Ottakee Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 This is another dh has a job interview threads. He goes to Kansas next week and today Florida called and wanted him there next week too. What is life like in West Palm Beach FL? I know hot, but is it an expensive area to live? Could dh get a small apartment in a SAFE area for a reasonable rate? This job is actually farther away than the one in Kansas but flights back and forth are a lot cheaper and faster which might play into our decision as well. We are still praying for the job 1 1/2 hours away to open up (dh is an automotive instructor for highschool/college) so that we can stay local. How is homeschooling in Florida? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I love it here....if you want to PM me...let me know what area you are interested in. Where will your dh be working? I would live somewhere close to work...as traffic here is pretty bad during rush hour on I-95 and the Turnpike! You could probably get a decent apt for about $1000 a month. Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Homeschooling in Florida is easy. You either register with the county by sending in a form with the birth dates and names of the children being homeschooled or you join a private school. If you are with the county, you must keep a portfolio for two years and you have to test with a certified teacher or have a cetified teacher approve your portfolio. Then you send the results in. I did that last year. This year, I changed to a private school which simply requires me to keep a calendar of school days. The temperatures in West Palm Beach are lower in the summer than in Kansas. There is no winter here. There is dry season, wet season. The utilities are expensive here but if you are in apartment, I am sure they would be cheaper than for us. One big savings you get here is in clothing. You just don't need to buy anything more than a light jacket or a light sweater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 is....the trees/grass are always green! For homeschooling I joined Alternative Education Institute...which is really no more than turning in your attendance ONCE a year, LOL! Can you tell I love it here!!!! Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 A lot will depend on the offers (if any) he gets from each place. I am betting that having horses in this area of FL would be very expensive. I have a horse and my girls share one. Then again, this might be just a 1 year thing for dh where he would live there, I would stay in Michigan and we would go back and forth to see each other. That is where the flights are so much cheaper to FL than to KS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 How big is your yard there? I live on 1 1/4 acre here....and lots of horses are out here. I think my across the street neighbors have 3 horses.... I never thought 1 1/4 acre was big enough for horses....but I guess there are plenty of people who do, LOL! Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Expensive. Mosquito infested. Hot and humid. Let me put it this way. The insurance and property tax on my parents 50 year old house is over $300 a month so before you have paid electrical bills for running the a/c or bought food for your family you pay $300 just for the privelege to live there. That being said. I like going to the beach first thing in AM or late evening. I loved riding my bike along the intercoastal, strolling down worth avenue, the downtown area was redone and is really nice, they have a good library system, zoo, science center and lion country safari. I loved canoeing, visiting the everglades preserve areas and they have some great resteraunts. Depending where dh will be working I think the North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington are the nicer areas to live. The southern areas Lake Worth, Lantana, W. Palm Beach is a bit older and cluttered imo. I think it has become better as they were forced to redo alot since the hurricanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 The humidity makes it seem hotter than it really is. I used to bring two 1/2 gallons of water when we went to the park for a couple of hours - one to drink and one to dump over the kids' heads to cool them down. There are no seasons. You can't play outside because of the mosquitos and fire ants. You can't go to the beach because of the tar and the jellyfish. The traffic is horrible, accidents plentiful. It's like living in a nonstop parking lot. One anecdote I like to share - NH has 1.3 million people living in approximately 9,000 sq mi of forest and field. Where we lived in South Florida has the same number of people, crammed into a 20 mile stretch of pavement between the Everglades and the Atlantic. There are some really nice community parks. There are great museums & theater. There are wonderful and *huge* homeschool groups & tons of great activities to sign up for. The pay might be better, but the cost of living is higher too. Unless he lives in a cheap studio apartment, you might not realize an actual increase in your income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 WOW--here, even in the country we must have 2 acres for 1 horse and 3+ acres for 3 horses. My friend has 6 acres and keeps my 2 horses and her 3 horses and a donkey and that is plenty of critters for her space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 OK, that about seals the deal for us--NO WAY. We live 10 miles from Lake Michigan with its sugar sand beaches. Taxes are less than 1/2 that here. We have great museums, a zoo, wonderful medical care, etc. all within 30-45 minutes. Our biggest traffic jam around here is when you get stuck behind a hay wagon or blueberry picker driving down the road. Not worth the extra pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Remember though, we have no state income tax either. That means more falls on the property taxes to cover it. South FL is more expensive than where i up (North of Orlando), personally, i'm not a SFL kinda gal i've decided. Give me my "rural" area up here. I can't have a horse any longer though - our property did have horses at one time, but the town annexed it so no more horses (I just have 1.25 acre). Apparently ALL the neighbors here had them at some point. But i love living here - couldn't go back to CA (never mind i couldn't really AFFORD to, i don't want to!). I hope you can find something to keep you in MI, i've heard overall you guys are hurting up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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