I have recently started considering Florida (from Seattle). What is the advantage of Sarasota over larger metropolitan area like Tampa? We are in early 30ies, and would love to be able to walk to the ocean/gulf beach a few times a week, have a symmetric fiber Internet at home, and people to hang out with for music/games/geekery.
In general you want to pick where you live based on property values, flood zone, average hurricane damage, proximity to work, and convenience to other things (like the beach you mention). But almost universally you will be driving everywhere, so don't worry too much about it. Florida is one giant concrete strip mall on top of a swamp. So in general, figure out where you will hang out the most or with whom, and be near there. But also plan to drive a lot. Do you want there to be sidewalks connecting you to the beach / grocery store / etc? Again you'll have to search for those, as it's weird not to drive everywhere. And people on bicycles are seen more as target practice than pedestrians.
Large metros like Tampa are full of crime and traffic. If you want a "nice" walk to the beach, or you don't want your car broken into, you are much better off in a less dense area like Sarasota, Fort Myers, etc. But if you want to hit a few bars/clubs, get a little drunk, and have a short cab ride home, you'll want to be closer to a metro area. Otherwise you may have a 50 minute drive home after hitting a bar with some friends.
Florida is famous for attracting just a few kinds of people, so if you aren't in a part of the state full of your kind of people, you may bump up against culture clash. Research neighborhoods in each area to see which one you might fit in with. But also remember that the "Florida Man" isn't just a meme, it's one of your neighbors.
I grew up in Florida, and I really hate it. I don't understand why anyone but a retiree would move there. There's nothing to do other than sit in your sterile air conditioned house, go to the beach, go to a bar, or get high. And the people are terrible. I still go back for vacation though. It's like a bad ex I keep texting just to remember why I left. Oh, right... you're dead inside.
My parents are on the verge of retiring in Clearwater and they're trying to persuade their children to come with them. My sister and her family are already considering it. I'm pretty skeptical about the whole thing, being single, nearing 30, and having lived in a city (Chicago proper) for the entirety of my life. It seems like a good move, financially, though I know two people who say they hate Florida (one from Tampa who couldn't wait to leave) and I can only guess that it's as terrible as you say. Should I suck it up and move anyway? I'm already somewhat socially withdrawn and it would be good to be near my parents in their old age.
Why not live somewhere where you can enjoy your life, and fly down to visit your parents? Flights to Florida are dirt cheap from the northeast or Spirit hubs (like $30-$120 round trip, you can't even drive to NYC from DC for that).
Even if you're socially withdrawn (hell, I am) you can get so much more out of life even on your own in a place where there's nature, culture, diversity, nice people. Where you don't have to drive four hours to get to another large metro area. And that's just one area of the U.S.
It's a big world out there. Moving to Florida is like throwing the world away. You only get one life, don't waste it.
I sort of meant to include music as part of "going to a bar". You can find good live music in some parts, depending on the genre. Like bad college jam bands? Move to Gainesville. Like afro-funk, punk and indie? Move to Miami. Like bad cover bands? Probably all large cities in Florida got you covered. Alternately, few national/international bands actually tour down into Florida, or only hit a few towns.
As someone who moved from Florida to the Northeast, the biggest drawback to Florida is the outdoors. It's warm, humid, there's showers half the time, bugs everywhere, there are no seasons or elevation. So what you're left with is water sports [minus surfing].
It also lacks culture. Not so much music, but any other form of art that isn't centered around Wynwood only exists as much as the elderly will invest in it. Compare to Baltimore, a tiny northeast city with a crap economy, which has probably more arts diversity than all of Florida combined [outside of Miami]. Why? Everybody sits in their house or goes to the bar. Why be an artist when you can do heroin on the beach?
And the people really are garbage. I was one of those garbage people. I changed so much after moving away. I don't even know why. I just know when I left, everywhere I went, people seemed nicer.
If you just want to live alone and still be able to go to the beach, there are an infinite number of cities on either coast where you can do that without all those downsides. I dunno. Maybe there are reasons people move to Florida other than the weather. I personally cannot fathom it.
The problem with FL real estate is that flood zones and old construction are everywhere. You probably don't want to buy a house in a flood zone. Also, because hurricane codes were updated recently, you want to buy something recent-ish, definitely nothing older than 2002. The windows in my place are rated for a Category 5, and I'm at 50ft above sea level.
In most of Florida, Sarasota included, if you go with a traditional home, you'll want newer construction in a community. The HOA takes care of all the outside stuff like landscaping, so it's pretty much condo living except without shared walls. All the houses look similar.
The HOAs usually maintain some kind of "activity center" where you'll have a gym, pool, common area, tennis courts, etc. Again, it's pretty much like living in an SF condo, except instead of all that stuff being downstairs, it's down the street, and much larger.
If you prefer to live in an actual condo, there's plenty of those too with a walk-able downtown area, but I like not having shared walls. Also downtown is in a flood zone, so you might need to evacuate if we get a bad enough hurricane. I wouldn't be too concerned about flooding if I was buying several stories up though.
As for internet, frontier offers decent symmetric fiber (previously fios). I'm on gigabit with them and it's been fine. It's in most of the area.
Also, as a rule of thumb, you want to buy when a new community is just getting started or just finishing up. You'll get a better deal if you're one of the last houses before they shut down the sales office, or if you're one of the first to buy. Construction takes 8-12 months usually, but it's perfectly fine to have the house built while you're remote. I lived nearby with family while mine was being built, and me walking the construction site periodically wasn't particularly useful.
Hope that helps! Happy to answer any other questions you might have.
