[AJ1972]

My husband and I were in talks about moving to Charlotte, NC.
Then after reading the Charlotte board for months, all I read about was crime, crime, crime.
NOw that's all I read about on the Florida boards (and I lve in FLorida).
I'm beginning to think they'll pretty equal now.

[compelled to reply]

It's more of a City-Data thing. Crime here, rude people there, high cost of living and "illegals" everywhere! Charlotte is as dangerous or more dangerous than any Florida city (sans Orlando) but like any Florida (or any period) city there are plenty of safe areas. The bottom line is if your not dodging bullets in your neighborhood or when you go shopping, you have nothing to complain about, although that doesn't make it any less disgusting to see what you see on the news in America's major cities.

Oh, and I had my car broken into there (in Atlanta too, go figure, the two promised lands). But that could happen anywhere...

[clavoski]

REading city data is like watching the local news. It goes down well with a couple beers , but it does not give an accurate global view .

[FLBob]

As I read the city-data posts on problems in Florida, I get the feeling that there are two Florida's, the one I live in and some other Florida where all the low life of the world come to live.

[dnc19694339]

I wonder sometimes whether the posts on here are really accurate views of how life is in florida, or is this where alot of floridians come to vent? I really dont know?

[tcar509]

I live in South Fl in a little place called Hollywood, located between Miami & FT Lauderdale. There is a big difference in where you live in FL. People who visit my area from Northern Fl think people here are rude, and they are correct. These days people just seem angry and selfish. I hate it where I live now, I originally come from a dismal town in Connecticut called Bridgeport. When I first moved here it was great and things were affordable but that has changed due to overbuilding and overcrowding.

I would love to move away but economocally because the hubby & I are both employed with decent middle class wages we are reluctant to move until the economy turns around. We lived in Greensboro for a year but I got laid off 4 yrs ago and even then was out of work for 8 months.
I love the Carolinas, even the rents in luxury apartments there are lower that some of the aging elderly occupied buldings here in S. Fl.

There are a lot of people who live in S. Fl that really can no longer stand it here, the heat, constantly running the a/c, traffic, and yes the general rudeness of people. You walk down the street and say hello in passing people usually turn there head and ignore you.

However if you seek work in tourism, travel or hospitality you may have a decent chance of landing work in S. Fl.

You really have to go through neighborhoods when you visit a State, not just the tourist traps. There are so many homeless here you could not even sit on a bench at the bus stop because there is a bum sleeping on it, in broad daylight. Sigh...the grass is always greener on the other side.

P.S. Taxes are lower but auto insurance will be double or triple here and rents usually range $800 and up but the median rents are $1100.00 and that may be only for 1 bedroom.
Good Luck.

[imagardener]

Happy people, wherever they live, rarely have the urgency to post on city-data. They are having too much fun :-)
So you need to take negative posts with a grain of salt. Start looking at statistics on the place you want to move to and compare them to where you live now. Of course there is crime everywhere and some places have more violent crime than others. Compare those numbers to where you are now. No place is perfect, even gated communities have murders and other crime.

The actual neighborhood you live in has the most influence on your life. When we were considering our last home purchase we came to the neighborhood at different times, quizzed the seller strongly on how the neighbors were and then checked the FL Sexual Offender list to see where they lived. I even called the local police to ask how the neighborhood was ("no problems except small ones).

We are so happy with our move made 1.5 years ago. Do the work, just don't close your eyes and wish. Don't believe everything you read here (or ANYWHERE on the internet).

P.S. I agree with tcar509 that east coast FL can be rude. I grew up there and when I moved up north could see where they learned their manners. And the poor economy hasn't helped anyone's bad mood improve either.

[Mrs. P]

Originally Posted by AJ1972

My husband and I were in talks about moving to Charlotte, NC.
Then after reading the Charlotte board for months, all I read about was crime, crime, crime.
NOw that's all I read about on the Florida boards (and I lve in FLorida).
I'm beginning to think they'll pretty equal now.

You don't hear about everything on the city data board either....like the last drive by shooting at a school bus (3rd one I know of in Charlotte) I assume this happens other places, just none that I've heard of yet.

I will just say this. Most people in Charlotte who have children (especially high school) send their kids to private school if they can afford it. The largest high school in Charlotte is a private high school...what's that tell you?

It's not so much the crime, but rather the entire judicial system in NC, which is well known for being soft, if not down right idiotic. Like I have said before even Nancy Grace blasted the state. (the murder of Eve see below)

If they didn't keep letting the criminals out, they'd cut down on the crime.
That's the #1 problem in that city. Here's an example. A co workers son was strangled by her fiance (not childs dad) what did he get? 1 1/2 years in prison for killing a kid. My coworker friend actually was the one who found him in California and assisted Charlotte in getting him exdradited. Or the girl EVE, that was student council president at her college in CHapel Hill who was kidnapped out of her own apartment, taken to her bank where she withdrew $ from her account, then the two thugs shot her in the head and killed her...Know what? Neither of them should have been out on parole waiting for their other crimes days in court...neither. Actually one of them did have his parole recinded, but my oh my, the lil' ol clerk was just too tired to walk the paperwork down the hall, I guess she got the vapors.....so the girl Eve got killed later. Or the latest serial killer in South Carolina, guess where he was in jail at and let out of ...

One of the first things that hit me when I moved to Charlotte metro area, was not only the crime, but the stupidity in the way the justice system is ran in the entire state.

Bad enough they have the highest taxes in the entire SE (State taxes) but Charlotte itself has one of if not the highest sales tax 8.5% soon, with eating out at a restaurant coming in at a 9.5% ....so...what are they doing with all our money? No one can figure it out.

Last governor (Easley) is under investigation...and on it goes...
Not that this doesn't happen everywhere, but some areas are a little better on handling the crime.

I live a few miles from the NC / SC border (Charlotte dead ends into SC in case you don't know) When one is driving down I-77 from NC and coming into SC, there's a sign there, one of those big one that changes messages and it states something to the affect of "Welcome to SC, if you commit a crime here, you WILL go to jail" trust me everyone down here knows that is directed solely to Charlotte NC.

[Nikki9947]

My take as far as ones overall happiness in S. Florida is that not only does it depend on the specific neighborhood you will be living in but it also depends on where you work and if you vibe well with the people down here. There are big city problems here (high crime, rude ppl, bad drivers) and you can actually live in an awesome neighborhood and in a great place. BUT there are other factors. If you work in a place where you have to sit in bad traffic everyday and/or with a really low salary, if you cannot make good friends or find real people that you have things in common with, if you came from a city that is the complete opposite of south Florida and/or if you've moved here with no family then it can turn very cold very quick. It can be very hard to make long term connections with people here because a lot of times people are on the run, they have their own thing going on, and they may not feel the real need to make that effort. After all this, then all of the regular city problems will become magnified. Not only that but money of course is a huge factor. It is hard to lay your roots if you feel like you can't afford the things that you are accustomed to. If none of these things are a problem in your life then you are probably out partying and are very happy. But honestly, a lot of times these things make a difference no matter what neighborhood in S. Florida you choose. Some posters are venting but some posters are just keeping things real. For me, it's more about people seeing the full picture and not making the mistake of thinking it's paradise like most people do.

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by AJ1972

My husband and I were in talks about moving to Charlotte, NC.
Then after reading the Charlotte board for months, all I read about was crime, crime, crime.
NOw that's all I read about on the Florida boards (and I lve in FLorida).
I'm beginning to think they'll pretty equal now.

The best thing is to go and visit Charlotte, speak to the people there (not just on these boards). Go to their tv news stations online sites, follow their news that way. Get the crime stats, of the zip code you are looking at. I am in South Florida, and there is no way I could move to Charlotte, its just not for us. But many people from South Florida love it there. Remember crime happens now a days pretty much everywhere, in the good neighborhoods and bad ones. Get an alarm, lock your doors, don't open the door to strangers, use good judgment while out and you should be fine. Personally, I can't see how the crime in Charlotte is any worse than in South Florida, but I could be wrong.