The sticks: I wouldn’t expect to find a good job there either. And I’d need a car to get anywhere. I would like to visit from time to time, but I wouldn’t want to make it my home base.

Gainesville: I don’t like change, but I’m less afraid of it now than when I was a kid. (I was terrified of starting high school but enthusiastic about starting college.) Gainesville is pretty small; I think I would like a bigger city. So I wouldn’t mind getting out of here, given enough mental preparation. It might be cool if I had a friend to room with in my new city, whichever it may be.

Tampa: Tampa has always seemed foreign to me, like I could never really make it my own city. I guess I don’t really know much about the place as I’ve hardly been there. I guess it’s worth considering.

Orlando: I agree with you about Orlando. I didn’t even know it had a downtown until I read the Wikipedia article just now.

Jacksonville: I’m not very familiar with Jacksonville either. I don’t know what it has going for it.

Key West: I wish I could go to Key West more often, but I don’t think I’d want to live there. Living on a small island has some pretty big downsides, not the least of which is that it’s a long drive to the mainland. That would be a problem when there’s a hurricane coming and you don’t have a car.

Miami: I wasn’t actually considering Miami until you mentioned it, but it does sound pretty nice. I do like it there, and maybe I could find a reasonably-priced place. It all depends on the job I get. It’s kind of a catch-22, but I’m trying not to think about it that way.

Thanks for helping to shape my thought process!

staying in gainesville is a good option actually, and i could really see you doing that because i know you don’t like change. plus, gville’s a nice place, and with uf there, you can find some pretty decent jobs. however, i’m a big city person as you know, so my options look a bit different from yours, so i’d go with option #4 and go to a new place entirely.

however, some places with warm climate, fairly good public transit, and relatively affordable that i’d look into if i were you would be:

tampa: downtown, st pete, channelside, hyde park (hyde park is so, so beautiful and walking distance to downtown tampa), and tampa heights. side note: i really love tampa, most specifically the historic neighborhoods surrounding downtown. tampa also has a small, albeit decent streetcar and the areas near downtown have good bus service.

orlando: stay away. orlando is sprawl fest usa with no decent transit. plus, i just don’t like orlando lol.

jacksonville: not a fan of jax, and if you thought orlando was spread out, jax is 10x worse. but still there are some really cool neighborhoods near downtown that you could get away without having a car.

key west: probably not too many good jobs, BUT you definitely don’t need a car there and it’s a low key lifestyle albeit expensive.

miami: definitely the best option when it comes to public transit in the south, but not too good on the pockets. job opportunities are good though. anywhere near a metrorail station is good, downtown, brickell, south beach, the obvious options. sobe is hella expensive though. you can actually find some really good rental deals in downtown and brickell since the recession has left many foreclosed condos and apartments in downtown that now rent for super cheap (by big city standards, aka: 650-900/month for a 1/1).

i want to live in new york for a while, but i definitely plan on coming back to settle permanently in florida, and miami is pretty much the only place i’m considering in florida. but that’s based primarily because it’s the largest city, and its our hometown. ok, i’m done. this is the longest comment ever, but i love this kind of stuff so i couldn’t resist. haha hope this all kind of helped lol.

@Sarah: Sure thing. Although I think there might already be one there. I’ve heard of a few in Texas, anyway.

Even if you never buy a car, you should learn to drive one (at the very least, an automatic). If there was ever an emergency situation and you were the only one fit to drive, you’d kick yourself if you couldn’t. Don’t think I’m lecturing – I spoon-feed myself this scenario every time I remember I can’t drive an automatic. Find a friend who’s willing to let you drive their car around a vacant parking lot. This is how I taught my sister.

Also, you could think about getting a scooter if you live in a city. They’re pretty nifty, and a little quicker (and a little less hated) than bicycles by automobiles.