I apologize for posting this off topic, but I wanted some Floridians opinions. My family is thinking of buying a house in Florida. We have narrowed it down to the St. Petersberg and Clearwarter "areas." She will be flying in this Wed-Fri to look at Real Estate. My question is: 1) Are there any other "must see" aread while she is there? 2) Does St. Pete's and Clearwater have a) Good Schools b) Nice warm beaches c) Too much tourism d) Clean air e) Lack of traffic congestion f) Access to culture (symphony, opera, etc.) Finally, are there a reasonable ration of young to old people in these towns? We are late thirties/early forty with a five year old. Regards and sorry again for the off topic, nitro
St Pete and Clearwater are nice, we have relatives in Palm Harbor (North of Clearwater). I would say stay north of Clearwater in the Dunedin, or Palm Harbor area. You are real close to the State Park there and the Beach is real nice. St Pete and Clearwater are Boaters Heaven. If you like beaches or boating that is the place to be. Traffic is horrible where ever you go in florida now - unless you go to the interior areas in the cattle country or up north of Gainsville. Being near water and the ocean is your compensation from traffic.
I apologize for posting this off topic, but I wanted some Floridians opinions. My family is thinking of buying a house in Florida. We have narrowed it down to the St. Petersberg and Clearwarter "areas." She will be flying in this Wed-Fri to look at Real Estate. My question is: 1) Are there any other "must see" aread while she is there? 2) Does St. Pete's and Clearwater have a) Good Schools b) Nice warm beaches c) Too much tourism d) Clean air e) Lack of traffic congestion f) Access to culture (symphony, opera, etc.) Finally, are there a reasonable ration of young to old people in these towns? We are late thirties/early forty with a five year old. Regards and sorry again for the off topic, nitro Florida is a great place to live, especially since we have no state/city income taxes. (I came from NYC where taxes are insane). The one thing people complain about most here is schools. I really do not see where it is much different from the rest of the country (parents are more responsible for how their children are brought up than schools are). Florida is also a HUGE state (from Key West FL to Pensacola FL is about the same distance as Jacksonville FL to NYC). You can find big cities like Miami, Tampa and Orlando, all of these big cities have suburbs with subdivisions etc. and also there is quazi-country living (where I live) 35 miles north of Orlando, but cows are not part of daily traffic and also country country where you may get cut off on the road by a cow or deer occasionally. The air gets bad on hot days in the big cities, but again the further away you get from the cities, the cleaner the air gets. You will not have the same culture as NYC or Philly, but Florida holds its own. As far as kids go, I can imagine it being pretty cool for a kid to get a bike for Christmas and being able to go outside and play with it THAT DAY versus up north waiting several months while cobwebs grow on it to being able to play with it. Home is always where you hang your hat though I say. I am really happy I made the move from NY to here.
Moving right along we have about ten interested parties - I would like to get about 10 more people who indicate some interest - then nail down a date . Agin1415
I trade with a firm (Point Direx) based right in Orlando, though I trade remotely from NY. I will be in Orlando in late January for a few days to beta test there newest version of their trading platform, as well as some general trading education meetings, etc. If you want, we can all meet at the Point Direx office one day and discuss some trading ideas while we have a live market to watch. Just a thought. I have already asked if this would be OK -with the caveat that we did not want to talk with anyone about accounts, as I do not want this to be a sales pitch for them or anything like that. The floor manager said no problem, and offered us the opportunity to talk with one of their better traders for a few minutes if we wanted. There are many restaurants right on their street/building as well. We could do mid/late afternoon then hit a restaurant/bar after the close, or do a lunch during the midday doldrums. Sorry I just saw this thread otherwise I would have posted earlier.