by Mark Stafford

Created on: January 14, 2007   Last Updated: May 21, 2007

So you want to move to Florida?

I would like to share this with anyone who has never
been to Florida. Everything in this article is from my
experience as a native Floridian, and I am going to try to
clear up some misconceptions.

When most people see a commercial for Florida, they see
the pictures of beautiful beaches, the space shuttle, and the
theme parks (I'm leaving out the names because of the legal

stuff ). What if you take all of that away? Now you have the
real Florida.

Contrary to popular belief, Florida is not just some place
to bring your big giant motor home (while pulling a twenty
foot trailer, while pulling a car); but it's a lot more. I wish to
shed light on the pro's and con's (yes we sure have con's).

Let's start with the pro's. I mentioned beaches. We have
miles of beaches, on both sides and on the bottom. In fact
Key West is only 90 miles from Cuba! As far as beauty; that
of course is in the eye of the beholder. Miami Beach for
instance has fame and fortune often associated with it, and
on the flip side has some of the most overpriced real estate
in the country. Hard to believe this was a tiny town at one
time.

One other thing about the beautiful beaches: In some of
the bigger cities, they are often plagued by litter (sometimes
medical waste and even hypodermic needles),
overcrowding, and depending on what time of year- jellyfish
that sting!

Now let's look at some more fun facts. Florida has more
than a thousand people a DAY moving here. So as you could
imagine, this opens up the door for many fields of
employment. For example: Real estate, construction, trades,
and don't forget travel agencies (BIG MONEY).

Here I am going to share more of my first hand
experience with a seldom heard of part of Florida (at least
not in the t.v. ads). Florida is in the "Deep South," and some
of the true Floridians (sometimes referred to as "Florida
crackers"), are hard working farmers, and another fun fact-
we are home to one of the largest cattle producing states.
Our beef is the pride of many dinner tables.

As far as farming, we have quite a little tobacco growing
sector, along with of course citrus (orange juice by the ton).

In closing, I'll share some con's. Like bugs? We definitely
have you COVERED there! I don't know if scientists will ever
be able to identify all of them (at least in my area).

Like heat? No sweat. (Far from it). I once spent a
Christmas day at 89 degrees! Last but not least:
HURRICANES! I'm not sure, but I think we pretty much have
the record there.

Thanks and welcome to Florida.

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