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Palm Beach county, FL versus San Francisco

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BoomerD said:
Maybe you're just too close to the problem...kind of a "Can't see the forest for the trees" kind of issue...😛
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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.
 
drbrock said:
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.
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Great post and completely in line with my experience there. I lived for a time just north of you in Hobe Sound, which for the uninitiated is about midway between Stuart and Jupiter and that's why it's referred to as Stupider. 😀

I don't think I'd want to live in the city of SF but, as I said before, a little south of there in Half Moon Bay would be perfect -- if I could afford it and I can't. :'(


Brian
 
drbrock said:
The other place to stay is Boca Raton

From your avatar it appears you are a doctor or in the medical profession
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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. 😉
 
SagaLore said:
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. 😉
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Did we ever figure out if you are a dude or not?
 
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.
 
EagleKeeper said:
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.
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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. 😱 😛
 
BoomerD said:
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. 😱 😛
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Not at 12K though. No liquid for them to survive/breed.

And the horses aka bison are hardier. :hmm:
 
There are a lot of things to do in Palm Beach County. Most major concerts come through here and some even choose to start off / end here.

A lot of the uber wealthy are moving in now along with celebrities.

Places like Manalapan and Ocean Ridge are where some of the largest residential homes in the country are (Paradisio and Beaux Arts to name two).

Cost of living is low and the wages are relatively high. I love driving back and forth along A1A through Manalapan to Ocean Ridge each day.
 
v0id said:
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.
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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
 
PricklyPete said:
SF all the way. The beaches are the ONLY thing nice about south Florida. People, weather, culture, etc all suck.
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Florida is fairly mono-cultural, so if you like beaches & not much variety, it's great. My vote is for SF - the only thing really lacking is the beaches. More food options in SF :thumbsup:
 
SF itself absolutely sucks to live in. If you have to live in the area, choose somewhere on the peninsula. But bring yourself a crap ton of money.
 
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.
 
baydude said:
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
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Do you work in the tech industry as well, baydude? I'm not sure that SF is quite the right town for Peter Shih. As he found out when he published that bitchy little blog post. And yeah, it's not for everyone!

Parts of the city don't smell great, which I mentioned, but this is mostly confined to the Tenderloin and other very particular sketchy areas (16th/Mission St. BART station). And yes, there are homeless and crazy folks around here and there. I see them every day on my way to and from work. That's life in the big city, though, and most of the time they're not bothering anyone but themselves and their homeless/junkie friends. I live a couple of blocks from the Fillmore projects and I've never had any problems.

Basically, living in SF involves trade offs. SF is not necessarily a great place to try and raise a family, at least on less than $250k/year combined salary. It's expensive, it's noisy, it's got a lot of big city problems. It's also packed with great food, drinks, entertainment, night life, all kinds of interesting people, has great weather, and is the center of one of the most vibrant metro areas in the US.

Never been to Palm Beach County, FL so I can't speak to that. I imagine it's a very different experience which would appeal to folks who value different things than I do at this point in my life.
 
IAteYourMother said:
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.
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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.
 
alkemyst said:
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.
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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.
 
SF has some amazing scenery in and just outside the city, and no need for A/C year round. South Florida's landscape (really all of Florida) is flat and mindnumbingly dull, the weather is like an armpit half the year, and the whole thing might be underwater in 50 years. No contest for me.

<- native Floridian
 
IAteYourMother said:
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.
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average engineer in PB, FL is $84k, in SF, CA is $113k. The average in SF would need to be another 10% higher to match.

There is a reason many that work in SF, don't live in SF or at least without roommates.
 
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