Moving to Florida? This is your thread.
Ask questions, answer questions, or tell us your best advice on moving to Florida.
Feel free to contribute below!
Hurricanes are part of living in Florida. Some years nothing happens, some years it's a wild ride.
If you're going to live beach side, then you need to take hurricanes seriously. Wind conditions leading up to them can and will cause the bridges to the mainland to close, meaning you can be cut off for extended periods from everything, including emergency services. Flooding/Storm Surge are real dangers to life and property. Make sure you have a plan way in advance for the high likelihood that you will lose both electricity and running water.
The further you get away from the coast and intracoastal zone, the lower the risks you have from severe damage from hurricanes, even major ones. But still have a plan, because anything can happen. Look for houses that have hurricane shutters or look into getting your home fit with them. Consider areas with buried power lines, as they're less likely to lose power. You can have a storm like Faye sit off the coast for days and flood almost everything. You can have tornadoes spawn from them. Fences are regular casualties of almost any named storm. Trees should be trimmed well in advance, paying close attention to when final collections occur before the storm hits so you don't have piles of potential wind debris laying in your yard.
That said: hurricanes are typically overblown by the media and should not be a major deterrent. As long as you have a plan and make sure that you're ready for the worst that could happen, you should almost always come out of the other side of hurricanes fine. Our local government knows how to handle them and a lot of infrastructure is built to withstand them. Most of us who have been through many of them don't consider anything Cat 3 or less to be anything more than a couple hour inconvenience. But always have a plan, no matter what.
Yes, Florida has one of the highest rates of Car & Home Owners insurance in the US. It is recommended you find an insurance broker who can shop around (at no cost to you) for the best rates for your needs.
Car Insurance is required by law per vehicle per driver.
Welcome to Florida, home of what seems like every toll road on the planet. You can certainly get around them, but it's significantly more efficient to use tolls.
E-pass Vs Sunpass: one or the other for all the tolls around Florida. Both are accepted across Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. E-PASS has less issues. Plus the advantage of their Uni, which is accepted across 18 states. Both gives you discounts on most tolls Florida.
Keep Discussion on topic. Comments such as the below will be removed:
- "Don't Move here"/ "Leave" or any variation of goes against Rule #1.
- "Don't {insert state} my Florida"
- Complaining about people moving here - this isn't the thread for that.
- Unwarranted political discussion/comments. This is not a politics thread.
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