i lived in south florida for 30 years. yes, stay away from the beach to find reasonable rents. i lived in sunrise and plantation most of the time. plantation is a wonderful city. if you stay mid-state or north, you will get frost in the winter. yes, the summers are hot in the south, but most places are air conditioned. the one thing that i hated was the long drive in order to get out of the state. coral springs is just north of sunrise and that is a nice city as well. it also has a good quilt guild. in any of these cities, it is only approx 12 miles to the beach... straight east of sunrise is the best beach in my estimation.