Are you ready to live in Key West?
Living in Key West | How hard can it be?
Heck, you’ve vacationed in Key West for years. You know all about the island mystique — and on an island you don’t even have grass to mow. So, let’s find out if you’ve got what it takes to live here.
It’s hurricane season
The official hurricane season is June 1-November 31, which is pretty much the whole year, because we prep in May and hope to heaven there are no late storms in December. No local ever takes hurricane season lightly, especially if we’ve weathered an earlier one.
Hidden charms & secrets
Lizards. Iguanas. Roaches. Floods. Heat wave alerts. Hurricanes. Power outages. Crashing cell service. No water. No parking. Traffic headaches. Neighbors so close you hear their toliets flush. It’ll make you crazy. And, yet we can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Homeowner tips
Wow. You own (or rent) your personal piece of paradise. So how come you’ve got bugs, mold and mildew? How come the like-new air conditioning needs to be replaced? Home repairs and maintenance in a sub-tropical environment are not for the faint of heart.
7 ways to move here
How does one move to Key West? There are lots of toss-off answers, like “marry rich” or “rob a bank,” but I decided to take this seriously. Here’s how one prepares to move to Key West.
Why would you leave?
Everyone dreams of living in Key West, a place where everyone knows why you’d move there. What most folks rarely stop to think about: Why would anyone up and leave? And they do. Lots of them.
North to Miami? Nope
Did you know you head east when you drive to Miami? Not north. East-northeast. And mostly east. Trust your eyes at sunrise. Well, except for a couple of stretches like that right turn in Big Pine, which is due south.
What's it like to live on an island closer to Cuba than Miami?
Well, first of all no one tells you about the bugs in your bed. Or the sinks that fall in, the porch that collapses because of termites, the iguanas that rampage through your landscape (and bathrooms) or the lizards and roaches that share your kitchen sink. Certainly no one tells you about routine water, electric and internet outages.
But other than that, living on an island is great.
Hurricane season demands preparation all year
Our latest post
Hurricane season 2026: Weeks away and no money to prep or rebuild
Here's the thing about hurricanes. Every season is a crapshoot. A monster like Hurricane Irma in September 2017 is either gonna hit dead on or it's not. When Key West folks went to bed on Sept. 9, Irma was supposed to slam Old Town as a vicious...
What every homeowner should know about living in Key West
Your home, flood and wind insurance could cost as much as your monthly mortgage payment. Maybe more. You need to make at least $30 an hour to even consider affording rent and you likely can never afford to buy. You’re closer to Havana than a Walmart or Target. You pretty much have one choice on pretty much everything. And everything runs on ISLAND TIME.
