What is it with East coasters and Florida?

Idjiots! That’s all there is.

I grew up in LA. On my first visit to MIAMI, the best I could do was: the roof tiles look familiar…and, why is so wet here?

😎

I think you mean FLAHRIDA.

They can't afford to move to California, and they really don't want to have to change time zones. Plus, Flahrida is already full of people like themselves, so they can live in a bubble of Yankee bullshit.

Reminds me of that TikTok someone posted of a sheriff's deputy calmly removing a tiny alligator from some old bitch's garage while she screamed bloody murder in the background. He moved the gator to her sewage pond of a backyard, and basically told her "Keep your garage door closed," and she paused her shrieking to say "We don't know gators. We're from New Yawk." And he just quietly said "Yeah. I know."

I grew up out west and now live in philadelphia and I honestly don’t get it. The weather is heinous, the topographic is horrible. The demographic goes from bad to worse. What IS to like about Florida?

Totally agree, OP, as a lifelong New Yorker, I don’t get it. As mentioned, it’s in the same time zone and is a much shorter flight than traveling out west. And for people who love being near the ocean or on a beach (I hate the beach) it’s a form of paradise that’s just a few hours away by plane.

Me, I love the west and southwest, especially the desert, high desert in Santa Fe and Taos. But I’ve also loved being in Arizona, which is much cheaper and less chic than New Mexico.

And when it comes to gay ghetto retirement destinations, I much prefer Palm Springs to Wilton Manors or even Provincetown.

If you are super old and cold all the time, the heat and humidity might feel good.

That’s all I got.

R4 I live in the Bay Area now, which has perfect weather year-round (most of the time) for hiking and outdoor activities. I also go down to Palm Springs a few times a year, and I love exploring the surrounding desert areas. I definitely prefer the West Coast and the southwest.

One thing and one thing only. A important thing in NYC in February, though.

No state or local income taxes, OP. And they're not legally allowed to confiscate your home in a bankruptcy (Homestead Exemption).

It's not rocket science.

R6 perfect? Oh my. 🤔

Bay resident from SoCal

[quote]Moving to the Sunshine State may seem like a dream, sunny skies, sandy beaches, and no state income tax, but many Florida transplants quickly discover that life here comes with unexpected challenges.

[quote]From relentless bugs and high insurance costs to muggy weather and underperforming schools, there’s more to consider than just warm winters and palm trees.

[quote]Whether you’re relocating for work, retirement, or a change of pace, it’s essential to be informed. In this article, we’ll explore 12 things Florida transplants wish they knew before making the move to help you avoid the same surprises.

I think they're branching out now to other states. I'm in the Northeast and keep seeing South Carolina plates. We can't be importing a ton of South Carolinians so they must be snowbirds.

R7, it’s nearly that warm in say, North Carolina

R8, never knew that. It must have been something because the state is heinously ugly

R9 Well, to be fair, I have Northern European ancestry and I hate extreme heat so I like that it cools down at night.

I would retire in Florida. The weather is great, and the living appears to be easy. As long as I'm good, I don't give a rat's ass about the stupid people who may live there and what they're doing. My belief has always been that as long as I'm minding my own business and don't get involved with anyone else's, then I'll be okay.

I swore I would never move to Florida but my visits were almost all on the east coast of the state. Business took me to Naples and I loved it. Entirely different vibe than the rest of the state. I moved there and have not regretted it.

Better you than us. Thanks for taking the hit—you’re a mensch

I grew up in SoCal, live in NorCal now and lived in New York for 10 years in my 20s and 30s.

I can say that it is indeed an attitude of many people that moving "down South" (and that could be Florida or one of the Carolinas) is kind of an expected thing when you get older. At the very least, you'd have a vacation place to go to or spend the winter there (either in your own place or a relative's place).

I think it's a couple of things:

1) it's all they've every known (living in a cold, Northern state) to think of going to a warmer climate and doing away with the bullshit of the winter and Florida (or the Carolinas) is the closest place to do that. Plus many of their family members or friends live there already, so kind of a built-in community.

2) the whole West Coast is a complete unknown to them and for some, it's only what they see on TV and in movies. There is no real understanding of what life is like here in CA; in fact, there's a very NARROW understanding of just how diverse (or sometimes even backwoods) CA can be in terms of people, places, things, etc. Face it - you don't know what you don't know.

3) if it doesn't work out, it's FAR EASIER to move back a few states than to do the whole "other side of the country" move back.

I know a bit about this - I have actually moved back and forth between the two coasts a few times, and I know the types of people on both ends and the mindsets.

Shorter answer: 99.99 % of the time CA > FL.

El fin.

Lots of Easterners have no interest in Florida. OP conflates the idiots who move to Florida and evangelize about it and the people who seem interested based on all that.

If all you can talk about a place is weather or taxes, you have to guess that it's a cultural wasteland. I've been to Florida a number of times--different seasons and places and nothing ever made me wanted to move there. Endless ugly suburbs. Endless miserable humidity. More expensive than at first blush. And those are just the starters. I lived in Atlanta which was bad enough, but Paris compared with Tampa, Orlando, etc. Miami is a bit more fun but I wouldn't want to live there.

Ewww

Florida smells like mold and FARTS.

Wow, R16 ... there are two DL'ers here!

In addition to no income taxes, there's no estate tax either.

Old Jews used to move to Florida, like in Seinfeld, Jerry's parents moved down. You could sell your NYC apartment for a lot of money and moved to Boca and live like a king. Florida has only recently swung conservative and it is not everywhere. Orlando, Miami, FLL, are pretty liberal (except the Cubans in Miami but man they got the D lol).

Ugh. R15. Is Precisely the person I encounter in my city on the east coast and I wonder, “were they beaten black and blue with a frying pan as a child?”

R16, a friend’s mother retired there from Pittsburgh. After three hurricanes she decided to move back - she died happier in Pittsburgh at the age of 90 last year

I would absolutely [italic]love[/italic] to live in California!

Can I live there (in a blue area) on 2K/month?

I grew up in Connecticut with my mother. We both have always hated the cold. I live in Virginia now, and she moved to Naples, Florida a few years ago. I must admit it is absolutely beautiful there. I don't visit her in July/August/September, just because it is so hot. But the rest of the year it's fine for me - considering I truly hate cold weather.

R23 Meet us for dinner at The Turtle Club.

R28, hope she isn’t killed in a hurricane

r30 or dies of stroke, cancer, heart attack, dementia, etc.

I’ve lived in SWFL for ten years. The area is built to withstand hurricanes because so many building are new. Back home in CNY a city near my family was clocked by a tornado. A friend’s car was totaled by a flood in downtown Syracuse. A few business associates lost their homes in Cali fires. I don’t care where you live you’re gonna put up with something.

r30 tomorrow "I have no idea why I was FFed!? I only say nice stuff"

r25 Just because you don't want to live somewhere that they might want to? Interesting.

It's the brutal New England (and sometimes Mid-Atlantic) winters that drive people to Florida.

R35. Not just that. I talked to my sister back home in NY yesterday. It was 95 there and 88 here in Marco Island. When I talk to her in February it’ll be 10 there and 78 here.

The only reason to ever visit Florida is if you’re a fan of Disney or you have children and/or grandchildren who are fans of Disney.

R37. That’s pretty fucking stupid. You won’t be welcome at Wilton Manors.

@r24 its not just old jews. I grew up in Roslyn, NY and I’d say almost half my graduating class (‘95) moved down there after college. They followed their parents, got married and had kids, etc

I enjoy visiting the Siesta Key area, even if I have to hold my nose knowing what has become of the state politically. I used to live in Florida for a few years and it wasn't so bad...except for the traffic and dangerous, tourist drivers. As a native mid-westerner, I did miss the fall colors and seasonal transitions.

Once is not enough OP I've been to the Florida Keys, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Vero Beach, Naples many times and yes, it is humid in the summer, but I really don't get a red neck vibe. And I visited my relatives there many times over the years since the 70s

r41 where do you live?

From the 60s to 90s my parents from Massachusetts had a winter place on Sanibel Island. I sold it when my Mom died. It wasn’t like the rest of Florida. It was great back then, a kind of offbeat, laidback, more mid-western than East Coast beach vibe kind of place and serious about protecting nature - no streetlights so’s not to fuck up the turtles at night. No high-rises. Lots of seashells. Beautiful big broad beaches. Founded by CIA alums who used the beaches to practice landings for the Bay of Pigs, too. Some fascinating neighbors. Our old house got washed away by the last hurricane (‘23?) there that knocked out the Causeway to the mainland.

But it was already over-developed and over-touristed thirty years ago. Like a lot of places, it was hot once and because it was it no longer is. And the insurance cost a (relative) fortune then. It’s ten times more $ today. And now they have Red Tide, too. Things change and not always for the better.

This thread is made for me. As a native Californian the humidity bugs and gators always seemed so off putting.

Im starting to understand the appeal or at least the pull for East Coasters. Naples does look beautiful from the pictures.

The Gulf Coast is beautiful R44

East Coast beaches south of New England have nice warm water July through September. California coastal waters are comparatively cold year round.

Naples isn't so much redneck, R41, but libertarian. Democrats are seen as the Nanny State party in some cases.

R42 Across the Hudson from Midtown in Weehawken, NJ which is safer, quieter, cleaner, greener and less expensive than NYC where I lived from 1988-2006

Thanks for your response, r48.

Can I also ask if you've ever visited California, and if so, where/when? No problem if you don't want to answer.

R49 Palm Springs, San Francisco, Huntington Beach, Santa Monica, Carmel, Laguna Beach from 1983-1995

Ok, thanks again for your responses, r50 / 48 / 41.

I'm assuming you feel a real affinity for the East Coast and you are comfortable and happy living there. Would you ever consider living in CA?

Who are you all to judge?

I have a winter place in Champions Gate near Davenport,, right by Disney. It is on two golf courses and has an amazing club house with a water park and Olympic pool. I VRBO it when we are not there, May-Sept it pays my mortgage for the year so basically it is free to me.

R51 Not based on what my friends have told me in recent years. they are planning of moving back to Connecticut though they don't know how they'll handle the winters. And for me there's the wildfires, earthquakes, mud slides and the expense. I did like Laguna Beach and Santa Monica and Carmel. Someone that I worked with moved from San Francisco in 2005 and he said even then the quality of life had deteriorated in SF.

Besides I'm happy with where I live now I'm only 10 minutes from New York and I can still visit when I want but in the last 10 years I've gone less and less. It isn't the New York that it was in the 80s and 90s In fact I was there last night with my friends from my old neighborhood Hell's Kitchen, and we went to one of my favorite restaurants there 44th and 10th

As a little kid growing up in the freezing Northeast of the 70s and 80s and among the working class, people did make Florida sound like a paradise. I even thought Disney World was a magical place. When I did finally get there as an adult, Disney, I was so bored I snuck out on my colleagues from a convention and found the bathhouse in Orlando. I hooked up with one of the dwarfs - not in costume.

It’s all about marketing really.

Cali? Colombia—who cares.

44 X 10th

Hell’s Kitchen mediocrity at its best….

I like California but who would want to live in LA or the valleys any more? It's a pit, if you aren't rich and can afford some hillside or beachside home. And even then you have to contend with more and more wildfires, mudslides, and the possible gargantuan earthquake.

[quote] What is it with East coasters and Florida?

Well, you see...Florida is on the East coast...

I'm not a big fan of Florida but I love the beaches on the gulf coast...and the fact is, a lot of older people like that it's flat. San Francisco is beautiful but over 60 the hills are kind of rough.

People who moved to LA were the Floridians of a previous generation. Yammering about the weather. Living in what was then a cultural wasteland. LA became expensive but more of a real city and probably has the most interesting range of food in the US. Still, unless you live within a decent distance of the ocean, it means living in ugly suburbia worthy of Florida.

I don't know nuthin' much about Florida. except they have alligators and crocoidiles. Too prehistoric for my taste.

[quote]In addition to no income taxes, there's no estate tax either.

The cost of insuring your house practically offsets all that. Many thousands of dollars.

I’m a New Yorker and I loathe Florida with the white hot intensity of a million supernovas.

One thing I’m glad about — weirdos tend to go there, filtering them out of NY.

[Quote] 44 X 10th Hell’s Kitchen mediocrity at its best….

reviews on Yelp! Trip Adviser, Seamless, Open Table . . .suggest otherwise. Cool vibe, good food, cute waiters attentive service. What's not to like R58?

My best friend in San Francisco inherited a townhouse on Anna Maria Island and keeps begging me to visit. But it’s Florida. Hard pass. If I’m flying cross-country, I want culture, nightlife, something worth the trip, not just roasting on some beach like a lizard waiting to die.

Sarasota is actually quite nice, R67. And you could try the Ringling Museum for culture.

Yelp? Yelp! You use Yelp, for NY restaurants? 🤣.

Every restaurant on Open Table gets high ratings lol

Three of my friends live in Florida. Two of them are my travel buddies and one is someone I know from Facebook and we hit it off. I love to visit them down there we always have a great time. They’ve asked me if I want to retire in Florida and the answer is no. It’s great to visit but it’s too expensive and the weather is too humid.

We live in Florida too!

R68 A very liberal former coworker who lives in Sarasota part of the year bangs on about how this area is great and not like the rest of the state, but it is MAGA central, too.

My parents lived in Sarasota for 15 years of their retirement. It’s a little more sophisticated and civilized, but that is limited. I once got honked at ferociously in the middle of a crosswalk while the walk signal was on. I was also told in 2022 that Covid was a hoax.

I love reading these DL threads about how one experiences and reacts to regional climates.

They make me I realize my deep bond with Winter is a fundamental good in my life spiritually, financially, aesthetically, and few more "allys" I can't think of now.

I would never criticize anybody for getting away from sub-zero temps, snow, ice and the hard physical work of Winter, especially as you age.

Still the DLer upthread who said anywhere you go there is something to deal with is right.

The trade-off for me is the raw, stark, beauty and silence of Winter in my rural upper Midwest climate. I couldn't bear it if that no longer could be part of my life's consciousness.

I dislike Florida. I've been there enough times to have given it a chance and know that.

But given how I know I feel about Winter, I know that those who want to be there, or in any climate that doesn't include Winter feel. You want and need the beauty of that ocean sunset and sunrise and comfortable temps.

It’s not like the Northeast has bad winters anymore. The last tough winter with blizzards was 2015.

In 1984, we had a 70 degree day in December, 4 days after Christmas. Everybody was amazed. Now we have 70 degrees on Christmas week.

I can board a direct flight in Florida and be in CNY in three hours if I want to enjoy cooler weather, the changing leaves, visit family or do whatever. Then I can get back home and hit the beach. If I want to hang out with a group of gay friends I drive to Ft Lauderdale and we go to Wilton Manors and have fun. Life is what you make it wherever you may be.

After reading some of these posts, I've come to the conclusion that some of you in this thread are as backwards as you all seem to think the people in Florida are.

r77 well, that's just it, isn't it? The East Coasters - for the most part - stay in their East Coast enclave and think the West Coasters have it bad (drought, fires, potential earthquakes constantly a threat, expense, etc.). The West Coasters can't imagine living in a place where it snows EVERY year, is humid EVERY year, and their retreat/chosen place is a snake pit of rabid conservatives (and a fair amount of Flori-DUH man/woman antics) that WILL get pummeled every year by hurricanes.

Nobody would really know unless they took time to live for a decade in the "opposite coast" 's shoes. I've done both, and tried to elaborate on that at r18. There is an intolerance, ignorance and a "not for me" attitude amongst all involved, and no one can really have a definitive answer unless they've spent significant time in both situations. At least the poster up at r74 is clear that - for him - he NEEDS to have a winter in his life. That is a part of his being.

And that's all any of us can really do: decide what it IS that is a NEED, a must-have in life. For some of us, it's having our family/friends near us, and if that means a move that ends in Florida (or the Carolinas) to be in a place that means "home" to them, I guess I can't begrudge that of anyone. I've still not found what is "home" for me, because throughout my life, I've lived in many different places and many different situations. I've stretched myself to fit molds that I wasn't born into and been in situations that are foreign to me. Adaptability has been bred into me...but because of that, I'm still left wondering (in my late 50s) if I will ever find the place that really feels like "home" to me...that I could happily live out the rest of my life. I still don't know what it looks like to me. I envy those who DO know and HAVE found it, wherever that may be.

It must be, and feel, nice. Comfortable. Safe. I don't think I've ever had that feeling in life as of yet.

Loved your post, r78.

Metaphorically speaking, maybe that state of being in the life-long river that you're moving in, as that river is moving around you, IS your home.

You're like a real-life Moon River.

We hear so much about crazy Florida people because of the state's sunshine laws. If other states had similar laws, people would learn that crazy is not limited to one state. I will reach retirement age in 15 years, and if I could, I would retire in Southern California, but there is no way in hell I can do that - and I'm one of the lucky people with a pension and a 401K, it would just be too expensive. However, I know that I can probably go down to Ft Lauderdale and live a very nice retired lifestyle.

Most of you people sound like those who when I told them I lived in New York State automatically thought I lived in a metropolis when I actually was from a village of 1,000 people in the middle of nowhere. Florida is a big state with different regions that reflect mostly where its inhabitants moved from. The panhandle is the real south, more Alabama than East Coast. The I-95 corridor is east coast transplants and I-75 west coast retirees come from primarily the Midwest. Orlando? Swamps and Disney and the (shudder) villages. There is no “one” Florida.

R81 Was just going to write the same thing.

[Quote] My parents lived in Sarasota for 15 years of their retirement. It’s a little more sophisticated and civilized, but that is limited. I once got honked at ferociously in the middle of a crosswalk while the walk signal was on.

In New York and New Jersey, they wouldn't give you the courtesy of a honk; they'd just run you over

R69🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️

I remember driving on I-4 near Orlando. I passed a sign which read Orlando Cultural Attractions. The rest of the sign was empty.

LOL, competitor!

There are a lot of cultural attractions in New Hampshire.

Florida = SCARFACE

I was born on the East Coast and lived there for more than 50 years without ever setting foot in Florida (I've been to 42 or 43 states.)

The reason? Disney anything. Old people trying to save a few tax dollars. Early bird specials. Snow birds. Retirees. The Villages. Del Boca Vista. Gloria Estefan. Miami Vice. Miami clubs. Gators. Florida men. Beaches. White pants. Panhandle... There's nothing there for me, only things best avoided.

In any case, not all East Coast people are seduced by Florida's "charms."

[quote]I would absolutely love to live in California! Can I live there (in a blue area) on 2K/month?

Yes, you can, just not ground zero in the prime spots of the cities. So many east coasters think CA is all about LA or San Francisco and nothing in between. It's a huge state, 50% dont live in either of those cities because there are hundred of little town all along the coast that are affordable. With the exception of Carmel and Santa Barbara because they got invaded by the rich the last few decades. But there are places you can live, even in LA on 2K.

R91 the numbers would seem not to support the proposition that one could live on $2000 monthly.

The average rent for a studio in Los Angeles County (not just Bel Air or Westwood or Hancock Park) is more than $1700/mo. Leaving less than $300 a month for everything else.

Not that there aren’t cities on the East Coast that are just as expensive. An annual income of $24,000 does not go far on either coast.

I live in LA r92, I know what things cost. All averages have a high and low. 2,000 is on the low end in most of America. But it is doable, in LA, but like I said it's not going to be right in the heart where all the action is. And again, there are a lot of little towns and community outside of LA.

Central Florida is one large, open-air mental health facility for the criminally insane.

Please tell me where you can live in Southern California for $2000 a month.

With roommates in Palmdale.

My cousin once lived under a bush in Topanga Canyon, so I guess it can be done by people who budget carefully.

[quote]Please tell me where you can live in Southern California for $2000 a month.

Long Beach is a good start. It's still in LA county and very LGBTQ friendly. Here is what I came up with a 2 minute search:

Studio $1,195 – $1,277

530 Chestnut Ave, Long Beach CA

[Quote] I was born on the East Coast and lived there for more than 50 years without ever setting foot in Florida (I've been to 42 or 43 states.)

[Quote] The reason? Disney anything. Old people trying to save a few tax dollars. Early bird specials. Snow birds. Retirees. The Villages. Del Boca Vista. Gloria Estefan. Miami Vice. Miami clubs. Gators. Florida men. Beaches. White pants. Panhandle... There's nothing there for me, only things best avoided.

I've never been to CA the reason? traffic, pollution, drug addicts, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, droughts, homeless camps, expense, power outages, crime . . .

^ and anything Disney

I've have been to FL the reason I wont go back? Traffic, pollution, drug addicts, hurricanes, humidity, alligators, snakes, huge bugs, MAGATS, crime and Cuban drug dealers.

MAGATS alone is the primary reason. Friends, old gays, just relocated from Orlando area to outside DC. I’m so happy for them

R98 That would leave the between $823 and $905 a month for all other expenses. Water, power, food, household supplies, gas, car insurance, medical expenses, clothing, laundry, furniture, TV bills, entertainment...

It’s the ah-run-juhs!

Get a grip R103, it was just an example to prove that you can in fact live in CA on 2k a month. Why don't you tell us where someone can live better for that 2K a month and what hell hole state that would be in.

I'm not the poster who inquired of the feasibility of living in on less than 2000/month, but does Southern California not extend beyond LA and Long Beach?

I didn't nnotice "fashionable sub-zipcode" among his criteria.

Yes, there are many little small towns in CA that are a lot more affordable than LA and SF. But keeping it in LA county was the requirement to prove you can live in LA on 2k. Not in luxury, not in the center of all the action, but it is doable if you are willing to make compromises.

Try Lennox

We moved to Miami from NYC many years ago and are very happy. We've become very close to others who have moves here from other cities - fools, sluts...you name it. They are here and loving it also, although the city tends to cause a bit of amnesia in them and they forget things like how many children they have. Great place to get a seafood meal.

DL: in living color! ^

try San Sebastian

I'm living in Deplorable Haven, FL quite easily on 2K/month.

I purchased my trailer on 1/2 acre for 30K (paid cash). Property taxes, $300/yr. No homeowner's insurance -- even if I wanted to get it, no one will insure a trailer. But I don't want it; this 50-year-old trailer's value isn't high enough to justify it.

My highest electric bill was $120, in February, no less. It costs a lot more to heat this place in the winter (and it does get down to 30F here) than it does to cool it in the summer.

Water bill, $12/mo. Internet, $70 (don't have cable TV; my antenna works just fine, and there are a number of free sites that provide live TV online if you know where to look). Car insurance, $650.yr. (only liability, though). good VPN, $70/yr. NYT online, $4/month.

So my average monthly expenses (including food, but not gas for the truck) are < $600/mo. And I am actually able to save money, which I mostly spend on travel.

So hate on FL all you want (I'll join in!) but I don't think there are many places in the US where I could live this cheaply.

I hear Panama is extra humid in August…

I've been to Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. But what about the Tampa Bay area. Is that nicer? I've seen picture of the west coast of Florida and some of the beaches look beautiful. I remember everyone I knew was going to Sanibel and Captiva back in the day. But suspect hurricanes changed all that. Is it worth a visit to Tampa area?

More than 50 years ago, my mother and my godmother took me on my first airplane ride. We went to Florida. I had never seen the ocean. I had never stayed in a high rise hotel. we were only there for 5 nights and 6 days but we ate breakfast out on the patio near the pool and lovely young waiter poured our freshly squeezed orange juice from a crystal pitcher. We walked around and shopped, and even ate at my first Deli, Wolfie's. Obviously it was a memorable experience. I was a child. We ended up visiting Florida twice in my lifetime as a child. The second time came about three years later when my father drove us there. We saw alligators and went to Cypress Gardens. No one ever talked about moving there. It was a curiosity. But it seemed unreal. As I got older Florida lost whatever charm it had. Now it seems like a shithole.

The hole of every shithole.

I’ve never understood the east coast snowbirds who move to Florida. Where I live most people retire to Arizona or somewhere in greater Palm Springs. Both which seem preferable to me over Florida. Dry heat is so much easier to tolerate than wet heat. Plus the desert areas do not have the same kind of wild fire risk as most of the west coast. I really have no idea how people live with that humidity.

There was a time in the60's - 80's when moving to Florida was a thing. In the Jewish community in my city, that was the pinnacle of accomplishment. To retire and move to Florida. ( I am Jewish.) The waspy people started moving to Arizona in the mid 80's I think. Not sure. But it became popular. The alternative to Florida became the Carolinas. I remember people talking about Hilton Head a lot.

Wet heat is much better for your skin.

R18 - I completely agree with you that so many people on the East Coast - or frankly, most of America - have no concept of what the West Coast is like and what it is like to live in California.

And I freely admit, as a former New Yorker, I had this rivalry with LA implanted in me and basically thought all of California was LA or SF.

Strangely, I had even visited California on work trips several times and maintained that attitude. Then as I got older, I realized what bullshit bias I had.

Been in SoCal for 8 years now and never regretted a moment. Best decision of my life - except the cost, of course.

Well R112, you are in a trailer park, not a house. Of course it's going to be cheaper than anything else. The problem with trailers is they are the first thing to go during a hurricane. Like a cardboard box just waiting for a big gust.

Your worst decision = coming to the DL ;)

North Carolina just seems like a bad compromise--hurricanes near the coast, miserable summers everywhere outside the mountains and people from Atlanta ruining Asheville.

Out West, SD and Palm Springs became popular among HIV+ gay men who were saved by antiretrovirals but getting priced out of SF. Palm Springs had gone into a low period in the 70s/80s and those mid-mod houses became affordable as rehab projects in the 90s. SD was more affordable than LA Or SF into the late 90s. Still, as a an SD-native friend explained, it's a cultural wasteland and livable only if you live near and know how to enjoy the ocean. He's a bright well-read guy with a lot of curiosity but he also was a competitive body surfer into his 50s and has a view of the ocean, so his life is pretty consistent with his story. He loves to travel just about anywhere that's more interesting than SD.

R121, what part of the "I have a half acre of land" didn't you understand?

I do not -- and would not -- live in a trailer park, where you most decidedly do [bold]not[/bold] own your own land. If I did, my cost of living would be much, much higher, because most lot rents in FL are $700/month +.

The trick is to own the land (1/2 acre, BTW) that has the trailer on it.

Got it now?

Most bizarre, uninformed comment of the day—crazy talk!

“SD and Palm Springs became popular among HIV+ gay men who were saved by antiretrovirals but getting priced out of SF” 🤠

[Quote] Please tell me where you can live in Southern California for $2000 a month.

In a van down by the river

Smell R124, she thinks she's all that because she lives in a trailer on a patch of dirt instead of a trailer park.