Ugly Florida Town Contest? I nominate Ocala... (Bradenton, Fort Pierce: place to live, beach)

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

Originally Posted by sunnyhelena

Winter Haven?

As for Belle Glade- they wont close up shop. They need the sugar cane shanty town so poor migrant workers can work the agriculture fields there.

Beauty is the eye of the beholder I guess. I exit 408 to Semoran to Colonial to go to the Fashion Square Mall on occaison. I don't see Tijuana anywhere, I really don't know where NG gets his information. Every area has it's poor areas, I mean, do you have to really be so negative and berate people less fortunate? Do you have to live there??? No, you just drive through on your way to somewhere else. NG border lines on paranoia, I truly feel for the guy.

[Chromedome]

definitely cape coral.

cookie cutter homes, carbon copy clones of the same stripmall over and over on del prado and cape coral parkway.

and empty lots.

no trees, no sort of visual diversity, nothing of that nature.

i use to joke around with my mom that if there werent street signs you couldnt tell one street in cape coral from another

[inftmyers]

Originally Posted by Chromedome

definitely cape coral.

cookie cutter homes, carbon copy clones of the same stripmall over and over on del prado and cape coral parkway.

and empty lots.

no trees, no sort of visual diversity, nothing of that nature.

i use to joke around with my mom that if there werent street signs you couldnt tell one street in cape coral from another

I agree with you on that one. While I definatley love SW Fl, I gotta admit that CC needs to plant some trees or something.

[Obamanation]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

WOW - I live in Dade City, and I think it is one of the most BEAUTIFUL little towns in Florida! And friendly and safe, too. And Lacoochie is NOT Dade City! And I disagree with you on Tampa - I was born there, and a good portion of the inner city is definitely ghetto-esque - only Temple Terrace and South Tampa are nice. There are pockets of "nice" as in pretty, in Seminole Heights and other neighborhoods but they are on the fringes of ghettos and are rife with crime

It depends on what you like, I guess. I really don't see any beautiful parts of "Dead City" thoygh, really. I see a creepy cow town stuck in the 40's, with the worst combination of ghetto and redneck thugs. NE pasco county had multiple murders, and major drug problems in 2005, according to the crime tracker @ TBO. As far as Tampa proper goes, the city is relatively small so contrasts between the ghetto and upscale can seem thin. Overall, the nice areas do outnumber the ghetto areas. Most of the true ghetto areas are isolated and concentrated.

[Obamanation]

Originally Posted by edotabin

Actually the fastest way from Tampa to Boca is i-4 and then the turnpike.
Maybe use the Osceola parkway but that depends on the time of day.
In rush hour traffic i-4 can crawl to a standstill and Osceola pkwy has toooo many lights, tolls etc.
Otherwise, mid afternoon and late at night, going 90 and no stops I have made the trip in 3 hours and 5 minutes.

I have not visited all the towns etc in FL. I would love to. I have travelled extensively between South Florida and Central Florida though. With the real estate boom, I did also take the scenic routes as well just to see what was out there.

Folks, I live in Boca (not real rich and I live in a 1500 sq ft condo NOT on the beach) and I disagree with most here. Just because some real estate moguls that control the media decided APOPKA or POLK county is a city or "hot spot" all of a sudden, well, it doesn't necessarily make it true.

First off, no matter where you are, if you have money you will be living in a nice place, even if it is in Polk County. If you have money, chances are you are educated and have friends in a variety of higher places. In any case, you get the point.

Beyond that, beauty is subjective. I considered moving to Tampa but I just dislike the overall "feel" it has. It is a bunch of "yahoos" trying to disguise themselves as citizens of a real city. New Yorkers say that about me I am sure. The city is very poorly planned, and definitely not able to handle the the influx of people. Traffic is a nightmare all over St Pete, Tampa, Clearwater. Once it gets dark, the place turns into a ghost town. There is nobody in the streets. It's a bit spooky. West Palm is similar in that regard. Yeah they have Clematis but the rest of the city is dead.

Some will make mention of Ybor City. That is a run down Miami beach wannabe. Anyway you look at it, that's what it is. This doesn't mean all of Miami Beach is great. There are run down parts there too.

I choose points south. Delray has a very nice and active downtown area (not a big city just an active "strip") boca has some nice spots too. The Las Olas area of Ft Lauderdale is really pretty and Hollywood Blvd is fabulous as well.
People are out laughing, eating, dancing. There is LIFE. Depending on where you go, Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables have some truly beautiful spots and Coconut Grove is phenomenal.

Sure, home prices are prohibitive and in Miami, Spanish is all you ever hear.
I am not Latin and my Spanish is horrible but I would take their music and love for dancing any time over white trash that drinks beer all day.

Again, I have not visited many, many towns in Florida and so I limit my comments to the places I have been to.

All that being said, there is NO hope for Belle Glade. That place needs to close up shop. Same holds true for that other yahoo city 4-5 miles up the road from Belle Glade. ....oh yeah Pahokee

A lot of what you have said here is misinformed. I-4 goes north, and is an inefficient route to get to Boca, because you have to curve north before you begin going south. I-75, to SR 70, to the beeline highway, and the rest 95, would probably be the better way to go. Ybor City has a lot to do but it's not for everyone. SoHo and Channelside are better.

[stargazer]

Hey Prichard,
I think Geneva would be gem if they cleaned it up. I live in a town that has an old town that is being restored and it is very beautiful and know from what I see here, that Geneva could be thought in this regard without having to huge developments coming in. As for being a southern baptist community, about 100 go there. So they have the biggest church congregation but as far there infulence, it does not influence many there. Most people drink and party that live around there and that is not a southern baptist thang. LOL. I was in Seminole Woods and loved my little spread but am much happier since I moved home. I missed my family.

I don't think that putting in a local grocery store would hurt either and it could be achieved nicely without alot of tree loss. There was a corner next to the light in town that was for sale with a abandonded builing there. It a bit of acreage. I could easily have seen a nice grocery store or cafe there.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Obamanation

It depends on what you like, I guess. I really don't see any beautiful parts of "Dead City" thoygh, really. I see a creepy cow town stuck in the 40's, with the worst combination of ghetto and redneck thugs. NE pasco county had multiple murders, and major drug problems in 2005, according to the crime tracker @ TBO. As far as Tampa proper goes, the city is relatively small so contrasts between the ghetto and upscale can seem thin. Overall, the nice areas do outnumber the ghetto areas. Most of the true ghetto areas are isolated and concentrated.

As I said before, Lacoochie is NOT Dade City! Dade city is not northeast Pasco, it is East. I do agree with you on Lacoochie, (which is northeast) it is a creepy ugly place. But Dade City is beautiful, with it's rolling hills, lakes and woods. It is very expensive here now, too, all around me are half mil and up custom homes. And as I said, very little crime here in town, what crime there is stays pretty localized in the one small "ghetto" part of town.

[rodnmabel]

Years ago I spent some time in Lacoochee in church mission work. Then
in 1970 this little community could have easily been mistaken for a shanty
town in the third world. I understood it had been a mill town and the owners
of the mill discouraged anyone there from getting an education and as a result
there was some intermarriage which negatively affected the gene pool. It
was poverty stricken place big time. By contrast Dade City to the south
was a beautiful little town with a lot of wealthy people.

[doom1001]

Originally Posted by edotabin

All that being said, there is NO hope for Belle Glade. That place needs to close up shop. Same holds true for that other yahoo city 4-5 miles up the road from Belle Glade. ....oh yeah Pahokee

I sometimes take US 27 to get up to Orlando and most of those towns around the lake,South Bay,Clewiston are pretty bad,but I remember one time I took the route up the lake that goes through Belle Glade and Pahokee,it was only one time I've gone that way and it was years ago,but I was seriously frightened!!!

[OcalaCitrus]

I've lived in Ocala for quite some time, and though it has grown a lot in recent years, and it isn't the most beautiful place on Earth, it isn't that bad. The area on 301 is probably about the worst in appearance in the county, but most of the growth and beauty are on the SR 200 west corridor. Anyway, I'm looking to move to somewhere a bit larger, but anyone have advice as to where to go?