[TANaples]

Originally Posted by psouth

A lot of younger educated people are moving back north for employment and opportunity. You have to go where the jobs are nowadays like primarily the big high growth cities. Florida is no place for corporate or big business type employment. Low paying labor, services, and retail are king in Florida. Years ago jobs weren't much of a factor since you could have bought a house and payed your bills on $10 per hour in Florida. That's why so many people moved and to get out of the corporate rat race. Now things have gone in opposite direction. Now you need big jobs with big paychecks. If you own a lucrative business or if you can somehow make your own way in Florida then you will do ok. I know contractors that own construction and remodeling type businesses and they are making a fortune with the cheap labor and no employee benefits down here. But if you are looking for a run-of-the-mill 9 to 5 corporate type job with benefits and longevity then Florida isn't the place. YOu have to head north to established business areas which many are now doing. As I've said before warm weather doesn't pay the bills.

She got a job in Florida in a matter of a week. When she decided to move back to NY after 4 months, she got two job offers (telephone interviews alone) in NY before she even left Florida.

I supposed if you are in a field where jobs are available and you have the qualifications, they will hire you, even if you are not living in that particular state at the time.

BTW, my daughter just turned 30 in February.

[Sunny-Days90]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Here are some things in the works:

New Florida City To Run On Solar Power

Largest Solar Power Plant In the United States Planned for Florida : TreeHugger

Florida Power & Light Breaks Ground on World's First Hybrid Solar Plant | GreenBiz.com

There may be more articles, but I pulled these up fairly quickly. Our governor Charlie Crist is a big proponent of alternative energy.

That is great news.

There are saying the plant to make the panels in Tennessee could have as many as 3000 jobs.

If Florida is getting these panel factories on top of all the work to change cities into solar then that is a ton of jobs for Florida.

We MUST go to alternative energy and quick, we have no choice but to get to this type of power.

Getting towns in Florida to go with solar power would create millions of new jobs that would last for a long, long time.

[TANaples]

Very true. If Florida cannot go with solar power, WHO can?

[psouth]

Florida needs to diversify. Energy would be a start.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

Many, many educated highly experienced professionals are moving back to NY, NJ, Boston, CHicago, etc from florida....there simply is NO reasonable, sustainable job market here for the numbers of people who flock here seeking typical corporate employment...

BINGO! (chi myself but going out west)

I came back to FL to try to be closer to family and for cheaper school tuition in December and was unemployed for 4 months and considering moving elsewhere, now I have a job...to save up enough money to still move elsewhere and money to last until I can land that job elsewhere. Even though I have a job here, the job isn't that good and the job market here is going to remain dismal. I'm making about half what I made last year up north for the same job role and no benefits... very typical of FL jobs 29k vs. 52k. Now that universities here are about to be strapped with layoffs and with tuition going up, it is a no brainer for me to leave and do the Master's I was about to do in the fall elsewhere. This is not the FL I knew and grew up in from the 80s and 90s.. I pretty much left in 1999 except for being on campus (in a bubble but was gone in the summers). More crime, more expensive, more sorry people... seriously the worst attitudes I have experienced in the U.S.. The cost of living is actually higher for me! Higher rent, higher produce, have to drive everywhere, electric bill about 4x higher. Amazing how much can change in 10 years.

Originally Posted by TANaples

She got a job in Florida in a matter of a week. When she decided to move back to NY after 4 months, she got two job offers (telephone interviews alone) in NY before she even left Florida.

I supposed if you are in a field where jobs are available and you have the qualifications, they will hire you, even if you are not living in that particular state at the time.

BTW, my daughter just turned 30 in February.

It also took me about 4 months of being in FL to want to leave lol.... I'm around her age and so is my gf... we hate it.

[psouth]

Florida is a very polarizing state it seems. People either love it or totally hate it. There is no in between. If you can somehow make tons of money and buy into a high end community with educated and normal people then it can be ok. Unfortunately not many working class can do this and have to deal with all the criminals and screwballs.

[Rainfall]

Florida Power and Light are building a large solar panel site at Indiantown, Florida. I heard they will be hiring 1000 or more workers.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by psouth

Florida is a very polarizing state it seems. People either love it or totally hate it. There is no in between. If you can somehow make tons of money and buy into a high end community with educated and normal people then it can be ok. Unfortunately not many working class can do this and have to deal with all the criminals and screwballs.

Agreed, if you have a lot of money here you can be happy. The difference between the nicer communities vs. just the NORMAL lower to midrange middle class communities that would seemingly be fine but are scattered with lowlifes, mixed in zoning with trailers and section 8 apartments is a huge contrast in FL compared with other states.

[psouth]

I have noticed a big problem with disssemblance and disparaging of wealth in Florida that isn't common to other areas. A lot of working stiffs get mad and envious because they can't lead the same lifestyle as the super rich who love showing off their toys. This is like a playground for them unlike most areas of the country. Many of the wealthy especially the super rich elderly widows seem to look down on working class stiffs. You can tell just by the way they maneuver their Bentleys and insist on the right of way in Palm Beach. I hear a lot of people complaining about the in-your-face rich and their mansions and toys. They want their lifestyle and toys but obviously with Florida wages can't attain it. The fact that Florida has such low paying jobs does not help either. The divide is just too obvious and great in Florida. It would not be so obvious or upsetting to people if they were able to find good jobs and careers. This is another phenomenon that attracts con artists, criminals, and schemers to Florida and particularly to the rich. I don't think this wealth or dreamer mentality would effect people so much if they didn't have to live right near it or see it every day. Plus the job situation.

I have just noticed this to be a source of frustration that I haven't seen elsewhere.

[EnjoyTheSilence]

Originally Posted by psouth

Florida is a very polarizing state it seems. People either love it or totally hate it. There is no in between. If you can somehow make tons of money and buy into a high end community with educated and normal people then it can be ok. Unfortunately not many working class can do this and have to deal with all the criminals and screwballs.

Great post.

If you're wealthy anywhere (or even upper middle class), you'll be able to buy yourself either complete or partial seclusion from the day-to-day happenings in any particular place (if you choose). If I were wealthy and living in here in Miami, I'd probably own a luxury condo in Miami Beach and I'm pretty sure that life would be pretty peachy. I could surround myself with a close knit circle of friends and I'd have the money to "escape" whenever I felt like it.

For those who are working class or lower middle class, choosing a place that's right is far more critical, since you're going to be forced to interact with people on a regular basis. If you are living in a town or city where you find yourself an outcast, you're going to find life extremely difficult. Nowhere is perfect, but you have to try to find a place that's at least tolerable, and a place where you're not going to feel like an outcast.