[Crane's Rooster]

I wouldn't say it's culturally similar to the west but I can see where it is politically similar to the west. Like much of the west Florida is most easily dividable by urban v. non urban areas. Our urban areas tend to be Blue, liberal, transplant heavy and more socially open. Our non-urban areas tend to be solidly red, conservative, religious and more old fashioned. The hitch is that the Urban areas and non-urban areas are almost equal population wise, hence our purple state status, but clearly in favor of non-urban land wise. Once you leave the larger counties in Florida you will quickly find yourself in what's very similar to the rest of the south in most parts of the state. Most people just don't see it that way because most of them live in our urban centers but take a drive through Florida. The majority of the time you will be driving through small, lowly populated areas with the "Old Florida" feel. But no one ever comes to visit Florida to visit Hendry, Glades, Marion, Highlands, Polk county, etc. So people get the impression that there is only one side of Florida, the tourist side. The reality is most of the state still retains a southern "Old Florida" feel.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Yes. Finally an honest assessment of how FL is. FL almost reminds me, if anything, of a Caribbean nation: poor, violent, culturally-backwards, yet still fun to be in. Replace Caribbeans with transients and you have FL.

Honest = If you agree with it or not?

I don't think the cultural aspects of Florida are quite that straight forward.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by Happiness-is-close

Redneck doesn't equal southern. You can be southern and not a redneck.

Correct. Not everyone in the south, including Florida, is a farmer. That is where redneck comes from. Someone who gets a red neck from the sun, because they are outside all day long busting their hump to provide food for the rest of us. No, not everyone is that hard working and contributes that much to our well being.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by North_Pinellas_Guy

Honest = If you agree with it or not?

I don't think the cultural aspects of Florida are quite that straight forward.

No, I meant an actual sensible post. Honest in that the assessment made sense, unlike what we see here all-too-often: people either bashing every aspect of FL and posing their opinions as fact, or the opposite; people praising everything about FL like it's some sort of paradise.
He didn't lie or over-exaggerate things to make a point.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

No, I meant an actual sensible post. Honest in that the assessment made sense, unlike what we see here all-too-often: people either bashing every aspect of FL and posing their opinions as fact, or the opposite; people praising everything about FL like it's some sort of paradise.
He didn't lie or over-exaggerate things to make a point.

Actually, the post contained many inaccuracies for the state as a whole. For instance, Florida has a HUGE environmental presence. We have so many state and county parks and lots & lots of conservation areas. Also, there are a ton of people who are outdoors types, who enjoy hiking the trails, nature viewing and such. That is a HUGE draw to our state. BUT, what I think happens is that people talk about what they see in their area....in many cases that is from the aspect of a big city, where the nature aspect is not noticed nearly as much.

As far as crime, one cannot seriously label and enitire state one way, based off of what happens in certain areas. Otherwise all of California would be known as hell on earth, due to the crime issues in say LA.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by North_Pinellas_Guy

Actually, the post contained many inaccuracies for the state as a whole. For instance, Florida has a HUGE environmental presence. We have so many state and county parks and lots & lots of conservation areas. Also, there are a ton of people who are outdoors types, who enjoy hiking the trails, nature viewing and such. That is a HUGE draw to our state. BUT, what I think happens is that people talk about what they see in their area....in many cases that is from the aspect of a big city, where the nature aspect is not noticed nearly as much.

As far as crime, one cannot seriously label and enitire state one way, based off of what happens in certain areas. Otherwise all of California would be known as hell on earth, due to the crime issues in say LA.

... To be fair, as much as I love FL, there is a fairly high rate of violent crime in the whole state. It's not particularly confined to one city, like LA in Cali...

[miami_winter_breeze]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

... To be fair, as much as I love FL, there is a fairly high rate of violent crime in the whole state. It's not particularly confined to one city, like LA in Cali...

In California you have crime issues in all major cities, and some not so major ones like Fresno, Stockton, Indio etc.

Like California, crime is spread throughout the state. But tbh, I feel crime here is worse. For example, Miami Beach can be compared to Santa Monica for many reasons, and in other ways they are different - one of those ways is crime. In Santa Monica so much as walking across a red light is sufficient for the police to hit you with J-walking. Here in Miami Beach, I see many speeders (let alone pedestrians crossing red lights) and I have never seen them pulled over for anything.

It's both good and bad. The good is you're not harassed by annoying police. The bad, neither are the criminals, homeless, and drunkards who then proceed to make life annoying for everyone else.

[jwolfer]

The way that the land was divided is more like the west with the Public Land Survey System instead of the metes and bound system from England which was used in the original 13 colonies and their lands( like Tennessee was part of NC and Maine was part of Massachusetts)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Land_Survey_System

Also peninsular Florida is all relativally new, yes I know about St Augustine being the oldest city etc. But Miami was founded in 1896. The West is relatively new as well compared the 13 original colonies, and yes I know about the Spanish missions in California and Santa Fe, but overall population growth was mainly after 1850

In some ways Florida is to the South as California is to the West. There are parts of California which are very similar to Idaho or Nevada very "Western", but the urban centers are not "Western".

Florida is historically the South, and even in South Florida there are remnants of the Deep South. Northern Florida is very much Deep South. Parts of California is the West and there is a remnant of the West even in LA or San Francisco.

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by Happiness-is-close

Florida's largest and culturally significant metro? No way!

I get confused at to where I am in southeast FL. Cuba or Da Bronx. Place is a dump.

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Yes. Finally an honest assessment of how FL is. FL almost reminds me, if anything, of a Caribbean nation: poor, violent, culturally-backwards, yet still fun to be in. Replace Caribbeans with transients and you have FL.

Hahaha. Especially South FL!