Having been raised as an Army brat I lived in South Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Germany. While I love certain aspects of each, I doubt I will ever leave Florida. I love the warm winters (we had a cold blast this past week - got down to 32 degress - first time in 4 years!), the green landscape, the tropical plants, the beach, the diversity, the water (fishing, sking, wakeboarding, jet sking, boating, sailing, etc.), the sunny days, less establishment (if you want to sit on the school board, you don't have to come from a family that has lived in the area for 100 years) and the fact that I can get to the west coast in 1 1/2 hours and the east coast in 45 minutes.

Florida does have hot summers, no mountains (this is one of the biggest downers for me), limited affordable housing (avg price around Orlando for a home is $225,000), and low wages compared to California and the Northeast.

Hard choice facing you - good luck!