it's HOT AND HUMID AS BALLS. prepare to have your a/c running 100% of the time. as soon as you step out of the shower and walk out the door, it's disgusting. you feel sticky, all of the time. you feel groggy, angry, annoyed. swamp ass becomes a part of daily life, pretty much. good luck going for a nice stroll while listening to music. i've passed out from heat exhaustion here on bike rides.
CRIME. florida has some of the highest VIOLENT crime rates in the country. it's in the top ten, in fact. we're also the no.1 state in identity theft! and with 19 million plus, and counting, it's bound to get worse!
the people are terrible. maybe some dudes from illinois will try to convince you otherwise, but that's likely because they're just happy to quit shoveling snow. people are VERY rude here. i had an 80 or so, year old woman stick her tongue out at me and flip me off, while i was driving. i'm a native floridian, and have lived in california, and new york -- i hated ny, but even the people were better there. people here are horribly materialistic, are painfully conservative, and keep voting in EXCEEDINGLY corrupt politicians that enforce regressive policies. there is no progress to be made in this state. are you over 50? everyone else is, aside from maybe those in miami, but good luck getting an affordable, safe place there! hope you're alright with that. did i mention everyone is old and grumpy?
there's NOTHING to do. sure, you can go to the beach, but unlike places like washington, or north carolina, virginia, etc... there's nothing to accompany the beach. there are no mountains. there's not much to do outside of the beach. you can get drunk. younger retirees and 20 year old shitty college students seem to love getting drunk and driving, here. there are no hubs of culture. there's little havana in miami, i suppose, but it's not a 'nice area'. florida is not a well refined haven for higher education, either. very few museums, very few historical homes, very few parks aside from springs, or anything down by key west. meanwhile, anything outside of key west, or a few places up north, is all marsh. it's not fun. mosquitos up the ying yang, oh, and alligators are a fact of life. they're in areas you wouldn't expect, and you WILL hear about one eating your friend's dog one day. look out.
property prices are STUPIDLY HIGH. i live in fort lauderdale. here, it's 900 or so for a crappy 1/1, and a crappy, rink a dink, shitbox house in oakland park will run you around 130k, meanwhile there's nothing to do in the surrounding area. downtown fort lauderdale is pretty much a joke, too.
along with the alligators, roaches are unavoidable. you will encounter huge, flying roaches. they are everywhere. i have many other reasons, but i'll leave it here.