The Weather Thread

[GreenEnvy]

New York has had a brutal winter for our standards. This is the most snowstorms and the coldest start to winter that I know of.

I imagine New England has been hit even harder, but are used to it a bit more than us.

[JSD]

I wake up every morning wonder why the heck I still live here (Beantown Burbs). Oh right, the wife refuses to leave. 

[Neurotic Guy]

Count me in the "outright disgust" camp. 

I understand that it's my own fault -- I've chosen to live in the Northeast.  However, I am so tired of the cold and snow that I am counting down the winters till I can leave the region (at least for part of the winter if not full time).

2.5 years (2 more winters after this) and if all goes well my younger daughter will be out of high school embarking on her college career to parts as yet unknown.  Opportunity will be knocking...

[thirstyboots18]

I love it, I'd honestly hate to be in Florida. Give me a pair of mid-fats, a snowy mountain, and bluebird skies and I'm in heaven.

Although my work schedule is packed, the anticipation of skiing keeps me amped up in the wintertime.

I hear you, Grover.  I have said the same thing in the past, myself, and Florida is definitely not for everyone.  (My mom has lived down here before...now three or four months is as much as she can stand!) 

[Neurotic Guy]

I love it, I'd honestly hate to be in Florida. Give me a pair of mid-fats, a snowy mountain, and bluebird skies and I'm in heaven.

Although my work schedule is packed, the anticipation of skiing keeps me amped up in the wintertime.

I hear what you are saying and admire you for it.  I wish I enjoyed skiing, or skating, or sledding, or any winter sports... but, I don't.  You are in the right place GTC -- alas, I am not.

[JSD]

My dream location is the suburbs Tampa, FL. Trinity or something. The real estate there is crazy too. Take a $500K here in MA and put it in that area and we're talking $150K. It's nuts...

[Neurotic Guy]

My dream location is the suburbs Tampa, FL. Trinity or something. The real estate there is crazy too. Take a $500K here in MA and put it in that area and we're talking $150K. It's nuts...

Thanks for this. I am actually beginning data gathering for future locations. 

[Rondo2287]

My dream location is the suburbs Tampa, FL. Trinity or something. The real estate there is crazy too. Take a $500K here in MA and put it in that area and we're talking $150K. It's nuts...

Thanks for this. I am actually beginning data gathering for future locations. 

watch House Hunters on HGTV.  a McMansion in MA costs like 200K in Atlanta

[thirstyboots18]

Such is the way of Paradise.  It is 73 degrees and overcast now.  The temp has dropped 4 degrees in the last half hour.  The soft breeze is starting to make the trees dance or do zumba...severe thunderstorm warnings on tv, and a tornado watch until 9:00.  Nothing has hit yet, but thunderstorms around here are quite a production!  They are announcing tournados on the ground just north and west of us and water spouts just off the coast.

[Bahku]

My dream location is the suburbs Tampa, FL. Trinity or something. The real estate there is crazy too. Take a $500K here in MA and put it in that area and we're talking $150K. It's nuts...

I did an internship in Tampa in the mid-80's, (ouch!), and lived in Temple Terrace, (northeast suburb, near USF and Bush Gardens) ... I had left Boston and gone to St. Croix for a year's internship there, then on to sunny Florida.

When I left Boston, I left a (very old and run-down) one bedroom apartment on upper Commonwealth Avenue that, (at the time), was $800/month, nothing included.

When I got to Tampa, I got a modern two-bedroom apartment, with marble sills, wall-to-wall, (which was a big deal then), washer/dryer/dishwasher/dispoasl/security/gated community, etc., (everything), included for $250/month ... no security deposit, and the first two months rent were free!!

I was completely stunned at the real estate prices being so low, but at the time there was a glut of living spaces and not enough people to fill them ... it was awesome! I know it's not quite as inexpensive today, but still, compared to New England, there is a big difference.

And while I was born in Maine and will always love it and call it home, (and require a "white" Christmas every December), in a few years I hope to move to Florida and my favorite Tampa suburb, Clearwater ... either that, or Captiva Island, (which I also fell in love with).

Some of our nicer members here at CB are from that area, and I'm sure would recommend it, too!

[thirstyboots18]

Storm over...a tornado in St. Pete, and one in Hudson (north and south of us) but it wasn't so bad in Clearwater...not even that much lightening, just rain.

Trinity is  about half an hour north of Clearwater, between US  19 and US 75...actually when we go north (we usually drive) we go that way and cut off Tampa and its traffic.  I love the Clearwater area, it has a lot to offer and is only two hours from Orlando, half an hour from Tampa and the airport.  The Gulf of Mexico is not the Atlantic ocean...I miss the sea turns and smell of the Atlantic...but like Bahku has said, we have beautiful white powder beaches in Pinellas County...some of the prettiest in the world.  The restaurants and grocery stores are really good. This is not so much "old" Florida any more.  The taxes are low, the services are good, the roads are good, and the living is easy.

I am from New England, and I find it much easier to make friends down here...to say nothing of all your friends who are also moving down.  And...if you need to get home (north) we have a terrific airport (TIA) or an easy 3 day drive up US 95 or US 81.

Real Estate prices here are probably the lowest they have been in 25 years...some say it will stay that way, but I don't believe it...the severity of winters up north and the amount of baby boomers retiring are bound to make them go up again, IMO.

[Neurotic Guy]

VERY interesting to hear about the Clearwater area.  I am, without question, moving somewhere (either for winters or full time) in as few as 3 but no more than 8 years.  Hopefully be in position for semi-retirement, but doesn't matter -- I just need to get away from the weather here.  Thanks for the descriptions of the market and the area.  I'll likely be looking at a townhouse/condo scenario as I don't think I'll want a house anymore -- but, no shoveling or raking might make me change my mind about that.

[Kiorrik]

Let me turn the aircon on, here in Sydney. 26 Degrees Centigrade.

[Mike-Dub]

Storm over...a tornado in St. Pete, and one in Hudson (north and south of us) but it wasn't so bad in Clearwater...not even that much lightening, just rain.

Trinity is  about half an hour north of Clearwater, between US  19 and US 75...actually when we go north (we usually drive) we go that way and cut off Tampa and its traffic.  I love the Clearwater area, it has a lot to offer and is only two hours from Orlando, half an hour from Tampa and the airport.  The Gulf of Mexico is not the Atlantic ocean...I miss the sea turns and smell of the Atlantic...but like Bahku has said, we have beautiful white powder beaches in Pinellas County...some of the prettiest in the world.  The restaurants and grocery stores are really good. This is not so much "old" Florida any more.  The taxes are low, the services are good, the roads are good, and the living is easy.

I am from New England, and I find it much easier to make friends down here...to say nothing of all your friends who are also moving down.  And...if you need to get home (north) we have a terrific airport (TIA) or an easy 3 day drive up US 95 or US 81.

Real Estate prices here are probably the lowest they have been in 25 years...some say it will stay that way, but I don't believe it...the severity of winters up north and the amount of baby boomers retiring are bound to make them go up again, IMO.

Boo the storm down here.  I can't even watch the Celts and Perks return on LP Broadband because of the rain and bad connection. 

Honestly if you're going to live down in Florida... Don't go to Lakeland.  I go to school down here town is pretty bad. 

Never been to Clearwater or basically any of the suburbs of Tampa so I wouldn't know how those are.

[wdleehi]

This morning, I wake up late.  I look out the window.  The roads look good.  It's raining. 



So I quickly get ready.  I shoot out of here without looking at the news. 


My car has a thin layer of wet snow.  I clear it in a minute (Honda Civic).



I drive the 20 minutes to school.  The only issue are the people that freak out because there is weather. 


I get to school about 15 minutes before any class is suppose to start.  The parking lot is empty.  A quick call to my wife, she checks the school's cable channel, school is closed. 


Northern VA, making overreacting to weather an art-form.