OT: Moving to FL

Hello. My husband has been offered a job as a sales rep for a company covering the Northern Florida/Georgia area. Now comes the hard part. Finding where in that area we want to live. Right now we are looking at the Northern FL area. Can anyone recommend a good town in that area? My girls are 12 and 10 so school system is very important. Thanks for any help or recommendations. Shelly E. 317/175

Well, you are going to love it here. Do you want a big city? Or are you the small town type? Are you looking to be close to the water or does a little drive not bother you? There is a wide span of places in North Florida from the panhandle all the way across. Let us know your taste and I am sure most of us Floridians can give you an opinion. Carol

Well, I've never been a big town type of girl. But, I don't want too small either. I grew up in a town of about 2700 and my husband grew up in a town of about 10,000. This is going to be our 8th move in 17 years of marriage. It gets harder and harder with each move. In Alabama we lived in a town of about 15,000 and I loved that size. Not too big, not too small. My girls don't want to live too close to the water because they are terrified of the hurricanes. We've been having long discussions about that. His territory starts from the time change line (I think around Tallahassee maybe) on over and down to Orlando. Any advise or opinions are welcome. The sales rep that my husband is taking the place of lives in Ocala, FL. I'm not sure we can afford to live there though. I'm hoping to stay home for a while to make sure my girls are going to handle this move okay then I might possibly look for a part time job. Anyway, thanks for replying. Shelly

Ocala is in the heart of Marion County and it's the lowest paying county in Florida, so it's also got the lowest cost of living around as well. I find it very affordable to live in Ocala and it's the fastest growing city around as well. It increases in population by about 14% a year which is a lot. Ocala is lovely and it's horse country. I do wish the shopping was better, but Orlando, Gainesville and even Tampa isn't THAT far away!!! Jan

Hello Shelly, with education being a high priority, go to myflorida.com and check out the schools, that will give you a better idea where to start. If you need help finding out what county is where, check out floridacoutiesmap.com and you can go from there. There are all kinds of ways to find homes, rentals and purchases but if you're looking for something temporary until you're sure about where you want to go, check out apartmentfinder.com there you can find a place to stay in the school district you want while you shop around for a house or home. I've been married over seven years now and moved 12 times from home to home, state to state and from county to county. We are now looking to move again and we'll be neighbors (kinda), we're looking at the pensacola/milton area. Good luck and let me know if there is anything more I can do. Anna

Hi Shelly, I live in a small town called Macclenny and work in Jacksonville. Macclenny has very good schools and is 45 min from the airport. It is located on I-10 between Jacksonville and Lake City. As far as hurricanes go, the Jacksonville area was one areas that did not have a direct hit on the last hurricanes that came to Florida. Macclenny is about 70 miles inland from the beach So. should you would to go to the beach, it can be done but you do not have the threat of the storms. Should you decide you might be interested, please email me and I will get you more info. Welcome to Florida.