Negativity (Orlando: property taxes, housing, condo)

[riverviewnative]

Keep your head up and I hope you win the lottery.

Originally Posted by 8.00 per hour

This is my first post but what I'm going to say comes from my heart.

I'm 32 and have been in South Florida all my life, I'm African American and I currently reside in the Fort Lauderdale. I don't have a 4 year degree nor do I have outstanding creditals as far as jobs is concerned, I've most been a blue collar worker my whole life (cdl license, cook, customer service, lawn care).

I completly understand that with my skill set I won't make $50,000 per year or be able to afford a house with a beatiful view, however, I feel that I shouldn't be kept at the lower wages ( I make more than $8.00 per hour) and I feel that a hard working person should be able to at least see what his/her money is going too....

Basically, my main issue with Florida (primarily South Florida) is the low wages and the high cost of living. I honestly can't find a decent rental to live for under $800.00 per month in a decent area without having to worry about get robbed by some random street thugs and I don't like that. I currently have a couple roomates but at 32 years old, do you think I really want to share a place with other people? Any decent area in South Florida is going to run you $800.00 and over, even a room or garage that someone has converted into a studio is going for $650 and up (This is a studio apartment).

Also, granted I'm African American and I might have much room to talk or a leg to stand on but I notice alot of illiterate people down here who don't value education and cannot form a proper sentence to save their life. I think employers really take advantage of all of this and pay very low becuase of this.

Immigration is another issue that I have a issue with, it's a touchy subject but I don't really care for the large growth that we get every month of people who cannot speak english. I don't want to sound mean but I think this is America and English should be the offical language and that's just how I feel. These jobs that require someone to speak 2 languages are basically a slap in the face of many born and raised Americans and I don't think that is right.

Then again, I'm broke or barely getting by so maybe I'm bitter, if I had money honestly, I would love South Florida. This place is beautiful and the weather is awesome but it's not for the middle class and definetly not for poor people.

I was in Texas in 2002 and apartments were $550.00 for a 1/1, that's great and I would enjoy living there and hopefully I'll end up there one day...

I'm just speaking my mind, I don't want to get banned but I have serious issues with Florida in general.

Now you can count up all my spelling errors and mock me or lash out at me for my post, I was just being honest.

[Muggy]

To those of you that keep saying things like, "It's cold in Michigan!" you're going to have to do better; that mantra fades after about 12-14 months.

Also, add "Marley and Me" to your reading list. It's a wonderful story about a man and his dog. About 2/3 of the book is recalled from Grogan's time in Florida. He mentions the typical paradise stuff: grandma-killers, hookers, junkies, random victims, dismemberment, sexual stalkers, deceptive realtors... in a memoir about a dog.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by 8.00 per hour

This is my first post but what I'm going to say comes from my heart.

I'm 32 and have been in South Florida all my life, I'm African American and I currently reside in the Fort Lauderdale. I don't have a 4 year degree nor do I have outstanding creditals as far as jobs is concerned, I've most been a blue collar worker my whole life (cdl license, cook, customer service, lawn care).

I completly understand that with my skill set I won't make $50,000 per year or be able to afford a house with a beatiful view, however, I feel that I shouldn't be kept at the lower wages ( I make more than $8.00 per hour) and I feel that a hard working person should be able to at least see what his/her money is going too....

Basically, my main issue with Florida (primarily South Florida) is the low wages and the high cost of living. I honestly can't find a decent rental to live for under $800.00 per month in a decent area without having to worry about get robbed by some random street thugs and I don't like that. I currently have a couple roomates but at 32 years old, do you think I really want to share a place with other people? Any decent area in South Florida is going to run you $800.00 and over, even a room or garage that someone has converted into a studio is going for $650 and up (This is a studio apartment).

Also, granted I'm African American and I might have much room to talk or a leg to stand on but I notice alot of illiterate people down here who don't value education and cannot form a proper sentence to save their life. I think employers really take advantage of all of this and pay very low becuase of this.

Immigration is another issue that I have a issue with, it's a touchy subject but I don't really care for the large growth that we get every month of people who cannot speak english. I don't want to sound mean but I think this is America and English should be the offical language and that's just how I feel. These jobs that require someone to speak 2 languages are basically a slap in the face of many born and raised Americans and I don't think that is right.

Then again, I'm broke or barely getting by so maybe I'm bitter, if I had money honestly, I would love South Florida. This place is beautiful and the weather is awesome but it's not for the middle class and definetly not for poor people.

I was in Texas in 2002 and apartments were $550.00 for a 1/1, that's great and I would enjoy living there and hopefully I'll end up there one day...

I'm just speaking my mind, I don't want to get banned but I have serious issues with Florida in general.

Now you can count up all my spelling errors and mock me or lash out at me for my post, I was just being honest.

Get banned???? This is one of the best posts I've read today. Anything negative that you said makes a lot of sense.

Rick, I'm surprised that you didn't at least get a personal message from Tallahassee. I remember at one point you were thinking about starting a petition. Did you ever do that or wasn't there enough interest on the part of other people?

[riverviewnative]

We fought tooth and nail to keep our dead end road from being the back entrance to a subdivision. Went to every meeting and filed all kinds of papers showing where in similar cases it was not done.And it did no good. All the politicals care about here in Florida is their own agenda. Charile Christ may be a breath of fresh air but with Jeb Bush it was all about money. Ever hear you can't fight city hall? Never more truth to than then right here in good ole Hillsborough County.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by bmurphy

Is the Florida forum too negative? I've made similar posts before but it's starting to bug me.

People say "we need to expose all sides of Florida"; to me the only side being exposed is the bad one.

I realize crime is bad, cost of living is bad, etc, but is it really helping to sit here and moan?

The positives are only rarely exposed.

One complaint I do NOT understand is heat. Don't most people know Florida is hot year round? What's the shock? If you're so happy when a cold spell comes, why not move somewhere else? I'm not trying to be mean. I'm seriously wondering.

Anyways, I'm not trying to stir the pot, but I'm wondering, is Florida 100x worse than every other state (as you'd think from reading the 100x more negativity here than the other forums), or is it overblown?

Don't have the time to read the whole thread, but my opinion is simply this at this point....

Maybe if we ALL focused on answering questions people have about the state instead of starting a new thread questioning how negative this board is every week we can actually do some people some good.... People will disagree within those threads and that's normal. I don't think this board is necessarily more negative than others. I think the people who are negative are more passionate about thier negative feelings and that comes from some serious issues that bother some more than others.

Questioning "how negative we are" and threads that really (against your stated intentions) stir the pot like this get us nowhere and serve to, once again, provide a forum for those that are very negative to explain themselves yet again......

Let the sleeping dog lie and let each person share thier own experiences when a question is asked and feel free to rebut thier opinions at that time. If you all would just DO that you'd find that most that come here for true advice about the state will filter out the opinions from the facts and get more of what they are looking for in the first place.....

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by 8.00 per hour

This is my first post but what I'm going to say comes from my heart.

I'm 32 and have been in South Florida all my life, I'm African American and I currently reside in the Fort Lauderdale. I don't have a 4 year degree nor do I have outstanding creditals as far as jobs is concerned, I've most been a blue collar worker my whole life (cdl license, cook, customer service, lawn care).

I completly understand that with my skill set I won't make $50,000 per year or be able to afford a house with a beatiful view, however, I feel that I shouldn't be kept at the lower wages ( I make more than $8.00 per hour) and I feel that a hard working person should be able to at least see what his/her money is going too....

Basically, my main issue with Florida (primarily South Florida) is the low wages and the high cost of living. I honestly can't find a decent rental to live for under $800.00 per month in a decent area without having to worry about get robbed by some random street thugs and I don't like that. I currently have a couple roomates but at 32 years old, do you think I really want to share a place with other people? Any decent area in South Florida is going to run you $800.00 and over, even a room or garage that someone has converted into a studio is going for $650 and up (This is a studio apartment).

Also, granted I'm African American and I might have much room to talk or a leg to stand on but I notice alot of illiterate people down here who don't value education and cannot form a proper sentence to save their life. I think employers really take advantage of all of this and pay very low becuase of this.

Immigration is another issue that I have a issue with, it's a touchy subject but I don't really care for the large growth that we get every month of people who cannot speak english. I don't want to sound mean but I think this is America and English should be the offical language and that's just how I feel. These jobs that require someone to speak 2 languages are basically a slap in the face of many born and raised Americans and I don't think that is right.

Then again, I'm broke or barely getting by so maybe I'm bitter, if I had money honestly, I would love South Florida. This place is beautiful and the weather is awesome but it's not for the middle class and definetly not for poor people.

I was in Texas in 2002 and apartments were $550.00 for a 1/1, that's great and I would enjoy living there and hopefully I'll end up there one day...

I'm just speaking my mind, I don't want to get banned but I have serious issues with Florida in general.

Now you can count up all my spelling errors and mock me or lash out at me for my post, I was just being honest.

8.00 per hour;,

Sound like you a doing the best you can and you are not taking a NO for an answer. Is commendable that individuals do their best to excel regardless of their situation. Many excellent point presented by 8.00 per hour. Best of luck....

[edotabin]

What is all this I keep hearing about gangs? I live in Boca and go to Miami at least twice a week. I am in Hollywood regularly and always visit friends in Coconut Creek. I do not read the newspapers and definitely do not watch any kind of TV news to avoid the propaganda and sensationalism. Not once have I been threatened or seen anything even remotely resembling a crime.

About 3 weeks ago I rode with my friend who is a police officer. The big "crime" all night was an argument two teenage girls were having at the Aventura mall over who owed who 5 bucks.

For such a large metropolitan area I think things aren't bad at all.

[edotabin]

Originally Posted by Nirvana-Guy

Some people think the Fl heat is like Hiawaii heat or Califronia heat, but thyey are extremely wrong. FL heat is scorching, overpowering. You sweat so much even drinking 3 - 8 bottles of water a day, you still feel doozy and sluggish. No to mention stinky on certain days.

I think even LuvThatMouse (who comes across as an Orlando/Disney fan to me) acknowledges that it is becoming very overcrowded and sprawled in Orlando. With it comes massive traffic jams, angry people in traffic, trash all over the streets, and a ton of bums on the streets. Not to mention, everyone seems to be getting more and more unhappy and angry with how things are going down here and it's causing a LOT of unfriendliness in grocery stores and public parks. I used to see more smiles; now it's mostly frowns.

Also, the wages in FL have been steadily going down, which is a shocker, granted wages are slightly up across the USA right now. Employers often abuse the fact that FL is so overpopulated that they see this as a way to pay people as little as possible and offer no benefits. FL is almost like an employer's paradise and an employee's nightmare. FL is an "at-will" state and you can be fired for any reason, at any time, and the employers can fight you to the teeth to keep you from collecting unemployment compensation.

The increases in costs stem from car and home insurance, health insurance, cost of basic medical treatment (like Centra Care-type "cheapie" clinics), costs of RENT (which is getting worse now with the mass foreclosures in FL).

Things have changed here very fast since 2005. We got a bunch of Katrina people and our crime rates have basically quadrupled overnight (just as they have in Houston, TX, where the Katrina people primarily relocated to). FL seems to attract a lot of northern sex offenders and drug dealers because of the weather down here. I assure you, crime in Orlando was at 'nuisance' levels for many years and in just two or three years has become unberable/out of control and increasingly violent in nature.

The natural beauty of FL, what originally attracted us down here when I was a little kid, is almost all gone. Everywhere you look you see buildins and no more open spaces or grassy fields or woods. No more lakes that are not sourrounded by houses and piers/docks. That is VERY angering and depressing.

Local builders basically run the counties and they can build whatever they want, wherever they want, no restrictions. The builders do NOT contribute any special fees to help build roads, schools, or hospitals to help offset all the housing they construct.

Local builders are more and more choosing to build high-rise apartment buildings (not offices, apts for people to live in) and they are packing even more people per sq ft than ever before. This is causing more of the "where the heck did all these people come from all of a sudden" phenomenon! WE sometimes don't even see where the overcrowding is coming from, but it's coming from condo buildings.

I think locals, like myself, have PLENTY OF REASONS to express our frustration about how things are going. The foreclosure balst that is set to go off withn 6 months will greatly change FL and there is no reason to think this event will likely help anything. If anything, it will raise costs of rent and cause people to have to move even farther away from their work sites, causing more traffic, more urban sprawl.

So whether or not you consider this to be "negative", these are FACTS of what we are facing in Central FL. Locals are not happy about, out-of-town people are getting concerned about it, and naive people only find out when they get here and by then it's too late. Let's please look at facts and accept them, whether they are "negative" or rosey.

Florida aside for a second, my parents live overseas. They live in an apartment. I remember growing up there about 25 years ago, we had ample space to park our car on the street. One car was over 50 ft from the next. Children gathered and played with no fear of danger etc. Now the building is full of Russian hookers and forget parking. You have to either buy a parking spot for 50,000 dollars or rent one for about $250 per month. Point is, things change everywhere.

I have very good friends that live by the Orlando airport. Granted, the house is older but they are going for about 200k. They have a decent size yard and they have built a great pool and spa. We had a great time and weren't attacked by gangs, forced to learn Spanish in 3 minutes (although truthfully Spanish is a key language down here)
or stalked by twelve sex offenders.

Any and all metro areas have the problems you describe. Get over it. Nothing is perfect and I would much rather deal with these imperfections in the sun and warm weather than in Michigan or Buffalo, NY. Snow sucks eggs and it's not as if it doesn't get really hot in many of the places that are cold in the winter. Ever tried NYC in the middle of summer without air conditioning?

I really think you need to move to a state where the word "Hi" is seven syllables long.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Get banned???? This is one of the best posts I've read today. Anything negative that you said makes a lot of sense.

Rick, I'm surprised that you didn't at least get a personal message from Tallahassee. I remember at one point you were thinking about starting a petition. Did you ever do that or wasn't there enough interest on the part of other people?

Well the people who were interested all moved away, to Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and that was that. So far I haven't met anyone online willing to help, and I have even stood on US-1 and on Flamingo road with a sign in the past with my cell phone # on it to call if they were interested in property tax reform....nothing happened. Floridians just don't care, the newcommers are from somewhere worse and too grateful for being able to crash here to complain. Honestly I am sick of the sheep being led to the shearing, and may be another one to cash in and bail out.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by 8.00 per hour

Basically, my main issue with Florida (primarily South Florida) is the low wages and the high cost of living. I honestly can't find a decent rental to live for under $800.00 per month in a decent area without having to worry about get robbed by some random street thugs and I don't like that. I currently have a couple roomates but at 32 years old, do you think I really want to share a place with other people? Any decent area in South Florida is going to run you $800.00 and over, even a room or garage that someone has converted into a studio is going for $650 and up (This is a studio apartment).

Immigration is another issue that I have a issue with, it's a touchy subject but I don't really care for the large growth that we get every month of people who cannot speak english. I don't want to sound mean but I think this is America and English should be the offical language and that's just how I feel. These jobs that require someone to speak 2 languages are basically a slap in the face of many born and raised Americans and I don't think that is right.

I was in Texas in 2002 and apartments were $550.00 for a 1/1, that's great and I would enjoy living there and hopefully I'll end up there one day...

I agree with you on your issue with the massive # of aliens coming in. It is out of control. Here in Orlando, we go to the local mall or grocery store, I NEVER hear any English being spoken at all. It is Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian ALL DAY LONG. This is thanks to the dummies running the Federal Government right now. Their open border policy is also causing US wages to go way down. I mean way down. I have a client who is specialized in Lobotomy (a highly specialized medical procedure - Google it for info) and he says his wages have been going DOWN in the last 2 years. It is a FL phenomenon. This bring me to the next issue: due to the open border policy, we have people from all over the world, a lot of them unqualified to do the jobs they CLAIM they can do (usually with fake online degrees) and the quality of services and the wages are going down.

But I have to say one thing: BE GLAD you only have to pay $800/mo for a studio. In Orlando, a small studio apt costs almost $1,000/mo and only if it is in a crappy dangerous area on Kirkman road.

Originally Posted by luvthatmouse

I like the heat better than the cold but I will admit it is brutal in the summer here. It is like pulling teeth to get my parents or friends to do anything with us. No one wants to leave the AC-lol. We are still out in it though. Everyone said our 1st summer would be the worst but it was our 2nd one that did us in. It was really hot last summer. It is not just the heat/humidity but the sun. The sun is very strong here-you really need to be careful and wear high factor sun block. Totally different than up north. Unless you want skin cancer you just can not. So you are still cooped up in the summers a lot I have friends in their 20's that have had skin legions removed. They are careful with the sunblock too!

Case in point here. We have a FL lover admitting people in FL stay inside a lot. Nobody wants to do anything and walk outside because of the lack of A/C. I usually just go to the grocery store once a month during the 9-month summer and that is only because I either go or starve. And when I go, I go REALLY late at night, usually around 11pm or later. It will wear you out, make you tired, make you snappy at people. The FL heat is unbearable, you folks thing you can take it... we'll see about that.

Originally Posted by tallrick

Yes and they sure have done a good job of ruining Florida. We learned how to balance the positive and negative aspects of Florida then the invaders changed all the rules. I have a feeling that nature will have the last say in this state. I am teaching myself flash animation as I am going to make my own parody of life in south Florida and try and get some interest on YouTube or somewhere on the net in the hopes it makes it to mainstream media. Think of a jib jab style video about Floriduh!

I cannot wait to see the video, man! Please work on it, as I am dying to see. Make sure to point out all the "bad invaders" and don't forget the throngs of illegal aliens and hit and runs they do!