[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by EternalNomad

illegals pretending to be german.

You know Germans can enter the country illegally too, right?

As far as "authenticity", have you ever been to Little Havana (or Miami as a whole for that matter) or Tarpon Springs? More examples do abound through the state. Lauderhill is a major West Indian community, Sunny Isles Beach has a significant Russian population for example. And also, Mexicans serving Italian food sounds a lot more like "diversity" than a (insert group here) "neighborhood". I personally like where I am because it's very scrambled, but people have tended to set aside their differences while contributing a little bit of their culture. That's a true "melting pot".

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by EternalNomad

arguing the difference between 95 and 100 degrees with 99% humidity is laughable. what is the difference? it is all completely and totally miserable.

pa dutch -- yes, i know they are german. But, i live on the edge of pa dutch country and everyone calls them "dutchies". the point is..they are genuinely german. they arent asians, latinos, or illegals pretending to be german. what you see is what you get: Real, bonafide, germans.

what i am getting at is: because the northeast has been around longer, the heritage and history is rich and, most importantly, legitimate. there is just something more authentic about it. Families have dwelled here for generations. When you walk into a mom and pop pizza parlor you can rest assured that and italian guy is going to be behind the counter making pizza. i like that!

and yes, on the gulf coast (locals proudly call it the redneck riveria...that should give you an inkling as to who hangs out there), i have swam next to people attempting to attract sharks! i thought they were just drunk and crazy but when i actually saw sharks in the water, i stopped swimming there.
but, seeing as you have so much confidence in the fishermen and their ability to reason and make judgement calls regarding your safety, by all means...swim!

I WOULD rather be just about anywhere in the NE. New York is home and always will be. I am only one of those "transients" in Florida. Notice, I did not say Floridian.

I was talking about the weather because it IS so bad. I most certainly could talk about so many more things, but that would take a book.

[EternalNomad]

are you serious?

i cannot believe that we are dissecting my comment about real pa dutch people. i didnt specify that they are german because i assumed that was a well known fact. everyone knows that.

and yes, i am sure that some germans (i should specify from Germany, so that doesnt get everyone all wound up) do immigrate here illegally, but for the most part, when someone refers to illegals...do you think they are referring to germans?? of course not.

yes, i have been to miami. of course there are going to be pockets here and there that do not fit with my characterization of FL. but the originator of the thread did not ask to compare NE vs MIAMI... they said NE vs FL.

For the most part, Florida is a world of traveling carnies.
there are some classy areas
but for the most part it is hot and miserable and lacks class.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by EternalNomad

are you serious?

i cannot believe that we are dissecting my comment about real pa dutch people. i didnt specify that they are german because i assumed that was a well known fact. everyone knows that.

and yes, i am sure that some germans (i should specify from Germany, so that doesnt get everyone all wound up) do immigrate here illegally, but for the most part, when someone refers to illegals...do you think they are referring to germans?? of course not.

yes, i have been to miami. of course there are going to be pockets here and there that do not fit with my characterization of FL. but the originator of the thread did not ask to compare NE vs MIAMI... they said NE vs FL.

For the most part, Florida is a world of traveling carnies.
there are some classy areas
but for the most part it is hot and miserable and lacks class.

Fair enough. Sunbelt definitely can't match the history and culture of the NE. Although I assure you, if you walk into any half decent pizza place in Broward County, there will be an Italian guy making (usually mediocre, it's the water) pizza.

And, I didn't read your post throughly enough. I didn't know you were referring exclusively to Pennsylvania Dutch. Speaking of which, ever been to Knaus Berry Farm in rural Dade County? It's ran by dunkers. Like you said, it exists in little bits and pieces, because it's true that there are not many roots in Florida aside from some remnants of Southern tradition and everything else exists in pockets (So does Southern roots for that matter).

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by EternalNomad

are you serious?

i cannot believe that we are dissecting my comment about real pa dutch people. i didnt specify that they are german because i assumed that was a well known fact. everyone knows that.

and yes, i am sure that some germans (i should specify from Germany, so that doesnt get everyone all wound up) do immigrate here illegally, but for the most part, when someone refers to illegals...do you think they are referring to germans?? of course not.

yes, i have been to miami. of course there are going to be pockets here and there that do not fit with my characterization of FL. but the originator of the thread did not ask to compare NE vs MIAMI... they said NE vs FL.

For the most part, Florida is a world of traveling carnies.
there are some classy areas
but for the most part it is hot and miserable and lacks class.

I posted many, many posts ago that Disney World wasn't just in Orlando. This a one great big Fantasyland.

[EternalNomad]

yes hockeymom you are correct. florida is a nice vacation but living there is a totally different animal.

all i am trying to say is that (and i saw this happen many many times in the 9 years i was there)
many yankees, PNWers, midwesterners etc come in droves to florida. They were chanting "look how cheap it is! i can build a huge mansion! taxes are so much lower! the sun is shining! i love this place!"

within a year or two, the honeymoon was over. suddenly they realized that their mansion was very expensive to keep at a comfortable temp from may to oct. The low taxes, which seemed so great to start with, didnt get them the most experienced, most qualified teachers. Super low taxes dont buy the best civil engineer to consult on the city boards. They didnt make sure that signage wasnt tacky or offensive. They didnt make sure there were green buffers between Retail and Residential. There were virtually no rules. Growth was not handled responsibly at all. If someone wanted to erect a church out of ugly gray sheet metal in the middle of town with a giant flashing neon sign in the parking lot...NO PROBLEM! but when that church closed down in a year and the town was left with a huge eyesore...everyone just stood there and scratched their heads. How did this happen? hmmm....

some people move there and love it (sometimes i think it is matter of pride, they dont want to admit that they hate it because they have so much invested in this move, and many times their families were completely opposed to them moving to FL).

i have been ALL OVER florida. i have spent time in tampa, in gainesville, miami, penscola, destin, delray beach.
pretty much everywhere fits my description with very few exceptions.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by EternalNomad

They didnt make sure that signage wasnt tacky or offensive. They didnt make sure there were green buffers between Retail and Residential. There were virtually no rules. Growth was not handled responsibly at all. If someone wanted to erect a church out of ugly gray sheet metal in the middle of town with a giant flashing neon sign in the parking lot...NO PROBLEM!

That's why I like W. Broward. It's free of that tacky sign and concrete dragstrip stuff I see in other suburban parts of Florida (and the country), and the roads were actually designed for the growth. It's a trivia question that the first Mickey D's without the famed "Golden Arches" in the front was in Coral Springs due to sign code enforcement. Palm Beach County is even cleaner looking. To the point of looking too clean (see "Bland"). It's still plastic looking, but I bet you lived in Orlando looking at your posts...considering what is described here can actually be found through the country and if anything is more subdued in Florida because code enforcement is quite strict in most of the newer communities.

[EternalNomad]

nope, not orlando but i visited there a lot.

anyone who is considering a move to florida, carefully look at the area you are buying in.

and when i say "area" i am not referring to just your "development" (nor am i referring to germany or where dutch people are from ha ha). i am referring to the entire town, and neighboring towns.

look at it and think "what will this town look like in 10 years? are they being careful to control growth and make it look nice? do the roads and traffic lights make sense? taxes may be cheap, but does the town have a board of people who are professional (intelligent) enough to make decisions about this area? (in fact, i would encourage you to go and TALK to them personally...i think this right here will be a REAL eye opener)"
when you buy in a certain area, you are making a wager that hopefully the area will nicer in 10 years than it does presently. i did not get that sort of reassurance in florida. the future looked grim for most areas.

here is a good example: the catholic church we went to in pensacola was forced to buy a huge adjacent tract of land. why? because they were afraid an investor would buy it and put a strip club on it. or an adult video store. this tract of land was also next to University of West Florida. lots of childrens programs (ie swim lessons) happened there.

See? even the church had no confidence in the local government and their ability to exercise good judgement. you go to florida and this is what you will deal with.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by EternalNomad

nope, not orlando but i visited there a lot.

anyone who is considering a move to florida, carefully look at the area you are buying in.

and when i say "area" i am not referring to just your "development" (nor am i referring to germany or where dutch people are from ha ha). i am referring to the entire town, and neighboring towns.

look at it and think "what will this town look like in 10 years? are they being careful to control growth and make it look nice? do the roads and traffic lights make sense? taxes may be cheap, but does the town have a board of people who are professional (intelligent) enough to make decisions about this area? (in fact, i would encourage you to go and TALK to them personally...i think this right here will be a REAL eye opener)"
when you buy in a certain area, you are making a wager that hopefully the area will nicer in 10 years than it does presently. i did not get that sort of reassurance in florida. the future looked grim for most areas.
.

"West Broward" isn't a development, it the suburban half of a county that has about 1.8 million people. Taxes aren't that cheap either, I started renting because property taxes here are comparable to up north. At most major intersections in the area, you will see infrared traffic cameras that time the traffic lights accordingly, and you won't see much gridlock on most roads and highways, although flow is heavy (the area is at buildout, so it won't get any worse). The roads in Palm Beach and Broward County are laid out in a grid fashion with a six lane road corssing north, south, east, or west about every mile and a half. I think that makes sense. The roads are also the smoothest I have seen ANYWHERE (except for Arizona), and virtually every road is landscaped in the median. As far as "being careful to control growth and make it look nice", you need to visit the cities of Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Weston, Parkland, Coral Springs, Plantation, Sunrise, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines and Miramar and tell me that isn't the POSTER CHILD for clean appearance of a newer city. These cities are absolutely notorious for strict code enforcement to the point where it gets annoying.

Anyway, I live in the city of "Weston". Just look it up on CD and look at the pictures. It's one of the most lush planned suburbs around. My corner/development isn't even that nice compared to other areas.

I will give you this though; Orlando and Tampa are pretty ugly looking in a lot of sections and were poorly planned in terms of transportation and aesthetics. Parts of Tampa tend to remind me of Houston (which has like no zoning laws). Those places have bad zoning.

Anyway, click on "Code of ordinances" and then "view codes" and look. It's almost ridiculous. This is typical in most municipalities, at least in this part of Florida.

City of Weston

10-15 years ago, the city was a bunch of empty grass lots, as was Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, and any of the other major "Boom towns" in Broward and Palm Beach County. Although they are plastic looking, you better believe they are lush and clean. Like I said, Coral Springs was the first city to have a McDonalds without the golden arches because it was considered too ugly.

[Alphaman]

I remember some time back maybe 1990 or around there a topless coffee shop was built on dean and east colonial right next to a middle school. I would see the kids trying to peep in as customers left.

Tells you about the zoning in Orlando it took all the area residents complaining for the county to force them out.