[dtennent]

Having lived in upstate NY for 35 years and now living here, here is my comparison.

Northern winters -
1) Looks like a black and white film from November until early April.
2) If it snows, ( or worse yet, an ice storm), while you are away from home, driving can be treacherous. Several times Mother Nature can overwhelm the plow/sanders in the short term. Icy roads can cause accidents no matter how careful you are.
3) While I often backpacked during the winter as a younger man, I am no longer as tolerant to the cold as I have gotten older. So I found myself less active in winter. If you are still active outdoors in the winter, good for you.

Summers in FL -

1) The summers are hot but no worse than what we experienced in NY. The major difference is that we would get significant breaks when a cold front came through. I found that I got used to the heat and planned accordingly with time.
2) My energy bills for the summer are 1/3 of our energy bills for winter up north. We set our thermostat at 78 here and up north we set it at 68.
3) I can mow my lawn in 30 minutes. It seemed like the wind was always blowing when I shoveled snow and it took much longer than 30 minutes.

In the northern winter, we went from heated building, to scraping the windshield then into a heated car, and into a heated building. Down here, you go from AC building to AC car (no scraping involved) to AC building.

BTW, I agree with your decision not to own 2 places in different parts of the country. Good luck.