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Today I had another long time friend tell me he is moving. Destination- central Georgia. Since the real estate bubble hit Florida in 2003 I have had 9 friends move to other states. None have returned and all have prospered. Is this a trend that continues or have the gullible been lured to Florida to replace those leaving? The economic situation in Florida has been worsening, so has anyone else been thinking of moving or know someone else who has?
Enjoy your posts.
Don't believe the "grass is greener" (but maybe the money is?)
Many of my friends (conchs) in the Keys have been leaving because of the economy. Many conchs were coming to Daytona Beach for a while. Others have left the state as you mentioned.
Many I know who've left, while prospering, are also miserable (see below).
Went to TX a few months ago. It was SCORCHING hot! Couldn't believe how they seemed untouched in this economy -- stores, restaurants packed with lines. (Guess they're still living off them gov't contracts! )
But I couldn't get over how everyone was spitting. Not just a bit, but everywhere you went (including the kids). Guys squaking/puking spit all around you like it was nothin'. Big, juicy hockers (including chew) in the parking lots and entrances to stores/restaurants you could step in like bubble gum if you weren't lookin' (which I did cause I wasn't). Yee-haw!
While this is just one example, there were quite a few others like this that struck me hard to the contrast of living in Florida. Like many people seemed really overweight there too. Or shooting off firearms (more regularly than I'm used to) in public or the neighborhood.
My point being is that no matter how much money you could make somewhere else, WHAT will it cost you (compared to your existing quality of life in FL)?
Thinkin' of moving to some Northern/Southern factory town where you could have your own bungalow (with the single bush landscaping for the entire yard) next to the Chemical Plant that you work the night shift? Shovel snow each grey winter and hang out with the locals at the tavern after your shift (that doesn't serve the beer you used to drink in FL because there's only 2 kinds) and who've never left the county? Where you'll ALWAYS be an outsider because you weren't born there (esp. looking for work)?
Good Times! SNAP OUT OF IT!
Last edited by daytonadewd; 09-15-2009 at 02:54 AM..
The kid I'm raising would kill me....if I ever contemplated moving to Fargo.
My guy was 9 when I took him to Paris (first time). Within an hour of arrival...while walking from Pampidou to the Louvre...the kid started asking: "Mom, is there any waaaaay we can buy a little apartment here so we can come here any time we feel like being in Paris".
A 9 year old could sense that "je ne sais quoi" that annually brings millions of people to Paris.
I don't think he'll be nagging his mother to buy a little co-op apt in Fargo...
Whoever thinks that life in Fargo (for a kid & a teenager) would be more stimulating than life in Miami......should go back to their TV screen and put in a tape....of Little House on the Prairie.
I can't believe what "reality" these magazines serve to their population. (How can fast food be a measure of "health"? There are many fast foods that are quite healthy)
They're constantly idealizing towns and environments which hark back to pastoral 19th century America. The past.
All fine and dandy....but the problem is that this frame of mind....also takes its population mentally, IDEOLOGICALLY & culturally....backwards....to the past....while the rest of the world is forging ahead......faaast.
I mean... I'm the last person to knock small town & rural living etc...but time after time...in all the ratings I see...in all the magazines...."the dream" seems to be a small town.... (ideally...as close as possible to Timbuktu )....while the reality is urban densification & general urbanization....througout the US & the world.
Sure...Miami today seems like a "great merchant ship without a sure trade route"....but come oooooon. It's not sinking yet.
Fargo over Miami.... Jamais!
Americans are Acadians is seach of a bucolical, pastoral suburban utopia.
Have you ever watched the movie "A Boy And His Dog" and "The Stepford Wives"?
OK, I'd take a pass on Fargo to but only because it's like colder than Pluto up there. I've got nothing against the size of the town.
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Whoever thinks that life in Fargo (for a kid & a teenager) would be more stimulating than life in Miami......should go back to their TV screen and put in a tape....of Little House on the Prairie.
"Stimulating" is not always a good thing. I don't remember any school shootings in Little House On The Prarrie.
Quote:
I can't believe what "reality" these magazines serve to their population. (How can fast food be a measure of "health"? There are many fast foods that are quite healthy)
Maybe Subway, if you believe all of those commercials from the formerly fat guy. In general though, fast food is not healthy.
Quote:
They're constantly idealizing towns and environments which hark back to pastoral 19th century America. The past.
All fine and dandy....but the problem is that this frame of mind....also takes its population mentally, IDEOLOGICALLY & culturally....backwards....to the past....while the rest of the world is forging ahead......faaast.
Ideologically there was nothing wrong with the past and nothing better about what seems to be around the corner in the future. That is the myth that the progressives spin that somehow new ideological thinking is naturally better. Ideologically in the past more people believed in God and thought there might actually be consequences for their actions. Mayeb one is less likely to go postal if one believes there will be eternal consequences. Of course, that's just "culturally....backwards" thinking now I guess.
Quote:
I mean... I'm the last person to knock small town & rural living etc...but time after time...in all the ratings I see...in all the magazines...."the dream" seems to be a small town.... (ideally...as close as possible to Timbuktu )....while the reality is urban densification & general urbanization....througout the US & the world.
They have high-speed internet in the countryside now too so just because you don't live in a concrete jungle doesn't mean you are in Timbuktu. I'm pretty sure Timbuktu also has high speed internet these days.
Quote:
Sure...Miami today seems like a "great merchant ship without a sure trade route"....but come oooooon. It's not sinking yet.
Fargo over Miami.... Jamais!
I guess it's not sinking yet because the rats aren't deserting... they're at the helm running the ship.
Don't believe the "grass is greener" (but maybe the money is?)
Many of my friends (conchs) in the Keys have been leaving because of the economy. Many conchs were coming to Daytona Beach for a while. Others have left the state as you mentioned.
Many I know who've left, while prospering, are also miserable (see below).
Went to TX a few months ago. It was SCORCHING hot! Couldn't believe how they seemed untouched in this economy -- stores, restaurants packed with lines. (Guess they're still living off them gov't contracts! )
But I couldn't get over how everyone was spitting. Not just a bit, but everywhere you went (including the kids). Guys squaking/puking spit all around you like it was nothin'. Big, juicy hockers (including chew) in the parking lots and entrances to stores/restaurants you could step in like bubble gum if you weren't lookin' (which I did cause I wasn't). Yee-haw!
While this is just one example, there were quite a few others like this that struck me hard to the contrast of living in Florida. Like many people seemed really overweight there too. Or shooting off firearms (more regularly than I'm used to) in public or the neighborhood.
My point being is that no matter how much money you could make somewhere else, WHAT will it cost you (compared to your existing quality of life in FL)?
Thinkin' of moving to some Northern/Southern factory town where you could have your own bungalow (with the single bush landscaping for the entire yard) next to the Chemical Plant that you work the night shift? Shovel snow each grey winter and hang out with the locals at the tavern after your shift (that doesn't serve the beer you used to drink in FL because there's only 2 kinds) and who've never left the county? Where you'll ALWAYS be an outsider because you weren't born there (esp. looking for work)?
Good Times! SNAP OUT OF IT!
If conchs are expecting any other place in the world to be like the Keys, they really do have rose-colored glasses on. The best way to never find greener grass is to expect every place to be just like where you came from, but better.
And to insinuate that everyone who leaves in search of better opportunities is heading to "some Northern/Southern factory town where you could have your own bungalow (with the single bush landscaping for the entire yard) next to the Chemical Plant..." is just preposterous. There are many great cities in the US that are nowhere near this stereotypical description of what people who've never left Miami seem to think the rest of the country is like.
I personally left Miami for many reasons, one of which was that I was tired of not being able to advance in my career or ever realize the dream of owning a home in a walkable neighborhood. I would never be able to even afford the home I grew up in. I at least wanted an opportunity to have a chance of achieving those things, but that opportunity was not in Miami or anywhere else in S. FL. Additionally, I was just disappointed that as large of a metro that Miami is, it just isn't urban enough and is a long way off if it ever gets past the clutches of corrupt officials and developers to become the city it should have been on its way to 20 years ago. If I'm going to live in a big, congested, crowded, hot place, I want it to at least have decent urban planning, effective mass transit, and a better variety of housing in pedestrian friendly areas.
When I decided to leave I was not looking for bucolic pastoral America. Instead I was hoping to find a place that had many high-quality educational institutions all in one area for going back to school, a better shot at being able to buy a house, and seasonal change that was not extreme. Not to mention a friendly, well-educated populace. I found all those things, and a very involved community that really cares about the growth and advancement of it's city. This is something that has always seemed absent in S. FL, and I didn't know I was craving it until I experienced it for the first time in my new city.
No, the grass is not always going to be greener, but for some it truly is. It all depends on what it is that you go in search of.
The kid I'm raising would kill me....if I ever contemplated moving to Fargo.
My guy was 9 when I took him to Paris (first time). Within an hour of arrival...while walking from Pampidou to the Louvre...the kid started asking: "Mom, is there any waaaaay we can buy a little apartment here so we can come here any time we feel like being in Paris".
A 9 year old could sense that "je ne sais quoi" that annually brings millions of people to Paris.
I don't think he'll be nagging his mother to buy a little co-op apt in Fargo...
Whoever thinks that life in Fargo (for a kid & a teenager) would be more stimulating than life in Miami......should go back to their TV screen and put in a tape....of Little House on the Prairie.
I can't believe what "reality" these magazines serve to their population. (How can fast food be a measure of "health"? There are many fast foods that are quite healthy)
They're constantly idealizing towns and environments which hark back to pastoral 19th century America. The past.
All fine and dandy....but the problem is that this frame of mind....also takes its population mentally, IDEOLOGICALLY & culturally....backwards....to the past....while the rest of the world is forging ahead......faaast.
I mean... I'm the last person to knock small town & rural living etc...but time after time...in all the ratings I see...in all the magazines...."the dream" seems to be a small town.... (ideally...as close as possible to Timbuktu )....while the reality is urban densification & general urbanization....througout the US & the world.
Sure...Miami today seems like a "great merchant ship without a sure trade route"....but come oooooon. It's not sinking yet.
Fargo over Miami.... Jamais!
It's not about entertainment or the weather, it's about quality of life
If conchs are expecting any other place in the world to be like the Keys, they really do have rose-colored glasses on. The best way to never find greener grass is to expect every place to be just like where you came from, but better.
And to insinuate that everyone who leaves in search of better opportunities is heading to "some Northern/Southern factory town where you could have your own bungalow (with the single bush landscaping for the entire yard) next to the Chemical Plant..." is just preposterous. There are many great cities in the US that are nowhere near this stereotypical description of what people who've never left Miami seem to think the rest of the country is like.
I personally left Miami for many reasons, one of which was that I was tired of not being able to advance in my career or ever realize the dream of owning a home in a walkable neighborhood. I would never be able to even afford the home I grew up in. I at least wanted an opportunity to have a chance of achieving those things, but that opportunity was not in Miami or anywhere else in S. FL. Additionally, I was just disappointed that as large of a metro that Miami is, it just isn't urban enough and is a long way off if it ever gets past the clutches of corrupt officials and developers to become the city it should have been on its way to 20 years ago. If I'm going to live in a big, congested, crowded, hot place, I want it to at least have decent urban planning, effective mass transit, and a better variety of housing in pedestrian friendly areas.
When I decided to leave I was not looking for bucolic pastoral America. Instead I was hoping to find a place that had many high-quality educational institutions all in one area for going back to school, a better shot at being able to buy a house, and seasonal change that was not extreme. Not to mention a friendly, well-educated populace. I found all those things, and a very involved community that really cares about the growth and advancement of it's city. This is something that has always seemed absent in S. FL, and I didn't know I was craving it until I experienced it for the first time in my new city.
No, the grass is not always going to be greener, but for some it truly is. It all depends on what it is that you go in search of.
Today I had another long time friend tell me he is moving. Destination- central Georgia. Since the real estate bubble hit Florida in 2003 I have had 9 friends move to other states. None have returned and all have prospered. Is this a trend that continues or have the gullible been lured to Florida to replace those leaving? The economic situation in Florida has been worsening, so has anyone else been thinking of moving or know someone else who has?
people come & go what matters is being happy smart people dont leave in places they dont fit or like
people come & go what matters is being happy smart people dont leave in places they dont fit or like
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Yes, you're entirely right.
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) 
I'm the last person to knock small town & rural living etc...but time after time...in all the ratings I see...in all the magazines...."the dream" seems to be a small town.... (ideally...as close as possible to Timbuktu 
)....while the reality is urban densification & general urbanization....througout the US & the world. 
Jamais!
