they dam near tax you to breath in that state and it is still broke.

Sanibel's nice. or Kiawah Island in SC, close to Charleston for restaurants and stuff.

Brickel, especially Brickel Key is nice but if we would pick Miami it should be right on the beach, as I have family we are considering Key Biscane. Also we like the two Continuum buildings on South Beach

That's what I have been thinking too

Hmmm.....CA was on top of my list, my wife seems to prefer Miami

Nobody has a good word for California?

I love living in Ft Lauderdale, plenty to do great weather, I honestly haven't had one complaint about it yet and I have lived there for 7 years now.

I lived there for 4 years back in the 90's. If you purchase property in excess of $100K you get residency privleges.

Very expensive to live there though. Not much to do unless you like drinking and diving. Just not at the same time.

Toni....Move to Tampa so we can finally meet face to face...LOL

Really?? Interesting... This is where I've lived my whole life (practically), so we may have a mutual friend or two! :1orglaugh

California is practically a different country.

More to the point, the cost of living in California is very high, and economic future very bleak; too much regulation / nanny state.

With that said, if you don't mind living out in a rural area / smaller city, there are likely places, especially northern part, in CA that may be fine.

Personally, the choice between California and Florida is a no brainer - go with Florida.

Ft Lauderdale area is good, but for a family, as others have suggested, look at Tampa / Clearwater area ... be very selective though (visit, ask around, check quality of the schools [even if no kids], etc), since some seemingly nice suburban areas around there are very sketchy.

In regards to Orlando - don't even think about it ... very high crime, very little to do. Bad news!

Miami has a lot to do, but go with South Miami Beach (it's not just physically separate from Miami, it's a seperate city) if living there ... or live a bit to the north, such as Ft Lauderdale - it's close to Miami, but not too close.

On a related topic, if you're planning to run a local business in Florida (likewise to some extent in southern CA), be aware the work ethic is lousy - no biggie, if your work is all on-line.

Ron

Good stuff ...... What's your take on the Ft. Myers and Cape Coral area? Houses there are so cheap right now. Thanks ....


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I'm in Riverview which is south of Tampa, FL.....and I love it!

move to Austin.. vacation on the coasts

I agree! If you can afford it and dont mind waiting for a few years to get property La Jolla is very nice.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd pick Florida.

Nothing good can come from blue state politics, and California is on its death bed.

Last I heard, 1,000 people were moving out of California each day. The kicker is.. an almost equal number of illegal immigrants enter each day.

I would love to live in Key West.

We very well could. Did you know any punks in the area?

Yeah, LOL

no no move to san jose /silicon valley so that WE could finally meet face 2 face! :winkwink:

Punks as in The Clash / Drop Kick Murphys - or - punks as in lil wanna be hoodlums?? :1orglaugh

If it's the former, yes, but we're talking waaaaaay back to my high school days (the 80's) of which I have very little recollection of anymore - except for one good buddy back then - Alan B. from Seminole (not sure if he's still in the area though - I thought I heard he was). Don't really know any current punkers tho. I may be too old!! :helpme

If it's the latter - then no... but I would like to catch the 'punks' the recently broke into a few cars in our neighborhood. :disgust



Ya know, with all of the folks in the Tampa Bay area, why aren't there more GFY meet-ups or biz networking opportunities?? (Then again, maybe there are and I just haven't been invited yet! :321GFY )

San Jose should be very cool place!

I didn't know that you are in San Jose, I will hit you up the next days for a chat :winkwink:

Yea been here all my life... lmk if you have any q's about anything here.

Seems that Florida has a big crime rate or let's call it over average, hm.

Fort Lauderdale seems to be very interesting and could be a good city for some additional retail business because of the big number of tourists there.

Personally I live in Miami, I have lived in San Diego and LA. The only way to live in Miami is on the water, and to have a boat. With that, it's a tropical paradise. Living inland, it's simply flat and hot, with bugs.

For me, living in Miami is all about the water.... diving, cruising, taking the boat to the islands, etc.... There are some good places to eat, and good clubs, etc.... but that's not the real thing for me, there are more places in LA than Miami.

Compared to Southern Cali though, prices are MUCH MUCH cheaper here, perhaps half as much for similar properties. Also there is no state income tax, which instantly adds 7.5% to your income in Florida.

As for hurricaines, the possibility of one actually hitting direct enough to do damage are very low. You have DAYS of warning to decide whether to stock up your bar, and just have a party while watching stuff fly sideways past the hurricaine-proof windows, or get out of dodge and take a quick road trip to Orlando or something.

I was in LA for the 1994 earthquake and there is no warning AT ALL....
I'll take the storms.

Problems with LA and San Diego for me are: Cali state income tax, real estate twice as expensive, unreal traffic 7 days a week, and I found a lot of the people to be a bit too focused on trends and fashions in everything, from what they did as a hobby, to what they ate... not very real.

The last thing was weather. If you like sub-tropical weather.... which I do, then Miami is great. Southern Cali was just too cold for me a lot of the time.

My own personal thoughts....


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I'm about a generation or half a generation younger, went to high school in the 90's. Our shows gravitated around Joe Mochas / the Refuge in St. Pete and State Theatre mostly, Junction Pizza here and there, etc. There were a few bands from Seminole, like the Scams, etc, who I'm still friends with now. Don't think I know an Alan B though :(


I know there was one Tampa webmaster gathering. Met up for dinner at the Hard Rock, played some poker in the casino and then went to Club Hedo in ybor. Kiwi Girl was there, Dirty D and crew, the Camz guys drove up from the other coast, Twinkley / Danielle and her man friend, Matt O, and that's all I can recall at the moment.

Jay also brought Cybernet Expo to Tampa one year, I think we did it at the double tree. I was happy with it, but naturally I am biased. Jay, if you read this, ever thinking about coming back to Tampa?

Last time i checked, Florida wasn't expecting the "big one" to dump it into the ocean - go with Florida since the land will always be there after the hurricane

http://www.tombradleylegacy.org/imag...arthquake2.jpg

Nice post, thanks!