ISTM #48: Why the Hell We Moved to Florida

It has been just over a year since Paula and I left California and moved to Florida.

We still miss the West Coast, and while we are making some wonderful new friends, we still miss the many people we left behind, some of whom we have known for decades.  Zoom helps, but there still is nothing like a face-to-face connection.

It is rare that anyone asks us why we left California. Almost everyone knows about the spiraling cost of living. But more often than not, we are asked why, in Hell’s name, we chose Florida, of all places.

Our West Coast friends talk about hurricanes, alligators, crazy people legally carrying guns, a rising violent crime rate, a shameful education system, and perhaps worst of all, a Neanderthal governor who rivals even Donald Trump for malevolence in leadership.

Yep, it's all mostly true, except alligators present a scant threat. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there have been only 25 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948. By contrast, according to the National Lightning Safety Council, there have been 248 lightning fatalities here just since 1975.

Mostly, our California friends worry that we may be too vocal in our political views, which were regarded as moderate in most parts of California but less so in most parts of Florida—where we don’t live. Some worry that we may be visited some night by strangers carrying torches and wearing pillowcases.

It's not like that around the Tampa Bay area where we live.

No choice

There was really no choice about leaving California: It’s economy decided it for us. The cost of living kept rising, but our income did not.  We spent two years researching options of where to go, and we decided to find places that appealed to us.

We wanted proximity to large bodies of water, good weather, and safe, friendly neighborhoods. I also wanted to find a viable tech startup community, and Paula wanted to volunteer for a  nonprofit agency helping families. Affordability was, of course, a very high priority.

Every time we made lists of possibilities, Florida was a clear finalist, but we gritted our teeth when we considered Attila the Governor. That left us stuck in California for several months as the politics of Florida got uglier, and our costs of living continued to rise.

I decided to put the word out on social media that we were looking.  Chris Kieff, a former Silicon Valley executive and a Facebook friend, invited us to be his house guests. He and his wife Joanne live in a remarkable home on a picturesque bayou near  St. Petersburg (St. Pete).

A good choice

So, in February 2021, we flew out to Tampa Bay for a visit. Along with our baggage, we carried doubts related to politics, tolerance, and nonprofit causes.

It was late at night when we arrived. As we drove over a bridge connecting Tampa to St. Pete, the first freeway exit in St. Petersburg was Martin Luther King Blvd. We considered it an encouraging sign.  We spent the week poking around the area, looking at housing, beaches and restaurants.

We could not help but notice that we often saw blacks and whites interacting in friendly ways, getting along just fine.

 We learned that the city, which had an embarrassing history of racial discrimination, has been changing for many years. It recently elected its first black mayor. Two of its last four mayors were women, and one of them is the former police chief.  This year, 300,000 supporters attended the local Gay Pride parade.

In the year since we moved here, we have not witnessed or heard of a single incident of racism or anti-gay behavior. I see more black people living in my Florida neighborhood than I ever saw living for over 30 years in Silicon Valley, We see integrated couples here and there, and no one seems to pay it any attention.

I am sure that if I try really hard, I could find bigotry because I know it lurks everywhere. I saw a lot more of it in California than here, but I lived in California for a great many more years.

I have met a good many people over the last year and have found it easy to make new friends with people who share many of our views on political and social issues. In fact, I have not encountered a single example of bigotry anywhere except with the Governor’s State Board of Education.

Nascent Tech
There is an active tech community in Tampa Bay which I find nascent compared to Silicon Valley, but then, so is every other tech community on Earth. If I am deprived of anything in St. Pete, it is the tech culture that has been so much a part of how I identify. I am grateful that the Internet exists so that I can keep connected with people who share my passion for new digital innovations.

Restaurants are friendly, the food is above average. In fact, we have never had a bad meal, and as often as not, there’s a breathtaking view, for watching the sunset over the blue-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, it is hard to travel very far in any direction without crossing bridges and enjoying spectacular marine views.  St. Pete is part of a peninsula giving it an island feel as you move around on it: There is water wherever you look, often dotted with exotic tropical birds, dolphins, and exotic sailing yachts.

We have been surprised by the quality of area points of interest. We’ve enjoyed close physical contact with rescued manatees at the Homosassa Wildlife State Park, have been almost close enough to touch dolphins at the Clearwater Aquarium, and I have seen a 12-foot alligator in Green Swamp—gratefully, without getting close enough to touch.

We have enjoyed near-Broadway quality plays and concerts. We have visited two of the city’s four world-class museums,  the DALI and the Imaginarium[MOU1] , and are planning to visit the top-rated Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday, when it is free.

While we will probably always miss California, we feel grateful that we chose wisely.

We can go swimming any day of the year, and most importantly, we can afford it here. When we vote, we may be on the losing side, as was the case last November when DeSantis won the race for governor against the former Republican governor who ran against him as the Democratic candidate. We were tempted to vote for our dog Jesse, but he isn’t old enough to qualify.

It seems to me that the best way to change politics here is not to warn everyone to stay away but to come here and help the 3.1 million of us who voted against DeSantis and his mean-spirited cronies.

Together, maybe we can throw the Neanderthals out and give kids the education they deserve.

Why Write This?

I know, I know. I’m starting to sound like a Chamber of Commerce curator. While I usually write about tech business, I call this newsletter ItSeemstoMe so I can write whatever seems to me to be useful, interesting, or humorous.

This edition serves a second purpose. I’m sure that sometime soon, someone I know is going to ask me once again why the Hell I moved to Florida, and now I can send them this ISTM in response to save me some time.

Perhaps I might even pick up a new subscriber.

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 [MOU1]Speling?