Grab a cuppa coffee and fuggetabout it for a few minutes….
 

Alright, there’s a lot happening in the world right now and one of the topics that keeps coming up in the news is that there are a lot of New Yorkers moving out and coming to Florida.

I’m not looking to get into the politics of it here but…as someone who moved from New York myself I feel qualified to help answer questions and provide some insight.

That’s right, I was born and raised in Suffolk County on Long Island and made the move to Florida after vacationing here for much of my life. Ok, here they are in no particular order:

Pro #1 - Weather
Yeah, this one is obvious. There’s the heat, the beach and over 260 sunny days per year. For me though it was the winters. I couldn’t believe how my mood changed. Sure the snow is beautiful while it’s falling but the dirty slush, gray skies and leafless trees was depressing. The winters here are in the 50’s and 60’s still sunny and beautiful.

Pro #2 – Used to traffic
From about Oct to April, the traffic here doubles as all you snowbirds from the north plan your escape and fill the roads. What is “ridiculously backed up traffic” here in FL is just another day on the LIE so it’ll still feel like it’s moving at the speed of light.

Pro #3 - Taxes
Aside from the fact that Florida is one of 7 states with a zero percent state income tax, property taxes are not as burdensome as you might be used to. Property taxes for our 4bed/2bed NY home were about $9,000 per year and are much lower in FL.

Alright, there are a few cons to being in Florida too and here they are:

Con#1 - Water
New York City water was great compared to Florida water which has a sulpher like taste in my opinion. Many homeowners like myself here in FL have water softeners to remove the hardness and increase the quality. No matter what any Floridian says, Zepherhills water just doesn’t take good.

Con#2 – Food
There’s no comparison- and I think it has to do with the water. Everyone will try to tell you where the good pizza is but it’s no Emilios in Commack. They get bagels in the frozen section at the grocery store but it doesn’t beat a Strathmore Bagel from Lake Ronkonkoma. No real good Italian bread that I’ve found.

The seafood in Florida is really good and fresh and the restaurants are abundant but there’s no great replacements for New York Italian food.

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