Any one from Florida ?

[Goritoes]

St. Pete is seniors city. The joke is that at sundown, the seniors turn off their hearing aids and the city workers rolls up the streets.

I kinda fall between old and young, 31 not a fan of city traffic but i would take oldies as long as they are not racist.

Clearwater is college town. All you need to know if you are young and horny.

Been to clear water beach, kinda impressed by the clear water and beach itself, compared that to myrtle beach...as for the young and horny part, both applies but also Married

Tampa is what I labeled as a blue collar city, meaning it is a real working city with all the usual good/bad best/wort characters of a real city.

Interesting...

If you are Muslim then I guess many of the Cuban sandwiches in Ybor City will be haram to you. Lots of ham.

On my visit of Tampa, saw 2 Indo-Pak restaurants, 1 Turkish one(Food wasn't the best) , couple of ME'erns so I think its safe to say I can find variety, also in this one year of been in America I kinda become a good cook myself.

The annual Gasparilla Festival is Tampa's version of Mardi Gras, which is an excuse to get drunk and into fights to celebrate the pirate Jose Gaspar.

Heard about that from a friend, would love to go and see it...

I ORDER you to visit the Salvador Dali Museum. But be prepare for crowds and shiddy parking. Cannot really blame the museum because it is old and too established in St. Pete. It would cost the museum tens of millions to safely move and they have been talking about moving for decades.

Sure will do.

The standards of living is good borderline excellent due to proximity to the beaches, which usually translate to moolah. Or as we say it in Hawai'i: Oolah moolah . Housing is slightly more expensive, again, near the beaches. But not something outrageous like the Palm Beaches over the Florida east coast with all the PGA golf stuff.

I've seen decent to good apartments in around 1200-1400$ which I think is affordable, of course Beach sides are expensive as on my visit I saw the suburbs, you know lots of rich people living there from the exotic cars and housing.

Weather is not desert hot, cooler but with higher humidity, so I hope you got an office job.

I am from Karachi, and i find Tampa weather to be a lot like Karachi minus the Rain part... Yep, its a Office job. Got offers from Aerospace but they were all technical, although have a bit experience but I am trying to stay away from the Factories. Boring behind the desk 9-5 is the one for me.

Not much 'gators in the tri-city area, there are some, but nothing like more inland Orlando or southward where you will see plenty of 'gators.

Orlando traffic is horrible because of the Disney and Hollywood, on my way back from Orlando to Tampa, stuck in traffic for 2 hours...

If you can afford a bike, not a bicycle, get it. However, there is a time in the yr that you should not be on a bike: LOVEBUGS SEASON. Look it up. These damned insects ruins car paint and hurt bikers. The lovebugs are probably the Biblical locust plague. Florida is great for bike tours, especially just easy cruising on the gulf coast taking the scenic routes.

Yeah heard and saw videos of Love bugs, that's really concerning for me as I am scared of any bug that fly except fly and mosquito which are found in Karachi as well, love bugs are on other level, saw pics of them in millions and they were everywhere, not worried about the car but my own well being haha, I do have plans to buy a Bike, but my wife is not in favor, last time i tried buying my father in law bike which he was going to sell my wife cried for 3 days until i gave up...Fun fact, when she visited Pakistan, i took her on a CD 70 Bike ride around the area lol she did saw reckless bikers and that is where she think I am like that too..

Gulf of Mexico => great seafood. Lots of semi nekkid women. See Clearwater.

You mean Clearwater beach? Its a nice beach, that's the only beach I visited.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

In my list...

Key West. Take one week off and visit. You will not regret the drive. But it does sucks if you are stuck behind someone towing a boat at 20 mph.

Yeah, heard a lot about it, but not gonna go without my wife, so I will wait until she join me in Tampa first. But I saw the route, and its beautiful to say the least. Actually the whole sea line from Clearwater to St Pete to all the way to Fort Myers is amazing.

This guy has a bunch of videos about the Tampa Area

So I have no experience of the West Coast other than going to Busch Gardens in Tampa. My limited experience has been on the East coast in mostly the West Palm Beach area.

My opinion of Florida (being a New Englander) is that for the most part because it doesn't see any winter abuse the place (for the most part) doesn't look like crap...everything looks like it was built yesterday. Driving around and seeing green grass everywhere, flowers, perfectly white sidewalks, uncracked streets, etc you really have to wonder why you put up with the dingyness of the North.

A lot of people told me that its a tourist magnet, not just the Tampa bay area but the whole Florida that includes Miami, Tampa , Fort Myers , Key west etc.

 

[gambit]

I kinda fall between old and young, 31 not a fan of city traffic but i would take oldies as long as they are not racist.

I ran into a few racist old coots. But that was a few of them 30+ yrs ago. The US demographics does change, maybe not as fast as we non-whites would like, but the American people do change and national shame about the past helps maintain the momentum of that change. There is one word in American and English speech that you cannot use, not even in written form, and you know what that word is. That is progress.

Been to clear water beach, kinda impressed by the clear water and beach itself, compared that to myrtle beach...as for the young and horny part, both applies but also Married

Then do not let the Wife catch you eyeballing a couple of PYT strutting by barely covered their bits. Or just do not go the beach at all for the time of your life there.

Interesting...

That is why love Tampa. The city is not pretentious about itself. I see Orlando and Vegas as 'artificial' in that both cities were created to cater to specific needs and in the middle of nowhere, and I love Vegas. Whereas with Tampa, any waterway or coast is ripe for people of all stripes to come and to make their fortunes, legit or else. Hollywood/LA is pretentious. The tri-city are not.

Sure will do.

A major reason why the Dali Museum is usually so damn packed is because of the paintings in that Dali must have been naturally psychedelic plus on some serious 'stuff' when he had his visions to paint, so his paintings made people just stopped and stared wondering what TF were in his head when he put brush to canvas. It is easy to read in books or wiki how physically LARGE are his most famous paintings, like the Hallucinogenic Toreador, it is another thing to actually see these paintings in real life looking up and trying to make out the details. So during the open hours, so many people just stand in front of these large paintings for so long...

I am from Karachi, and i find Tampa weather to be a lot like Karachi minus the Rain part...

I forgot about the rain earlier. From late Apr to early Nov you will see a lot of t-storms, and by that I mean DAILY t-storms getting into the summer months. In the mid to late afternoon, you will see a quick gathering of dark clouds at low altitude, then thunder, then it is as if the Old Gods pissed on the city for about five minutes, then it is all sunshine again, then it get steamy humid because of the hot ground. And it is near sauna humid. You will be thankful that there is enough wind from the Gulf to move all that steamy air out.

You mean Clearwater beach? Its a nice beach, that's the only beach I visited.

Learn to snorkel or maybe even PADI certified. I did many yrs ago. But today, I would not know what to do with a BC even if I was wearing one.

Yeah, heard a lot about it, but not gonna go without my wife, so I will wait until she join me in Tampa first. But I saw the route, and its beautiful to say the least. Actually the whole sea line from Clearwater to St Pete to all the way to Fort Myers is amazing.

If you think seafood from the Gulf is good, and you will find it tasty, then just wait until you get down to the Keys.

 

[Goritoes]

I ran into a few racist old coots. But that was a few of them 30+ yrs ago. The US demographics does change, maybe not as fast as we non-whites would like, but the American people do change and national shame about the past helps maintain the momentum of that change. There is one word in American and English speech that you cannot use, not even in written form, and you know what that word is. That is progress.

Honestly I've very good experiences with white people in SC, specially in the country side... They are hospitable and easy to get along, yes their knowledge of world affairs and other cultures is massively wrong but they are still very emotional and confused people but not in harmful way, yes there could be bad apples but that's exception, I shared my experience of how I was stuck in snow in Greenville SC mall for 2 hours, with no tools and my car (Infinity Q50 Hybrid) did nothing against it until a old couple (white) saw me and my wife struggling, they pull us out in their truck, tow us all the way to highway. If it weren't for them we would've been stuck for a long time and it was getting dark and it started to snow again. It was my mistake, that was my first time seeing snow fall in real life so I just lose patience and overjoyed, and in that I took the parking in mall despite I saw massive snow there.

Then do not let the Wife catch you eyeballing a couple of PYT strutting by barely covered their bits. Or just do not go the beach at all for the time of your life there.

I will be going there alone for now, my wife will join me in a couple of months, well lets see what a man can do in a couple of months Forgive me lord for I''ve sinned.

That is why love Tampa. The city is not pretentious about itself. I see Orlando and Vegas as 'artificial' in that both cities were created to cater to specific needs and in the middle of nowhere, and I love Vegas. Whereas with Tampa, any waterway or coast is ripe for people of all stripes to come and to make their fortunes, legit or else. Hollywood/LA is pretentious. The tri-city are not.

Those tri-cities does give me very good vibes, I think its just my ownself which is nervous as this would be my first time moving out alone.

A major reason why the Dali Museum is usually so damn packed is because of the paintings in that Dali must have been naturally psychedelic plus on some serious 'stuff' when he had his visions to paint, so his paintings made people just stopped and stared wondering what TF were in his head when he put brush to canvas. It is easy to read in books or wiki how physically LARGE are his most famous paintings, like the Hallucinogenic Toreador, it is another thing to actually see these paintings in real life looking up and trying to make out the details. So during the open hours, so many people just stand in front of these large paintings for so long...

Now my interest is Peaked.

I forgot about the rain earlier. From late Apr to early Nov you will see a lot of t-storms, and by that I mean DAILY t-storms getting into the summer months. In the mid to late afternoon, you will see a quick gathering of dark clouds at low altitude, then thunder, then it is as if the Old Gods pissed on the city for about five minutes, then it is all sunshine again, then it get steamy humid because of the hot ground. And it is near sauna humid. You will be thankful that there is enough wind from the Gulf to move all that steamy air out.

SC gets a lot of rain every now and then, while I was in Tampa as I started my day with a hot and sunny weather, suddenly within minutes the weather changes and heavy rain start pouring, and within minutes its all gone... SC countryside has similar kind of cloud bursts, but overall the weather here is good...

Learn to snorkel or maybe even PADI certified. I did many yrs ago. But today, I would not know what to do with a BC even if I was wearing one.

Not a fan of going into the water, just like spending time relaxing on beach. The most I could do is take ship rides if they offer there.

If you think seafood from the Gulf is good, and you will find it tasty, then just wait until you get down to the Keys.

TBH not a fan of Sea food, I've eaten a lot of Sea food since I get here cause of lack of Halal food in SC countryside.

 

[HAIDER]

I like borderline love the tri-city area: Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater.

St. Pete is seniors city. The joke is that at sundown, the seniors turn off their hearing aids and the city workers rolls up the streets.

Clearwater is college town. All you need to know if you are young and horny.

Tampa is what I labeled as a blue collar city, meaning it is a real working city with all the usual good/bad best/wort characters of a real city.

If you are Muslim then I guess many of the Cuban sandwiches in Ybor City will be haram to you. Lots of ham.

The annual Gasparilla Festival is Tampa's version of Mardi Gras, which is an excuse to get drunk and into fights to celebrate the pirate Jose Gaspar.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for the longest time the shiddyest NFL team, but I cheered for them anyway because I was stationed at MacDill.

Bayshore Blvd is often called the Bayshore 500 because of the speedsters, on the other hand, Dale Mabry runs straight N/S and is often referred to as the Dale Mabry dragstrip, so be careful on both. There was a guy on Dale Mabry who often broke the speed limit just to chase airmen down to hand signaled 4 - 5 (45 mph). We have no idea what issues he had, but several times he did that to me and I just speed up on my bike just to piss him off. It has been 30 yrs so he is probably dead by now.

I ORDER you to visit the Salvador Dali Museum. But be prepare for crowds and shiddy parking. Cannot really blame the museum because it is old and too established in St. Pete. It would cost the museum tens of millions to safely move and they have been talking about moving for decades.

The standards of living is good borderline excellent due to proximity to the beaches, which usually translate to moolah. Or as we say it in Hawai'i: Oolah moolah . Housing is slightly more expensive, again, near the beaches. But not something outrageous like the Palm Beaches over the Florida east coast with all the PGA golf stuff.

Weather is not desert hot, cooler but with higher humidity, so I hope you got an office job.

Not much 'gators in the tri-city area, there are some, but nothing like more inland Orlando or southward where you will see plenty of 'gators.

You can run couple hrs inland for Orlando if you are into Disney. Or couple hrs more to the east coast to see the rocket launches and Cape Canaveral.

If you can afford a bike, not a bicycle, get it. However, there is a time in the yr that you should not be on a bike: LOVEBUGS SEASON. Look it up. These damned insects ruins car paint and hurt bikers. The lovebugs are probably the Biblical locust plague. Florida is great for bike tours, especially just easy cruising on the gulf coast taking the scenic routes.

Gulf of Mexico => great seafood. Lots of semi nekkid women. See Clearwater.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Key West. Take one week off and visit. You will not regret the drive. But it does sucks if you are stuck behind someone towing a boat at 20 mph.

That is all I remember for now.

I sleep in a seafood buffet... lol .. $19.99 ... I think cheapest seafood deal in the whole US.

One thing i notice is the salaries in the area are very low despite the cost of living a bit higher...

Well for halal food, I tried nehari with nan, a restaurant near Disney. It was awesome.

 

[White privilege]

 

[Goritoes]

Well for halal food, I tried nehari with nan, a restaurant near Disney. It was awesome.

Nihari and Paya, two of my favorite... I don't want to drive Orlando because when I was visiting my friend in Tampa, I did tried to go to Orlando and get stuck in Traffic for 3 hours.

 

[Strigon]

Former Floridian here.....I lived in Orlando, Tampa, and Miami...

Yes, there are Pakistani communities there, although not very big.

If you are okay with the year-round summer weather, FL is a good place. Currently, the rents and houses are completely insane. You may even face issues trying to find a vacancy for an apartment.

Personally, I detest Miami....It's like the worst city, primarily due to the rude people.

 

[Goritoes]

Former Floridian here.....I lived in Orlando, Tampa, and Miami...

Yes, there are Pakistani communities there, although not very big.

If you are okay with the year-round summer weather, FL is a good place. Currently, the rents and houses are completely insane. You may even face issues trying to find a vacancy for an apartment.

Personally, I detest Miami....It's like the worst city, primarily due to the rude people.

Well I am from Karachi, so I can live in Florida haha as for rents, yes they are high as I noticed that... I am hoping for a better job when I get there, if I couldn't find one I will just move from there as well.

 

[Strigon]

Well I am from Karachi, so I can live in Florida haha as for rents, yes they are high as I noticed that... I am hoping for a better job when I get there, if I couldn't find one I will just move from there as well.

To give you an idea... 1700 to start with for 1 Bed, 2250 for 2 Bed. Insane!

You would be better off relocating to Houston / Dallas when time / job situation permits.

 

[Goritoes]

To give you an idea... 1700 to start with for 1 Bed, 2250 for 2 Bed. Insane!

You would be better off relocating to Houston / Dallas when time / job situation permits.

I was actively looking for jobs in Houston, Dallas and Austin... Its just I haven't got any reasonable response, Someone told me to move there, connect with Pakistani's and they might hook you somewhere, but I feel its to big of a risk for me to take at this stage.

 

[TOPGUN]

Hey Guys, Got a job Offer from Saint Petersburg Florida, I was wondering anyone on here lives or Lived in Florida? I visited Tampa around 3 weeks ago, but I couldn't see the whole of it as it was very limited days visit. How is the Standard of living there ? cost of living (compared to SC) ? Weather ? Muslim community ? Pakistani community ?

@KAL-EL @Meengla @F-22Raptor @Hamartia Antidote @gambit @SQ8 @HAIDER @GumNaam @Sainthood 101

Hey bro i live in south Florida, living here is hot the weather at times we do get cold fronts from up north but usually hot, a-lot of places to see and enjoy especially if you like the beaches and outdoor activities, cost of living is mostly high but it depends where in florida its a tourist destination it is a big state one of the biggest in the US. There are lot of muslims here and Pakistani's in areas such as Orlando, Tampa, and South florida - West Palm beach, Miami , Fortlauderdale areas and more experiencing it for your self is more better then others saying i grew up in NY and in Florida and i love both. Wish you all the best in your new job and life ahead.

 

[Goritoes]

Hey bro i live in south Florida, living here is hot the weather at times we do get cold fronts from up north but usually hot, a-lot of places to see and enjoy especially if you like the beaches and outdoor activities, cost of living is mostly high but it depends where in florida its a tourist destination it is a big state one of the biggest in the US. There are lot of muslims here and Pakistani's in areas such as Orlando, Tampa, and South florida - West Palm beach, Miami , Fortlauderdale areas and more experiencing it for your self is more better then others saying i grew up in NY and in Florida and i love both. Wish you all the best in your new job and life ahead.

Yay, Finally a fellow a Pakistan from Florida so because I will be moving alone right now and I have a friend who have a house, she give room for rent and that's what I am renting for now. Its in Tampa and my Job is in St. Petersburg, although its not that much of a distance, Here in SC I drive around 30 mins to get to my work place. My friend actually invited me to Tampa when I told her that I am having hard time buying Halal food and getting to Mosques. But its good to hear from someone who is living in Florida right now, I think we should be in contact here cause I can really learn things from you. And Thanks for the best wishes bro.

 

[TOPGUN]

Yay, Finally a fellow a Pakistan from Florida so because I will be moving alone right now and I have a friend who have a house, she give room for rent and that's what I am renting for now. Its in Tampa and my Job is in St. Petersburg, although its not that much of a distance, Here in SC I drive around 30 mins to get to my work place. My friend actually invited me to Tampa when I told her that I am having hard time buying Halal food and getting to Mosques. But its good to hear from someone who is living in Florida right now, I think we should be in contact here cause I can really learn things from you. And Thanks for the best wishes bro.

Yes, it would be a pleasure my brother reach out to me if you need any sort of assistance whatever i can do our guide you i will inshallah best of luck.

 

[Goritoes]

Yes, it would be a pleasure my brother reach out to me if you need any sort of assistance whatever i can do our guide you i will inshallah best of luck.

Thanks bro, and will surely get in touch.

 

[HAIDER]

Former Floridian here.....I lived in Orlando, Tampa, and Miami...

Yes, there are Pakistani communities there, although not very big.

If you are okay with the year-round summer weather, FL is a good place. Currently, the rents and houses are completely insane. You may even face issues trying to find a vacancy for an apartment.

Personally, I detest Miami....It's like the worst city, primarily due to the rude people.

Miami is not a place to raise a family.

Nihari and Paya, two of my favorite... I don't want to drive Orlando because when I was visiting my friend in Tampa, I did tried to go to Orlando and get stuck in Traffic for 3 hours.

Yes, gas is going up like crazy. Imagine some places in California, 7 dollars a gallon.. but best place ot live in US ... is San Diego.