[triton1]

Florida is a nice state. I was there quite a few times myself. I went to tampa, fort lauderdale, key west, key largo (I even camped in a tent a few times in the keys before!) I also seem to have picked up on an AOL article that listed the top ten most dangerous states that had a comment from this forum about Florida crime being "spread out all over the state." That just does not seem possible, especially since one evening I spent in Fort Lauderdale, I was out strolling through town until about 11:00 at night and did not encounter anything bad, nor did I even feel in danger by any means. (I even had dinner by myself in Fort Lauderdale, too!) I also strolled through Key West twice until 10:00 at night and even there did not encounter any criminal activity. I mean, true, there are parts of florida that can be quite rough, but there is really no way that the entire state could be one huge no man's land. I also read a lot about floridians being "rude" and "unfriendly", but everywhere i went, the locals were very nice to me. Also, i even have a couple of friends that own a winter home near Punta Gorda that pay quite a lot of attention to politics and stuff, and from what I hear from them, yes there are issues with property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and such, but I also happen to hear that governor Charlie Crist is at work right now to fix these issues. Why do so many users on this forum think that there is "no hope" for Florida? And why do so many others think that Florida will be "restricted for the rich and famous only"? Also, who says that there are "no medium to low crime areas" anywhere in the state of florida?

[daniellefort]

Well there is medium and low crime areas in FL, they are just hard to find. Vacationing here is different than living here. you don't care what you hear on the news about what happened overnight and what area it was in. Yes you strolled the streets in Ft. Lauderdale but that was just one night. Don't base one night of calmness on being like that every night. Key West hardly has the population that the bigger cities do so yeah, it may be quiet there because everyone around you was probably a tourist too. We also camped down there. Spent a weeks vacation in the Keys which is basically what the keys are to us Floridians.. a vacation getaway. Try visiting Tampa one night or St.Pete. I was just down there for 4 days with my sister and wow, i was scared being out at 11:00 from the things i saw just on the roads and i've lived here in FL 14 years. Oh and our big savings on insurance a whopping $200 average. Come on now, like that's going to make up for the hundreds even thousands of dollars our premiums went up. Don't get me wrong, i like FL and live in a nice quiet low crime town but i just read your post and it got me thinking... boy, what you see on short trips compared to what you see when you live here is so different.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by triton1

especially since one evening I spent in Fort Lauderdale, I was out strolling through town until about 11:00 at night and did not encounter anything bad, nor did I even feel in danger by any means. (I even had dinner by myself in Fort Lauderdale, too!)

Crime in Ft. L is not that bad for an urban center. Check out CD index. 500s to low 600s, elevated (almost twice the national average), but about right for a "City" type of place.Compare it to most American cities and crime rates are pretty similar. A lot of cities like Orlando, WPB and Miami and many smaller towns are up there in the 1000s, and you can sense it when you are there. Crime in these areas is widespread and affects areas that do not look to be high-crime areas.I mean, living here on a day to day basis is a different story, I will tell you that, but I do not think crime is so bad here compared to any other metro area! Personally I feel unsafe in Lauderdale if I am on the wrong block at night(like any other city), but it is not out of control where it has spread all over! When I lived in Orlando though, I will admit, that was a little scary. Crime was all over the place. You get lots of thefts and break ins in areas where you would not expect it, and violent crime there REALLY spiked over the past 10 years there. Lots of sex offenders moved in,too.

[INeedAChange]

basically it breaks down into three groups:

1) a few native Floridians who want to turn the clock back 40 years
2) some people who moved without doing their homework, ended up in a ghetto area and are screwed
3) people who moved away from the state yet inexplicably feel the need to come to this forum and be a wet blanket on any and all threads.

Then there are the balanced people who will tell the good with the bad.

Feel free to use the "ignore" feature liberally for groups 1-3

Originally Posted by triton1

Florida is a nice state. I was there quite a few times myself. I went to tampa, fort lauderdale, key west, key largo (I even camped in a tent a few times in the keys before!) I also seem to have picked up on an AOL article that listed the top ten most dangerous states that had a comment from this forum about Florida crime being "spread out all over the state." That just does not seem possible, especially since one evening I spent in Fort Lauderdale, I was out strolling through town until about 11:00 at night and did not encounter anything bad, nor did I even feel in danger by any means. (I even had dinner by myself in Fort Lauderdale, too!) I also strolled through Key West twice until 10:00 at night and even there did not encounter any criminal activity. I mean, true, there are parts of florida that can be quite rough, but there is really no way that the entire state could be one huge no man's land. I also read a lot about floridians being "rude" and "unfriendly", but everywhere i went, the locals were very nice to me. Also, i even have a couple of friends that own a winter home near Punta Gorda that pay quite a lot of attention to politics and stuff, and from what I hear from them, yes there are issues with property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and such, but I also happen to hear that governor Charlie Crist is at work right now to fix these issues. Why do so many users on this forum think that there is "no hope" for Florida? And why do so many others think that Florida will be "restricted for the rich and famous only"? Also, who says that there are "no medium to low crime areas" anywhere in the state of florida?

[ShepsMom]

FL is a transit state, people come and go overnight. It's funny, but the most odd and weird news are from Florida. How interesting. Is it possible that people commiting a crime are not Floridians???

Being a tourist is just that, being a tourist no matter where you go. I live in Sarasota, pretty slow, mellow town, and still, we have our share of crime. You don't go hang out in certain neighborhoods as a tourist, or as a resident for that matter. You avoid them. It's up to you in how much trouble you wanna get, where you want to go, who your friends are. Crime is everywhere, some less, some more.

[Travel'r]

I was in one beach town where many of the neighbors moved there to "disappear". And many homeless I'd see migrated down there because they don't have to freeze in the winters, can sleep in parks or the beach, get baths in the Gulf, and panhandle the tourists.

You got it, ShepsMom. They aren't Floridians for the most part. Florida gets everybody. Some just stick there.
Just have to do thorough research in choosing a town first. It's a mighty big state.

[PBCboy]

Compared to West Palm Beach and Miami, Fort Lauderdale is nothing, crime-wise. There are a few seedy areas but you can easily avoid them in Fort Lauderdale, unlike Miami and West Palm Beach where ghettos unexpectedly pop up.

[dianeroberts]

Florida is like anywhere else is the world.You have to know your surroundings.
We don't need tourists anymore.Havn't in 15 years.There is enough people that there are manufacturing jobs, hospitals,road workers and so on.If I lived in DC I wouldn't venture out after dark.If it was NYC I wouldn't go to harlem.I would stay away from Newark if i was in New Jersey.Theres enough people now living here from all over the world,not just from other states.Traffic in F.laud. and Miami is horrible.I am on the n.end of Broward county and its great.I also have a home in the middle of the state on a lake that was fairly inexspensive for what I bought it for a few years ago and there is hardly no crime.I have been here 35 years from N.Y. and I hope when people hit Georgia they stop and go to Texas or S. Carolina and we will be just fine.Remember the old axiom you get what you pay for.

[Hondax]

Triton1,

Negativity is common on forums as well as fear, hate, anger, and distrust. Kindness, positive thinking, glass half full,....how boring compared to negativity,....lol. Forum users are professional complainers and winers making up only a fraction of what is really happening or what people really feel. Some times I think Forum's are cheap therapy for the many problems we all face. You know, a place to vent and hang out with like minded complainers. Still, there are some really top notch folks here and if you can handle wading through the mire their wisdom will be found.

If you take what you hear with a grain of salt and make sure you find out first hand how an area is personally, you will be well on your way to a good Florida experience. My 2 cents.

[JSnFla]

here's the deal....many, many people see florida as a dream. they envision moving to paradise with palm trees, tropical drinks in january and a beautiful care free lifestyle in shorts and flip flops. when most of these people get to florida to actually live they realize that their life is nothing like this and eventually get enraged and start to rip the state endlessly becasue it has not given them the lifestyle or paradise they dreamed of. come here with no outlandish expectations, find a good job and work hard and u can have a great life here, like anyplace else.