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There are lots of things to know. I would recommend doing a lot of research on the area including reading posts on here to help you learn what to expect. As a NOVA transplant here, I can tell you to expect a much slower pace, less traffic, cheaper housing, higher utilities, no state taxes, higher insurance premiums, 2 seasons instead of 4, heat from April to November, lots of rain in the summer months, to spray for bugs and spiders often, not see any deer, horrible drivers, to pay a few hundred dollars to register and get FL tags, less pretentious people, really flat land,lots of fun things to do, higher grocery bill.....that's the main ones that I can think of right now.
I have to disagree with this post fully.
1. No deer? you're joking...I have had several cross in front my car at a 4 inch distance. I saw one the other day...and I see many between November and April.
2. Less traffic? maybe, but don't really believe that...we have our share of horrible bottle necks.
3. They have pest control up north too...you'll get bugs when your house becomes humid, they like humidity, so if you keep your house dry, (and clean of course) you won't have this issue.
4. Make that over $1000 in registration fees, car insurance in Florida is through the roof. Why not ask your current company to give you a quote to see what I mean.
5. "less pretentious people"??? LOLOL That's funny...Looks matter a LOT here when it comes to employment. More so than your resume. A lot of shallow people here.
6. What you'd save by not paying state taxes, you'll make up for it in homeowners insurance, CDD's, HOA's etc etc etc.
7. Same grocery bill.
8. Cheaper housing? I doubt it...Maybe if only compare to living on M street. Here too you'll pay $2k for a nice home. The difference is that you'll have a longer drive to anywhere.
Oh my, you guys... I was just reading about "Palmetto Bugs and it says that they will often times fall on your head from the ceilings. Please tell me this is not true... XD
BS...Again....make your home humid and you might get that.
We have PEST control here. Florida is a lot newer than most people think and frankly, I rather see a palmetto bug occasionally than a RAT.
You have the right to your opinion. I voiced mine and I am sure many agree with what I have experienced living here. I dont see deer here. I saw a small deer once in North Florida along I-4 near Jacksonville and was shocked! There IS less traffic here. Tampa has nothing on DC traffic. Nothing! Yes they have bugs up north, not like here. Yes, insurance is high here, I stated that. Never said there werent any pretentious people here, just less overall than in NOVA, IMO. Grocery bill is DEFINITELY not the same. Food in FL is more expensive. I dont even know how you can even attempt to disagree that housing is cheaper here. Anywho, good day to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhotoProIP
I have to disagree with this post fully.
1. No deer? you're joking...I have had several cross in front my car at a 4 inch distance. I saw one the other day...and I see many between November and April.
2. Less traffic? maybe, but don't really believe that...we have our share of horrible bottle necks.
3. They have pest control up north too...you'll get bugs when your house becomes humid, they like humidity, so if you keep your house dry, (and clean of course) you won't have this issue.
4. Make that over $1000 in registration fees, car insurance in Florida is through the roof. Why not ask your current company to give you a quote to see what I mean.
5. "less pretentious people"??? LOLOL That's funny...Looks matter a LOT here when it comes to employment. More so than your resume. A lot of shallow people here.
6. What you'd save by not paying state taxes, you'll make up for it in homeowners insurance, CDD's, HOA's etc etc etc.
7. Same grocery bill.
8. Cheaper housing? I doubt it...Maybe if only compare to living on M street. Here too you'll pay $2k for a nice home. The difference is that you'll have a longer drive to anywhere.
You have the right to your opinion. I voiced mine and I am sure many agree with what I have experienced living here. I dont see deer here. I saw a small deer once in North Florida along I-4 near Jacksonville and was shocked! There IS less traffic here. Tampa has nothing on DC traffic. Nothing! Yes they have bugs up north, not like here. Yes, insurance is high here, I stated that. Never said there werent any pretentious people here, just less overall than in NOVA, IMO. Grocery bill is DEFINITELY not the same. Food in FL is more expensive. I dont even know how you can even attempt to disagree that housing is cheaper here. Anywho, good day to you.
Hard to believe food is cheaper up there. If you shop at Publix, maybe..their prices are higher. Try Walmart Neighborhood market or super Walmart and Target(i think their prices will be cheaper than in NOVA, given the COL is so much more up there-see below). There's even cheaper supermarkets than the above..
Housing is cheaper down here, anyone should know that..
Indices DifferenceModerator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedConsumer Prices in Tampa, FL are 23.15% lower than in Washington, DC Consumer Prices Including Rent in Tampa, FL are 35.71% lower than in Washington, DC Rent Prices in Tampa, FL are 54.32% lower than in Washington, DC Restaurant Prices in Tampa, FL are 30.88% lower than in Washington, DC Groceries Prices in Tampa, FL are 25.33% lower than in Washington, DC Local Purchasing Power in Tampa, FL is 27.00% higher than in Washington, DC
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You have the right to your opinion. I voiced mine and I am sure many agree with what I have experienced living here. I dont see deer here. I saw a small deer once in North Florida along I-4 near Jacksonville and was shocked! There IS less traffic here. Tampa has nothing on DC traffic. Nothing! Yes they have bugs up north, not like here. Yes, insurance is high here, I stated that. Never said there werent any pretentious people here, just less overall than in NOVA, IMO. Grocery bill is DEFINITELY not the same. Food in FL is more expensive. I dont even know how you can even attempt to disagree that housing is cheaper here. Anywho, good day to you.
I fully agree with you, but I have seen deer. My wife and I just purchased a home in St Pete and are in the process of relocating down there. I was born and raised in Florida and now live in NOVA. Traffic in Tampa is nothing in comparison to traffic in NOVA. Rush hour never ends in NOVA and you must plan accordingly if you want to go anywhere. Even to the grocery store. So far the only down fall to moving back to Florida is not having a Wegmans. I can't wait to get down there next month just for my stress level. @PhotoProIP I could only dream of having a 2k mortgage in NOVA for a nice single family home. As far as Pretentious people. In NOVA the first question out of 95% of the peoples mouth up here is "What do you do for a living?" Then no matter what you say, they look down on you. Usually the second question is "What college did you go too?". With the same reaction as the first question. Nothing is good enough and they are always better than you. It truly sucks.
Grew up and went to school in NOVA and left there to escape the rat race 15 yrs ago. I still visit there often since I have family and friends there and occasional work travel pretty much in the heart of NOVA in Fairfax County. It was a great place to start a career and enjoy all that the area has to offer but hectic living isn't my thing. I just came back from spending a week there working and played tourist and here's my observation still:
- People there are still very rushed as if they have to be somewhere all the time, there seems to be no down time
- My kids got to experience class warfare early just being there a short time, it was all about me me me and what I can do or what I have that's better than you - I guess they get trained early there now
- Traffic is bad around the clock especially weekends, rush hour starts early like 6:30am-10am and 2:30pm-7pm. The lack of alternate routes to get from A to B unlike the grid street layout here makes the problem worse
- Annual auto property tax sucked, coughing up a few hundred every April where your car tax bill is based on the NADA value, then there's the annual inspection and emission
- Grocery seems about same if you go to Publix here and compare to Giant/Safeway there, I'm guessing you can do better at either place finding the right local discount stores and sales
- I got cut off and got the bird in traffic just doing my laid back Florida driving style during my short time there, we got nothing on NOVA as far as aggressive driver behavior here.
- NOVA houses tend to have damp basements which invites all kind of creepy crawlies there too especially silverfish which looks like spider on steroids. I haven't seen any more bugs inside the house here than anywhere really. Seen a couple palmetto bugs which made it in but those are swiftly dealt with. Outside is another thing, FL is teeming with life and you see lizards darting around, more garden snakes than normal, frogs, snails, big grasshoppers etc. I even got a big turtle come up to my door and all kind of cool looking birds land in the yard (including a peacock dragging its tail across the street one time).
- Housing is definitely less here - good luck getting anything there for 250k that doesn't share two walls with your neighbor and a parking spot out in the street, here I can get a decent SFH with a garage and pool for that
- I picked a bad week to visit when there was a heat wave of 96 degrees and the swamp heavy humidity with no air movement that even makes it hard to breathe. This is my second summer here and I don't recall it getting that bad here and I'm outdoor a lot.
I'm glad to be back where I call home now in Tampa area. Every time I visit there, it reminds me how glad I am that I don't live there anymore. It has good things that I do miss but the negatives outweigh the positives and is not my cup of tea at this point in my life.
According to this site Tampa has a better quality of life than DC (202 vs 156). I only see Denver with 215 overall and better in "Quality of Life Index Rate Latest".. and the above is probably only for the City of Tampa, not surrounding areas.
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Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Not sure why it's not listed here but highest ranking is Canberra and Zurich.. based on 202 score, Tampa would be 8th overall?
You have the right to your opinion. I voiced mine and I am sure many agree with what I have experienced living here. I dont see deer here. I saw a small deer once in North Florida along I-4 near Jacksonville and was shocked! There IS less traffic here. Tampa has nothing on DC traffic. Nothing! Yes they have bugs up north, not like here. Yes, insurance is high here, I stated that. Never said there werent any pretentious people here, just less overall than in NOVA, IMO. Grocery bill is DEFINITELY not the same. Food in FL is more expensive. I dont even know how you can even attempt to disagree that housing is cheaper here. Anywho, good day to you.
I am not comparing Tampa's traffic with 495 in DC, for the record, but we do have quite a few bottlenecks here that can't be ignored. Veterans alone is going to be eye sore for God knows how long...
I cannot believe you don't see deer up there...there are tons down here.
The point is that when you pay 2k for rent, you should have some amenities around. We're talking "rent", not own. In DC the higher housing price is because of the amenities that DC provides. I've shopped in Vienna, VA, Alexandria, and DC itself, and groceries are about the same...I am not sure which items you think are more expensive here.
The ONLY way housing may seem cheaper here is if you make $100k per year, and your mortgage is $250 a month. Or you pay off, and have no mortgage. If you come down here with you northern salary, then you're ahead of the pack, but if you want to compare housing here for those living and working on real FL wages then FL housing is quite expensive, and the problem with that is the amenities in Tampa don't even match those in Miami.....
What are those amenities? Can you be specific? You're mistaken on groceries and COL.. I posted links above. Even salaries are not that higher up there.. and interest rates are down to 3.75% or even lower now..
Washington, DCTampa, FL
Rent Per Month
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Last edited by Yac; 08-07-2013 at 06:29 AM..
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