Does Anybody Live In South Florida?

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Seeking guidance and advice, I am looking to move to South Florida, alone, by myself, site unseen.
Wanted information on housing, employment, and asperger support.
Thanks.

would be easier if you mention which city. Getting advice for Miami area is quite different from what you'd get from Ft. Lauderdale or Arcadia.

It would help to know where you are coming from.

I was born and raised in South Florida. It was bad when I left. It's gotten worse since I left.

Hot year round. High crime. High cost of living. Job market largely focused on the tourism industry (must be a people person). If you aren't Hispanic, you'll be made to feel like an outsider...it's not much of a true "multi-cultural" community anymore.

zer0netgain wrote:

This is bit inaccurate and subjective I think. I live in South Florida currently and have been living here for 15 years now. I've lived in Miami, Key West and now I live in Ft. Lauderdale....right on the beach

First of all....it is NOT hot all year round. From Nov-Apr.....it's pretty darn mild and sometimes downright cold. We had plenty of 30-something degree lows this past December and even the AVERAGE temps in April are like 82/83 for a high and 65-70 for a low. I don't know about you, but I think most people would consider temps like that "nice", "warm" or "pleasant"....not "hot". The job mark is quite focused on tourism and yes, IN MIAMI, you'll be hard-pressed to find many jobs if you don't speak spanish. I don't recommend Miami as it's basically a giant Latin American city now with terrible traffic, rude people, bad food and yes....plenty of crime. Housing is expensive in SoFl.....but it's not like California, Manhattan, or Hawaii. You can find places that aren't much more than what you'll often spend in a low-cost-of-living places like Charlotte, NC (and there is NOTHING in Charlotte really that's all that appealing IMO...unlike the weather and ocean we have here).

We Aspies/NLD-ers often feel like outsiders anyway....so idk what the difference is here really. Ft. Lauderdale/Broward is still a fairly diverse area and not a bad place to live overall IMO. I found a job quickly when I was ready to work again (I went through a state of severe depression for about 2 years and barely left the house) and i'm a tech support agent for a call center on their Verizon Wireless account. The starting pay is not great, but there's plenty of room for advancement, benefits, overtime, etc.....


To the OP....PM me if you need any assistance. I don't know anything about you, but so long as you don't have a criminal record and can pass a drug screening, I can almost promise you a job at the place I work if you're willing and able to do tech support. In fact...if you're pretty computer literate (especially if you're A+ certified)....you could probably service the Microsoft account at the place I work.

If you're not A+ certified, you might still be able to work on the Microsoft account if your general computer skills are decent. You can get A+ certified at Miami-Dade college (formerly known as Miami-Dade Community College) for pretty cheap too. They are offering 18 weeks total basic/intermediate/advanced for about $460.00 and you can opt to do it online as well.

I dislike Florida, way to hot in the summer.

To each their own. I don't mind the heat. I'm the opposite....I can't stand temps under 65 and can't wait until May when we no longer see any temps under 65 until late October at the earliest. There are few other places in the continental US outside of SoFL i'd rather live in fact.

Hawaii might be nice....but it is very expensive, isolated and islands in general get old after awhile from my own experience of living in the Florida Keys. I've been to Hawaii and while it's a fantastic place to visit, (especially the less-populated island like Kauai) I don't think I could live there.

I am a high functioning aspie with mild aspergers. I fall into the gap of having enough AS to be an AS and not look like it within a 5 minute conversation, but having enough of it where through longer interaction over days/months you see I'm unique and different...I fall through the cracks.

Well, I'm about to turn 27. I got my MA last year in Geography and was hoping to get a career in Urban Planning OR Demography/Market Research.
It has not happened, in part because those jobs are gone, and also, they are very picky and want somebody with GIS skills.

So now, I am being forced to look for any kind of job just to pay bills. Well, if that is the case and I am going to have to do just bill paying work and not a career, I at least want to be somewhere that in my mind is a cool, neat place.
I choose Miami because, while I have never been, I want a metropolitan area with things to do, other young people, and being near the beach.

My computer skills, well I know how to use the internet and Microsoft Office, so I am a good END USER. But so far as stuff like GIS/C++++, no training and it is not my strength. My strength is descriptive stats/social science...which means NOTHING in todays job market (wasted liberal arts degrees!).

I'll be relocating sight-unseen, likely with less than $3000 cash, likely with no car.
How is the housing and job market?
How likely is it that I can get a place that is nice (meaning not in a ghetto, near public transit, and not isolated from the social scene) and how is the job market and likelihood of me getting a job to pay the bills that an aspie can do?

I live on the West Coast in Charlotte County... north of Fort Myers, south of Sarasota. I live in a great old Florida / sleepy tourist town. There's not a lot of crime and people are generally nice. There's stuff to do if you like to do what's available.

The weather is not too hot in the summer, nor is it hot year round. We can get down to freezing in the winter, but it won't snow. You get used to the heat in the summer, which can get up to 100. Every one has A/C.

The job market is crap. There are some things popping up but, overall, it's just crap. Your best bet is to get training in the medical field. Those jobs are always needed here, especially RNs. Retirees wanting to supplement their fixed income take a lot of the jobs for less than someone should be paid for those jobs. They are actually in competition with teenagers and anyone seeking entry level positions.

Cost of living is high, even with the real estate market crash. A decent 2 bedroom apartment will run you $800/month. Electric is high. Verizon is the most affordable and best quality cable/ISP in the area but they aren't available in Charlotte County. A gallon of milk is almost $4. A gallon of gas is currently $3.15 in my area. It is more expensive on the East Coast of Florida.

Public transit is crap in this area. You can navigate the bus schedule if you have to. There's no monorail or local train routes. Cabs are expensive.

Florida is also a right-to-work state, which means that unions are limited (there's a few, though) and you can be fired for any reason.

With Rick Scott as the governor, I would strongly advise against moving to Florida at all. As difficult as it is to live here if you're not independently wealthy, it's going to get a lot worse once the governor gets his budget approved and destroys the state. I'd pick another state if I were you. Try Illinois. Get a teaching certification wherever you do land and teach liberal arts related course work for the local community college.

blue, dont move unless you have a job secured. With that little cash you'll be screwed here.

Not sure about south florida but here in orlando the cost of a studio apartment in a ghetto part of town is nearly 700 a month before utilities.

You do need a car. This is florida. You will NOT walk to work.. you will drop dead from heat stroke if you try to.

Horus: Any chance your company have a branch in orlando? I need a job and ive done tech support for a few years.

Cool ... uh, er hot!

I also used to live where "Life's a breeze in the Florida Keys!" However, I was only able to afford doing that either by renting just a room or, at the end, by moving out onto a boat moored in a harbor. For the most part, I would say living in the Keys is quite costly.

Hmmm.....i'd have to look into that, but I don't think they do. The company's name is Teleperformance (or TAG) and I know they have offices all over the US, but I don't recall hearing about any in Orlando.

Now...in the interest of full disclosure.....(and god knows this should mean something coming from an avowed Libertarian Socialist who despises capitalism more than anything in the world)...much like most of the corporate America (not to mention multi-nationals and AFAIK....Teleperformance IS a French company anyway)....Teleperformance has a rather nasty reputation.

Nonetheless...thus far they've treated me as well as any other capitalist swine entity (and unless you're just independently wealthy, self-employed, living a life of crime, etc....what else can you do to makes ends meet in this society?) i've worked for and quite a bit better than several.

That said....RELATIVELY SPEAKING...I can't honestly say many bad things about the company as they've never screwed me personally yet. Still....I KNOW they're far from benign and i'd still say if you can manage to live off the land and be content doing so.....you'd be better off.

Boo to that nauseating phony christer plutocrat Rick my-head-bears-a-strong-resemblance-to-a-grinning-and-malevolent-lightbulb Scott!! !

Hahaha....yeah...i'm quite familiar with impoverished boat dwellers in the Keys/Key West and like countless pariahs, outcasts, "untouchables"and underdogs in this mean ole' world...I consider a few my friends.

I lived on a 40ft sailboat moored in the harbor in Key West for the entire month of September 08'. The boat belonged to this guy who worked a few stores down from where I worked in KW. It was a fun experience for the most part, though all it does in Key West in September is rain and it is very hot and humid.
Key West is particularily hot/humid in the evenings when you're expecting a little cool-down from the withering heat/sun of May-Oct days in South Florida.

From June to Oct...it rarely...if ever....falls below 80 degrees for a LOW in Key West. I used to enjoy going to the Green Parrot bar (the oldest and one of the coolest bars in Key West ) in the summer evenings when I lived there. They have both AC and tons of ceiling fans going and it was heaven go in there and enjoy a few cold ones after a hot and hard day at work.

I was homeless for a few weeks in Key West when I first moved there in June 08'. I slept in the shop my ex-boss leases from the city, but that didn't last long. He didn't mind that....but the city did and security saw me one night. The next day, the lady from COC came around and told my boss he'd be out of there if anyone ever slept in the shop overnight again.

So.....I was forced on the street for want of enough income to afford a glorified outhouse of an apt in Key West which, these days, will run you a bare minimum of $1000 per month. Nor did I even have enough $$$ for first, last and security for such a place. For a weeks until a room became available at my ex-boss' house in Summerland key (25 miles NE of Key West) I either slept in my car or slept on Higgs beach with the rest of the homeless folks. Considering the bone-crushing and unrelenting heat/humidity of that time of year.....neither was the most plesant experience in the world, but at least they have free showers on Higgs beach.

Since not all the homeless (not to mention the non-homeless) are 100% harmless....I was too scared to sleep on the beach at night. I would wait until the sun rose and then get a few hours of uncomfortable and sweaty Zzzz's before I had to be at work.


That lasted for about three weeks and then I started staying at my ex-boss' house in Summerland key. Since I had a car...the drive back/forth to work in Key West everyday was no big deal. In late August...this guy asked me if I wanted to stay on his boat in September while him and his wife were out of town visiting family for the month. He needed the money and charged me $300 to stay on the boat for the month. He even told me I could take it out to the reefs ( which, being an avid snorkeler/scuba diver and nature-lover in general I would've throughly enjoyed) if I want, but I don't trust my sailing skills enough to be responsible for someone else's $100, 000 + boat, so I just decided to stay safely moored in Harbor right by the legendary Schooner Wharf bar and all the fishing/diving/snorkeling, etc....charter operations.

A minor tropical storm even blew threw one night while I was on the boat and things got a bit rough (but tolerably so) that evening. I was only a three minute walk from the store I worked at and that was a big plus considering I didn't spend a dime on gasoline for my car that month

In any case....I left the keys for life back in mainland South Florida in May of 09'. I would never consider living there again, unless by some miracle, I become very wealthy.

Nonetheless...I DO love the keys and the Keys/Key West always has and always will have a special place in my heart. The carefree, tropical and bohemian lifestyle down there is inexpressibly appealing to me.

Since I only live 150 miles from Key West....I still go down there on weekends about once every two months or so. I stay with old friends/my ex-boss/friend and snorkel, dive, kayak, hang out on Duval street in the evenings and try to pick up (usually unsuccessfully of course, but i've had my share of luck there ) girls. In fact....considering Spring Break is coming up AND my ex-boss may need a little help at a few upcoming keys events he hawks his wares at every year at this time,i'll be heading down there AT LEAST one weekend in the month of March. I'll be greatly looking forward to seeing the college girls in the Wet T-shirt contests at Durty Harry's on Duval (right across from Hemingway's legendary watering-hole....Sloppy Joe's ) and the sultry evenings at the aptly-named "Garden of Eden" rooftop clothing-optional bar right up the street

Nothing like killing two birds with one stone especially when one has green feathers and the other one has a nice butt...lol



Anyway...I shall leave you with a magnificent bittersweet song which i've always adored and which seems to be popular in Key West considering the number of local acts that cover it in the various watering-holes about town



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVAnlke_xUY[/youtube]

Btw Dantac.....hundreds of thousands and considering our enormous population, possibly millions, (we are the 12th largest metropolitan area in the US last I checked in 2004 and our ranking may even be higher now) here don't have a car and seem to get along relatively well. Heck....I lived here without a car for about two years after I moved here from Pittsburgh, Pa and I walked several miles to work, school, etc....every month of the year.


While it wasn't necessarily pleasant in the hot, humid and rainy season between May-Oct.....last I checked....I didn't die of heat stroke. I managed well-enough with a few breaks and plenty of water.

To be fair however....I can't speak for you, the OP, or anyone else. Obviously some people can't handle the heat down here for whatever reason/s (often due to legitimate health problems and/or age of course) and the heat/humidity just doesn't bother me THAT much personally.

Still.....I think we should keep this in it's proper perspective. It certainly IS hot here from May-Oct, but many places in the US (even places far north like NYC which are much colder than Florida the rest of the year) can be even hotter on average from June-Aug.

So yes...it is quite hot/humid in South Florida from May-Oct....few humans would deny that....but it's hardly Death Valley or the heart of the Sahara either.

Yes. My own seven years there in the '80s are a cherished memory, but those breezy Keys now belong to someone else ... and just a few days ago, my brother finalized that by selling the ol' "family homestead" our parents had purchased there on Summerland back in the '60s. So, now somebody else has a canal on one side of the house and an airstrip on the other and will be flying their own way into and out of that little world of its own with a sign saying "Don't forget your Keys!" when you leave.