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We want to move to Sarasota

We want to move to Sarasota

Old Dec 3rd 2019, 7:27 pm
  #31  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

If your business needs good connections, Atlanta would be a good choice and South of the Metro area you start to get some low relative wages which would probably help the business side. As an example, Kia have a factory about 70 miles South of Atlanta and pretty much employ the entire Town. I have no idea if that would help at all, but the smaller Southern towns from Atlanta seem to have been involved in older industries as well. As you move to Atlanta you hit the airline industry and then banking/tech once at the City and North.

Florida remains drive-able and the weather is a good match for 10 out of 12 months in the year.
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Old Dec 3rd 2019, 7:30 pm
  #32  
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Default Re: Visa help and recommendations for an Immigration Lawyer

Originally Posted by neill
Atlanta and Nashville are well connected, have reasonably decent winter weather and haven't reached the ridiculousness of the west coast CoL, plus their time zones are closer to UK (-5 and -6). Orlando is obviously a winner on that front too.
I can't understand, personally, why people would consider east vs west coast based on timezones or proximity to Europe. I've had to fly back and forth 8 times this past 2 years (SFO-UK) and it's only an extra 5 hours or so on a plane. Making a lifestyle choice based on a 5 hour travel difference seems silly. Whether you consider the West Coast to be better or worse is a matter of personal choice, but I would make the decision based on more than just the time difference!
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Old Dec 3rd 2019, 7:37 pm
  #33  
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Default Re: Visa help and recommendations for an Immigration Lawyer

Originally Posted by Steerpike
I can't understand, personally, why people would consider east vs west coast based on timezones or proximity to Europe. I've had to fly back and forth 8 times this past 2 years (SFO-UK) and it's only an extra 5 hours or so on a plane. Making a lifestyle choice based on a 5 hour travel difference seems silly. Whether you consider the West Coast to be better or worse is a matter of personal choice, but I would make the decision based on more than just the time difference!
Probably more to do with crossover of working hours between East Coast and UK than the time difference within the USA itself. My employer has presence in Central and Mountain time, and by the latter it does start to impact the ability to maintain conversations with UK based staff. Not impossible by any stretch, but as the business would be UK based still, it may make life a little easier being in Eastern.
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Old Dec 3rd 2019, 10:45 pm
  #34  
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Default Re: Visa help and recommendations for an Immigration Lawyer

Originally Posted by robtuck
Probably more to do with crossover of working hours between East Coast and UK than the time difference within the USA itself. My employer has presence in Central and Mountain time, and by the latter it does start to impact the ability to maintain conversations with UK based staff. Not impossible by any stretch, but as the business would be UK based still, it may make life a little easier being in Eastern.
Yeah, fair enough! But if you are a 'morning person' (which I'm not ), you can get up early on the west coast and have some decent overlap with the UK. Where the west coast really shines is if and when you need to expand to Asia. In the 90s I was responsible for setting up worldwide customer service, 24/7 coverage, and we had offices in London, SF, and Melbourne, which gave us fairly decent coverage across timezones (I think China would have been better than Melbourne).
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Old Dec 4th 2019, 1:42 am
  #35  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

What the heck happened to my email notifications for this thread????

Originally Posted by UkWinds5353
You prefer Sarasota over Fort Meyers? We usually rent summer stays in Fort Meyers because it's so beautiful there.

I guess either choice is not a bad one. But if someone wanted to avoid living in a slow pace low activity area then pretty much most of southwest Florida should be skipped. From Sarasota all the way down to Naples Florida is SnowBird country. If I were to pick an area on the west coast of Florida, places like Clearwater and St Petersburg have more of a balanced community. But pretty much all of Florida(except Miami, Orlando) are laid back and slow. But that is the reason why a great many people love Florida.
Yup, I prefer the St Pete/Sarasota area over Fort Myers, I like a modicum of culture with my high humidity swamp life, not that I'd choose to live in Florida. The traffic, especially during Snowbird season, makes up for the laid back, slow appearance, I prefer something less metropolitan myself, if it's got to be a city in the South West then I could just about stomach Greenville SC. We have St Pete just over the bridge if we fancy Euro standard stabby/shooty-free night life and St Pete (the same) should we fancy a stabby/shooty night...

Originally Posted by robin1234
In Sarasota, we spent hours at the stately home & art gallery - Barnum? I know it was circus-related. Anyway the art museum was fabulous.
That'd be the Ringling museum.

Originally Posted by RICH
I am not familiar with LR. Based on tv ads, I thought of it as a manufactured town ala Milton Keynes
It is. Heaving with light industry, flippin' expensive properties and lots of professional types.

Originally Posted by Boiler
Is there where the algae bloom is?
You mean Florida? Red tide up as far North as Tampa on the west coast, only mild this season, Blue/Green Algae on the East Coast and, I believe, around Lake Okeechobee.


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Old Dec 5th 2019, 4:10 am
  #36  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

There is a lot to do in Florida for active outdoorsy people. Just be warned....you can become very spoiled in the Florida lifestyle. Where else can you go shopping at the malls at midnight, then take romantic 3am outdoor swims with your significant other in winter. Stock up on the Champagne.
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Old Dec 6th 2019, 12:22 am
  #37  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Originally Posted by UkWinds5353
There is a lot to do in Florida for active outdoorsy people. Just be warned....you can become very spoiled in the Florida lifestyle. Where else can you go shopping at the malls at midnight, then take romantic 3am outdoor swims with your significant other in winter. Stock up on the Champagne.
Shopping malls open at midnight? That is a new one! Is this something unique to Florida?
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Old Dec 6th 2019, 4:36 am
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Originally Posted by Steerpike
Shopping malls open at midnight? That is a new one! Is this something unique to Florida?
I'm not sure if late night shopping at malls is unique to Florida but I must admit not having seen that option in other states. Florida is a HUGE tourism destination which factors in why the Outlet malls stay open so late. I've seen them stay open as late as 1am.
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Old Dec 6th 2019, 1:08 pm
  #39  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Originally Posted by UkWinds5353
the Outlet malls stay open so late. I've seen them stay open as late as 1am.
Sounds like hell.
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Old Dec 8th 2019, 6:59 pm
  #40  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Originally Posted by UkWinds5353
There is a lot to do in Florida for active outdoorsy people. Just be warned....you can become very spoiled in the Florida lifestyle. Where else can you go shopping at the malls at midnight, then take romantic 3am outdoor swims with your significant other in winter. Stock up on the Champagne.
I'd have thought that swimming in Red tide with a dose of flesh eating bacteria thrown in for good measure was about as romantic as a two week stay at Camp Crystal Lake, NJ!
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Old Dec 9th 2019, 3:37 pm
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Originally Posted by zzrmark
I'd have thought that swimming in Red tide with a dose of flesh eating bacteria thrown in for good measure was about as romantic as a two week stay at Camp Crystal Lake, NJ!
I would suggest you swim in a swimming pool at 3am and not the ocean which is where the red-tide issue might be a concern. Have you ever seen the movie JAWS? I heard the theme music in the background while reading your post. We are a tough bunch in Florida but you never want to go into the ocean for a romantic swim late at night. Schools of Sharks are frequently shown on the news cruising only 75 yards off from shore.

I always tell people don't be fooled by advertising Florida is a fun place to live and vacation spot, but it is still a living eco system. While out doing my 10 mile walk in my community there is a large nature preserve nearby and I often see a lot of wild animals including HUGE thick pythons slithering along. There are so many stories of people coming down to Florida on vacation and not respecting the environment. A brother in-law's cousin moved down to Florida which was her long held dream and she talked her boyfriend into quitting his job in a different state and move to Florida. Within 5 months he was dead!

They went to the beach to enjoy the holiday break and because they both didn't understand the environment they did not know the fact that when there is a hurricane in the Atlantic ocean even 800 miles away, that situation creates rip-tides that can pull you out into the ocean and if you fight against it's pull you can get tired and drown. Sure enough he was in the water the tide pulled him out away from the beach and he panicked like a great many people would, and the poor guy drowned because he didn't understand at that point he should have allowed the current to take him where it was going then after which he could slowly swim back to shore further up the coast. It's happened to a lot of people but knowing how to deal with it is super important.

Last edited by UkWinds5353; Dec 9th 2019 at 4:03 pm.
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Old Dec 9th 2019, 5:08 pm
  #42  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Hi,

Please don't take our talk about a visa too negatively. We constantly encounter posters who want to come to the USA and haven't even thought out the visa situation, or been misled by immigration attorneys who want only the filing fee but know the chances of actually obtaining a visa are very slim. We just ask because we want people to avoid getting too far ahead of themselves.

As people are mentioning, the visa issue is a significant problem, and not just whether you can get one but also what is going to happen to your son when he "ages out" and can no longer piggy back on your visa but will need his own. Will he attend Uni in the USA or the UK? There are visa and financial issues surrounding either answer (i.e. he may be considered a 'foreign student' in the UK having to pay much higher tuition fees every year).

We have a WIKI that outlines some of the issues related to schooling. A big situation for him will be his GCSEs as they will not be offered in the US schools (which gets back to the issue of where they will attend Uni and, if not, the issue of what visa they will be using after they turn 21).

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Educa...s_in_school%3F

Afraid I don't have much Florida specific knowledge to impart.
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Old Jan 15th 2020, 4:30 pm
  #43  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Thank you for that link. We need to look at schools that teach the IB curriculum (not the ACE) - I have contacted UK universities and they are happy to take him into the UK Uni system if that's where he ultimately chooses - it won't exclude him from applying.

That kind of helps with our search as we can now look at areas around schools that teach IB. We are going out for a visit in Feb for 2 weeks to have a good look around and have arranged time with estate agents and schools.

I probably really need to find West Coast Florida expats - are there any specific groups you are aware of?


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Old Jan 17th 2020, 12:23 am
  #44  
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Default Re: We want to move to Sarasota

Originally Posted by ukcclarke
Thank you for that link. We need to look at schools that teach the IB curriculum (not the ACE) - I have contacted UK universities and they are happy to take him into the UK Uni system if that's where he ultimately chooses - it won't exclude him from applying.

That kind of helps with our search as we can now look at areas around schools that teach IB. We are going out for a visit in Feb for 2 weeks to have a good look around and have arranged time with estate agents and schools.

I probably really need to find West Coast Florida expats - are there any specific groups you are aware of?
IB schools in FL, you might want to refine the search to Manatee and Sarasota counties to save hours of unnecessary trawling! https://flibs.org/Florida-IB-Schools.cfm

Sarasota Expats group which I have had no dealings with but have had their name crop up a few times in conversation over the past few years. https://www.sarasotabritishclub.com/

I would invite in you for a cuppa, etc but trucks, canoes and banjo's don't have much in common with professional desk jockeys who live in a 'New Florida' gated HOA!

Last edited by zzrmark; Jan 17th 2020 at 12:29 am.
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