Ft. Lauderdale/ Naples

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by fort lauderdale

NSU is a great university. I say go for it. You can live relatively affordably right next door to it too, Davie is a decent area and close to the exciting stuff.

It all depends on what degree she's really going for. Regular MD is not at Nova.

Are you trying to keep people out of Miami????

LOLLL j/k but I can't rep you!!!!

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by vpcats

Regular MD is not at Nova.

True.

Are you trying to keep people out of Miami????

Maybe .

[mrs1885]

As someone born and raised in Naples, and spent 35 years there : Ft Lauderdale.

Naples isn't for anyone for enjoys any kind of nightlife. The activities there are either shuffleboard or the theater.

Biking is the equivalent of a suicide attempt. No one there can drive anymore - it's every man for himself and on a bike, you'll lose.

There are tons of stores geared for the organic lifestyle, but I'd never suggest to anyone to go to Immokalee unattended and unarmed.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by lkpetrolino

In general I would just like to hear the negs and pos of the area

I forgot to cover this

Pros to Fort Lauderdale
-Very multicultural, yet it seems to work well here
-"Bad neighborhoods" are not massive and quite and avoidable. Overall safety
-(A lot of people will disagree, but I can't understand why) Traffic. Seriously. Can't remember the last time I got stuck in traffic. There are still some really congested streets around though, especially in Lauderdale proper
-Tons of volunteer and employment opportunities
-Down to earth people

Cons to Fort Lauderdale
-Ridiculous cost of living
-Low overall wages
-If you are having kids in the future, the schools generally suck.
-Super crowded
-Whacko drivers
-Questionable future prospects (Broward County is nearing buildout, neighbors to north and south have SOARING violent crime rates, aforementioned crappy economy)

Pros to Naples
-Quieter
-IMHO, better beaches
-Lower overall crime
-Great shuffleboard

Cons to Naples
-Mostly geriatric population
-Rude, pretentious people
-Large problem with illegal immigration (yes, more so than Broward County, get it through your heads!)
-Not much of a middle class
-Not very dynamic or interesting
-Traffic is a bigger pain that you would expect
-Job market? PHUGEDABOUDIT!!!!

Honestly, its difficult to compare the 2. Naples is a medium sized sprawl with maybe 100k people in the whole area, Fort Lauderdale is a bustling metropolitan area of 1.8 mil, and when you including all of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm, about 5 million.

[vpcats]

Seeeeeeeee.... Miami is better.
You have South Beach, the Grove, Coral Gables, South Miami, Key Biscayne.
If you have the money, you can do anything you want and in some areas (of those I mentioned) you have bike trails, sidewalk cafes, artsy areas, there's always something going on. If you go to UM or FIU med school, you'll have tons of folks just like you. Most, especially UM's med school, are not "native" floridians.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by vpcats

You have South Beach, the Grove, Coral Gables, South Miami, Key Biscayne.
If you have the money, you can do anything you want and in some areas (of those I mentioned) you have bike trails, sidewalk cafes, artsy areas, there's always something going on.

Same applies to Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood (where they actually have an unspoiled beach), and you can get it minus the hablo . I could go into PBC and hang out in downtown Delray and it's even better.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by fort lauderdale

Same applies to Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood (where they actually have an unspoiled beach), and you can get it minus the hablo . I could go into PBC and hang out in downtown Delray and it's even better.

And minus the med school.

[THX 1138]

Naples is much more seasonal, secluded and devoid of much you see on the east coast, you can really see a difference being there off season. I don't think people there are as rude as the people on the east coast. At least the people that live there year round, I didn't see it as much though I'm sure it exist. I don't agree that people are more down to earth here either.

Driving here year round is a bad and progressively gets worse during season. In Naples off season you can drive around downtown on the side streets and often on Tamiami and see no cars behind you.

The crime aspect, most of the problems seem to be in Fort Myers and Immokalee. That's obvious when you drive around downtown Naples off of the main drag and see dimly lit streets and no gang bangers walking around.

Naples is highly service based, the area caters to people who don't need to work. Much like most of South Florida, but more obvious there. Looking in the paper for jobs is a joke, there isn't much. A few companies, Arthrex is a large employer and Healthcare is big. Hellerman Tyton is closing their doors so that's going to hit the job market hard. Lot's of retail spaces, new shops and shopping centers, Coconut Point in Estero all of which are low paying retail jobs.

I honestly don't know what people do there for work that is the ones that have to work, the job market is not very motivating. Service jobs can only pay so much. Most of the fine dining establishments are very pricey, though you can find the usual chains there.

They are building a Whole Foods off of Tamiami and there are several Fresh Markets there along with a downtown Farmers Market (can't say how good it is?).

I think the biggest thing hurting Naples is Higher Ed., there isn't much there compared to South East Florida.