[logybogy]

Insurance-scarred Florida emigres stream to Atlanta | ajc.com (broken link)

When Warren Lambert's insurance company canceled his homeowner's policy, it was the last straw.

Even though he had never filed a claim despite a punishing year of hurricanes in 2004 and had absorbed a 40 percent rise in his insurance premium, Lambert was among thousands of Florida homeowners left in the lurch by retreating insurers.

For the short term, Lambert bought a policy that added yet another $600 a year to his payments. Then, he came house hunting in Atlanta, where he had lived in the 1990s.

Pleased by the growing urban sophistication of the intown areas, he settled into a Peachtree Street loft.

Lambert, 44, is among a wave of transplants migrating to metro Atlanta from coastal communities, driven by soaring insurance premiums, devastating weather and a volatile real estate market that has priced much coastal housing beyond the reach of average workers.

[MrTudo]

Oh please. Have you ever checked out Atlanta? You couldn't pay me to live in that place.

We looked at Peachtree City and Fayetteville which are roughly 30 minutes SW of Atlanta. Ever walk thru the airport in Atlanta? I don't mean change planes in Atlanta, I mean walk thru it, rent a car and leave it? It's like a 4th world country and it's not because of the traffic either.

PCT and Fayetteville are nice areas. From reasonably priced homes for the average working person to mega million dollar homes for the CNN exec. I could live there. However it's surrounded by crime and the fastest way OUT is Atlanta.

When flying back into Ft Myers Regional, it was like flying back from being in a different world entirely. And coming back to a MUCH nicer one.

Hope they all appreciate the state of ga looking up their dresses and pants legs for state income tax by the way. That move would have cost my family more than 10 grand and that was AFTER factoring the reduction of homeowners insurance ( the property taxes were fairly high in peachtree city ).

[spotrod]

sorry Mr Tudo,


As a native floridian and i mean several generations , not a northern been here for 10 years kinda of floridian.

i live in the burbs of atlanta now. yes we have a state tax , guess how much i had to pay ---- 100.00 bucks not mega $ as you imply.
lets see , property tax you say , okay ; i pay 1100.00 hum not the thousands you imply.
home owners insurance , how about 450.00 a year.
house - sq ft 3000 brand new on an acre. 169,000 yes that includes the basement.
utilities- winter , house kept at 80 , yes that will tell you i'm a real floridian 150.00
summer , kept at 75 120.00
water , this month was the highest yet at 40.00 lowest was 18.00 avg 20-25.00
direct tv - 45.00
crime , i leave the car and house unlocked
class of people, well you see i do not judge people by what they have but on who they are. we have poor people here but not as many as there are in florida. may i also add that i have never seen so many poor people that have pride in their homes . it might be a trailer but the yards are just as nice as mine.
pay , florida cannot even compare here - school teacher w/ master in ed and certified as a highly qualified teacher , pay in florida ( 5 years in ) this year they were worth 40,000 ga , this coming year 07/08 65,000

i had also worked for the florida school system as a data enty , 5 years in 9.55 an hour , exit pay. started at 7.40 an hr ga , 13.00 an hour , been here 10 mos

car taxes , yes thats expensive if you have a newer car and i refuse to pay it so as a person whom still has a place in florida , i have left my cars reg in florida, the down side of this is i still pay the florida prem on car ins.

where am i , well i relocated to the dahlonega / dawsonville area.

yes, i can back up all i wrote ! so please ,the relocators know the real deal; just ask us .

as for the airport , its not the most user friendly but then again neither is TIA . they are all a pain . the positives far out way the negatives.
oh a side note on the weather , we had one dusting of snow and some nights were down right cold but it was maybe 10 nights . the rest of the time it was 30's to 40's at night and 58 to 65 during the day. just in case you had some wisdom about the weather too.

if i sound a little cranky , your right . i get tired of florida people ( who are not real floridians any way) talking about other states not being any better off then florida , well if that were true i'd sure still be living in florida not here. i love my home state and i miss my friends, family but i sooo live better up here. if florida were to get her sh*t together , higher pay -lower cost of living , id be heading home.

not responsible for any typos as its late and i'm very tired.........

[backtofla]

atlanta is the "nyc of the south." if ppl in fla are trying to get away from cities like miami/tampa/orlando b/c of crime, traffic, etc... why would they choose atlanta? if it's b/c of property taxes and hoi, i could understand that. but i doubt atl is much cheaper. maybe the burbs, but then were not really talking about the city of atlanta.

[MrTudo]

Spotrod, I disagree completely with you and am glad you are glad you are out of the great state of Fla. No loss here.

I do agree with you on one point. If all you are able to earn is 40K a year then Ga is probably a good place for you. Far as Fla getting IT's act together, it's not up to "the state" to pay people what people would like to be paid. It's up to people to be smart enough and productive enough to earn what it takes to live where they want, how they want.

I agree that there's a whole new ballgame in Fla with regards to lifestyle/cost of living etc. So what.

Again, if you like it in Ga more then that's where you belong.

[MrTudo]

[quote=backtofla;939869]atlanta is the "nyc of the south." QUOTE]


HAHAHAh perhaps to someone who has never spent any time in NYC.

[INeedAChange]

I thought about moving to Atlanta in the early 90's. so we made a trip there--it seemed like everything was a highway there. Traffic was bad at that time, I assume it's a total nightmare at this point.

[spotrod]

Mr Tudo,

Just what do you think it takes to earn a master's degree, being stupid?
We are not talking about an online degree from some no name school but USF and did it working as a teacher , coaching football and working a weekend security job , graduated with a 3.8 gpa in two years, so that is full time student not part time. not many people have that kind of dedication

And YES i do think the Florida Government needs to pay their teachers and cops, firefighter ect a lot better then they do.Is this better then saying " florida" we did not go to college nor have these student loans just to have to work two jobs and still not afford a home without being house poor

As for "no loss", well your not really a nice person are you, not that i was looking for ( oh poor you ) but to just be mean esp when someone was trying to point out misinformation. By damn it is a loss , to all the present and future students , most of the highly qualified teachers are leaving for better pay , gosh i guess us stupid people have it wrong. What were we thinking........oh thats right we are too stupid to think! I am offended by that remark!!!

as for the traffic - its bad , just like tampa but i do not have to drive nor live in atlanta , i am 50 miles away in the foothills of the mtns. traffic is great and i have a mall and all the resturants you guys have plus the great mom and pops that have disappeared in florida.

[MrTudo]

Terrific spotrod, good luck. On one hand you have found your paradise in georgia, but for some unknown at this point reason must take the time to come to a public message board and complain about Florida. This is but one reason why I said "no loss". We have enough whiners and complainers in the world as well as here in Fla and one less complainer who claims to have found paradise in georgia is no loss to Florida I assure you.

Part of your complaints are how the tax situation in Fla is out of control ( which I absolutely agree with ) BUT you think that government here should pay people like you more ( which I absolutely disagree ) which in fact would result in people like me who are self supporting, having to shoulder an even greater burden of taxes just to support you.

Please go out and enjoy your paradise in georgia and leave Florida's problems to Floridians. Thank you and have a great day!