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  1. #1
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    Possibly moving (to Florida) to help family. Inputs wanted.

    Sorry for the longish post, but am going to try to be detailed.

    I'm a native NY'er. 34 & male. I just got back from Florida after visiting my grandma after a week. I make a conscious effort to see her once a year.I miss her dearly. She was just recently very sick with bronchitis. Seeing her so out of it was highly alarming. She's well on the road to recovery, but really slowing down. Rightly so, being 79. She has zero family down there. Fortunately, she has a lot of friends down there that keep an eye on her, but recently when she was ill, there was nobody that she could really rely on. This bothers me and my family to no end.

    It bothers me so much that I am strongly considering moving there to keep an eye on her. She lives in Davenport (Polk county) in a somewhat rural area. It's about 10 minutes away from everything you could want. Pretty nice area from what I've seem. A bit redneckish, but nothing out of sorts.

    One of her best friends is very, very high up in the Disney food chain (more on this later). I had to go get something from them one day. We were talking about the condition of my gradma's health, told them half jokingly about moving down there to keep an eye on granny. She thought it was a fantastic idea. Well, this got back to grandma. She's not expecting anything as it's not an overnight decision.

    Grandma and her friend were talking about me one evening. The friend from Disney can guaranteed get me a job at Disney. Not some garbage job either, like pushing a button to a ride or trash collector. Something office/corporate full time. Looking up those jobs on glassdoor, they seem like pretty decent pay. I've got a strong resume. That's the toughest thing, and would be covered.

    I have no idea what salary would be at the moment and before I did anything I would have to be sure. I know rents are cheaper down there depending on areas. Where I've been looking has some nice places at $700 a month for 2BR. I pay $900 a month now split (so 1800) for a 2 BR. If I were to keep roughly the same salary, I would be more than set. I could also stay with my grandma for a few months until I got up and running.

    Here's my dilemma. Everything and I mean everything, is up here in NY. Or close to it. All of my close friends of 15+ years. Almost all my family. My nieces and goddaughter. All the places that are home. I see my family at least 2x a week. I have the strong feeling I would be miserable without them. Especially my nieces. Good lord, the thought of not having them makes me literally sad if I think about it. I don't see my friends all that often, maybe 1-2x per month but everyone is super tight.

    On the other hand though, I absolutely hate my job. I mean I've worked for a good 8-10 places over the years. I loathe my job. Been there for 4.5 years. I hate the state of NY. Most of the people. I hate the cold and snow. Hate the traffic. (Florida traffic is nothing in comparison in those areas unless it's gridlock on I-4) I already know about the absurd heat, pay being lower, palmetto bugs (shudder), love bug season and various other things to not move there. I've been going to Florida on a yearly basis since 8. I always love it there. But to move, I don't know.

    I'm generally a bit of a recluse, so I hate Orlando and all the nonsense that's over there. I could always get a 2nd job like I do now to keep me busy. Or find a friend or two.

    I'm so torn on the decision. Can you folks give me some insight on the areas of Davenport/Kissimmee/ or Polk & Osceola counties? They seem pretty safe from what i've looked up as far as crime demographics depending on area, like every state out there. I broke the news to my mom. She was not thrilled with the idea, but so proud of me if I made the decision to move there to look after grandma.

    People seem to take a shit on moving to Florida. I could do the same thing about New York. Everyone wants to move here for some ongodly reason. Adding more positive than negative would be appreciated, but don't feel like you should sugar coat it. You can come in hard.
    Last note; I may or may not get laid off from my current main job. If I do, that would seemingly make the decision much easier. Having a job lined up before I move is a definite plus. Cheers.

  2. #2
    I'm more gentle than I look.
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    (Polk county)
    Enjoy your shit hole

    I'd add positive, but you said Polk County

  3. #3

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    Are you non-white? You probably want to avoid Polk County if so. There is a reason Floridians refer to it as Imperial Polk County.

  4. #4
    Art Connesseur of Blue Gartr
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cream Soda View Post
    Enjoy your shit hole

    I'd add positive, but you said Polk County
    Ha ha. She's in Davenport. I don't mind it. Pretty sure Lakeland which is close-ish is a dump though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anoat View Post
    Are you non-white? You probably want to avoid Polk County if so. There is a reason Floridians refer to it as Imperial Polk County.
    I am also of the white skin tone. So I wouldn't have an issue there.

  5. #5
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    We literally have a thread devoted solely to the terrible/crazy shit Florida inflicts on the country. Just a reminder.

    Have you considered asking your grandmother to move in with (or at least closer to) you? I realize one of you is going to have to leave their friends behind, but... if she moves by you, she's also gaining a bunch of family to hang out with.

  6. #6
    Special at 11:30 or w/e
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    I moved from Michigan to Sarasota awhile back. I too disliked the cold at the time and when I decided to move it made sense. I stayed for close to two years before I moved back. While part of it was I got into some trouble, I really didn't like the heat and I wanted to try and be closer with my family in Michigan. While I'm not a recluse, I am definitely an indoor person and for me Florida sucked because of the heat and my apartments AC being terrible. However, I also didn't like my job and Sarasota is a retirement community (I moved there because my mother lives in Venice) and jobs were hard to get.

    I'd say for you it really depends on if you can stand not being by your family. I do think Florida is pretty awesome in a lot of ways. I too agree with your assessment on palmetto bugs! Have more talks with your family and give it more time and thought. You'll figure it out!

  7. #7
    The 69th Donor
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    Honestly I did the same (moved away from my family and everyone/everything I knew) but I am much happier here than I ever was up there. It's not ideal, but I keep in touch with a lot of my family members via social media and I find that I don't really miss many of them all that much. Then again, it sounds like you're closer to your family than I am with mine.

    I'm not really familiar with Polk county to be honest, but if it's in the Kissimmee area then you're not too far from Orlando and civilization, and honestly it's a decent city to be close to, and Tampa isn't that far from the Orlando area either. So despite the fact that Polk is kinda podunk, it's not that bad. Definitely avoid Lakeland though.

    Also, despite all of the "wtf Florida" posts we have on here, I've not personally encountered anything really crazy aside from people who can't fucking drive to save their lives.

    Also, if you do decide to move, feel free to hit me up, I go to Disney fairly often and I'd be down to meet up if you need to make a friend in the area (LOL AKS HAS NO FRIENDS!!!11!) but seriously, I'm not a psychopath.

  8. #8
    Art Connesseur of Blue Gartr
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    Quote Originally Posted by BaneTheBrawler View Post
    We literally have a thread devoted solely to the terrible/crazy shit Florida inflicts on the country. Just a reminder.

    Have you considered asking your grandmother to move in with (or at least closer to) you? I realize one of you is going to have to leave their friends behind, but... if she moves by you, she's also gaining a bunch of family to hang out with.
    We've told her this a bunch of times. Unfortunately she will not come back to NY cause of the cold and the people (lol) We're trying to do a thing where she comes up here just for the summer, but she's extraordinarily hard headed.

  9. #9
    Relic Horn
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    I live just outside of Orlando and everything is beautiful, but as it's been said you're looking at a shithole part of the state

  10. #10
    Relic Horn
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    Suburbia, mind you. Not actually in the city

  11. #11
    Tekki's Bitch
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    Quote Originally Posted by BaneTheBrawler View Post
    We literally have a thread devoted solely to the terrible/crazy shit Florida inflicts on the country. Just a reminder.
    Learned that is because Florida is the only state where news media has direct access to all police reports.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free...ation_(Florida)

  12. #12
    Special at 11:30 or w/e
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dotsudoku View Post
    Suburbia, mind you. Not actually in the city
    Not knocking where you live personally, but for me, I love being directly in the city wherever I am. I currently live in an area deemed by many as "ghetto" (suburb of Detroit) but I love it. The blunt truth is I'm one of the few whites and my wife is like the only asian in an area dominated by blacks. But, we love it here! We've made good with a few in our building and others.

    At the end of the day, it's what you make it. It does really sound like FL is for you sans the family thing.

  13. #13
    Art Connesseur of Blue Gartr
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dotsudoku View Post
    I live just outside of Orlando and everything is beautiful, but as it's been said you're looking at a shithole part of the state
    Well Davenport is right outside Orlando as well. Close to Kissimmee. Where about are you?

  14. #14
    Relic Horn
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    Lake Mary

  15. #15
    GATTACA!
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    Sounds like it would be worth it for the vast improvement in career prospects.

    Quote Originally Posted by thetruepandagod View Post
    Learned that is because Florida is the only state where news media has direct access to all police reports.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free...ation_(Florida)
    mind blown, that's really interesting

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Aksannyi View Post
    ... but seriously, I'm not a psychopath.
    Sounds suspiciously like something a psychopath would say.

  17. #17
    The 69th Donor
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    Lol, I knew someone would pick up on that.

  18. #18
    The Shitlord
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    Damn, I was gonna go with "Thou doth protest too much."

  19. #19
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    I lived in Winter Haven (which is in Polk County) for 6 years. Polk County is fine if you're white. You're going to have a really large culture shock going from NY to Florida though. Racism is a big issue in Polk County. It was very weird for me to walk into school and hear all of the racist shit people say. Even my neighbors loved to come outside and bitch about the "damn lazy brown people". Winter Haven wasn't even the worst part of Polk County though. I spent some time in Mulberry and that was even worse. Leaving Florida was probably the best thing I've ever done for myself.

    I would try to get your Grandma to move to NY with you. I'm guessing that's going to be hard to do only because I'm sure your Grandma doesn't want to move anywhere.

    I'm going to be incredibly frank here, so sorry in advance. I'm just thinking logically:

    It sounds like your Grandma might not be in the best health situation. I don't know what your marital situation is, but are you sure you want to uproot yourself/your family to move somewhere to take care of someone that might die very soon? If you're thinking of moving to Florida anyways because you hate the cold and shit, then sure go ahead and move. It sounds like it's what you would prefer anyways, but to move there solely to take care of your Grandma is probably not a smart decision as you might find yourself alone in Florida in a few years.

    I'll answer some of your shorter questions/comment below:

    Quote Originally Posted by Odesseiron View Post
    It bothers me so much that I am strongly considering moving there to keep an eye on her. She lives in Davenport (Polk county) in a somewhat rural area. It's about 10 minutes away from everything you could want. Pretty nice area from what I've seem. A bit redneckish, but nothing out of sorts.
    Polk County sucks ass. Orange County in/around Orlando is much better, but you still run into some of those "southern problems" like racism. It's not nearly as bad as Polk County though.

    I have no idea what salary would be at the moment and before I did anything I would have to be sure. I know rents are cheaper down there depending on areas. Where I've been looking has some nice places at $700 a month for 2BR. I pay $900 a month now split (so 1800) for a 2 BR. If I were to keep roughly the same salary, I would be more than set. I could also stay with my grandma for a few months until I got up and running.
    I can't comment on recent prices, but you'll definitely get more bang for your buck in Florida. NY is ridiculously priced because, like you said, everyone wants to be here for some reason.

    Here's my dilemma. Everything and I mean everything, is up here in NY. Or close to it. All of my close friends of 15+ years. Almost all my family. My nieces and goddaughter. All the places that are home. I see my family at least 2x a week. I have the strong feeling I would be miserable without them. Especially my nieces. Good lord, the thought of not having them makes me literally sad if I think about it. I don't see my friends all that often, maybe 1-2x per month but everyone is super tight.
    This is what I was talking about in terms of uprooting. Are you going to be miserable once you leave everyone and everything you know? It's probably not worth it.

    On the other hand though, I absolutely hate my job. I mean I've worked for a good 8-10 places over the years. I loathe my job. Been there for 4.5 years. I hate the state of NY. Most of the people. I hate the cold and snow. Hate the traffic. (Florida traffic is nothing in comparison in those areas unless it's gridlock on I-4) I already know about the absurd heat, pay being lower, palmetto bugs (shudder), love bug season and various other things to not move there. I've been going to Florida on a yearly basis since 8. I always love it there. But to move, I don't know.
    If you hate your job in NY, I'd say find a new one. It's way easier to find a job while you have one.

    As for the weather, I'm the opposite. I HATE HATE HATE the heat of Florida. There's a reason every home has central air and it's because going outside is like walking in swampy air, especially in Polk County where you're basically living in between 1,000,000 different mini lakes. If you're into that though, that's always a plus for you.

    I'm so torn on the decision. Can you folks give me some insight on the areas of Davenport/Kissimmee/ or Polk & Osceola counties? They seem pretty safe from what i've looked up as far as crime demographics depending on area, like every state out there. I broke the news to my mom. She was not thrilled with the idea, but so proud of me if I made the decision to move there to look after grandma.
    You're going to be safe.

  20. #20
    The Shitlord
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    Racism is definitely not a "southern problem." It's not as overt as many places, but there's definitely a significant amount even up in MN.

    Anyway, another thing to consider would be long-distance commuting. Get an apartment down near your grandma, take the job, live down there... leave your family in NY. Go back up to NY on weekends/vacation days.

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