I was talking to a friend of mine who was planning to relocate from New England to Florida. Like everyone else who has visited my state but never lived here, she had several misconceptions about my state. Yes, I'm not a native, I've only lived here for three years full time, but I've noticed that many people share her thoughts-here they are.
1-Floridians and alligators interact on a regular basis. People who don't live in Florida often think that we see alligators on a daily basis. No. Most of the time people who see alligators seek them out, and even then they can be hard to find. Sure, you'll hear on the news that a giant alligator was seen on a golf course-but it's only news because it doesn't happen all the time. Alligators generally stay very far away from humans and avoid them. Most people living in Florida don't even think about alligators unless we see a news story about them.
2-We all live on the beach. Another misconception. Living on the beach is either incredibly expensive or incredibly crowded. Sure, we love the water and many of us enjoy spending time at the beach. However whenever I go to the beach (and I only go during the Fall/Winter time) I usually see mostly tourists. If you move down here and plan to go to the beach every day you'll be disappointed very quickly.
3-Florida is one giant megalopolis. This one is sort of true. Orlando-Tampa IS one giant city, complete with all the crime and congestion and sprawl that come with it. There are other parts of the state that are like that as well. Sadly, it seems like in a few decades the entire state might be like that. As of right now though, Florida is still surprisingly rural, especially north Florida. I live in the country and I love it, but the one drawback is that I have to drive everywhere, so I've racked up a ton of miles on my car. I'm about an hour and half from Tampa and Orlando, but I'm only 45 minutes away from Gainesville.
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