For me, this is a no-brainer: NASHVILLE! It's just a nice, family-oriented town.

P.S. No one's really mentioned the advantages of being in a university town. Vanderbilt has an excellent medical center, cultural offerings of its own, attracts interesting speakers, college sports, is a major employer, etc.

I think Nashville gets abad rap from people who are not into country music. They think it is a hick town where everyone is a redneck. Of course not true.

I live in West Boca which is more of a middle class area. Here we have all of the amenities of a major city, with Miami/Fort Lauderdale/ W Palm Beach all less than an hour but the safety and cleanliness of a small town. Everything is well manicured and properly built. The beaches are fantastic and every weekend of the year there are several events going on. As far as the travel issue, we are right along I-95, the major artery of the east coast and we have three busy international airports here. How many does Nashville have? If you are really into country music you wont find too many rednecks around here but we think thats a good thing! There is every other type of person here though. From Jews, Cubans, South Americans, Good ole American white folks, Haitians, African-Americans, Gays, and on and on you will find that there is more diversity here then anywhere else.

Mike, Are rednecks truly American?

Florida has its own version of the TN redneck, they are called the "cracker". I find them worse than TN rednecks!

Unfortunately, you don't have to travel too far to find rednecks, no matter where you live. Boca has their share of rednecks (I've lived here for 14 years), but the farther NORTH you go in Florida, the more rednecky and southern the state becomes! South Florida is more New York/Cuba/Haiti than redneck.

I'm a mid-40s family person, live in Boca & love it. Nothing beats taking your morning walk/run on a real beach instead of a treadmill. And having fresh mangoes growing in your back yard.

As for the economy, most of the service industries do very well because the wealthy retiree folks keep spending money even when the U.S. economy dips. No state income tax either (I don't know about TN.) Property taxes are quite low, but windstorn insurance will cost you about $1500 a year for a 2500 sq.ft. house. If you have a family, you should just plan on private schools because the public schools throughout Florida are not great (which goes hand-in-hand with the low taxes).

I grew up in Nashville, although I haven't lived there in many years. I've been to Boca, but only on a conference trip where we stayed at a very nice hotel, so can't offer comments on actually living there.

I just went to the website for Nashville's newspaper (www.Tennessean.com)and found lots of info that might be useful to you -- including last year's 'Newcomers Guide,' which I assume is updated on an annual basis, plus overviews of many of the surrounding communities, entertainment and restaurant guides, annual calendar of events, etc. If you're still looking for information on living there, you might check this site for a few days to get an overview of what's going on there -- bearing in mind that, as is the case for most major cities' daily papers, the bad news is always on the front page!

We've lived lots of places and Nashville would be one of the ones I'd be interested in moving back to, because of a number of factors: big-city amenities, incredible music diversity, restaurants, accessible airport with connections to everywhere, one-day driving distance to mountains or ocean, colleges and universities in addition to Vanderbilt, reasonable cost of living, and more great weather than not -- and having lived for 10 years in places where it was basically summer all the time, I've truly come to appreciate how wonderful a change of seasons is!

Good luck with your decision-making!

topping so this doesn't get lost . ..

My, what a busy day we've had here at the best forum in the internetworld!

Myself, and both of my siblings went to public schools in Boca Raton from K to 12. I still live in Boca. The public schools in Boca Raton are some of the best in the state of Florida, not to mention the country. When people see my old high school they say it looks like a convention center. There are also many magnet programs where students can do almost anything they choose. Although public schools in Florida are not the greatest, Palm Beach County, being the largest geographically as well as the wealthiest in the state, has decent public schools.

I have to agree about Nashville being a nice place. My husband moved there from Buffalo, NY, lived there for 5 years and absolutely loves it! We currently live in Atlanta, but he definitely wants us to eventually move to Nashville. I agree that Nashville has the nicest people. I couldn't believe how pleasant people were. Also, some of the Nashville suburbs are new and the whole area seems very clean. My husband owns a couple of condos in the Green Hills area which is not far from downtown. The housing costs seemed very reasonable.

As for the country music industry, it really doesn't seem to be a major factor; surprising, it's like any other city as far as the ratio of country music fans to other types of music.

Good luck!

Ha

I've visited both (for 5 days each) and lived in neither...I think you have 2 great cities to chose from. I think I'd opt for Nashville. When I was in Boca Raton it was VERY humid and this was May. Nashville will get humid as well though but doesn't have all the bugs that Florida has. I found Nashville to be a fun and lively town with very nice people. I'm 29 so I can probably relate to what you'd enjoy. Nashville seem to have more people our age than Boca Raton and would be MY choice. Good luck with your new job and whatever you chose. Sarah

Sorry to hear about the layoff. I've been to both Boca and Nashville several times. I think you would enjoy either. But, you have such a great oportunity to have a completely different change that I think you should pick Nashville. It won't be the same as the beach lifestyle that you had, but why move to someplace just like you left? Try something new. Nashville isn't about hicks or country music. There is a lot going on there.

Go for it!!

Although I've never been to Boca Raton, I went to Nashville for 4 days last year and stayed 8 months. I enjoy this city immensely and as soon as my home sells, I want to relocate there myself. Good Luck. This is a very happening city....certainly not a hicksville like others have tried to portray it. I'm in hospital administration and hoping to find a job there myself during early 2003. Kevin