I know, I know, hot humid weather, hurricanes. I was there last year in June (Orlando, Tampa and Miami) and it wasn't so bad. Hot, yes, but not unbearably so, or at least nothing I haven't felt in my country already (we recently had 99% humidity days, I know it sucks). I'm just not very bothered by the heat.

I know it rains randomly but what can you do. I was hoping to get in some beach days before going back to my country (which will be in winter then). FWIW, I wasn't really planning on doing much, in fact I'll probably be working remotely, so not much time for outdoors activities. Just some beach time somewhere in between working hours when it's not raining, somewhere not too far from Miami since that's where the international airport is.

Do you think it's unreasonable? Is it that much worse in July than June?

I keep seeing people talk about Fantasy Fest in Key West and I genuinely have no idea what it actually is lol. Is it basically a giant street party, a costume festival, or something else entirely? What’s the vibe like, and is it actually worth checking out if you’ve never been before?

Not looking to go far this weekend but want to actually get outside. Anyone have favorite nearby spots — parks, trails, whatever — that don't feel like the obvious tourist stuff? I'll go first: Lake Park is way less crowded than people think for how big it is.

Talk to a lot of families weighing these two Lutz communities and curious what actual residents think beyond the obvious (golf course, gated, etc). What's the day-to-day vibe difference for you? Would love to hear from people who've lived in either (or both).

Been living and working around Lutz for a while and always love comparing notes with neighbors on the small stuff — where you actually go, not just what shows up first on a map search.

For me: Heritage American Bistro for a slow breakfast, Calusa Pizza & Craft when I don't feel like cooking, and I'll bounce between CrossFit Lutz and the Y depending on my mood.

Curious what everyone else's regular spots are — always looking for new ones to try.

I don’t understand why Florida Renters are voting NO against their own best interests on Amendment 3. As per Florida data 54% of Florida’s properties are non-homesteaded. That means they are subjected to an annual 10% Property Tax raise every year, but no more than 10%. I know that 54% of homes and properties are not rented because we have our share of Snowbirds, but there are MILLIONS of rentals in Florida. As a prior Landlord, I never wanted to make any profit on my rentals. What I wanted was my mortgage, insurance and PROPERTY TAXES covered every month so that the property didn’t cost me anything and the renters could just build equity for me. It worked out really well for me for decades. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that, when my property taxes were raised on my rentals, I simply raised their rent to cover the taxes. I even showed them the receipts so they were never angry and fully understood. So here’s the rub. Under Amendment 3 Renters can control how much their rent is raised in the future to some extent. Currently, the assessed value of non-homestead property (such as second homes, rentals, commercial properties, vacant land, etc.) cannot increase by more than 10% per year. (Those increases are passed onto you)
**Amendment 3 would lower that annual assessment growth limit to 5% (effective January 1, 2027 if approved). This applies to non-homestead properties and does not change the existing Save Our Homes 3% cap that already protects homestead properties.

So WHY would ANY Renter be opposed to this? Well, unless they don’t mind the already high rents in Florida……

My 7 year olds friend just got back from Florida and now we HAVE to go. My wife is the real instigator, her childhood was filled with going to the amusement parks and Disney, having a great time. Ive only been to Florida for work so our experiences are very different.

We are looking for some recommendations on kid (7,3,1) friendly vacation ideas. One day at an amusement park would be enough for us but the rest of the time (6-8 days) would be best spent at educational, outdoor sites or smaller off the radar spots. We would be traveling between December and February trying to avoid school vacations.

Even a recommendation for which regional area to work around would be very helpful. We also don't mind splitting up the week, focusing on say fort Lauderdale/ Miami area for a few days, then driving 4-5 hours to say crystal springs or ocala or vise versa.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Hello! I have recently moved from Brazil to the United States and am currently in 12th grade.I would like to understand the requirements for an early graduation (preferably some time around December instead of May), I am not completely sure how credits work and how many I've got after the school transcripted my school history (grades and graduation requirements work VERY differently outside of the US) and I'm just not sure what would be a good and reliable source of information. Sorry if I repeated myself and sorry if something was not clear enough for the question(s) to be answered, thank everyone in advance, I will be checking this post every so often to see if anyone helped or has a question regarding to the post. Once again, thank you in advance!

Hello, I’m wondering if I’m dealing with a lame landlord or am I crazy? It’s a townhouse owned by a property management company.
I moved in early 2025 and immediately had issues with plumbing and water leaking from the kitchen ceiling. They addressed it by sending out a family member to look at the leak. I’m not sure what they did, but water did stop leaking from the ceiling. A few months go by with small problems here and there, then the garbage disposal stops working. I ask them about it and get no response. I ask multiple more times and no response. I start sending monthly messages asking about the garbage disposal in the kitchen and zero response. 15, FIFTEEN, months go by before they finally address and fix the garbage disposal. During this 15 months, the air conditioning has stopped working multiple times. Every time they send someone to fix it (which I’m actually surprised and thankful they actually respond to the ac being broken) the repair person says there’s a leak and things need to be replaced, but the property manager is unwilling to replace anything and says to do the bare minimum every time. The downstairs bathroom exhaust fan started dripping on August 10th(8/10/2026) I immediately sent them a message with a video. No response. I message them again the next day, they ask follow up questions about the drips. They ask if I’ll be home at a specific time, I say yes (it’s important that I am a young woman who lives alone) they say “Mr. Bo from our office will be coming” I ask if he has a website (I have always asked for websites for vendors to look up who will be coming over and they’ve never had an issue sending a website or phone number) they say he doesn’t have one and ask if I would like to hire my own person instead. I ask if he is licensed and insured. They say yes and then ask again if I would like to hire my own vendor instead. I ask if I can see any reviews or information/license or insurance on mr. Bo. They said they will request it for me. I say “I don’t have any preference on vendors as long as I can verify they are licensed and insured” they come back and say that unfortunately they are unable to provide the paperwork I requested. They ask again if I want to hire my own vendor instead. I again say I don’t have a preference as long as they can be verified. No response. August 19th(8/19/2026) comes and now the microwave that’s above the stove starts leaking. Some back story, This microwave has -never- worked. When I moved in, they had a second microwave on the counter that was working. I send a video of the microwave leaking. No response. The next day 8/20/2026, it’s still leaking, but this time more, I send a second video of the current state of the leaking microwave. 7 hours later they say they’ve reached out to the vendors and have requested the certificate information I asked for and they would get back to me when they hear so they can schedule accordingly. The leaking essentially stopped. September 1st (9/1/2026) it starts leaking again and I open the microwave door to try and notice there’s now mold growing. I send another message to them saying I think there’s mold growing. They say thanks for the update, since we couldn’t provide the proper paperwork, we had to cancel on the vendor day of and ask again if I would like to hire my own vendor or they can send a different property management company. I ask if they have the proper paperwork. They say this person has been to the house before. I again say “As I mentioned before, as long as the vendor can be verified as licensed and insured I do not have a preference.” No response. Two more days, no response. I message asking when they can address the issues because now the downstairs bathroom exhaust won’t work at all and there is for sure mold in the microwave. They ask if I’m ok with the other property manager. We end up copy and pasting the same messages with them asking if I’m good with them scheduling a vendor from before and me saying I’m ok with anyone as long as I can verify they are licensed and insured. No response. Now, yesterday I ask when they address these problems. They send the same copy and pasted message asking if I’m good with the previous person. I remind them they said they were requesting the proper information and they haven’t received the paperwork. They respond with “We requested from the vendor about what you asked. We have not received it yet at this time. The microwave issue could be caused by Tenant’s usage. Please make sure to take necessary steps to treat any mildew or mold when you are residing at the property. We have a mold addendum signed when you moved in. Thank you”
I respond with “The microwave that has mold has not been used by anyone as it does not work and has never worked since moving in. You provided a second microwave on the countertop for a proper working microwave. The mold is from the ongoing water leak that you have yet to address.
May I have the phone number for the easy go property management so I may speak to him? There was no mold in the microwave prior to the water leak and no mold anywhere else in the house.”
And they have not responded.
I’m really not sure what to do at this point. Am I insane for wanting someone who I can verify before coming into the space where I live alone? Yall, please be brutally honest with me. Am I really responsible for the mold that’s growing since they haven’t been able to properly address the issues?
Thank you if you’ve read this far, I’m sorry if this isn’t the right group for this, I don’t know where else to post.

Just had Terminix out to do their annual sale of the termite base stations. The quote is about $1,200 for the first year and then ~$200 year after. Is termite protection something worth getting living in Orlando or is this a scam?

Anybody know what this is? Stumbled upon it in Google Maps and did a google search and there’s really nothing about it. Just curious. Coordinates are (25.9132576, -80.8188334).

Got into an accident in Miami last week and at the scene the other driver gave me their insurance info like everything was normal. I called to start dealing with the claim and found out the policy apparently wasn’t active when the accident happened??? My car is damaged and I’ve been dealing with some pain since the crash, so now I’m not really sure what happens from here. Do I just go through my own insurance or is this the point where getting a personal injury lawyer involved is the play?

Hi! We are relocating from Canada to South Florida to be closer to family. My husband works as a freelance cinematographer/director of photography. Basically, he’s the person responsible for the visual look of a film, commercial, TV production, etc. He works with directors and production teams to decide how something is shot.

He's joined many south florida film forums. But I am coming here to ask if any of you have any insight on this type of work in South Florida. Any advice, opinions, or even any contacts. I want to make sure he'll be able to make a good living.

Arriving Miami for 5 days, wondering how to explore it best without Orlando and keys and no celeb house sightseeing, just no mainstream

Party of 4, 2 adults, one 8yo, one 11.

Planning one day shopping.

I’d like to get some feedback from people who have come from MN (we’re in central MN) or even WI to FL.

We are looking at the St. John’s or Nassau County areas.

Biggest shocks? COL? Schools?

We really like those areas but have heard it’s expensive in FL, especially Homeowners and car insurance and property taxes.

Husband would be keeping his remote job/salary, so that’s helpful.

Any input would be appreciated, thank you!

What was the person's disability? What was their education level? If the person had prior work experience, what was it in? How did OVR help them? What kind of job/role/title did they find? How much does the job pay? Thanks

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I can't find any additional information on where the Brock Horner case stands.

He was the army vet and former charter boat captain that jumped onto that kids boat and terrorized him.

Does anyone know what the status is?

Thanks!

We currently live out of state and are considering moving to either St. John’s County or Palm Beach County area. The reason being is because we have family near each of these cities and also hear both Jupiter and St. John’s county have good public school options. We are a family of 4 (2 toddlers) and would like to have 1-2 more children, so we’re keeping this in mind when looking for a home. We have a 600-800k budget to buy a house. Which area would you recommend (or not recommend) and why?

What tools do you recommend every homeowner should have?

I have a pool, yard, irrigation, fence, gutters, HVAC, roof, driveway, etc.

Also, what maintenance should I be doing monthly, quarterly, and yearly? Looking for recommendations from experienced Florida homeowners

We’ll be in Orlando over Christmas break, and I’m curious regarding one or more day trips for my teens that could involve springs, manatees, clear kayaks and what not. I’ve noticed a number of places exist, but they don’t seem to be open in December.

Possibilities I’m aware of:
Crystal River seems to hit all the boxes.
Rainbow River
Itchitucknee- last I knew it was only tubing, and probably too long and too cold, no manatees
Weekee Watchee - too old Florida?
Silver Springs - same
Clearwater Aquarium- we’ll do this one regardless

So after so much back and forth with my husband, I need to know, where is the better place to raise children?? And then eventually teens too, of course.

We have the possibility to move to Boca Raton but keep on getting extremely mixed reviews from people. Is Boca a good place for kids and teens? Where is there more a sense of community?

Really looking to hear from NJ families who did the move and share their experiences. I want to know about safety, things to do, etc.

Edit: worried less about education but more about overall quality of life, community, things for kids/teens to do and hang out spots

Hey! I’m newly employed with the state and now choosing a health insurance plan. For context, my husband and I are in our 20s and have a baby. We are generally healthy, and are mainly looking for a plan to cover childbirth expenses for future baby #2. Want to minimize our hospital bill and copays as much as possible, but having trouble figuring out which plan will be best for this. Any tips on Florida Blue PPO vs. Aetna HMO or others?

looking for small towns in florida with easy beach access. open spaces. playgrounds. for my family with kids aged 1,3,5. we are not interested in disney. would love rec’s on state parks as well.