[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by sean1the1

Exactly everything economically sounds better that's why some many people are moving there. I would expect Texas to have a cheaper cost of living as a whole half of the state is a desert, and trust me I have drove through it the most boring 7 Hours of my life. You guys have Mexicans, and we have every other Hispanic/ Caribbean. Also home prices are determined by whether people want to live there and whether this person wants o spend that much. As A whole Florida is A lot more desirable state, so people are willing to spend more to live here. We also are, and yes still is the Retirement capitol of America, That means less people employed that mean less people contributing to the GDP. The University of Miami is ranked higher than the University of Florida. I will agree that what our economy depends on is not as solid, as what they have in Texas. Our economy depends on making people happy, while yours depends on Polluting the earth. We are also working on diversifying it Miami has the second largest medical center in the us, and Orlando is developing a medical city, and is becoming a world renowned tech center.

No offense, but you're an idiot.

For starters, Only 12% of the land in Texas is "desert." The cost of housing here is due to massive amounts of land, not because of a desire to live here, obviously, as Texas has roughly 7-10 million more residents than Florida, that kinda blows your theory.

GDP has nothing to do with retirees, and rankings have nothing to do with AAU schools.

As for your economy "making people happy" What do you have that makes people happy? Disney? Bush Gardens? Seaworld? The Beach? We have three Six-Flags, Two Schlitterbahn's, Seaworld, and the Beach as well. As far as pollution goes, you've obviously never driven by an orange juice factory? Ever been out to any of the areas of Florida that mine for phosphate? As far as Miami goes, I don't see them listed here... Medical centers in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and as far as Orlando goes, I don't see them listed here CIO.com - Geek America: The Top 10 U.S. Cities for Technology Jobs - 10. Atlanta, Ga.

[sean1the1]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

No offense, but you're an idiot.

For starters, Only 12% of the land in Texas is "desert." The cost of housing here is due to massive amounts of land, not because of a desire to live here, obviously, as Texas has roughly 7-10 million more residents than Florida, that kinda blows your theory.

GDP has nothing to do with retirees, and rankings have nothing to do with AAU schools.

As for your economy "making people happy" What do you have that makes people happy? Disney? Bush Gardens? Seaworld? The Beach? We have three Six-Flags, Two Schlitterbahn's, Seaworld, and the Beach as well. As far as pollution goes, you've obviously never driven by an orange juice factory? Ever been out to any of the areas of Florida that mine for phosphate? As far as Miami goes, I don't see them listed here... Medical centers in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and as far as Orlando goes, I don't see them listed here CIO.com - Geek America: The Top 10 U.S. Cities for Technology Jobs - 10. Atlanta, Ga.

Yes, I know Texas is Americas vacation state. Yes, Miami does have the second largest medical center in America. I also agree that our phosphate/ orange juice plants are harming the enviroment also. I would rather have those then terrible beaches due to close proximity to oil wells, I am sorry for offending you. It might not be classified as a desert, But it looked like a desert to me.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_Center_(Miami)

[randian]

Originally Posted by sean1the1

I would rather have those then terrible beaches due to close proximity to oil wells

What's wrong with oil wells? Plenty of those off the coast of California and they don't have terrible beaches. Texas' beaches aren't as nice as Florida's, but that's not the fault of the wells. Oil wells bringing billions of dollars into Florida's economy and employing thousands of people seems like a good thing to me.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by sean1the1

Yes, I know Texas is Americas vacation state. Yes, Miami does have the second largest medical center in America. I also agree that our phosphate/ orange juice plants are harming the enviroment also. I would rather have those then terrible beaches due to close proximity to oil wells, I am sorry for offending you. It might not be classified as a desert, But it looked like a desert to me.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_Center_(Miami)

You haven't offended me, and I apologize for the idiot remark, I just get tired of the same old stereotypes that get spewed over and over. I'll give Miami their due, I had no idea that Miami had any kind of medical center, it may be a fairly good size, but it's not (yet) recognized as a great medical center.

As randian said, the oil platforms in the Gulf have nothing to do with the beaches, to be honest, the platforms are, in most cases, a dozen or so miles offshore, and as the following photo demonstrates..



There are platforms very near Gulf Shores, AL, and the beaches in the Panhandle of Florida that are often voted as some of the best beaches in the world.

The problem with the beaches in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas is the trash, silt, and mud that comes flowing from the Mississippi River from the Upper Midwest. A lot of people talk smack about Galveston and the beaches along the Galveston Island coast, but truthfully it's a crapshoot, some days the water is crystal clear and green, other days it's brown and cloudy. You could also argue the Sabine River dumps a lot of silt into the water too. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of years of Mississippi mud washing ashore has produced brown sand instead of the quartz sand that accumulated in Florida and parts of Alabama. It is what it is.

The Oil rigs in West, South, and East Texas produce billions of dollars each year for the state, not to mention the offshore platforms. It also keeps a lot of people in a very high paying job.

[randian]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

The Oil rigs in West, South, and East Texas produce billions of dollars each year for the state, not to mention the offshore platforms. It also keeps a lot of people in a very high paying job.

Didn't Florida ban oil rigs off its coast? I guess the legislature figured Florida doesn't need more money and jobs.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by randian

Didn't Florida ban oil rigs off its coast? I guess the legislature figured Florida doesn't need more money and jobs.

The eastern Gulf on Mexico is also considered to be part of the Eglin AFB test range zone, and Eglin is extremely skeptical about additional energy production having no impact on their mission. Why screw with high wage-high skill jobs already here from the Panhandle to Key West in favor of oil jobs that could easily be totally vaporware?

Eglin range map:

http://www.florida-edc.org/getmedia/...est-range.aspx

[randian]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

The eastern Gulf on Mexico is also considered to be part of the Eglin AFB test range zone

What's the scale of that map? Looks like plenty of space to drill 5-30 miles out.

A bunch of oil also seems to be off the Atlantic coast. Why let Cuba take all of it?

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by randian

Didn't Florida ban oil rigs off its coast? I guess the legislature figured Florida doesn't need more money and jobs.

Florida had its chances back in the early 1900's, Texas and Louisiana went with oil, Florida went with tourism and not wanting to screw up their beaches or environment. Sadly, because of the Gulf Stream, Florida will be in the path of a massive spill regardless, and with the over population of a peninsula, the pollution won't be too far off either.

Texas and Louisiana make more off of Oil than Florida does on Tourism.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

Florida had its chances back in the early 1900's, Texas and Louisiana went with oil, Florida went with tourism and not wanting to screw up their beaches or environment. Sadly, because of the Gulf Stream, Florida will be in the path of a massive spill regardless, and with the over population of a peninsula, the pollution won't be too far off either.

Texas and Louisiana make more off of Oil than Florida does on Tourism.

Let's both agree that on the whole, fl and tx are far and away more preferable as states to live in than la. La lacks in so many key metrics....

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Let's both agree that on the whole, fl and tx are far and away more preferable as states to live in than la. La lacks in so many key metrics....

Well, I do agree, but...

Louisiana is lacking in MANY areas. Education is terrible, outside of the oilfield, medical profession, and government, there are NO high paying jobs. Housing costs have skyrocketed, auto insurance is extremely high due to the massive amount of DUI's (they have drive through daiquiri stands!) I lived there for about a year and my of the people I knew, met, and worked with, registered/insured their vehicles in Texas.

However, as an outdoorsy type of person, there is no greater state to fish, hunt, boat, ect, ect, and with the legalized gambling, there is a LOT of entertainment, including the culture of New Orleans, I loved living in Louisiana and the New Orleans area but the crime was pretty high, there was no room for advancement, and when I finally get around to starting my family, I'd never want my child to go to school there!

To be honest, Texas and Florida are very similar states.