Left Ft Lauderdale 15 years ago - lived there for 10 years.
Have also lived/worked in Southern CA and the Bay area.
So I have seen stupidity of both states.
Now, I live where there is clean air and dive bombers can not fly/survive at this altitude.
Left Ft Lauderdale 15 years ago - lived there for 10 years.Maybe you're just too close to the problem...kind of a "Can't see the forest for the trees" kind of issue...
Depends on how you want to live your life. If you are a homebody then Palm Beach is for you. If you like to get out socially once a week or go to random events San Fran is the place to be. I can not oversell the fact that Palm Beach County has nothing going on. I am the last of all my college friends who moved to south florida to actually stay here.
Economy is VERY poor. Housing is coming back strong but jobs have not returned. I am a CPA so I was somewhat immune to the recession. I live in arguably the nicest area in Palm Beach County (Jupiter) Not bragging, I am middle class. The other place to stay is Boca Raton but there are just too many old people for me. You can not pay enough money to live south of West Palm Beach.
Humidity is a factor anywhere you go in Palm Beach County. The beach does make it nicer but it is still crazy hot here during the summer. The area basically dies during the summer because a large percentage of the population only lives here during the winter.
People in South Florida are the absolute worst. Think of Jersey shore south lol. Or you are dealing with the extreme old. The education rate is VERY poor here so keep that in mind with forming social circles and raising children here.
Politically I am sure we are less liberal than San Fran however Palm Beach County is heavily liberal. You basically have to hit north of I-4 for you to really get any right wing culture.
If I were single, young(under 35) and a solid education it would be a no brainer to move to San Fran. Economy and Culture are far superior there. From your avatar it appears you are a doctor or in the medical profession. So money should not really be an issue for you. San Fran all day everyday.
If you are over 45 and have older children I might consider Northern Palm Beach County just because of your age range.
Keep in mind. Cost of living here is high when you factor income. I am planning on moving to DC this summer and my salary will nearly double but my cost of living will only go up around 10%. Insurance and housing are really high right now for various reasons.
While I am sure San Fran cost of living is higher than Palm Beach I think you may be surprised on how little of a difference it is. When you start getting into Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando that is true low cost of living.
You're picking a county and comparing it to the city? Might be better to compare to the Bay Area.
The other place to stay is Boca Raton
From your avatar it appears you are a doctor or in the medical profession
I'm in Boca now. I like it. Nah that avatar is from the old Fusetalk board, I used it because it was the least used avatar out of the limited set we could choose from for such a huge community.
Given that his wife is a member and he has a child, I expect so.Did we ever figure out if you are a dude or not?
Left Ft Lauderdale 15 years ago - lived there for 10 years.
Have also lived/worked in Southern CA and the Bay area.
So I have seen stupidity of both states.
Now, I live where there is clean air and dive bombers can not fly/survive at this altitude.
I dunno about that last part...we lived in western Wyoming...where the mosquitoes were big as hummingbirds...and they could kill a horse overnight.
Given that his wife is a member and he has a child, I expect so.
Some perspective from a current SF resident:
I like SF a lot. That said, it's got some problems. It's a generally pretty good fit for me as a white-collar, socially liberal thirty year-old guy who enjoys stuff like going to rock shows, playing in a competitive adult skeeball league, and drinking more than is probably healthy. I actually enjoy the urban environment and the possibility of getting around relatively easily on public transit. I don't own a car right now, and either walk, take the bus, or our the local commuter rail BART, which I do every day since I work across the SF Bay in Oakland.
As others have suggested, if you and enjoy and are in a position to go out and partake in the local culture, there is certainly plenty of it here. You could do one of many different things every night of the week and still miss a lot. If you prefer to stay home it's probably not worth putting up with the noise, occasional smell, and housing cost. Right now that last one is the biggest problem for a lot of folks. You'll be looking at no less than $2,500/month for a one bedroom apartment in a decent area, and probably more than that. I pay $1,140/month to share a pretty nice Edwardian flat near Alamo Square with three other people. I would not advise trying to buy a home in SF proper. If you want to do that, you'll have to head well into the East Bay to find something you can reasonably afford. In the general the weather is great here, although it's a bit cool in the summer. We're having one of our first "very cold" winter days today and I think its 53 degrees out right now.
The SF Bay Area has a lot going on in general and I think it's a nice place to live. A lot of other people evidently do as well, or it wouldn't be so f*cking expensive to live here.
SF all the way. The beaches are the ONLY thing nice about south Florida. People, weather, culture, etc all suck.
I too live in SF and you forgot to emphasize all the crackheads, homeless, Shit and urine smell, and crazies sent from other states.
OP should read this to get a better perspective.
Link
I love SF. Great food and events and I love the weather. It's expensive, but I'd have to assume that you'd at least get paid a lot more in SF.
You'd have too. $100k in Palm Beach is equvalent to $147k in SF.
I can bet a $100k salary is a lot easier to find in either place than a $150k one.
Did we ever figure out if you are a dude or not?
Given that his wife is a member and he has a child, I expect so.
Depends, there's a lot of money is SF that probably isn't in Palm Beach. If you're coming staright out of college with good engineering skills, you should be able to find a 6 figure salary pretty "easily" in tech.