LOL Robo!

I'm guessing those views of FL homes go way up in the winter months.

Too funny, Robo!

One of my colleagues in our San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area office share that they commute 1 1/2 hours each ways to work (only 20 miles). Another said their co-workers travel 2 to 2.5 hours. But with telecommuting permitted, more and more are just working remote from another area of the state and driving to the office for special meetings.

Interesting. We may be some of the few looking inbound at SFO/Silicon Valley area, but have been scared off by the prices. Makes DC downright cheap.

I hear that Nashville is climbing as a destination for Chicagoans and suburbanites. Is there a way to check that on their report?

I was just talking to our financial guy a few minutes ago who lives and works in the city. He said he gets up at 5 a.m. and, exactly as mentioned above, traffic reports at that early hour report 1.5 hr. commutes to drive 20 miles. He said houses in the Sunset district now go for well over a million (1500-2000 sq. ft-ish). Just a couple of many reasons this 3rd generation SFO native is SO glad to no longer live in CA.

That comment makes me incredibly sad, whatsayyou18, and I am just a transplant into the Bay Area. Managing growth is tough and the Proposition 13 property tax nonsense makes a bad situation much worse. Where I live residents complain constantly about there being too many jobs in our city (we have 60,000 residents at night and 150,000 during the day). I cannot fathom the strange world I live in when I read that people are upset there are good jobs in their town and they want employers to ship workers elsewhere.

And to veer back to the topic, Zillow says housing prices have gone up 26 percent San Jose since last year.

Wow, it only takes me 40-45 minutes to go 20 miles to and from work in Orlando. (And 17 miles of it is on highways.) Though I have to say, Orlando traffic is horrible and getting worse every day. I plan 30 minutes travel time to go to close destinations, and if I have to go across town I plan on an hour. So keep that in mind when you're browsing real estate in the Orlando area.

Donna

Where I live (Maine), a long commute to work means you chose to live a long way from work. Period. When I lived 20 miles away, it took me 30-35 minutes unless it was snowing...so there's that aspect of living here vs CA.

msmeow, my parents spent a few days in the Orlando area a few weeks ago and said the traffic was terrible. Dad used to work in NYC, so he knows what bad traffic looks like!

So true, Chispa!

I think that people buying homes in Florida don't believe in climate change. Unless you only expect to stay for the short term (say, under 10 years), I think that housing prices will start to suffer as people realize the impacts that sea level rise has on storm surge.

I live in Oakland, and I can believe that our out-of-control real estate price increases have turned away potential residents. It seems like the city is now building residential multifamily near downtown like crazy (I can see 6 buildings going up from my office), but it will take a while to complete, and it's still probably a drop in the bucket compared to what Oakland needs to stabilize prices.

I'm only 2.1 miles from work, and it still takes me at least 10 minutes of driving and another 10 minutes of walking.

Hi, cawaps! I am in Winter Garden! (The real WG, just north of downtown. Not down by Windermere and Disney that for some reason is part of WG.)

Donna

Ms meow...are Winter Garden and Winter Park close to each other? My 15 year old has already determined she is going to college somewhere WARM and found Rollins College, which looks absolutely lovely. Is it crazy far from WDW? We travel to WDW at least once a year for cheer & she wants to visit Rollins when we go next year. I hear you on the traffic..,driving from the Omni at Championsgate to ESPN WWOS was absolutely ridiculous. We usually just Uber when we are there, but if it is far to Rollins I might rent a car next year.

Sorry so OT!! :)

Nini, I go to handbell practice in Winter Park, not far from Rollins. It’s 22 miles and it takes me at least an hour to get to a 6:45 pm rehearsal. The return trip at 9:30pm only takes about 40 minutes.

WDW is south of Winter Garden. With the 429 toll highway we can be there in about 20 minutes. From Rollins, though, with I4 all torn up, I would guess at least an hour to Disney, maybe longer.

Donna

I agree, cawaps, about climate change and increasingly hotter temperatures.

Thank you, Donna! It’s crazy that something that appears so close on a map could take so long! Looks like I’ll be renting a car, lol!

BP, You probably have to buy the report; this was an article talking about the report that just happened to mention a few areas.

Nini, I think Jojoco's son went to Rollins, FYI.

So far Winter Park is our favorite place in FL. The house we liked best just sold. We still aren't sure what we are doing, but in any event we would not move for at least 3 yrs so while it is good to do research it is a little early to buy. There are a few things we would change here, but most of it I like just as it is.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/884-Audubon-Ln_Winter-Park_FL_32789_M56722-78465#photo1

Our second choice in Naples we did not like as much (though it is lovely, esp the finishes) and it costs twice as much. It is about 9 blocks to the beach and 5 blocks to downtown. There is a whole block of homes like these, gorgeous IMHO, but they face the sides of 2 apartment buildings. Naples did not really send me.

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/fl/naples/912-9th-ave-s/pid_21470908/

BP you can find the report online Here

Chicago residents are in the lowest inbound/outbound section, but when they look to move it’s to Arizona and St. Louis.

That Naples house--I wonder how many days it took them to catch everything that got in during the photo shoot.

WDYM Writers? I didn't really look at those photos because we saw it first in person, whatever did you find, LOL?

Oh, I didn't see anything in the photos, but I don't have to. I've lived in FL most of my life and I know what happens when you leave all those doors wide open with no screens.

WB, please give us examples of what you mean :-) Insects? Frogs? Lizards?

All of the above, Rita. I guess you can leave doors open in CA; at least magazine shoots indicate that you can, but FL teems with all sorts of critters that are curious about your house. They get in anyway, to some extent, but if you actually open everything up and practically invite them in....

Most people in FL have quite a little ecosystem going on, although, except for the Madagascar hissing cockroach, most critters do try to keep out of sight.

Currently I know I have two anoles in here that I haven't been able to catch and relocate, and they wouldn't hang around if there weren't something for them to eat. And I don't ever leave a door open or a window unscreened. And of course, I've never quite recovered from the rattlesnake that lived in my sofa for a while.

I cannot imagine finding a rattlesnake hidden in my house! PTSD for me for sure.

And yes, we can keep doors and windows open without too much concern for having uninvited guests in the Bay Area. At the risk of being too much of a show off, I once had a hummingbird in my entryway ;-)

No mosquitoes will be the only thing I will miss when we move out of So. CA. We do have screens on our windows, but not on our french doors. You do get a fly in the house once in a while and there is always the chance of a lizard or rat finding its way in, but not so much now with a big dog who loves hunting critters.

I think a screened cage covering your lanai/porch is a necessity in FL.

I have a friend who winters in Naples. She has a very large lanai over her pool connected to her home. Even so, she says if she leaves her doors open, she often finds ... egads ... snakes.

Chispa, you really mean a rat, not a mouse?

We just found a hummingbird in our indoor pool/greenhouse. Poor thing was confused I think.

WB, I had not idea what you meant! I though you meant like someone left their bra on a doorknob, lol.

Yes, rats. Many rats. We had them in GA too. They crawl up trees, jump to the roof and gnaw through the soffit to get in the attic. They don't need a very big hole. They are disgusting and no house is immune.

Roof rats

I miss many things about the South but not the bugs and critters. We have a few snakes in Denver and that is about it. We can hang out in the evening in the summer with our slider wide open with no screen. (The dog is stupid and will walk through the screen so we don't use it.) No mosquitoes.

Nini, I graduated from Rollins in 1985, so my experience may not be relevant to what it is like today, but I loved it there. Campus is beautiful, and the small size of the school was a huge plus for me. I am hoping to take my sons to visit there in June, just to show it off to them.

Mtn, yes rats! In CA we have roof/tree rats. They are bigger than a mouse, but smaller than the Norway rats you find in NYC. They are agile little buggers and love all the food provided by the fruit trees found all over So. CA. No winters to slow them down or kill them off.

We haven't found one in the house, but did have one go in the garage before we got new doors. We have quarterly pest service with several traps around the yard. The big dog is doing a great job of keeping them away.

Nini, a friend's son got his masters at Rollins not too long ago and they were very happy with the program.

Oh yes rats are around my city too. I don't worry about their getting into the house- maybe I should. Their population has exploded thanks to curbside compost pickup.

And then there are the mountain lions that have come to town ...

Rollins is a beautiful school in a beautiful location, and it is consistently on lists of the best colleges in America. They also have a non profit and philanthropy program that offers classes and resources for staff of churches and other non profits.

Donna

Hatethecold, Chispa, and Donna...thank you so much for the Rollins info! Dd is only a rising sophomore so we have a little over a year until we begin the process in earnest (we just finished with ds who is graduating HS Thursday! sniff-sniff!!) but the more I look at Rollins, the more I like it. :) Perfect size for her, and academics look excellent. And the campus is just so lovely, which as a person who loves beautiful architecture and landscaping...is a huge thing! :)