Recommendation? Where to live in Florida?

knarfeng said:
vaya con Dios, amigo.
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jlauffer said:
No insight to offer, but good luck cj!:thumbsup:
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Thank you Frank and JL,

Wifey had to talk to her boss yesterday, she has been working remote from home all year, the old office off the 101 fwy is almost abandoned. She also manages a sales staff in Palm Coast Florida remotely along with the Los Angeles staff, her boss has agreed to the deal, hesitantly, as long as she puts forth a business plan. She also has to go to El Salvador quarterly that was thrown into the mix. I believe it is protocol that she goes with another business associate.

Wifey’s deceased mom’s boyfriend is a retired policeman, he has been taking care of wifey’s sister all these years. He is a god man, he is coming with the sister as well. We didn’t know what he would want to do. He said and I quote, “Don’t leave me here alone.” They are in Washington state. It will be quite a weather change for them. Lolz. He is up in years and should retire, but he drives a semi still. He was a 5-0 in Florida though, many decades ago.

I was opposed for quite awhile to the whole move, but over time, and once I got my feelings out of the way, I realized it is a good move and for the right reasons and a cheaper place to live for sure. I am a sunshine addict. I can’t do grey skies for very long.
 
Mosquitos can be bad in the summer in some areas. Some counties spray for them and the bad season there is very short-lowers dramatically when the spraying starts. the less flush counties can't afford to spray. In Palm Bch county not bad. I lived in the Orlando area of 4 years and can't remember any problem there. My Brother lives out by Lake Okeechobee and they are ravenous there- repellant a must.
 
cj65 said:
I will migrate west once a year for the annual Yuma dove hunt. I don’t plan on missing that event, never.....
Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise of course.
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"Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise" . . . you'll fit right in in the South. LOL!

Lotsa work ahead for that kind of move. Best of luck!
 
If your Wife’s company has ties to the area, The Palm Coast area is very nice. Reasonably easy to get to the Orlando area, but still affordable and less crowded. For what your house will sell for in CA, you should be able to do very well over here! I did a 6 year tour in the San Diego area and loved most of it, but was happy to get back to FL.

I’ve lived in Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Melbourne/Palm Bay and the Jacksonville area. All have their good and bad, but I wouldn’t hesitate to live in any of them. Best wishes with the move.
 
cj65 said:
Wifey and I are looking to move to Florida. I am a native Californian, and I work in the Landscape/Horticulture/Irrigation industry. Our reasons for moving are triggered by a need to care for Wifey’s sister who is disabled from birth. We are looking to acquire a single story home where it is safer for a legally blind woman to live. Our home will sell quickly in CA and I am sure my work background will land me something or maybe I will just start another landscape contracting business that focuses on high end weather and web based irrigation controllers. Wifey may be able to continue her current employment as she works from home now or may need to find a different job. We are pretty serious about the move and I have enlisted a head hunter to help me land employment ASAP.

I don’t mind humidity or heat. I absolutely love snakes so that is a plus, but I don’t want the last house I will ever live in to be torn off its foundation due to a hurricane. Our initial looksies shows that Orlando/Tampa are busy hubs with more employment opportunities. Anyone that has knowledge about the best areas or even areas to avoid in Florida, please help a brother out.
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RedFury RedFury
Thanks for your input. We are lucky in that we have flexibility. Central Florida (meaning North to South) and north is where my work activity is going to be. I will be doing Wifey chuckled at my original post on BF. I told her it was my research. It proved to be fantastic. We are learning a lot. I knew we would. We are an hour from the coast for LA or Ventura beaches and we visit a few times a year. So, I am sure we will settle inland a bit. I think in a couple of weeks we are going to do a recon visit.
 
CJ Check our Website WWW.robrick.com Everything always looks better on the Web than in real life but it's a start. We are 1.5 hours of easy country driving from either coast.
 
Went back and read all your posts. We hit every point Until we got to the fellow who cares for sister-in-law. That made it tougher but still pretty easy. Have a mobile home and the original hippy house on the property.
Guess you can't mention that florida Landscape Co. I have you friend who is your age maybe a bit more who has worked for a giant landscape company. They seem to run him around the state from one commercial job to another. He has a little greenhouse nursery on the other side of the county but he rarely gets home to tend it. On the other hand I can't get away from my greenhouses...
 
No problem. Several available when you make that FL trip. They are like potato chips. Can't have just one. Hey this is a BLADE forum. Is there a knife in the mix? I just added a Condor Canyon Carver to my collection. That may well be on my belt when I next castrate steers. Had one born this morning so that means 4 now to castrate.
 
RedFury said:
CJ Check our Website WWW.robrick.com Everything always looks better on the Web than in real life but it's a start. We are 1.5 hours of easy country driving from either coast.
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RedFury said:
No problem. Several available when you make that FL trip. They are like potato chips. Can't have just one. Hey this is a BLADE forum. Is there a knife in the mix? I just added a Condor Canyon Carver to my collection. That may well be on my belt when I next castrate steers. Had one born this morning so that means 4 now to castrate.
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I started learning plant names at the age of 13. I used to take care of the neighbors house plants and cacti and feed her cat while they took vacations. Been in the industry ever since. Done irrigation for the last decade and a half.
 
RF, the nursery is impressive. I was the sales manager for a grower of fruit trees and grafted ornamentals. The grafted ornamentals were contract grown and sold to tree growers. Mainly magnolias. I sold the fruit trees to Home Depot/Lowe’s and Walmart’s on corporate spreads. I did the trade shows in Nor Cal and Las Vegas too. I will be installing irrigation controllers on big box retail chain sites that irrigate the landscape around the stores. Also a gas station chain apparently too. I will be heading to some adjacent states, Georgia and Alabama, maybe more if need be.
 
RedFury said:
No problem. Several available when you make that FL trip. They are like potato chips. Can't have just one. Hey this is a BLADE forum. Is there a knife in the mix? I just added a Condor Canyon Carver to my collection. That may well be on my belt when I next castrate steers. Had one born this morning so that means 4 now to castrate.
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I have a lot of knives. Lolz. I am currently carrying a Chris Reeves Sebenza on my pocket and a Titanium Charge Leatherman on my belt. I have probably 7 or so Benchmades, likewise Spyderco and a Kershaw Whisper also. That one is a safe Queen. I have JK knife that I still want to put a handle on it. Wifey’s best friend owns a knife store (her dad does but she runs it) in San Francisco area, I was able to get a Benchmade bug out from her. I love the axis lock.



I am a landscape irrigation contractor. My company is Bird Dog Landscape & Irrigation Inc. I should have left out landscape because all I do is irrigation really. I install for an irrigation controller company. I subcontract with them. They sell it, and ship it to me and I install it. It has been a dream job. I do commercial stuff. Mainly controllers but also some flow sensor and master valve installs as well. The company and I are in the final throes of me coming back to employment with them, but in Florida not California. In a way, it is like I never left, just slightly different business arrangement. Wifey and I are planning a trip out in the next couple of weeks for recon. We are still up in the air as to where. Her father in law likes Starke, and I kind of like the woodsey look of it. Central to North is probably best location for me for work and wifey can work remote. I was discussing with my future boss of a start date of July 1
 
If you land up going to N. Fl-take a look at Three Rivers Estates(Fort White, Columbia County). I just sold my property up there, but it is a very nice community with parks and river access , under live oaks with loads of wildlife. I really liked it up there , but never got around to the move.
Just a thought
 
CJ you get back there you look into quail hunting in GA. I do miss opening season for dove and quail in CA; I'd hunt down around Indio, but plantation quail is a lot of fun too. And make plans to do Mardi Gras in Mobile, it's better than NOLA.

I can't live where it's flat, and I don't do heat like I did when I was young. But it can get old come FEB up here in WA when it's rained dang near every day for 3-4 months. If I could afford a place in HI for the winters I'd dang sure do it.
 
eisman said:
CJ you get back there you look into quail hunting in GA. I do miss opening season for dove and quail in CA; I'd hunt down around Indio, but plantation quail is a lot of fun too. And make plans to do Mardi Gras in Mobile, it's better than NOLA.

I can't live where it's flat, and I don't do heat like I did when I was young. But it can get old come FEB up here in WA when it's rained dang near every day for 3-4 months. If I could afford a place in HI for the winters I'd dang sure do it.
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Thank you E money! I did some work in 110 degree heat all day, just last year, even some minor digging, and at 55, I was pretty impressed with myself plenty of energy all day, and not passing out. It wasn’t like I ran a marathon, but in the sun all day with my hat and long sleeve orange car hart shirt and car hart shorts I did just fine and more than 8 hrs. Plenty of walking, always. I am sure high humidity will challenge me, for dry heat is easier to deal with than humid heat.

I know I cannot live in the Pacific Northwest. I need sunshine more than not. Cloudy grey makes me cloudy grey pretty quickly.

I will definitely look into quail hunting in GA!

I don’t know if I will have an issue with flat or not. I don’t think so.

Wifey and I went to Kauai last year, but even as beautiful as it was, I was ready to go home after a week. I guess I am a mainlander. I got a bit of island fever while there. It was unsettling. I don’t think I could live there.

Thank you Eisman and everyone else as well. Great info and extremely appreciated. I got a call back from my customer/future employer and it should be inked for work July 1. So it is coming up quick. Looking at Sebring right now. Falling in love with a home by Dinner lake. Would have my own dock. Very cool.
 
I also interviewed with a landscaping company needing someone to manage an irrigation crew. I threw my hat in the ring for that too. I like the guy I interviewed with. We are booking flights next. Landing in Ft Meyers airport for recon. Looks like maybe first week of May.
 
I'd trade places with you, if it weren't for Cali's gun laws. As a man who grew up in Texas and beautiful West Virginia, Florida is a whole other world.
 
Good luck on the move and job search cj. Make sure you buy a few extra couches. As soon as you get settled in, a bunch of us of coming to visit and crash at your place. Tue night into Wed afternoon we have "supposedly" 4-8" of snow hitting the Detroit area.
 
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