Native Floridians not happy with population growth (mortgage, lawyer)

[New England Yankee]

yes I know how big this country is and I also know how fast the population is growing every second of every day!

[SirenSong71]

Originally Posted by macguy

Urban Legends

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Stella Awards

But it does say in an instruction book for a hair dryer do NOT us in the shower. Like the silica gel packet in the stereo system box that says: 'DO NOT EAT THIS'.

This implies that someone did, and suffered the consequences.

Haven't you ever heard of Bill Engvale?

Here's your sign!

Just trying to add some lightness to the thread.

Macguy, I swear sometimes I think you're my own personal judge and jury....

[Kappy]

Originally Posted by guicarlorobelli

I am, for one, a sixth generation Floridian. I grew up here when it was all acres and acres of land with not a moment of boredom. Now, it takes an hour to drive one exit on the interstate to get home from work. All the land I used to have fun on and all the activities there used to be around here are long gone and replaced with subdivisions and condos. I don't see why everyone wants to move here and ruin such a used-to-be-good place to live. Crime is up, pollution is way up, overpopulation is at its worst, and overall stress from traffic hold-ups is about to send most of us to an insane asylum. I'm all for progress, but the majority of the northerners have over-stayed their welcome. I also hear people boast of how our economy needs tourism and more people living here. If this was true, how come things were so much better before? We had no problems at all with the way things were. It is great that the American dream is so easily attainable these days thanks to 100 percent financing and severence payoffs etc., but does everyone have to live it and own a vacation home in Florida?? It seems that the part time residents have more pull when it comes to our way of life and the rights of land utilization. I guess California had the gold rush and almost a hundred and sixty years later, Florida had the old rush. The damage has been done, goodbye Florida, hello Michihionetticutyorkachussetts.

The old rush? The ones who pay the high school taxes with no kids in school? (by the way that's a plus for the system) Or the ones who really impact crime by minding their own business and not bothering anyone - sorry thats wrong, they do bother to spend money to help local economies prosper. Or are they the ones that actually pay for hospital emergency visits so these private hospitals can offer free care for the non paying public. What about volunteer work . I really don't think the "old rush" is out there compaigning for a lots of changes from years past. They were very happy to come to Florida , find a peaceful place and start on there last part of there life quietly. As for vietnam veterans that retire here - what would you say to them. Sorry, you gave it your all, served your country, and now we think that you should go back to where you came from because we are affraid you might ask for some changes to be made of this perfect State. Maybe, they might want something radicle. like wheelchair accessibile places. But don't you worry these citizens are leaving as fast as they can & are beeing wooed by other states that really want them - states with some insite as to the benefits they can give there local communities & town.

[Jim280]

Found this on another site.


Snowbirds moving to or from Florida


April 30th...
Florida is fantastic! Just got here and love it already. Now this is a state that knows how to live! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! Watched the sunset from a park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

May 14th...
Really heating up. Got to 89° today. Not a problem, I live in an air-conditioned home and drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a real sun worshipper.

June 5th...
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing for me. NO MORE SHOVELING SNOW EITHER! Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 1st...
The temperature hasn't been below 90° all week, not even at night. Where are those ocean breezes we heard about? Still seems hot. Getting used to it will take a while, I guess. I sure miss my LP collection, though. I'll have to remember not to leave anything made out of plastic in my car. Got one of those fuzzy steering wheel covers - cheaper than the burn ointment for my hands. I always wondered what burnt flesh smelled like.

July 15th...
Fell asleep by the pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.) Missed two days of work - what a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though - got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th...
I miss our cat, Abby. He snuck into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got out to the hot car for lunch, he'd swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and just as I opened the door he exploded all over $2,000 worth of leather upholstery. I told the kids he ran away. The car now smells like Kibbles and poop. No more pets in this heat!

July 25th...
Ocean breezes, my [#@!$]. Hot is hot! The home air conditioner is on the fritz and AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts. Only hope for a break in the heat would be a hurricane.

July 30th...
Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. Swatting the swamp mosquitoes that are as big as B-52's. $1,500 in darn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

Aug 4th...
100°... Finally got the air conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to about 90°. The electric bill is almost as much as the house payment. And two old lady drivers almost ran me off the road. I hate this state.

Aug 8th...
If another wise jerk cracks, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to tear his head off. [#@!$] heat! By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like roasted Garfield!

Aug 10th...
The weather report might as well be a [#@!$] recording: Hot and sunny. It's been too hot for two #@*& months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. And whoever came up with the statement, "it may be hot, but at least you don't have to shovel it" should die from heat exhaustion. Doesn't it ever rain in this God-forsaken place?

Aug 12th...
Welcome to Hell... Temperature got to 102 today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the windshield out of the Lincoln. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $1,500 house payment to bail me out of jail.

Aug 13th...
Worst day of the summer. I'm not leaving the house. The monsoon rains finally came and all they did is to make it muggier than hell and drove the damned roaches out of the ground. I wasn't aware they could fly!

Aug 14th...
Welcome to Hurricane Charley - the Lincoln is now floating somewhere in the Caribbean with its new $500 windshield. That does it, we're moving back to Toronto where all you have to worry about is getting mugged.

I hope this state breaks in half and floats to Cuba...

[floridasandy]

Originally Posted by guicarlorobelli

Florida used to be a agricultural state as well. This is my point entirely, Florida is no longer known for citrus, dairy cows, tomatoes, and other resources it once was. There seems to be no productivity, just tourism.

that is because the longtime florida landowners sold out when there was money to be made, so you can blame them too. the point is that those of us who are still here just need to figure out how to fix the government overspending problem, which is the root of the economic problem that we have now. if you are saying it was better when the government had less money, then we need to give them less money. i voted and i hope everybody goes out and votes because the florida polls are open!

[Magnulus]

I grew up in a military family, spent some time in Tampa as a kid. I'm living in Orlando now days mostly by accident, been living here about 12 years or so. I've seen the Orlando area go down the tubes. I don't think tourists or the elderly are to blame- after all tourists go away eventually and old people die ("God's waiting room" as one of my brothers friends put it). I think land speculators and developers are a bigger part of the problem. You've got Jeb Bush and Crist... both of them are former developers. That's like letting the fox guard the chicken coop.

I don't think lowering taxes or government spending is a solution. If anything they ought to be levelling more impact fees on strip malls, condos, and the rest of the crap. The taxes here also aren't that bad, provided you make enough money and didn't buy more house than you could afford. So many people have come down here thinking they'll take their retirement pay from being a janitor in the northeast and live like a king off the backs of Florida's low wage, "right-to-work" economy- now all that is comming home to roost.

[FSU_Alum]

My 86 year old grandfather gets tears in his eyes when he talks about how the Florida (Lee County, in particular) he has loved all of his life has changed for the worse.

I, personally, get sick to my stomach every time I see a tract of land being flattened for development.

While a Florida Native (6th generation born in Tampa), I have lived all over this country, as well as in Europe. What is happening in Florida is a hundred times worse than any develpment I've seen anywhere else.

Honestly, I think this bursting of the Housing Bubble will, in the long run, be the best thing that can happen to Florida.

Very, very tough times are a-coming--soaring unemployment, forclosures, house prices dropping AT LEAST 50%, recession...a chance of depression. Once it is all said and done, though, I believe (hope) that nomalcy will return.

What has happened to Florida over the last decade is, well, ridiculous. Anyone with a lick of sense should have seen the "boom" was unsustainable.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the old folks who move down here to live out their last few years. Florida can handle that. People who work hard all their lives do deserve a little relaxation in their last few years.

The problem comes from the tens of thousands of incoming non-retirees who have taxed an infrastructure that can't sustain/wasn't designed for this kind of influx.

With the construction and real-estate related jobs gone, though, I think that problem may correct itself. (I mean, c'mon, did anyone really think we could continue with an economy of building houses and selling them to one another indefinitely?)

I am personally looking forward to seeing abandoned construction and houses being taken over by nature in the future. Cape Coral may be a veritable wilderness in about ten years....

[verobeach]

So what if someone started a post, "yes we dislike native Floridians?" because this sentiment does exist, you know. Take a deep breath, allow the change to manifest, and enjoy the low property taxes that are a result of the second-home taxpayers from the north.

[GR82BAGATOR]

We sound like a broken record but it's true! I have heard it since I was young from all my Native Floridian family members! Not sure how far we go back but I know it's at least 4 generations on one side!

Originally Posted by guicarlorobelli

I am, for one, a sixth generation Floridian. I grew up here when it was all acres and acres of land with not a moment of boredom. Now, it takes an hour to drive one exit on the interstate to get home from work. All the land I used to have fun on and all the activities there used to be around here are long gone and replaced with subdivisions and condos. I don't see why everyone wants to move here and ruin such a used-to-be-good place to live. Crime is up, pollution is way up, overpopulation is at its worst, and overall stress from traffic hold-ups is about to send most of us to an insane asylum. I'm all for progress, but the majority of the northerners have over-stayed their welcome. I also hear people boast of how our economy needs tourism and more people living here. If this was true, how come things were so much better before? We had no problems at all with the way things were. It is great that the American dream is so easily attainable these days thanks to 100 percent financing and severence payoffs etc., but does everyone have to live it and own a vacation home in Florida?? It seems that the part time residents have more pull when it comes to our way of life and the rights of land utilization. I guess California had the gold rush and almost a hundred and sixty years later, Florida had the old rush. The damage has been done, goodbye Florida, hello Michihionetticutyorkachussetts.

[deevee]

Originally Posted by guicarlorobelli

I am, for one, a sixth generation Floridian. I grew up here when it was all acres and acres of land with not a moment of boredom. Now, it takes an hour to drive one exit on the interstate to get home from work. All the land I used to have fun on and all the activities there used to be around here are long gone and replaced with subdivisions and condos. I don't see why everyone wants to move here and ruin such a used-to-be-good place to live. Crime is up, pollution is way up, overpopulation is at its worst, and overall stress from traffic hold-ups is about to send most of us to an insane asylum. I'm all for progress, but the majority of the northerners have over-stayed their welcome. I also hear people boast of how our economy needs tourism and more people living here. If this was true, how come things were so much better before? We had no problems at all with the way things were. It is great that the American dream is so easily attainable these days thanks to 100 percent financing and severence payoffs etc., but does everyone have to live it and own a vacation home in Florida?? It seems that the part time residents have more pull when it comes to our way of life and the rights of land utilization. I guess California had the gold rush and almost a hundred and sixty years later, Florida had the old rush. The damage has been done, goodbye Florida, hello Michihionetticutyorkachussetts.

Like us "northeners" havent seen any change where we live? Walk a mile in our shoes.