Palermo verus Firenze

 Chalk and cheese!   I have to say that visiting Palermo is one thing, living there will be quite another - the lack of water, the bureaucracy and endless queues in the ASL, the anagrafe etc - if you want an easy life go to Florence.  But then Palermo is Palermo a vibrant grubby ity that packs more into 24 hours than Florence could do in a month.  ANd theres not many tourists, which drive you mad in Florence.   The weathers better in Palermo, it doesnt sit in a basin nad get stifling hot in summer, and it doesnt rain for days on end in winter, but its not an easy city to live in.  Its much much cheaper than Florence - half the price to live, though property now in palermo is by no menas cheap - youll be paying up to 4000 psm in the centro storico.    If I had to choose itd be Palermo,  for teh sea and the food and the Sicilian way of life.  But Siracusa is less of a culture shock than Palermo, and if I didnt live ronund here Id be in naples - so its horses for courses.

I certainly did the same double-take on your question as ram and Sebastiano! What might surprise you though....is that drivng my own car I'd take Palermo every time over Firenze.Part of it is pace of life, it's  impossible to be in a hurry in Palermo: but at the same time you have to be assertive - there is no quarter given to a mumsie driver in Palermo, you just end up as a stationary chicane. In Florence though, you are expected to know the rules, and the scooteristas are deadly and all in a hurry. Florence is aslo dreadfully full of ill dresed tourists all year, and not big enough to get away from them. Have you not considered Rome or Naples? Even out of town Rome is pretty good - best of both worlds really - a nice place on one of the hills, or in the EUR, quiet, great public transport, coast not far away, knocks spots off foggy Florence.... 

Not been to Palermo but had a couple of visits to Florence and whilst its a nice city I couldn't live there!  The tourists alone would drive me mad.  And I was one!  The 2nd year we viited We stayed just outside the city the other side of the hills to the south in a very nice quiet village but there was a cheap regular bus service every 20-30 minutes.  They were fun - I'm sure the bus drivers in Italy have to be WRC-experienced racing drivers!   Dropped you at Piazza Francesco Ferrucci by the Arno and we were able to get a bus near Ponte Vecchio home.  Might be worth considering?