thunderchicken

I heard this is an "Older" community, but wondering what the IT job market was in that area. I figure that's a long route to Miami or to Tampa to commute.

Can anyone give me some advice about moving down there? Pros/Cons in that area, how's the crime and will alligators eat my Jack Russell?

Looking to move down there in January.

JerseyGirl

You may want to have this moved to the FL forum, as you have a better chance of getting your questions answered there. The So Fla forum is mainly used by those of us who live on the east coast in Palm Beach, Broward, or Miami-Dade counties.

mav

The IT industry is a joke in FL.

thunderchicken

I started talking this morning with a guy I know in Miami who said with the influx of the Caribbean talent, wages are extremely low. What's worse, is Naples cost of living is huge.

I've seen a few jobs posted around there, but they're rare.

Wonder if there's another type of job I could do to make comparable money.

mav

Generally speaking wages in FL are low, in comparison to the west coast.

How much are you looking to make?

mbongiovi

You could always take a shot at consulting, if you don't mind working out of town all week and driving your S on the weekends like I do. This way the poor tech job market and low FL pay won't matter. Just an option. Also I have a friend that lives in naples. He says the job market is not to strong and the cost of living is pretty high. Also He has a dog and two cats, and has not lost them to any Gators yet. Hope that helps.

Sonic_S2k_04

I always thought naples, Like marco island, is more retirement based city. Could explain both the high price of living, as well as the low job market.

mav

I was in the IT industry for several years. I got lucky and my salary was decent, but the hours were too long and boss was too demanding. Work become just work, no longer fun, I hated it.

I looked into consulting, got some offers, but hated the idea of constant travel. I would be living 75% of my life in some hotel room and driving rental cars. That didn't fly with me.

So I started my own web design company last year. Then I recently merged with another web consulting firm that a good friend of mine owns. Now we're partners, we leased an office in Downtown Miami, hired some good people... things are good. Short hours, fun atmosphere, the money is there.

fltsfshr

Naples is a beautiful place. Very small town compared to the east coast. It's also a haven for lots of money both old and young. We used to call it "Gods waiting Room". That's not the case anymore. Naples is very upscale and an expensive place to live. Most people in Naples proper don't need to work. Consequently there's a large service industry that caters to that clientele.

There's a bit of IT in Naples but the Ft Myers area may offer you more variety.
There's more of everything on the East Coast. A lot of our local economies here are seasonal.

the crime rate in Naples is very low.


fltsfshr

Sonic_S2k_04

Thats cause when you wake up in the morning after they broke into your car, The old guy that did it is still making his way down your drive way on his walker...

A good chunk of the people that live there, just work the grounds on the close to 10 nearby golf courses. It really is retirement heaven... That whole collier county area seems to be retirement heaven...