Moving from Illinois to South Florida: A Chicago Transplant's Guide to Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton

Illinois has lost more residents to Florida than almost any other state over the past decade. For Chicagoans tired of the cold, the taxes, and the cost of suburban living, South Florida offers a genuine alternative, not a compromise.

Chicago's relationship with South Florida is one of the oldest feeder market stories in American real estate. It has been going on for 60+ years and it continues because the fundamentals that drive it have not changed. The Chicago Winter Problem Chicago averages 38 inches of snow annually. January and February wind chills routinely drop to single digits or below zero. The effective outdoor season in Chicago, the period when you can comfortably live the outdoor lifestyle that Chicago's lakefront, parks, and restaurant scene technically offer, runs May through October. Six months. South Florida's outdoor season runs twelve months. January averages 76°F. February is the finest month of the Florida year, dry, warm, brilliant sunshine. The contrast is not subtle, and for Chicago residents wh...