The difference among the various keys is like the differences among different countries as you travel. Por Favor - Key Largo is nearly 100% tourism and diving. It's at the top of the keys. That's where Flipper was filmed (if you've ever seen this program on Nickelodeon). Great place for an aquatic interactive family vacation. Lots of group dive boats/ diving instruction/ etc. Close to Miami International Airport. Been through town >100 times and probably stopped 5 times never longer then an hour or so. Islamorada has awesome fishing infrastructure. Top rate marinas and condos for die-hard fishing people in islamorada and they can accomodate any size fishing boat you have. Holiday Isle is a pretty cool place in islamorada. I've been there maybe a dozen times but never lived there. Key Vaca (marathon) has great services. It's about in the middle of the keys (mile marker 50). It has two distinct classes of people. First there is a class like a bunch of hillbillies who don't use (and maybe are not capable of using) clocks. I lived there full time for about 6 months circa 1992 and met plenty of these fun folks; it really was fun and I'm not putting these people down. But regardless you have to stop at Porky's whether by boat or car for a meal. The other class of people are snowbirds (winter residents) and middle/ upper class people who buy a second home there; owning the waterfront homes. Behind the airport is pertty cool and also convenient if you're one to fly in and out regularly; it's gulf side. I had a gulf front second home there for about 5 years in the mid 90's and enjoyed it quite a bit but never stayed for more then about 2 weeks at a time. Just too busy in my life at the time. Only minutes from the 7 mile bridge. Fishing is fair. Lobstering is incredible. Great tarpon fishing a couple times per year at the 7 mile bridge. Watch out for the hammerheads eating your catch though as is common in passes. "Big Moe" is a 24' hammerhead who has quite a reputation down there. Each pass has a local big hammerhead who rears his head during tarpon runs. Diving on Sombrero reef can be nice on a flat sunny day but the wind there is often not accomodating. Been there 100+ times. Big Pine Key is pretty laid back if you want serinity in the keys. Enough there to enjoy the good life without the bustle of much activity. Wildlife (key deer) etc. I've drivin through and stopped there but never lived/ stayed there. Met some locals who seem very content to be there. Key West is very unique. Very heavy in tourism and in culture/ character. Very big gay community there. Plenty of marinas, fishing, a Naval Air Station and LOTS of bars. Great place to visit for the superbowl, etc and get very drunk, but not so sure I could enjoy living there. Been there maybe 20 times mostly to take friends who want to see what it's like. Can't speak for bandwidth anywhere in the keys; never traded from there. Water there is an issue. There's only one pipe coming down US1 and when it's broken or undergoing matinenance, the water goes off. It costs more then power. Can only imagine same for fibre optic line and to this day I don't know if Key West is hooked up or not. If Key West is, the rest of the keys are. Another issue is that "single line" whereas fiber optic is looped pretty much everywhere such that when a problem occurs, the traffic is rerouted. I would imagine outtages could be extended down there, and the farther you go, the greater the chance of a problem just like with the water. In Costa Rica a branch falls on a power line 50 miles away and power is out for 15 hours or more. Be careful how remote you get if you want to depend on a single line of anything. With trading I would imagine you could do a cellular wireless broadband connection. Sprint has the best system down here as they have had for what seems like 10 years now (probably been 8 or so). It's "almost as fast as dsl" is how we locals describe it. Makes a fine storm backup but would not want to depend on it for everyday data. Depending on your budget and desires, I recommend Boca Raton/ Deerfield Beach. I kept my 28' center console there for 5 years fishing out of Boca Inlet. Right in the inlet is free live bait (goggle eyes/ threadfin herring) caught on sabiki rigs as fast as you can load them into the livewell. Sailfish & Wahoo plentiful 1 mile out of the inlet and Blue Marlin 5 miles out of the inlet. Dolphin (Mahi) all inbetween. I will take to my grave my remembrence of that huge blue marlin in that purple water leaping higher then the boat. Best fishing on the planet I know of and I have been around and put in more time than most fishing the Atlantic in ME, Nantucket, Ocean City MD, Cape Hattaras, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, all through the Keys, 10,000 Islands, Naples/ Marco, Sanibel Captiva, Boca Grande, Sarasota, Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, Carribbean Coast of Costa Rica and numerous other places which slip my mind at the present. I mainly fish big game/ salt water but have fished for little fishes at times. Boca Raton is higher rent and Deerfield Beach is nice yet much cheaper then Boca Raton. I can't speak from experience but it HAS to have great fiber optic there. Boca Raton is a major financial center. Rent before you buy so you can see what the place is like. It's a buyer's market for boats right now. Spend $175k on a nice $300k house and another $75k for a $150k boat. There's a great dry dock inside of Boca Inlet at the US1 Bridge in Deerfield Beach. Cross that bridge and you're in Boca Raton. Whatever you do, have fun! Best weather on the planet 360 days per year.
You see many windsurfers/kitesurfers down there? The wind is what I would go for. So you think you have good weather there? You must like hot and sticky. Here in San Diego, near the coast, its 72 to 76 EVERY day this time of year, very low humidity. The low is in the upper 60's. To me, that is perfect. Only place I've seen anywhere in the world that beats it is upcountry Maui, at about 2000 feet elevation. Towns of Pukalani or Makawao. Highs are in the mid to upper 70's every day year round. The occasional mongo storm is the only that changes this. Both these towns are cool, and about 15 mins to the airport or N Shore beaches as they are right off the Haleakala Hwy. Good broadband, but terrible trading hours!
Plenty of wind, yes. Moreso in the winter throughout the state. Summer mornings before storms can be flat (great time to get offshore fishing). Storms come early in the day on the east coast and later in the afternoon on the west coast. In the keys they're pretty much at random. Windsurfing is done on the flats (shallow water/ smaller waves/) throughout the state. There are plenty of flats in the keys. I lived 25 years 1,300 miles north of here and the highest temp was 105-108 with 100% humidity. Like a falling stock can't go past $0, humidity can't go past 100%. I have never seen above about 95-96 degrees in coastal Florida anywhere (inland can get warmer). About two days per summer I will say to myself "Gee, it's hot today." Once so far this year I have said that. This past winter and spring was incredible. Very low humidity with cool breezes. I spent 2.5 months on the beach drinking with 20 something very drunk promiscuous college girls. Rain season is June - August and it we get what's like a Cat 3 hurricane that lasts about 20 minutes average; that's why anything less then a Cat3 and we just get drunk. Anything over that and we pick up loose objects, board up buildings, stock up on cash, ammo & booze, fill the gas tank. Only time I lost power from a storm was Charley (2004) whose eye was 10 miles away; plenty of damage but home survived. The keys are more moderate temperature because they are islands in water; lower summer temps and warmer winter temps. Lowest temp I ever saw was around 40 on the mainland and around 55 in the keys.
I think you are acclimated to humidity. If I can even feel the humidity I sweat like a pig non stop. Doesn't even have to be that hot. 80 degrees with 80% humidity would kill me. Now, I do like the drinking with college girls part! My town is filled with college girls also, but I am twice their age and they will have nothing to do with me. Still like looking however!
Boca is the place I have been researching to buy a condo right after the first of the year....I want it to be a decent area since I have kids. I do like the pricing I am seeing for condo's versus what I was seeing in the past, so I think it will be a good time to pull the trigger in 2009 from a value standpoint.
I have an in with the director of entertainment of the biggest spring break resort here. I volunteer as sprayer for the booty shakin contest. I'm twice their age and single with no schedule. There's lots of mutual lust. Flo-Rida!!!
Something to look out for on condos down here- If there are high vacancy rates, there could be special asessments to make up for lost revenue in the condo association. It's happening. Short sales are a plenty, but take more time to close. I know people on both sides of short sales and the mortgage companies seem to drag their feet forever. I know of some > 9 months trying to close. Many people give up on them but some do go through.
I suggest you spend some time in Boca before buying there. It's like another world there. I have some friends down here who bought places in Boca and moved out soon after. The whole town is full of "uppity/arrogant" people. I couldnt imagine sending my kids to a school in Boca. Picture stuck up/snob-like people from NYC...then multiply that by 100. There are plenty of surrounding areas which are just as nice and you wont deal with the Boca attitude.
If you care at all about your children's education you will not send them to a FL public school. I looked into it and have talked to teachers who have worked in FL as well as other states as a comparison. If you live in FL the taxes are very cheap, low property tax, low sales tax, and no state income tax. That means there is less than is necessary to run a quality public education program.
SoCal's lack of humidity is a real plus but during the winter when the California coast is 59 degrees and foggy SoFla is 78 and sunny. As previous guys have mentioned Florida is only over the top humid for about 4 months and if you're near the coast (within blocks not miles, lol) then summer in SoFla is really no diff than summer in NYC.