ago about a guy who took a chunk out of another guy's ear at a Little League all-star game. Or the dozens of pot grow houses that have sprouted like mushrooms here. Or the guy who sexually molested a puppy. There's just a lot of stuff.

I've worked in the area for awhile, worked with people from their mid-20s to early 40s and for the most part, all of them cannot wait to leave. There are a lot of other places in Florida that I would recommend before PSL.

 

Since I recently moved back down to the land of sunshine and palm trees, might I suggest Central Florida, along the I-4 corridor. Not only are you close to Tampa/Orlando/Daytona Beach/St. Pete etc. but the area is booming and you're not far from everything.

Where I'm at right now, I can easily jump on I-4 and be at Sea World, Busch Gardens, Disney, Universal all in under 45 minutes.

I'm outside of Lakeland btw, in case you were wondering

 

Somebody mention me?

 

I live on the I-595 corridor in Broward County (Davie/Plantation). Area with young families galore.

Living here gives me access to I-95, or I-75, or the Turnpike each in 10 minutes or less.

An international airport is 15 minutes away.

NHL team is 15 minutes away, Dolphins/Marlins are 20, as is an airboat ride in the Everglades or a deep-sea fishing charter or boat ramp for your own vehicle.

Key West is less than 2 hours away, Disney is 3 and a half and Tampa is 4 and a half.... again, all-highway driving.

I couldn't imagine a better spot to be in Florida.

 

I can

 

Me, too.

 

Dude... you live in Lakeland.... sort of disqualifies you.

I'd mutter "no offense", but, really, that would be a lie.

 

Exactly. I'm sure Lakeland has redeeming qualities. I just can't name them off the top of my head.

The area Simon speaks of is quite nice; it's definitely South Florida, but it sure as hell ain't Miami proper. (This is good.) And BankAtlantic Center, the Panthers' home arena, is also quite nice. (Frakkin' large beer will run you seven bucks, though. And you're better off buying your sweater online rather than at the building.)

bostonbred, I can't emphasize this enough: If you don't already have a job lined up before you move, you may wish to stay home. A lot of people figure they'll move down here for the weather and just find themselves a good job after they get here. Ain't happening.

 

I think Hondo lives in Florida. Maybe you could shack up with him.