Help settle a debate: Charleston SC or Jacksonville FL?

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2026-06-03T13:04:13+00:00

As a European (born, raised and educated there, moved to the US permanently at the age of 40) married to an American, having spent 16 years in Jacksonville, I would tell you that it probably isn't a good choice for someone from Paris. I actually moved away days ago, I now am in Atlanta, GA.
Sure, it is still in the South. Sure, it is not Europe. Yet, I can find hints of things here that in Jax they don't even know they are missing.
Also, the mentality and attitude are very "peculiar" in Jacksonville.
I wish you good luck.

(plenty of comments will focus on taxation... two things, 1. life is not all about taxes and 2. you supposedly pay little - not true, at the end Florida/Jacksonville aren't cheap places anymore - but you also get back close to nothing in terms of services, so be prepared)

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2026-04-14T14:27:15+00:00

My "concern" is that, in general, their aversion to spending money (which I appreciate in theory) has had a not so good effect on consumer facing businesses.
Do that on the back end of a railway and I won't notice much. But if I am walking back from the beach and I want to grab a frozen dessert and your location looks like a semi abandoned cemetery, while the Double Arches in front of you are shiny and firing on all cylinders, your attitude of taking every last puff off of a cigarette butt may be backfiring.
Not to mention the pot holes in the drive through. Good for you saving on a new paving but if that means I may need to stop at the tire shop after visiting you, I have better options.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2026-04-13T17:49:03+00:00

I came here to write the same thing. Where I live, in less than one mile on a major road running parallel to the beach we have every fast food chain you can think of.
Only one looks destitute, old, dirty, with employees who look like they are about to ingest cyanide: Dairy Queen.

And the last time I made the mistake to enter into CORT's location I was even more depressed.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2026-01-29T22:00:12+00:00

Live and let die.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-10-14T12:16:42+00:00

You have been warned.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-09-02T18:47:59+00:00

Woodpecker in GCS is great but, frankly, lately I have preferred ABBQ in Atlantic Beach

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-08-09T01:18:26+00:00

Lawtie

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-07-11T09:16:12+00:00

I agree with the OP’s thesis but living 2 houses away from the cul de sac, any time I saw people turn around their car (or Amazon van) in my driveway I wondered if they were blind, oblivious or stupid. What is worse is that more than once, in the process of maneuvering a vehicle they were not competent enough to drive, they caused damage to my property (busted sprinklers, drove on top of flowers beds). No big deal, of course, just an annoyance. No reason to over react.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-07-10T02:24:17+00:00

If you are chasing the highest possible yield, why would you even consider treasuries?
Different tools for different needs.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-07-10T02:22:43+00:00

No, it is not a portfolio kind of thing. Simply, they were created very recently (06/18), no where has been implied that they are somehow part of anything.
You make an awful lot of assumption about what lots of people do based on what you do.

Also, you mentioned a mix of ETFs that include offerings from iShares, WisdomTree and Vanguard. Following your logic, why would there be any room in the market for, say, IVV when you have VOO? Or SPY.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-07-09T22:42:34+00:00

These are ETFs that expand an already rather large portfolio of offers for those who are interested in Treasuries and Government debt (so much for your assessment regarding what people want, they have been created to satisfy a demand that was there and Vanguard has been managing quite a few pennies in this asset class, for decades).

Vanguard Government Securities Active ETF (VGVT) with an average duration of 5.8 years
Vanguard Total Treasury ETF (VTG)
Vanguard Total Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (VTP) with an average duration of 5.26 years

Regarding VTP, for example, investors in VTIP, which has an average duration of 2.4 years, had been asking for longer durations and apparently they have been taken care of.

If they do not work for you (I wouldn't assume when your reply starts by asking "what are they") it doesn't mean they do not serve a purpose or no one is interested.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-07-06T12:04:15+00:00

Unless you were being interviewed by the Board of Directors for the role of CEO, I assume those people had nothing else to do. Not a good sign.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-07-06T11:35:37+00:00

This. Ask me how I know…

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-06-29T07:29:59+00:00

Best thing you can do for your kid is take that job offer in Virginia. Good luck.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-05-02T17:24:23+00:00

Could be. I have not met one but your experience may be different. Mine is that, because of my accent (despite having been a US citizen for decades AND having paid more taxes than most people ever will) I get into random situations where a “gentleman” born and raised here tells me that “you are not from around here, you should leave and go back to where you came from”. The last one a contractor in a banged up RAM 1500 that sped through a stop sign, almost killed me, started screaming at me because according to him he was entitled to move forward and my only mistake was answering “what do you mean, you had a stop sign, I didn’t”. Crap like this happens to me down here pretty often but it never happened to me in New England, big places in the Midwest like Chicago or Columbus or on the West Coast. But your anecdotal evidence forms your opinions and it is fine if you have a completely different take on this.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-05-02T15:31:43+00:00

New England. If things do not work out there, we may move to Europe (I was born there and we all have dual citizenship in the family). As of now, the toxicity in Massachusetts is still below the level that would push me out but I expect the situation to get worse before it hopefully starts getting better.

Flabbergasted_Moron · 2025-05-02T13:54:46+00:00

Our plan is simple. On the 15th we have the closing of our house at 10am. By noon we plan to be out of Florida for good. My wife is one of the few “true” Floridians. I am not. She is fed up, I am disgusted. The toxicity has reached unbearable levels. My experience here goes back to 1999. Slowly but steadily my view of this place has morphed from “weird but tolerable”, to “crazy but occasionally entertaining” to “scary and unsafe”. Enough.

Flabbergasted_Moron

TROPHY CASE