Why do you hate it here? (Miami, Tampa: gated, apartments, trip)

[fauve]

My personal rudeness peeve are actually primary doctors' referral coodinators....I think they all graduate from the same school of rudeness...<sigh>...so, anyone out there, don't get sick in South Florida with HMO insurance!

[runswithscissors]

I'm seeing a trend of four buckets:

1) I moved here and it used to be nice and now it isn't (few)

2) I moved here and even though I knew:

I didn't like the people
there was no mass transit system,
the state has not gotten bigger it still takes hours to drive out,
people always move here and it's densely populated in areas

But I'm mad about it now. I want FLL and SF to be something it never was and never will be. (most)

3) I moved here before knowing what it was like. (TONS)

4) I'm comparing FLL to Miami and expect them and their suburbs to all be the same things to everybody.

Is there a "I was forced to move here and now I'm mad", probably a couple...

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by fauve

My personal rudeness peeve are actually primary doctors' referral coodinators....I think they all graduate from the same school of rudeness...<sigh>...so, anyone out there, don't get sick in South Florida with HMO insurance!

yeah, right? funny the one industry doing well (medical) and they're not happy either. wth? I'm seriously wondering if it's a deal where you just don't feel like working where it's "tropical". My DH said the same thing about mid-southern California though, way back in 1990.

no better up North though getting through to the doc employees for anything.

[fauve]

Maybe it was a time and a place, but I grew up in Manhattan and I went to Park Avenue doctors till the late 80's. It was VERY civilized. I then moved down here and for the first time in my life was made to feel like a second class citizen in these offices. They're horrible. The doctors can be okay, but I have left doctors just because I couldn't communicate civilly with their front office staff. And, the same story at the pediatrician offices...just have all degenerated to clinic level. There is so much disdain for the patients - I am continually amazed by this, thinking it was just the atmo in one particular office, but no, it's most everywhere.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by fauve

Maybe it was a time and a place, but I grew up in Manhattan and I went to Park Avenue doctors till the late 80's. It was VERY civilized. I then moved down here and for the first time in my life was made to feel like a second class citizen in these offices. They're horrible. The doctors can be okay, but I have left doctors just because I couldn't communicate civilly with their front office staff. And, the same story at the pediatrician offices...just have all degenerated to clinic level. There is so much disdain for the patients - I am continually amazed by this, thinking it was just the atmo in one particular office, but no, it's most everywhere.

No, you are right it's the time and not the place, really. Up in Philly the better doctors (and here too I bet) who are the top specialists wont take insurance because of the constraints placed on them. I know this from my mom's end of life experiences. My own doc is a lovely man and the office is also chaotic.

Disdain, yes. They have no concept of customer, they are doing us a favor.

Funny, (but not) my BF was in a critical motorcycle accident and died three times and survived, had several life threatening issues. The hospital staff was so great. He was the buzz of ICU. But guess what, miserable to everyone else. Because his case was romantic, long haired cute NYC hippy guy, artist, survives killing deer on motorcycle. Hoof print on the helmet in the room on display etc etc....

Meanwhile in the same facility, my mom rotted in ICU cardiac because she was just another old person ready to die.

Pathetic. I have no interest whatsoever in any aspect of the medical profession, unfortunately, because it's the one field where you can sail in and out at will it seems. Albeit there are issues of mandatory double shifts for nurses etc, but they just quit and go elsewhere.

[Edison Winter]

I live in Broward County.

I do Hate South Florida.

Compelled I didnt check any of your choices on the poll because I couldnt decided on just one thing I hated about South Florida.

I will say this though I have been hear for 4 years now and I havent encountered many rude people at all. Actually most of the people I have had interactions with from Gas station clerks and people who work at CVS and Target all the way to Police and Fireman even a few pro athletes I met, and people I work with have been really really nice. So much so to the point I almost feel guilty about hating South Florida so much. Honestly all the people above and come to think of it the neighbors I have and have had and the people I met since moving down here, and not 1 person has disrespected me at all or have been rude to me at all.

I come from New Jersey and man o man that place is Rude to the bone.
Trust me people I lived in Jersey for 23 years and its bad there. Rude people definitly out way the nice people and thats from neighbors, to customer service people, all the way to Police. The Mean and Rude out weigh the nice.

My problems with South Florida are as follows.

The Crime.

Its bad. Very bad. Even if you live in a nicer area if you drive about 2-5 mins away from there you could potentially be in a scummy area filled with Pawn shops and XXX video stores and see some scary lookin people wandering about. The crime is all over the news so we all know the areas where it seems more bad then good happens. Hialeah, Miami, Lauderhill, Opa Locka etc etc.

The Weather.

Same thing all year. Boring. Hot 80 degress and sunny. Thanks but I will take that 4 months out of the year only please. I like 4 seasons.

High Price of Housing.

Simple as that. If you rent or you own you gotta pay big bucks to live there.

To Crowded.

Waaaay to crowded. Thats one of main problems with South Florida. Its brutal. Its so hard to get from point A to point B without getting stuck in 5 traffic lights and getting annoyed at 5 bad drivers.

The News.

Wow its awful. TV news that is. Especially talking about Channel 7 I think its Fox? Belkis Narey or whatever her name is, that channel is the worst but most of the local networks down here the news casters and reporters mainly the woman dress to trashy. The guy news casters and reporters try to be to hip and GQ. I know its "local" news but damn they all act like nothing exist outside of there Broward / Dade bubble.

Another thing about the news is that the newscasters and reporters are mostly latin Rodriguez, Martinez, Gonzlaes, Hernandez, Luiz, Diaz, etc etc.
Now I know that South Florida is big on the Latin style and all but damn there is a serious lack of non latin newscasters and reporters on all the networks. From meterologist to news anchors and reporters you dont see many White, Black, or Asians its mainly hispanics. And I think thats unfair and will be writing to all the local networks news directors and asking why that is.


Lack of true American Feel.

If you lived in say Washington or Vermont or Michigan or about 40 other states and you were being taken on a surprise trip but didnt know where to and ended up in certain areas of Miami you would really have a hard time knowing that you were still in the United States of America. The tropical air, the 90 degree heat and blasting sun, the sound of reaggae and reagge tone and the site of all the caribiean and cuban people you might think you were either in Jamaica or Cuba.

Although most people of all backgrounds down here are nice and not "rude" it is depressing that I being a white american feel like I am a visitor in someones tropical country. From food shops, to local ads, the news, the languages often spoken other then english, the music, the majority of the people in public, the style of clothes, and many other things really lack the good old red white and blue USA feel. I have seen people mention here before and its true, that not many people who speak other languages down here find it important enough to learn english and adapt to the american culture such as eating a good old hamburger because they are so catered to in there original language and culture. They eat the same foods and speak the same language they were raised with. I know if I went to someone elses country I would be well prepared to adapt to that style.

Another poster mentioned how Christmas is depressing and its true very true and sad.

The way developers tear down perfectly good trees and disrupt land for wildlife disgusts me as well. All so they can add more apartments, more townhomes, more houses that are all the same cookie cutter style and look you know that ugly brownish pinkish cement look. And also hey we have a million cvs stores lets rip down this nice green area of land and trees to add another!

Build Build Build South Florida!

South Florida will never change for the better to my liking. So I think its a matter of love it or leave it, and trust me folks I am leaving it sooner then later. Thank god I have a great family and great hobbies, and a best friend, and great pets to take my mind off this place.

Just FYI I moved down here for family reasons not because I chose to. I would have never in a million years moved anywhere south of North Carolina. My family is down here and I had to come down here I honestly had no choice. I didnt think I would hate it this much but I do.

I wouldnt go back to Jersey though, they have there own major problems almost as bad as down here and might be worse considering how small that state is and how even more so overpriced it is there.

I will move some where, just havent decided where yet but Im excited about it.

[fauve]

Btw, Ed, I checked three things on the poll, so I don't think there's any limit.

[compelled to reply]

Ed, I noticed you said anything south of North Carolina. NC is a great state but if crime is your number one concern, I do not suggest any of the major cities except for Raleigh. The counties that most of them are contained in are all a good deal worse than Broward for crime and can give Dade a run for their money, especially Charlotte. Also, that's more of an east side thing to be 5 minutes away from a scummy area. The west side isn't really like that. Also, believe it or not, many places in NJ are safer than anywhere else on the east coast, like Bergen or Monmouth/Middlesex County area. And for the development, I would suggest looking deep into the countryside in NC. Most of the development is over here as the place is built out and losing population. NC is BOOMING in population, and for good reason, but you can mostly have vinyl siding instead of pink stucco siding.

Otherwise, thank you for your extensive, respectfully given opinion.

[Sharkey514]

I agree with many fellow-posters that "rude people" negatively impact the quality of life here. This is true anywhere. I think this, unfortunately, a part of our culture. Look at the people comprising our service sector! Other people on this thread have mentioned, in particular, the rude front-office staff in medical offices. My husband and I are both in the medical field - work in hospitals. We are NOT in the high end of earnings. Through our training and prior jobs, we have worked in different regions of the country. It's bad everywhere. It is difficult to find pleasant, articulate, and gracious people to hire as staff. It's not generation "X", but rather it is generation "Y do I have to". There is a pervasive passive-aggressive attitude that we see in service people. Look who is hired for these jobs. Then, there are the rude rich or pretending-to-be rich people who are rude. Look at the statistics on who is moving here -- there is a greater divide between rich and poor. It is tough for a middle class family to live here based on housing costs, alone! FYI...Best place we spent time was in Wilmington, NC.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by fauve

Maybe it was a time and a place, but I grew up in Manhattan and I went to Park Avenue doctors till the late 80's. It was VERY civilized. I then moved down here and for the first time in my life was made to feel like a second class citizen in these offices. They're horrible. The doctors can be okay, but I have left doctors just because I couldn't communicate civilly with their front office staff. And, the same story at the pediatrician offices...just have all degenerated to clinic level. There is so much disdain for the patients - I am continually amazed by this, thinking it was just the atmo in one particular office, but no, it's most everywhere.

What do you think doctors staff make in Manhattan? I would bet probably 3 or 4 times that.