One thing about Florida: it really matters what part of Florida you’re talking about.
North Florida/Panhandle: basically feels like the Deep South. Pensacola, for instance, feels like Alabama. Deep red politics, things are not especially expensive vs the rest of Florida, poverty, rural, Medicaid, etc etc. “Southern” way of life and beliefs dominate. On the other hand, if you want a beachfront house, it’s fairly attainable.
South Florida: hotter; more elderly population, and definitely more affluent; politics get much more blue the closer you get to Miami and other bigger cities. Bigger cities in south Florida are incredibly diverse (esp Miami), which is definitely not the case in the rest of the state. Things are a lot more expensive. When most people think “Florida”, south Florida is what they’re thinking of.
“Florida man”, alligators, hurricanes, etc etc are phenomenons throughout the state. Florida is a weird place. I have in-laws in the panhandle, and “weird people doing weird stuff” is just a recurring theme whenever I visit. (I was once in a drive thru line at a Whataburger, and all six people in the van in front of us just got out together and peed on the sidewalk randomly. Stuff like that is not at all unusual.) While there may be more violent crime by demographic data in places like AZ, I assure you that FL is not far behind in that regard.
Also, Florida is relatively oversaturated with doctors (and some would say, with people in general esp since the pandemic where the population increased by 1/5 or something). Florida is one of the states where it takes longer to get a medical license. AZ is very easy in comparison.
The people who live in Florida seem to really like it, but it’s not for everyone. It’s not a place I’d personally choose to live. But ymmv.
