So I'm not alone--Florida really is as bad as I think it is!!! (Miami: real estate)

[DessertRat]

I haven't read every response to the cited article, or even to this thread yet, so maybe some folks have done this, but I'd be interested to hear what specific "daily experience" events--in other words, personal facts--are leading to the negative opinions. For example, "My homeowner's insurance increased 25% two years ago", or "It used to take me 20 minutes to commute to work, now it takes me 45 to go the same route and there is no alternate", or "I'm spending $150 per week on groceries instead of the $100 I was spending five years ago, for the same amount of stuff", or "I have neighbors who park an old Toyota on cinder blocks in their front yard and don't mow their lawn", or whatever it is.

Every comment I've read so far is very vague, and it's making me wonder what actually changed for that particular person. Most people just cite statistics-like claims (like school test scores) without citing actual problems that they may be having (for example, did their kid flunk out or get a crappy SAT score because of the school they have to attend?) If the statistics say that test scores are down, but your kid aced their SAT and got accepted to Harvard, I don't understand why lower school scores would tempt that person to move.

I grew up in Palm Beach County--my family moved there when I was a kid, in the early 70s. Our house, in Royal Palm Beach, was one of only two on the street at the time. The nearest grocery store was about 14 miles away. There were two two lane roads running out to Royal Palm.

I also lived in Miami while I was going to school (at University of Miami) and my sister lived in Orlando for awhile (about 5 years), not to mention that I've been to Disney literally hundreds of times so I've experienced both of those areas a lot.

I live in the New York City area now, but my folks still live in the same house in Royal Palm Beach. That area has grown tremendously--there are tens of thousands of people there now. One of the roads is more or less being turned into a highway, the other road is 8 lanes in some places. There's every restaurant, retail store, grocery store, huge malls, etc. within a couple of miles of my folks' house. My folks' neighborhood was almost exclusively white, and now it's very multicultural.

I just got back from spending a month's vacation with my folks and I have to say I like the area better than ever. It's changed a lot, but I do not see any negative changes. I don't think their insurance has skyrocketed (my parents and I are very open and communicative with each other about finances), and the only time they were victims of crime was a minor robbery about 25 years ago, which we believe was perpetrated by an acquaintance. Re finances, my folks are past retirement age and are actually making less now than they have in a long time, although their home has been paid off for some time, but they're not having any problems financially. Their house is like an overstuffed museum (most people can't believe it when they see it) and my mom still keeps adding to it.

Sure, you hear about crime on the news, but there has always been crime in that area (where isn't there crime?), and per capita, I don't think it's worse than it was. The population is just growing, so you hear about more. In fact, one area that was a "bad area" of WPB was recently razed--blocks and blocks of houses just bought by the city and torn down--and a beautiful residential and shopping area was built in its place. That's not getting worse in my view.

And especially compared to living in the New York City area for the past 13 years, I couldn't believe how friendly and courteous the people seemed to be on this last trip--including when they were driving. The traffic seemed light to me also. The only time I noticed heavier traffic was on I-95 right in the middle of WPB during rush hour--it wasn't bad traffic; I just noticed that there were more cars on the road then. Heck, we drove back from Disney on a Tuesday evening and it seemed like maybe 10 cars passed us or were passed by us on the Turnpike between Osceola Parkway and Okeechobee Boulevard. I almost needed more traffic to keep me awake while driving.

It was enough that it's made me consider moving back there, even though two of my primary motivations for moving out in the first place were the heat and the fact that Florida is so flat (I'm an avid hiker), and those things haven't changed. The things that have changed have made it attractive enough to me to consider going back--and it does feel like home when I'm in Florida . . . New York has never really felt like that to me. There's a lot I miss about Florida.

So is anyone aware of negative opinions being justified by facts about personal experience changes? I'd be curious to know exactly what's bothering some folks.

[Mikis]

I will be moving OUT of Florida in the next 6 days. Can't wait. I've had enough here [Ft Lauderdale]

[compelled to reply]

As above poster stated, few posters are citing any specifics on why it's "Bad" here. Please don't say "I'm moving to Greensboro" to escape the crime either. That place is a dump. I had it narrowed to Greensboro, Atlanta, and Ft Lauderdale out of Orlando. Delusional me picked Fort Lauderdale because I don't really like the idea of living in my car instead of in my house, and also I don't want to live in a backwards thinking dump with 10 lane highways constantly under construction (That's right, Greensboro has a traffic issue!), widespread property crime (much worse than Ft. Lauderdale area and about on par with Orlando), insular locals who don't accept outsiders. I also didn't like that more than 6% of my income would be taxed, considering I would be taking a pay cut to live there. Florida has tangible and intangible advantages for some individuals as well as in the big picture. Yes, I feel closed in here sometimes, no, people aren't the warmest, and if I was married with kids, I could see the appeal of moving to Raleigh or Charlotte, but I feel Florida is still one of the better (but not the best) places to be in the country, and I don't feel North Carolina or Georgia is one of the best. I like the tax situation in Tennessee, but I haven't traveled enough there to speak for it (only Nashville, which I enjoyed way more than Charlotte or Atlanta). I actually feel the best place for a family would be in one of the northeastern states that everyone ones to flee for some reason, and there are personally states other than Florida I would probably rather live in, the "grass is greener" states not being them. Guess theres something wrong with me.

And to keep this on topic with Orlando, I would never suggest Orlando to somebody, although Seminole County is fine for a family if you have to live there.

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

As above poster stated, few posters are citing any specifics on why it's "Bad" here. Please don't say "I'm moving to Greensboro" to escape the crime either. That place is a dump. I had it narrowed to Greensboro, Atlanta, and Ft Lauderdale out of Orlando. Delusional me picked Fort Lauderdale because I don't really like the idea of living in my car instead of in my house, and also I don't want to live in a backwards thinking dump with 10 lane highways constantly under construction (That's right, Greensboro has a traffic issue!), widespread property crime (much worse than Ft. Lauderdale area and about on par with Orlando), insular locals who don't accept outsiders. I also didn't like that more than 6% of my income would be taxed, considering I would be taking a pay cut to live there. Florida has tangible and intangible advantages for some individuals as well as in the big picture. Yes, I feel closed in here sometimes, no, people aren't the warmest, and if I was married with kids, I could see the appeal of moving to Raleigh or Charlotte, but I feel Florida is still one of the better (but not the best) places to be in the country, and I don't feel North Carolina or Georgia is one of the best. I like the tax situation in Tennessee, but I haven't traveled enough there to speak for it (only Nashville, which I enjoyed way more than Charlotte or Atlanta).

Being thousands of miles away I will not be able to participate in their lives; the wedding coming up, when the children are being born, etc. I lived here before when I was in my early 20s. I came here because I was talked into it because of a BF at the time. Mistake. Although I hadn't been getting along with my parents at that time, I found I missed them. I was a only child. My Dad had been sick and my Mom would be all alone when he passed. Yes, I know children have to make their own lives, but when I did get married, have kids, we only moved 50 miles away, not 2,000. My Mom was able to see me and her grandkids born and grow up. That is priceless and no amount of friends can take the place of that.

I am not a summer person. I have always hated the beach, etc., etc. I used to cry as a 6 year old when my parents took me to one.

I am a very liberal/progressive person. I do not agree with the views of this state, or the South basically. I am a fish out of water here. I have never brought up that aspect on this board before, but it is the truth.

I work in education. It is very frustrating to see what the state of education is here in this state.

I think that is enough.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by HockeyMom72

I am a very liberal/progressive person. I do not agree with the views of this state, or the South basically. I am a fish out of water here. I have never brought up that aspect on this board before, but it is the truth.


I think that is enough.

Interesting how that works. I'm sort of libertarian (not quite, but kind of), but I find this area at times too liberal for me. Broward is very left leaning, although in my individual situation (as a young single male renting) the tax situation works great for me, although I honestly don't like the idea of giving my local government my money and seeing them spend it on another repavement project (of a three year old road) or a stupid useless public works program when my local zoned high school has crumbling facilities and there is no serious form of mass transportation (Which could give this area a competitive advantage in business). That's basic infrastructure. I don't trust the government, and I think the government should be primary responsible for basic infrastructure and basic services. We differ there.

I think we all need to vent sometimes. If you needed to get that off your chest, I hope you feel relieved. Take a trip up to see some of your family, it's really quite relieving.

[cloudddae]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

It`s funny because you look at other state forums like Georgia and north Carolina and they are now starting to complain about all the people moving up from Florida and the northeast.
The natives of those states are moving out because of that, so give Florida enough time and it will be nice here again because alot of the people will be outta here.

That might be true...If we start doing something about the illegals, and I don`t see that happening any time soon.

[cloudddae]

Originally Posted by amax41

We came here based on experiences of my travel plus my relatives. We (and my relatives) can attribute the largest reason for "migration out of Florida" to be the immigration issue. The problem is very serious...and the more the population turns PR the more Florida will empty.

Who's country is this?????

AMEN!!!!!!!!!

[DessertRat]

Originally Posted by HockeyMom72

Being thousands of miles away I will not be able to participate in their lives . . .

All that stuff is certainly understandable as a motivation to move, but it's not a problem with Florida per se.

I am not a summer person. I have always hated the beach, etc., etc. I used to cry as a 6 year old when my parents took me to one.

Those things are understandable, too, but not something that has changed with Florida. It's always been hot and had beaches (well, at least since modern humans have inhabited it ;-)

I am a very liberal/progressive person. I do not agree with the views of this state, or the South basically. I am a fish out of water here. I have never brought up that aspect on this board before, but it is the truth.

Here you're getting much more vague. What specific things are you talking about, and how do they affect your daily living? Where would you live instead where your daily living would be very different on whatever this issue is? This also might be another factor that's something that hasn't changed in Florida, depending on what the specifics are here.

I work in education. It is very frustrating to see what the state of education is here in this state.

Same thing. You're talking, at best, about statistics here. Those statistics may have absolutely nothing to do with you (and they may be misleading for various reasons). What is a problem in your daily life related to this issue? I can't imagine that people are saying that they're aware of some statistics that somehow represent states of affairs that would be unfavorable to them if they actually affected their daily lives, and merely being aware of them is enough to make living somewhere unsatisfactory.

[maddy1980]

Nope you are not alone I have been trying to tell people for years that not all of florida is fun and like disney world. Unless you plan on going to the beach every single day and every season then it is not worth leaving those other fun areas that have way more to offer than florida.

[amax41]

Originally Posted by maddy1980

Nope you are not alone I have been trying to tell people for years that not all of florida is fun and like disney world. Unless you plan on going to the beach every single day and every season then it is not worth leaving those other fun areas that have way more to offer than florida.

unless your main reason for being here has to do with weather.......