[RAINBOWWAVES]

Fl is still cheaper then most states to buy a house. The beach is FREE and no parking fees. You can fish and launch a boat for FREE. The air is not acid or toxic. Property tax is lower then up north. You can swim 10 months a year. You can have a bar-b-cue on Thanksgiving and xmas...kids don't have to wear coats and hats on Halloween. There are tons of Christians. The highways are so easy to navigate. The landscape is beautiful. Cigs are cheap.

[robivi3]

High property taxes are cited in the Miami herald as one of the main reasons that folks are leaving. Highways are easy to navigate? By their flatness yes. But other than that SoFla roads are littered with debris, in poor repair and since I own a Cabin in Colorado adnd a Condo in Maricopa County that I share with my parents during the year plus my little place in Tennessee I can tell that you can fish and launch a boat FREE in alot nicer, friendlier surroundings. This is my main residence and after 35 years i am bugging out, it is an awful area to live in. Can't speak for NoFla. but if the na,me brand hotels on the highway are any indications it is not that nice. LOL on that

[RAINBOWWAVES]

Taxes are low where i am in south east Fl...by the highways being easy to navigate i mean unlike Jersey, if you make a mistake, there is a u-turn every 2 mins and you can get right back to where you want. There is no debri where i am.

[smokytbear]

This is to all who have a desire to move to Ocala, or any part of Florida for that matter. Oh the dream....nice sunshine, palm trees, what could be better? Home! That's where. I moved to Ocala about 2 years ago. My parents live here and that's why I came. Jobs? Forget about it. I am a manager in a local company and only through the grace of God, got hired 6 months after I arrived. I make 1/3 less than I did in Ohio. The advertisements portray Florida as some kind of paradise. It might be if you are financially "well off" and don't have to work for a living. Did anyone mention that Marion county has the lowest pay scale in the state and the state has some of the lowest wages in the nation? Did anyone ever post that the "homes" here are as expensive as the ones on the coast? By the way, they classify trailers in Florida as homes. They say they are "just like a house"! Also, this is the only state I know of that uses "portable trailers" as classrooms. Please!. Remember before you make the move about how lovely the change of seasons are. The glory of spring flowers. The celebration of the fall leaves. You won't find any of that here.

Silver Springs? Nothing more than a small "naturalist" park with a few gators and a glass bottom boat. If you saw it once or twice, that would be plenty, and no reason to relocate here. The national forest? Flat, sandy and nothing but palm trees and scrub pine with a few oaks thrown in for fun. Almost all the "roads" off of Rt 40 (main drag through forest) are nothing more than sand forest service trails. Did I mention the heat? Let's see, the plant I work in is NOT air conditioned. The front office has AC but the people on the factory floor have to suffer. The owner likes to keep that money in his pocket, as is the rational for most of the industry in this state. It is in the 90's here from April through October. So rather than be cooped up in your house up north for 3-4 months out of the year, you'll be cooped up here for 7 months. What a bargain! Are you accustomed to tasty food at reasonable prices? Not here. The food prices are about 20% higher than where I came from. I've noticed that the eggs are bland and the meat is tasteless. I've had this commented to me from several people I work with that came from NY and Canada. They all miss the food.

They ran an article in the Star Banner a week or two ago which mentioned that because people like policemen, firemen, teachers, accountants or other professionals can no longer qualify for a loan, the community should better come up with a way to build "worker housing". That is to say, sub-par community housing which working people must live. Also, many of the "communities" here are 55+, which means that working class families must locate to ultra expensive housing or the "slum" areas. Speaking of newspapers, feel free to read the daily paper for a week or two. You'll find that nothing bad ever happens here. They refuse to print negative stories for fear that "outsiders" find out the truth and won't want to move here. Yes there are a couple horse farms left......but you can't enjoy them because you can't walk on their land. Might just as well look at a post card. Did I mention that they also have brush and forest fires here every year? I never thought Florida would be like the Western US in that respect, but it is.....including the armadillos.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts and opinions. Since I can't qualify for a house loan for an average priced trailer (home) on an 1/4 acre lot, I'll be leaving the area hopefully before years end. You see, I've been staying with my parents until I complete my college degree and can get a real job up north, or at least in a place where the housing is comparable with the wages. The great Florida life-style? Believe me, I've shed a trail of tears in the hot Florida sun when I fell for the myth of the Florida Lie-style.

[bamboosmom]

Florida??? hmmm, the weary traveler wonders. "This is where I want to be!"
"Here I can settle down and enjoy the good life. I can have warm sunny winters, no cold feet!" The weary traveler moves to Florida and loves it.
He sticks his toes in the sand sipping a cool drink and smiles at his wife.
She turns and smiles back and says, "bet you're happy you're not shoveling that snow from the storm they just had back north!" He turns to her and laughs.
The sun starts to go down and a warm glow lights his wifes face. He kisses her gently and says, "ah Florida, this is where I want to be!"


For years people have been flocking to Florida. They will be coming for many more years. Yes, there are people who don't care for certain things, but that won't change the minds of many. Florida does have alot to offer. You make the choice and do what you think is best for you. Remember, stuff happens everywhere. People just keep running and running. You want the mountains?
You want the beach?? You need to choose and know what you want. Try it, if you don't like it you can move. Nobody is stuck in one place. That is what is great about our great Country. You can pick up and go anytime you want. Experience the beauty of Florida. Florida is a huge state. There are nice clean places and quaint towns and friendly people. You just have to find your piece of paradise!

[smokytbear]

Spoken like a true realtor.

[kimmyp2]

That is true no decent jobs or wages unless you are in the Medical profession. It is hard to get appointments with doctors because they are overloaded with the retirees especially in snowbird time However, there is no state tax and where I am the traffic isn't bad, crime rate is fairly low and housing still affordable - Inverness, Fl 34450. It is somewhat still layed back. As far as hurricanes in the area - that is a crap shoot as anyone knows. I have lived here about 16 years and just experienced small fringes of them. A few blown over trees. There is no Utopia anywhere.

[daedalo]

Below is a repost of some of my Florida comments that are appropriate for this thread:

Everyone is making choices on this board, seemingly, to find their buried treasure in Florida. And that is understandable since Florida is a great place for outdoor recreation. But more than this, the idea of living near the beach relative to many places on the vast interior of the north american continent- has some cache' to it. Florida sells, and people moving to Florida *want* to be convinced its *all good*. We all want: no crime, great pay, good schools, outdoor fun, cheap houses, no taxes, culture, no storms, no bugs, moderate temperatures yada yada yada. Florida has all of this, and yes, none of this. You are from somewhere else that *was* home. And so what is Florida? At what point do you say to yourself after parking yourself in Florida that you are, finally, home? Florida is often a place where people "live" *for a while* then *go home*. They get into their routine, into their daily patterns repeated over and over, until all of a sudden they stand back from it all and look themselves in the mirror and say, yeah its been fun, but why the hell am I here? I think, and I may be mistaken, but Florida attracts people with different mindsets than, say, folks that live in northern Maine or central Kansas. Floridians *want* to *get* something. They want that *extended vacation*. They want to arrive and find their lost dream that just the idea of balmy air in winter is enough. The simple life. The free lunch.

Good luck, but you will be leaving Florida sooner or later. Florida is not an easy place to *in-habit* . The Florida lifestyle encourages you to "do nothing". but "veg-out", enjoy the "simple pleasures" and let someone else take life seriously for you.

Florida is the place of the uprooted and the non-committed. The *give-me* not the *give-back*. So many places in Florida show the telltale signs of the itinerant dweller. The bland, endless, faceless Florida places that are "used" continuously while endlessly getting a new face-lift- *visited* yes, but not LOVED. Why isn't Florida loved? Because that would take committment, a word anathema to the *citizen of Florida visitor*. Yes Florida, from its earliest days created this enigma: Come and visit Florida: Enjoy Florida.

[elfyum]

smokytbear:
You like 4 seasons? You can have em! I'd prefer ONE! (SUMMER!!!!!!)
The best we can do is 2. (summer & fall/winter)
Please don't insult our natural places! Our state park system is one of the best and we have the one & only Everglades!
Sorry you don't like it here. I95 goes north!

[smokytbear]

elfum,

What I mentioned about the "natural places" was not an insult. I am a hunter and fisherman, so I know whereof I speak. The Everglades might be a thing of beauty and so are the natural springs in the area such as the Rainbow River and Juniper springs among others. However, in all other states I have been to, one does not have to PAY $$$ to visit or explore. After all, I thought they were supposed to be state parks, not state money traps. I guess I'd rather see deer and trout streams rather than palm trees and 'gators. And thank God I95 does run north.