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Constant whining and complaining on this board will only serve to make your Florida home all the more unsaleable. You're also scaring away the snowbirds who, without the homestead advantage, are paying most of our property taxes. Lighten up and let everyone know why you moved here and why you stay here. It's a beautiful place!
Don't help someone, Just look at the greed in this statment. WOW
Don't help someone, Just look at the greed in this statment. WOW
I've read your previous posts. ""You had your well go dry. Your car was painted by kids. Your motor boat was stolen. Your real estate agent was a con man. You had a large fire and lost a car."" How is this helping anyone who reads these boards??? You're a real live country western song!
I still find all of this funny. Yeah, there are some intentionally misleading posts, and yes I've at times spun the wheel. But seriously, I can't make stuff like this up, I just photograph it:
I've posted this photo a few times. When people come here looking for information I honestly feel like I am helping them by providing these photos. It may be a disservice when I throw in my snide remarks, but I'm not sure how else to approach it. The reason while I feel inclined to "call Florida out" is mostly because its development has accelerated in eras which better decisions should have been made. This is real; this is where I live. I am not looking for absurdities. I simply became part of the circle when I crossed the state line.
Everyone should go read "Tourist Season" by Carl Hiaasen. When you're done, note the year it was written.
I think people take some facts about the local life and lifestyle (which are not pleasant things) and say it's "negative" and treat it as it is not there or it is not valid.
I like this pic a lot. I won't be surprised once every 7-11 in my area begins to sell stun guns as well!! Too funny, but too characteristic of the times we live in in Central Florida!
From someone who reads other boards, the negative post are painfully on purpose, the purpose is not to help people at all. At least the huge majority of them are on purpose.
Sure I want to know something that will help me in my decision, but the same posters who "HATE Florida" so bad, well, they never post anything POSITIVE, therefore they cannot be trusted for the words they write.
Newbies like me on this board read all the negatives and laughed at them. But my wife sit down and read this board while I was at work and was immediately drawn into her mothering protective instincts when she read 4 threads in a row with nothing but hate negatives in them.
It is a shame that people twist and turn and force personal preferences into post knowing that if they just keep one person or family from moving to Florida then they have accomplished something.
Negatives are all around us, not just in Florida, but to purposely post hate negatives ALL THE TIME is going beyond what I believe is the purpose.
Sure, posting fact filled negatives is fine by me, I can sort the info out myself, but what I see is a select few on this board who take personal aim at anyone who can argue there point as being wrong and call them on there "out of touch personal opinion" post.
All the post about crime, gangs, heat, low paying jobs, cost of A/C, housing, COL etc are getting old, the constant bumping up of this kind of personal opinions do not do anyone any good, all it does is scare newbies and people who do not have other outlets to find out for themselves.
I think those posters know that and continue to be happy about what there REAL intentions are.
Other boards DO NOT ALLOW negative troll type poster to continue to disrupt and flame others just because they are unhappy or selfish people themselves.
They allow fact filled info only. One mod on another board put a sticky at the top
" If you post a negative, you better back it up with facts from a reliable source or it will be deleted"
Now for me.
I have traveled Florida for more then 25 years, been in almost every town on the map or drove through it, we have traveled every year for 20 years 2 times per year on vacation and spent more then 100 days a year on business in your state, I have seen it all and can say, there is nothing, nothing that I can say I have seen that can back up all those negative post with any concrete evidence.
I know people all over the state and never have found any of them ever be so negative about the state of Florida. Fact is 99% of them tell us you need to move here, its well worth it!
I have seen more crime in Baltimore, Maryland in one week then I have seen in 25 years in Florida, get caught in the middle of a gang fight and you will know.
I have seen the hurricanes, we were in Myrtle Beach on vacation when Hugo hit.
I have higher heat bills then most any of you A/c bills.
My property tax, insurance, community fees etc are just as much if not more then the areas I am looking to buy in Florida.
Heat is easy to handle, cold is not. Read the post, most of us in the snow and cold belt all post how tired we are of it. But only a few of you complain and whine about how hot it is.
I believe it is a total shame that someone can sit down, take the time to post nothing but negatives when you know you are outnumbered by thousands with your opinions.
My personal thoughts are this.
Nothing you Florida hatters post will impact me, I will not allow it. If I was a Florida resident, I would be ashamed of you. Sure, some post some facts, but 99% of the time they are just your personal opinions with links or facts that only point your way.
You live in a wonderful place, full of charm, good people and life is much better then others have it, you just have not experienced the other side.
For those Florida haters, at first I read your post and took offense to them because I felt they were trying to convince me to not come to Florida, but after a couple PM's and some emails and a phone call to my brother in law in the Ft. Lauderdale area, I knew it was nothing but hate in your own hearts that make you take the time to post nothing but negatives.
We are coming to Florida with open minds and open hearts and there is nothing you Florida haters can post that will scare me off. With all these wonderful people on this board and there are allot of you, we have decided that here always will be people like you haters everywhere we go, we will just do what out parents told us to do " Surround yourself with good, hard working positive people and it will pay off "
Those Florida haters need to really ask themselves something.
" What good am I doing by purposely trying to convince people to stay away? " and " What can I do better with my time instead of this? "
I would be willing to bet if you answered those two questions you would be allot happier with your own lives instead of trying to make others lives miserable.
I have a question and please know that I mean this in the most sincere way...not trying to be a smart you know what.......
Several have posted that they were making so much more up north, etc. Then why would you move down to take lower paying jobs? DH and I are looking into retirement possibly in TN or northwest SC. We thought we may move a little earlier and 'ease' into retirement....but there is no way. Jobs in our fields there pay up to 1/3 less than what we make here in Florida. So unless things change it looks like we'll stay here.
So again, why would you move into jobs that pay so much less?
Well, my husband and I moved to Florida with no debt and $20,000 in the bank. We had been applying to jobs from up north, but it was hard to interview at a moments notice. So, we took a chance and moved with no jobs. Bad move. My husband (with 3 degrees-Intl. Business/Spanish, Electrical Engineering and Business Management) has been temping for nearly 2 years. I have been part time looking for full time (degree in English/Art.) We also moved with two small businesses that we thought would carry us until finding full time work (pet-sitting/at home travel agency.) Since moving here, we have found (with our businesses) that people are very shady and looking to sue you. Very scary. We had our pet-sitting business for over 5 years up north with no incidents. Here we met some very scary people (liars and dishonest.) When times are tough people become desperate.
We knew about the heat, hurricanes, tornadoes and lightening when moving here so we do not have complaints about the weather We love the heat even though it is a killer here in the summer. The sun is also VERY strong. Be very careful after you move and ALWAYS wear sunblock. Our sadness after moving comes from the pay, overdevelopment, the increase in insurance in such a short time, the property taxes, the electric cost, the cost and quality of groceries, the rise in crime, the rise in garbage all over, the rise in the homeless. Many of these things you have to be living here to know about. We vacationed in Florida several times a year and thought it would be a wonderful place to live. We researched our move for years. Things changed here very fast.
It is easy for people to say- well move if you don't like it. Like people have no ties to family here, or friends, or a career. Like you could list your house tomorrow and it will sell. Please, there are over 20,000 houses for sale in Orlando alone right now. It takes a little time for people to research a new place to move, a new job, a new house. Listen to the folks on this board. Get all the info you can!
Well, my husband and I moved to Florida with no debt and $20,000 in the bank. We had been applying to jobs from up north, but it was hard to interview at a moments notice. So, we took a chance and moved with no jobs. Bad move. My husband (with 3 degrees-Intl. Business/Spanish, Electrical Engineering and Business Management) has been temping for nearly 2 years. I have been part time looking for full time (degree in English/Art.) We also moved with two small businesses that we thought would carry us until finding full time work (pet-sitting/at home travel agency.) Since moving here, we have found (with our businesses) that people are very shady and looking to sue you. Very scary. We had our pet-sitting business for over 5 years up north with no incidents. Here we met some very scary people (liars and dishonest.) When times are tough people become desperate.
We knew about the heat, hurricanes, tornadoes and lightening when moving here so we do not have complaints about the weather We love the heat even though it is a killer here in the summer. The sun is also VERY strong. Be very careful after you move and ALWAYS wear sunblock. Our sadness after moving comes from the pay, overdevelopment, the increase in insurance in such a short time, the property taxes, the electric cost, the cost and quality of groceries, the rise in crime, the rise in garbage all over, the rise in the homeless. Many of these things you have to be living here to know about. We vacationed in Florida several times a year and thought it would be a wonderful place to live. We researched our move for years. Things changed here very fast.
It is easy for people to say- well move if you don't like it. Like people have no ties to family here, or friends, or a career. Like you could list your house tomorrow and it will sell. Please, there are over 20,000 houses for sale in Orlando alone right now. It takes a little time for people to research a new place to move, a new job, a new house. Listen to the folks on this board. Get all the info you can!
Thanks for that post, luvthatmouse. There are certain posters here in this Florida forum that spout that "why don't you move then" type garbage when anyone tells it like it is here. Of COURSE it is not easy to just pick up and move! I am a native, 3rd generation in fact, and things have changed here very fast and in a very short time. Florida is NOTHING like it used to be. For now, we are doing OK where we are, hubby has a good job and we live in a small town in a safe area. But we got one foot out the door with our little house in NC. If the "big one" hits, or we run out of water or costs go up too much - we will have a place to go.
I will say, that IMO, all of South Florida is in much worse shape than northern Florida. That is with crime, expense, overcrowding, gangs issues and even likelihood of hurricane disasters. So anyone contemplating moving to this state should research carefully where they are planning to move to and LISTEN TO THE NATIVES! Maybe there are a couple people here who like to be negative for negativity sake, but overall the people who live here are just trying to warn folks about what it's like to actually LIVE here - there is a LOT you don't see when you take a vacation. Also there is a "honeymoon" period when you first move here, because it's a new place and there is the novelty of palm trees, beaches, warm weather etc. But once the honeymoon is over, you start to see the crime, garbage, traffic, lower pay, higher cost, etc. and realize that these things are real and not an exaggeration.
I don't think any of us who are truly trying to educate folks have any kind of agenda - I only give my opinion, and share my perspective and experiences. There are still plenty of nice places in Florida, and even nice areas in some not-so-nice cities, and I do my best to recommend those.
I just think it's important for people to consider ALL the information, good and bad, and sift through it all to make the decision for your own lives, because moving is a big decision, and once the move is made, it's not always so easy to change.
I wish everyone well, and hope you all find your personal paradise, whether it's Florida or somewhere else.
After spending more time on this forum the past few weeks, I’ve drawn a few conclusions. My opinion is that people come to these boards in the first place to find out good information about a new location with pending moves in the future. They want to find out the best places to buy or rent, which schools are best for their children, how much exactly is that air conditioning bill. People already know it's hotter than hades here, with humidity and bugs... and they aren't stupid, they know about hurricanes too.
Folks state the facts about neighborhoods, crime, employment, etc. There is a lot of accurate information posted here with regard to how bad the unemployment situation is for hourly and professionals and how low wages are. We post about the traffic, the speeders, and the crime. But there are certain people who no matter what the persons post or question is, they spin the conversation into a negative rant on how life is for them personally here in Orlando. I believe there are too many people here that "generalize" and put "their" version of life out on the forum to be FACT for all people. They use words like "all" and "everyone" and use information from 3rd parties instead of first hand information. I'm not talking about crime here.. those statistics are available on TV and in the newspaper. I also do agree readers benefit from learning from our personal situations here in Florida. But, I've read with interest some of the posts from people who think they are an authority on just about everything to do with life here and especially where I live in Orlando. Knowing what I know, about where I live, I have to laugh and say to myself, this person is so clueless. They take a 25 mile radius and lump it all into a “ghetto” on a particular side of town because there is a few pockets of low income people in a certain area near a Walmart. Then I wonder, what poor person looking for information from out of state must come away thinking about my nice side of town or Orlando as a whole. Is it perfect? No, but it can be a fine enough place to live. Do we want new people to the boards to think all of Orlando is "ghetto" as some posters have said? Absolutely not! Sure there are some seedy areas as in any large city. To generalize Orlando as ghetto is ridiculous. Also other posters have said repeatedly, take a look at other city boards, you will see the same topic of conversation on how bad crime is, how good it used to be, etc. Many of us grew up not locking cars & houses. We all know that is not today's world. Don’t we really know that nowhere is like it used to be?
The point I would like to make is that if people would simply start posting what they want to say but just preference it with, "this is how it is for me personally" or "I live on this side of town and this is what I know". The negativity and generalizations are out of control and it does no service to the people who come on this forum to find out whatever they can from locals. I understand a lot of venting is going on with personal situations but I didn’t think this a forum for personal problems, is it? Some of us happened upon this site due to attending college, corporate relocations and still others for retirement purposes. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve discovered that this forum isn’t what I thought it was or should be. I could just be learning that it is a dumping ground for some people who are Florida bashers?
I’d like to add to anyone looking for real data in any area, please visit your Chamber of Commerce, talk to a local realtor or city government official. Talk to a local Newcomers Club member. Basing your decision to move or not to move shouldn’t be decided upon a perfect stranger’s personal situation. Your own situation is unique and should be carefully planned after gathering fact-based information from as many places as you can find.
I agree with gypsychic… “I wish everyone well, and hope you all find your personal paradise, whether it's Florida or somewhere else.”
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Funny pic! Love it!
Too funny, but too characteristic of the times we live in in Central Florida!
)
Very well said, thank you!
We love the heat even though it is a killer here in the summer. The sun is also VERY strong. Be very careful after you move and ALWAYS wear sunblock. Our sadness after moving comes from the pay, overdevelopment, the increase in insurance in such a short time, the property taxes, the electric cost, the cost and quality of groceries, the rise in crime, the rise in garbage all over, the rise in the homeless. Many of these things you have to be living here to know about. We vacationed in Florida several times a year and thought it would be a wonderful place to live. We researched our move for years. Things changed here very fast. 
