Relocating to Florida- NEED HELP!

[maggieaxid]

Hey folks-
I have decided (after much soul searching) that I want to relocate to Florida. Pref. Ft. Lauderdale However, two obsticles have arisen.....1. I am putting together a list of apartments I want to go look at when I go down there, however I have no idea what are nice areas 2. I am looking for networking contacts for jobs. I don't despertly have to get a job right away, but I would like some leads on good employers in the area (specifically Legal, marketing, ect.)
So if anyone is from Ft. Lauderdale or knows stuff about it- please email me at meakay@aol.com or post.
-Maggie

[ZTAngel]

If you have any questions, you can ask me. I grew up in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale.

Pharmaceutical and Insurance companies are really big in the Ft. Lauderdale area (I think Merck, Sundown, and Cigna all have some huge office buildings in the area). Many software companies have headquarters here (Citrix). If you're looking specifically in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, many banks have offices there such as Suntrust, Bank of America, etc. Basically, almost every company has either an office or store within the Ft. Lauderdale area.

Miami is only a 45 minute to 1 hour drive away. There's even more companies there. The big industry in Miami is the cruise line industry. I know that a lot of the cruise lines down there are always looking for marketing representatives, financial reps, etc. But, they do prefer that you're bilingual in both English and Spanish.

If you don't want to live in Ft. Lauderdale, the surrounding suburbs are really nice. I'll give my opinion of some of the suburbs.
Plantation: nice area, family oriented
Cooper City: same as Plantation
Pembroke Pines: nice area but a lot of retirement villages around there
Hollywood: it's ok, there are some nice parts but you can find nicer and closer suburbs
Deerfield Beach: there are some really nice parts and then really crappy parts of the town; beautiful homes along the beach and intercoastal
Coral Springs/Parkland: My home town! It's a little bit of a drive (about 20 to 30 minutes from downtown) but it's a beautiful area and very family oriented. The public schools in this area are rated as some of the best in Florida. The homes around here are a bit pricey so it depends on what you're looking for.

West Palm Beach is not too far away (a little over an hour drive). Delray Beach is about 20 minutes North of Coral Springs/Parkland. Office Depot has their headquarters there. I know lots of people that work there and I've heard they're a great company to work for.

[USFSDTAlum]

Advice:
1. Don't do it.
(I went to school in Fla, I speak from experience that Mid-Atlantic/ Northerners were not meant to live in Florida pre-retirement.)
2. Save money to move back home.

That is all.

[maggieaxid]

Thanks so much for your opinion USFstudent......not that I was asking for it.

ZTAngel- thanks for the brief overview. I will be in touch if I have any questions.

[G8Ralphaxi]

Originally posted by USFstudent
Advice:
1. Don't do it.
(I went to school in Fla, I speak from experience that Mid-Atlantic/ Northerners were not meant to live in Florida pre-retirement.)
2. Save money to move back home.

That is all.

Screw that. Florida is THE place to be. It's not just for old people, that's B.S. Miles of beautiful beaches, great weather, growing cities, etc. While all of you Northerners are scraping ice off your car, I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It was sunny, high 70s and lightly breezy last week. All the sunshine = less seasonal depression.

We do have a lot of people who come from other places. (My brother and I joke that we are the only 2 born-and-raised Orlando natives in the whole city!) But from a job perspective, that's a bonus because it's easier to make a name for yourself - your success is less dependent on your being from that town, having a prominent family and social network. If you've got your stuff together and you work hard, you can make a name for yourself very quickly. Much harder to do in other areas of the South (social standing and family connections plays bigger role) or big cities (i.e., in NYC, you're a teeny little fish in a darn big pond, don't you forget it).

South Florida, especially Miami, has long been a center for international trade, business, and law. Plus a kick-butt nightlife - why else do you hear about the celebrities partying down there?

About finding a job, most local newspapers are online, including their classified ads. Getting in contact with some employers will give you some idea about potential salaries, job requirements, etc. Here are two links:

Miami Herald
Orlando Sentinel

About an apartment, I would STRONGLY recommend avoiding signing a lease until you 1. see the exact apt. unit you'd be renting, 2. see the complex at night. While you will generally be ok if you are in a "nice area," there are sketchy landlords everywhere. One disadvantage of Florida's highly mobile population is that it's easier for a bad landlord to get away with it (the abused tenant just moves away). Also, even in nice areas, sometimes a particular neighborhood or complex can end up having problems with crime, noise, etc.

Best of luck to you and Welcome to the Sunshine State!

[USFSDTAlum]

Originally posted by maggieaxid
Thanks so much for your opinion USFstudent......not that I was asking for it.

Thank you for reminding me yet again, why I so rarely visit this site.

[33girl]

Originally posted by USFstudent
Thank you for reminding me yet again, why I so rarely visit this site.

To be fair, she was asking for advice, not putdowns....and incidentally, Maggie went to college in the South, so I am guessing she has a friend or 2 from FL and didn't just create this out of the blue in her head like "I want to be an animal trainer when I grow up."

Southerners don't like being stereotyped, well guess what, Northerners don't either.

[USFSDTAlum]

I wasn't putting down Fla (except for maybe a little sarcastic dig at the retirement stereotype ).
I have found from discussions with MANY MANY mid-atlantic people, VA, MD, PA, NJ, DE that the mentality that many people hav in this area is conflicting with the mentality that people from Florida have. I experienced this, as have countles other people I have had this conversation with. Many of these people also made educated choices when deciding to move to Florida, and came back to where they were from. They did not just move to Florida on a whim, they looked at cost of living, job availability and other opportunities available.
How was I to know where Maggie went to school, we've never had a conversation. She asked for people that knew about Florida, specifically Ft. Lauderdale. As I know many many people from the area, and lived in Florida for 3 + years, I find myself qualified to answer her question, especially being from the viewpoint of someone who moved down from a geographically similar area.
It was an honest comment, and there's no need to be rude to people answering your posts.

[maggieaxid]

Ok, since you seem to be interested in why i am moving to florida...it is not "on a whim"...here's the deal:
the company I currently working for has a sattelite office in Ft. Lauderdale. While I would probably work for that office, I was wondering what other job opportunities exist in that area of Fl. I like my job and all, but its not something I can make a career out of- it pays the bills.
Yes I did go to school in the South- Elon Univ. in North Carolina to be exact- where almost everyone was from the North East, MidWest and yes, Florida. I fell in love with the south while I was there and as much as I would like to go back to NC- I don't really have the opportunity to do so, and the job market is not on the rise very much right now.
And yes, I do know lots of people who went to Elon who live in all parts of Florida.

so there is the deal.

[USFSDTAlum]

I apologize if I gave you the impression that I care why you are moving to Florida. I don't.
I was surprised I would have to defend myself on such a benign topic, but I guess people will make a big deal out of anything these days

[maggieaxid]

similarly USF, I did not ask for your opinion- you shared it anyway...hence why I shared my story.

[kdonline]

I am a native Miamian & have been living in the Ft. Lauderdale area for the past 3 years.

PM me for details about the area. Or, you can IM me @ kdg8or89.

No one who hasn't lived in this area can give you a fair representation of South Florida. I was born here, went to school here (except for 4 years @ UF), worked & played here.

Though I wouldn't call FL "THE" place to be, it's good for at least a few years!

[CarolinaDG]

I have also been looking at jobs in Florida... there's one that I would LOVE to have in Fort Myers that I'm hoping for... crossing fingers, toes, and knocking on tons of wood... so, I'm in your same boat. I looked at Apartments.com for apartments... they have pictures that I've found in my experience are pretty representative of how the apartments really look. I've looked at the ones in Charlotte and then driven out to see them in person, and the pictures are close... it's just the areas that you have to watch out for, because they don't exactly post, "Bad area of town. Make sure to have tons of locks on doors."

[kdonline]

also check out http://www.apartmentratings.com for additional info.