today we're going to address the nine things that people typically will not tell you about living
in florida and maybe it's just because it's not obvious to them or perhaps it's because it doesn't
showcase the state in the best light and so in this video we will speak about some surprisingly
positive things and some things that are not really that great but definitely manageable
before we get into this video i do want to mention that i love living here and so this video is
not about deterring you from coming here okay but i also don't want this channel to
become solely about selling the positives because that isn't reality if you're new
to my channel my name is katrin pfitzenreiter i'm a local real estate agent here in sarasota
county and this channel is all about florida insights destinations and real estate if this
sounds good to you subscribe to this channel and we're going to get right into this video
florida gets plenty of tourists throughout the year making some destinations harder to navigate
especially during the winter months and when i say navigate i mean having to deal with the
increase in traffic having to wait longer in line and making reservations that are much harder to
come by but there's a really good reason for it and until you move to florida you don't really
realize how much cool stuff there is to do in the state until you start visiting all these travel
destinations yourself such as orlando for the theme parks miami for nightlife the keys for a
crazy beach bar scene sanibel island for shelling tampa which is the most moved to place in all of
florida the everglades and really the list goes on and on so we here in florida are so privileged to
being so close to destinations that people come to from all over the world my advice to you is spend
some time traveling within florida there's just so much to see and experience some of you may already
have heard about the florida man but do you really know who he is now let's talk about the history so
the florida man meme was popularized back in 2013 when people started sharing dumb and weird things
florida men did on social media especially via twitter account called florida man and in most
people's minds we'll exemplify a guy that does stupid bizarre acts in florida occasionally you'll
see the florida man on the news okay what is it you're trying to report sir uh i was just uh drunk
driving i think of the florida man that's much broader and to me it's just somebody that commits
stupid weird stuff they are trying to find a woman accused of stealing one million dollars in jewelry
but once you move to florida you're going to see the florida man probably even in person
every so often we have red tide on the gulf coast we had an outbreak in the summer of 2021 so last
year and one previously in 2018 what exactly is red tide well it's when colonies of algae
which are simple plants grow in the water and multiply more than normal scientists refer to
this as harmful algal bloom as the algae grows and density the water changes in color now red
tide occurs across the entire world so it isn't just a challenge here in the u.s or in florida
now in the u.s it's typically found in the gulf of mexico gulf of maine and california now the cause
of red tide is controversial but typically it is said to occur due to different weather patterns
wind direction climate change and pollution red tide in florida produces a toxin called brevetoxin
which can affect marine life in humans this toxin can kill fish right you've seen
images of it i'm sure if humans are close to the shore and the toxins are airborne
it can cause respiratory problems now i live about 15 minutes away from siesta key and i've been
through a few red tide situations in the past when we experience red tide what i do is i check the
red type forecast to determine where the red tide is the highest the red tide forecast can change
by a day or by week and so chances are you may still find a close enough beach that you can
go to that does not have significant red tide levels because i know it can be a bummer when
you're here and you want to go to the beach and there's red tide but typically there are beaches
you can still go to now this is the website i tap into to check the levels and as you can tell
as of today there's no red tide present on the florida coast now in any case
as long as you're away from the shore when there's a bloom you'll be fine what's also encouraging is
that mote laboratory and aquarium which is based in sarasota florida is actively researching ways
to reduce red tide in the future and maybe even prevent it altogether now florida's great for a
lot of things right so we have the warm weather we've got lots of sunshine no state income tax
we have so many amazing travel destinations all packed in the state like we just talked about
earlier and there's really a lot of advantages to living in florida but florida is not known to have
an above par care system that's not to say that all of florida has bad health care options so i'm
not saying that at all but if you're someone that needs really good health care options make sure
that wherever you're moving to in florida that you have good health care accessibility what you can
do is start talking to the locals to get their perspectives you could also do a google search
and get people's reviews online about the different healthcare providers just do your
research so that way when you're ready to move you know you're going to be taken care of in case
you have health issues i don't know about you but i suffer from allergies at times
now naturally the trees and flowers in florida bloom longer since we don't have the extreme
cold winter days that you typically get up north if you're someone that has allergies you will want
to know what the common florida allergens are and how to minimize allergic reactions ragweed
is said to be the prime cause of allergens here in florida ragweed is a weed with flowers that
releases pollen one single plant apparently can produce about one billion pollen grains there are
other allergens including oak, pine and mold now if you're someone that has allergies just
do your homework so you're well prepared and you can stay away from allergens as much as possible
in florida you do not need a permit to buy a gun there's some requirements though that
you'll need to meet right so you will have to be at least 21 years old and you have
to be eligible to purchase a firearm meaning you have to be a florida citizen and either american
or green card holder to purchase a handgun there are 10 categories that makes a person
ineligible to buy or own a handgun which includes being a felon or an illegal resident but you don't
need a permit to purchase and you do not need to register a gun when it comes to carrying a
gun you cannot openly carry a gun with a few exceptions which includes unlawful hunting
or practicing in an indoor range now gun laws in florida may be changing in the future but you've
probably seen the recent news where governor desantis is planning on passing the constitutional
carry gun law for the national association of gun laws constitutional carrying gun laws defined as
any law-abiding adult who's legally able to possess a handgun should be able to carry
that handgun openly or concealed without first having to pay a tax or obtain a government permit
florida is known for the more severe summer weather which brings along almost daily
thunderstorms and just lots of rain hurricane season is from june 1st until november 30th
and occasionally we do prepare for an arriving hurricane but did you know that per the florida
climate center florida also has a higher frequency of tornadoes per 10 000 square miles than any
other u.s state that includes oklahoma probably not right well what is a tornado the tornado
is defined as a spinning column of air that is started by a thunderstorm and can have winds over
250 miles per hour apparently the west panhandle and the coast between tampa and bay and fort myers
have a particularly high incidence of tornadoes i can tell you this though i've experienced many
tornado warnings in my lifetime not just here in florida but also during the time i lived in new
york i personally have gotten used to the weather challenges in florida and i'd much rather deal
with these weather challenges versus earthquakes in california or even the harsh snowy winters up
north what do you do when there's a tornado warning in florida you can't just go into a
basement because most homes in florida won't have a basement instead what's recommended you do is
that you hide inside a room without windows on the lowest floor so that's what we do st
augustine is the oldest continuously occupied city in america and is located right in florida
on the northern part of the eastern coast just 45 minutes to the south of jacksonville
now i'm bringing up st augustine because when we think of florida we usually imagine the beaches
theme parks the everglades or big cities such as miami but there's so much more to florida and
that includes the historic st augustine area which was established in 1565 by the spanish and is rich
with history and places to see seeing augustine is really one of a kind in that it offers a different
flair with its spanish-style architecture older buildings and european inspired history
if you've not yet visited make sure you do and you'll get a different taste of florida
in general florida is warm year-round especially when compared to northern states but the weather
in the north of florida will vary a bit from the south of florida north florida is colder
in the winter by approximately 5 to 10 degrees and it won't get as humid and hot there in the
summer as it does in the south in places such as miami or sarasota now the chances of snow
in florida is low but when it does occur it will likely occur in the northern part of florida so
if you're someone that loves the idea of florida but you're just worried about the summer heat well
maybe consider the northern part such as pensacola where it is just a bit milder if you enjoyed this
video if you learned something new please do me a favor like this video would really appreciate it
now if you're looking for real estate in sarasota county or manatee county i would love to help you
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florida information destinations and insights now if you're still watching this video thank
you so much for watching till the very end i always appreciate it when you do take care