Where

[Duval1790]

I was just wondering Where

[asonj23]

As fas as voting for a great place to live, my vote goes to Jax even over Miami.

[accatt2204]

What do you mean best? Like Education wise, or crimewise, or just lifestylewise? In general is just too general.

I still voted for Orlando, but im not exactly sure what you mean.

[Brickell]

I don't know why you'd exclude Miami on a poll like this. Miami isn't clearly better when it comes to quality of life. In fact, I'm sure a lot of people probably feel it would be the last place they would want to live.

There are dozens of wonderful places in Florida I wouldn't mind living in. A lot of that depends on my situation though. Miami is tops on my list overall. The heartland area of Hardee and DeSoto counties are up there for rural living. Tallahassee is a great place if you're a student or just looking for a relaxed pace in life. Some of the other panhandle towns like Marianna or Appalachicola would be an awesome place to retire in my opinion.

If I wasn't living in Miami, I'd probaby pick Tampa though. Bigger Metro area with more prospects for jobs. Also a quite a few inner ring neighborhoods that are turning around. I'd love to live close to the bay in St. Pete if they'd ever get their transportation issues taken care of.

[prahaboheme]

Florida is a large and varied state. I would be more interested in learning the best places to live in each metro area because obviously there are pros and cons everywhere.

[RiversideGator]

This is completely subjective, so of course I will pick Jacksonville.

[Viper]

Very few of us can say they have lived in each local and spent much time discovering the whole of that city so most answers won't be but homeboyism and speculation.

With that said, I choose Jacksonville.....uh, because I've lived there and will be back in 2008.

[Urban_Legend]

I picked Jax, for all of its parks, the river, and its great urban neighborhoods.

[Viper]

I find it funny that the Jacksonville voters are the only ones being vocal.

[NoFxfan]

I find it funny that the Jacksonville voters are the only ones being vocal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I picked jax cause I live here and it has the best beaches out of all on the list.

[miamistreets]

I picked Ft. Lauderdale because its pretty luxurious(last time I went).Its kind of a fancy place,well,from my point of view.

But I voted for it because I havn't been to Jax,Tampa or Orlando.

[Brickell]

So Jacksonville is the best place for us to live because you live there? Didn't realize we had such an important person on this forum.

As for the beaches, it depens on if we're talking metros or cities. Fort Lauderdale has some very nice urban beaches. St. Pete and Clearwater beaches are hard to beat in terms of sand quality and water. Canaveral National Seashore (part of the Orlando Metro) is one of the most beautiful natural areas in the state, plus you can go naked there.

[NoFxfan]

So Jacksonville is the best place for us to live because you live there?  Didn't realize we had such an important person on this forum. 

As for the beaches, it depens on if we're talking metros or cities.  Fort Lauderdale has some very nice urban beaches.  St. Pete and Clearwater beaches are hard to beat in terms of sand quality and water.  Canaveral National Seashore (part of the Orlando Metro) is one of the most beautiful natural areas in the state, plus you can go naked there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

wow, must have went over your head. Let me elaborate a little. I live in the place that I like the best. If I liked Miami the best, I would live there. I would rather my city be primarily english speaking, so I would never live in Miami. When I say the best beaches, I mean for surfing. Miami is not known for its swell heights or for surfing. the Jax area has some the best surfing spots in the state.

[Benhamin]

I would recommend against living in FL altogether, but that is just my experience. St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area is the best place to live in FL, imo. Miami is cool, but only sometimes. J-Ville is quite disappointing, as is Orlando. Inland FL is way too hot in the summer. If you can't be near water in summer in FL, prepare to bake to death.

[thehappysmith]

I voted, but it hardly matters how as this is more of a fill in the blank than a multiple choice question.

Of the metros I've lived in, Tampa seems to have the least horrible traffic problems. That being said, I live in downtown here and commute through the old neighborhoods to the base, so it's not like I live in the burbs and have any real sense of the average traffic problem.

I find that for my tastes, most people underestimate the importance of traffic to quality of life. Climate, beaches, things to do... the listed metros are going to come out in a wash if these are your ratings. But the traffic in Broward County is... well, it's not something I ever wish to experience again. I have to start drinking heavily as soon as I get down there just to mellow out enough not to drive my car into a canal. I feel exactly the same way when I go back to Orlando, especially the northern burbs. And Jacksonville... well, I grew up in a house off Blanding Blvd. If you know the area, that's all you need to know.

Being impatient, traffic can ruin a good day for me. In Tampa, I rarely have to deal with that sort of traffic, but it was a daily occurence in both Lauderdale and Orlando.

That said, of the places I've lived in Florida, I have a lot of affection for Sebring. It's all sprawl--well, mostly--and it's all old people, but isn't most of Florida like that? I like the lakes. I like Avon Park and Lake Placid, too, which are nearby. And I love going out Arbuckle Creek Road into the farm country and around Lorida. In fact, Lorida is probably where I would live if I had my choice of places in Florida, on the banks of Arbuckle Creek.

But there are metros that are nice, too. Tallahassee has already been mentioned. I love the Space Coast. And Pensacola gets short shrift; too much sprawl to the north, but lots to do for a city its size.

[prahaboheme]

I haven't had a good experience with highway traffic in any Florida metro. So starting with the most populous, Miami along 95 is the worst IMO, always jammed, then I-4 in Tampa (hate it with a passion), then Orlando I-4 (fast becoming worse than Tampa), then JAX on 95.

[bobliocatt]

Arbuckle Creek? Doesn't that run through the Avon Park Bombing Range?

[miamistreets]

I dont I-95 is as crowded as the Palmetto(826) is.Since the construction,its always packed.

[miamistreets]

My bad,i meant to say "i dont think I-95 is ....

[thehappysmith]

Yes, Arbuckle Creek starts out from Lake Arbuckle, in Polk County, near the county line. Then the creek runs south, crosses into Highlands county, and makes up pretty much the entire western border of the bombing range. It trundles on south past the range, through a tremendous water hyacinth thicket that marks the southern end of the Range (one time I actually had to portage my kayak around the lake because the hyacinth bloom was so thick I couldn't paddle), and then on south under Arbuckle Creek Rd. and eventually terminating in Lake Istokpoga. It's actually closer to Spring Lake at the southern point than to Lorida, but Spring Lake is a retirement community and holds no interest whatsoever aside from its proximity to the Sebring airport and raceway. Lorida is small, quiet, isolate, and has a lot of cows. Perfect place to do some writing. Ideally I'd like to keep my unit at either One Laurel (where I live now) or Skypoint (assuming I can buy one of those) and then buy a little cabin out Lorida way, and live in both. Ah, dreams...

Anyone who enjoys paddling could scarcely do better than to put in at SR 64 on Arbuckle Creek and paddle south (it's an all-day thing) to the take-out on U.S. 98. Assuming the hyacinths aren't too bad it's probably the nicest paddle in the state--though that's a tough call by any standard.

Oh, and for prahaboheme, I'd like to point out that I-4 through Polk County is, at least until the construction is finished, worse even than the part in Tampa. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. I don't drive on I-4 at all anymore, not after getting stuck in a traffic jam at one in the morning on a Sunday because of construction somewhere between Haines City and Lakeland. Ugh. Traffic at 1 am?! WTF?

[Brickell]

That's a bit of my dream too. I'd like to have a condo or townhouse here in Miami and a small ranch in the heartland somewhere. A place to escape to on the weekends with a few cows or goats or something. I'm partial to Hardee, De Soto or the Myakka region.

That's the good life.

[95-Souf]

Ok...

Best places in Florida outside Miami to live.... Well,.. when it comes down to Beaches,.. its not Jacksonville......

Maybe Clearwater Beach.....

But its definitly Ft Lauderdale!!

come on,.. what city area did u think I was gonna say,...

[cityboy05]

I do agree Tallahasse is a nice place if you won't a place to raise your kids. It still has that small town charm, but If i were going to retire I would definetely choose Naples, Florida. It's a little piece of paradise. It has palm trees, golf courses, a slow pace of life, and warm weather. YESS!!

[Florida]

My Vote goes to Tallahassee! Move here from Atlanta and always felt like this was the perfect city. Never a day growing up did I not feel safe. Parents always found things for us to do, skating, bowling, swimming, walking, fishing, shopping. Tallahassee offers alot of privacy for a person wanting to live in an urban setting, and the homes here are some of the most beautiful (don't ask a college student, most won't know what Im talking about) If you like the rural thing, thats all around us as well. So here's a vote for the Florida Capital, a city with something for everyone.

[csmurphy8885]

I agree with the tally vote, but as far as always being safe...well, i had my days in school, and walking around alone sometimes can be startling... but there was never a town more crossroaded than tallahassee. I always have enough gas to go to the beach, but i am not a redskinned beach bum. i can go to a number of amusements parks within a fewe hours of my home (which is close enough for me) and there are more hot women in our community per capita than any other city (hehe)...