Ray

but Lakeland is 100ft higher elevation than you
an important factor in Florida

Awesome Welles

Closer to God perhaps.
A lot surely depends on the nature of your business and the demograph to which it serves.
I know a few Polk County cops - they seem to have to deal with more than their fair share of social issues, for such a rural, hokey environment.

Desinflorida

Hi KeithJulie,

We happily settled in Lakeland in July last year and are close to clocking a year up. We moved out on an L1 intercompany visa and have 3 young elementary school aged children who are about to complete their first public (not private) school year, some adjustment but they have done very well and more importantly are happy! I note the comments about Lakeland from some of the contributors but there is good and bad in most places. We live in Lakeland as I work in the town. You may find some of my previous threads useful but I do dive into the site now and again to try to 'give back' as much of the advice I got on here was excellent, saving time, money and pain. It is not always easy as an expat family but it can be a fulfilling adventure. Planning is key. Good luck and best wishes, Des

powerwrap

Try and give Keith and Julie constructive advice.
Go on try, it won't hurt you. I'm sure they'll appreciate it more than the infantile, non-constructive comments.

Ray

And thank you for your contribution of nothing

powerwrap

I don't know enough about E2's so i figured that if i can't help in any shape or form, it would be better to keep quiet on the advice front rather than make it seem to newcomers that we are simply mocking them for the fun of it. Okay ?

powerwrap

Ray, this wasn't directed at you.

Awesome Welles

Who is it directed at then?

Ray

I know
not many are that brave

Kittenheels66

I have a question for you, I am moving to Florida in 2012, I have a Green Card, you have just slated Polk and said it is not a very nice place to live and on another thread you said Orange was another crap place to live, so as you are in Belle Isle Florida where would you recommend people move too?

Awesome Welles

I don't recall writing that either was a 'crap place to live' - and after most parts of Ilford, either would be an up-grade .

Polk, Lake, Pasco, Hernando, Sumter and a large chunk of Osceola counties are low on the totem, in economic terms. Great if you're a farmer, not so great if your livelihood relies on being near some type of economic center.

I live in Orange County and enjoy it. The only aspect I dislike is the swarms of British tourists, who can be a proper pain in the arse.

That said, different strokes applies. I live in a quite beautiful chain of lakes community, close to the Interstate system, close to downtown and it's amenities and close to the airport (essential for my work). Property taxes are a little steep, but that keeps it civilized.

There are also some quite horrendous and downright dangerous places in Orange County that you might want to avoid.

My daughter is an Orange County Sherrifs Deputy, so I have a good read on what's good and not so good about the area.

I would never consider Polk County as a suitable place to start my life in the US - but that's not to say you wouldn't like it. Just check the local gov't statistics, for individual cities in addition to County data. Polks numbers suck, in relation to the size of the population.

Kittenheels66

Ok my post code is Ilford, however i don't live in Ilford and yes i do agree that some parts of Ilford I wouldn't venture into!!! Just to clear things up I am not British I'm Irish but i am married to a British man, We have been visiting Florida for over 10 years now If it wasn't for the british tourists the Floridian economy would be in a worse state. we have been lucky enough to get our green card and we are moving to Florida 2012, with no job and no home, we have not decided where we are going to live yet, schools are very important to us as we have an 11yr old. We plan on renting for a year and If it doesn't workout we will just come home we will both get our jobs back and we still have our home in the UK. Any other advice on where to move to would be much appreciated. We will come live next door to you

Mummy in the foothills

That sounds like a better plan than a lot of people have, green cards sorted, rent for a year, see how it goes and if you like it, and keeping your UK home so if you change your mind you can leave. To me you have it all sorted but the location, you just need somewhere with jobs available, and make sure to bring money to last till you get that job.

scrubbedexpat099

I can remember when Ilford was quite nice.

What was the name of that disco at the top of the building.

Kittenheels66

Hey, we are very lucky and in a great situtation where we can survive for at least a year without jobs, however thats not our plan. We hope to be able to get jobs