So I'm not alone--Florida really is as bad as I think it is!!! (Davenport: budget)

[xtranaut]

Originally Posted by veryconcernhairstylist25

With All This Bad Talk About Florida New York To Me Is Worse> Everywhere Is Changing From 9 11 No Where Has Been The Same . Anyway Does Anyone Live In The Clermont Area Im Lookin To Move There From Stinkin Ney York(lol) How Is It There?

You are right. Everything is changing but not because of 911. IT's because of poor leadership in Washington D.C. and local and state governments selling out their constituency.

Florida's problems stem from UNCONTROLLED growth and from constant migration by most of the people who post on this board. Imagine. I lived in Florida when you could actually find OPEN places on the beaches and not every square inch was ALLOWED to be built on.

Speculators and investors have run Real Estate prices up and the recent Real Estate bubble (perpetrated by this Presidential administration) did it's job on Florida by sending the message, "hurry and buy now if you want to afford your dream." Did it work for you?

NOw those same parasites will be scouring over the homes you bought and can no longer afford, to pick up bargains to offset their losses. Bottom feeders.

I find that most of the people who complain about the way Florida is, are the ones who came there twenty or more years ago, before the people bomb hit and prices made it affordable to ive.

Simply...with the cost of living, the crime, the lack of good jobs, lack of good pay, the traffic, and the rampant growth that encroaches on a sensitve environment, FLORIDA is not the same attractive postcard place it was twenty-five and thirty years ago. INstead, it has all the horrible problems of the big cities that people left. GO figure..

Look at St. Petersburg. Retirees used to come to St. Pete to live out the rest of their years in boarding houses and sit on the green benches downtown..

I am not talking about the retirees you see playing golf at the new gated community full of 800k homes. I am talking about people on fixed, limited incomes.

THose people can not AFFORD Florida any longer.

Just look around and it will not take long to figure out that GOVERNMENT from the local level, all the way up, is responsible for the mess that Florida is.

Don't believe that Florida is a cheap place to live based on it being a no-income tax state. It used to be so when the average lifestyle in Florida was "modest" and people were happy.

NOw it's high rises and behemouth houses ..a mecca made for those who have lots of money to bring or want a second home in the sun.

Florida may offer a few minor advantages to the average person but it's biggest benefits are to people of wealth. The bankruptcy laws are very protective.

Florida is also full of con men in all kinds of areas. Lou Pearlman (the creator of the Back Street Boys) is a good example. He rounded up a bunch of Florida suckers as investors and ran a 317 million dollar ponzi scheme.

My advice. UNless you HAVE to, stay where you are..or if you want great prices and beauty - BUY MICHIGAN..then
You want sun, nature and quiet -- vacation in ROATAN, off the coast of Honduras. Beautiful - and cheaper.

[mojow]

And is it just me? Or is it hotter and more humid this winter than ever?!? I keep being tempted to run my air conditioner, but I absolutely refuse. The electric company gets enough from me 5 months out of the year due to my air conditioner. It's FEBRUARY for God sakes. So I'll just sit in front of my fan...................


I'm one of the ones that came here a little over 20 years ago. There was some change in the first 10 years, but these last 10 years have been like something ugly rolling down a hill, picking up speed and size on it's way down.

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by mojow

And is it just me? Or is it hotter and more humid this winter than ever?!? I keep being tempted to run my air conditioner, but I absolutely refuse. The electric company gets enough from me 5 months out of the year due to my air conditioner. It's FEBRUARY for God sakes. So I'll just sit in front of my fan...................


I'm one of the ones that came here a little over 20 years ago. There was some change in the first 10 years, but these last 10 years have been like something ugly rolling down a hill, picking up speed and size on it's way down.

that the temps are running about 10 degrees above normal. They say it is supposed to be in the mid 70s, not mid 80s, for SW Florida.

[**NoodLes**]

Just wait, a few more days with the rain and humidity its gonna feel like summer in February. This place is a **** sauna!! It does feel worse every year.

[mojow]

True about the weather changing in the last 10 years.

Originally Posted by xtranaut

Simply...with the cost of living, the crime, the lack of good jobs, lack of good pay, the traffic, and the rampant growth that encroaches on a sensitve environment, FLORIDA is not the same attractive postcard place it was twenty-five and thirty years ago. INstead, it has all the horrible problems of the big cities that people left. GO figure..

Just look around and it will not take long to figure out that GOVERNMENT from the local level, all the way up, is responsible for the mess that Florida is.

Something rolling down a hill, getting uglier and picking up speed... What will it be like in 10 more years? Or 20?

[anninmaine]

I live in Maine and read the posts about Florida with great interest.
I lived in Southern Florida years ago and frequented the entire state often
over the years. Whats interesting to me is the comments about cost of living,crime and masses of people living there. I havent done a side by side comparison, but I can tell you that living in Maine is quite challenging in all respects. Even crime is finding its way up here. To me it is the sign of the times. The dollar losing its value, the war in Iraq, the billion dollars a day oil companies.....I love it here, but its getting more challenging every day to stay. The cold weather on top of $3.25-$3.50 a gallon oil is a big piece of it.So is paying almost .15 a kilowatt for electricity.Gasoline runs $3.00- $3.50 a gallon. How about paying $3.99 a pound for peppers? Or $2.99 and more for tomatoes? Milk is now over $5.00 a gallon. The median wage for a family in my county which is midcoast area is $34,000.00. Imagine that! A nice house, starts at about $200,000.00 and you will pay about $2-3000 in taxes for that house.Thats a house thats on the west side of Rte 1. Houses on the east side are double that price. Meanwhile the roads are so bumpy and full of pot holes that your car is falling apart and rusting away due to all the salt. You see, I dont think the problems in this country are just in Florida. Where to live comfortably is going to be a challenge no matter where you live. I think I would like to trade the cold weather here for sunny Florida. Perhaps finding an area near a State preserve or park would be wise? Or move to an area that has been established already for many years? I believe that renting anywhere is a good thing to do at this time.
Rents are plenty and even here the rents are dropping back to within reason. Well....sorry that the idyllic scene has left parts of Florida but its not just there where its happening.

I forgot to mention I frequented Orlando back in the late 70's thru the 80's.
Yes it was indeed more lush back then, yet crime still happened there as it does today.
More people = more crime.
The traffic is a pain, but I digress, look at traffic in places like San Diego, Houston, LA.NYC.
Its a city! Traffic is part of living and working in a city. Better planning could indeed have helped.
So....do you go to the city planning board meetings and voice your concerns?
Wages.....I haven't read what low wages are. Is it minimum wage? Orlando seems to have
a bountiful of service jobs, and thats pretty common for tourist areas anywhere.
Here where I live, you are very lucky if you can achieve better than $8.00 an hour.
You have to have a degree or special trade skills to earn above that.
I do believe better planning of the city would have helped, but populations are growing
and its a trend everywhere.

[Floridabrit]

For the posters who want specifics and not generalities on why people want to leave Florida...Quality of education would easily be my number 1 reason to leave..or not come at all. My kids all went to public schools in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. They ranged from 1st grade to 8th grade when we moved here...2 in elementary school and 2 in middle school with the oldest ready to enter high school. I am very blessed and fortunate, as my kids are all A students. I am not kidding or exaggerating one bit when I say that all 4 of my kids were 1 full year ahead of where their classmates were when we came down here...and yes, that means even my 1st and 3rd grader. My daughter learned to write cursive in 2nd grade up north. She had to go back to printing until the end of 3rd grade because the rest of the class had not been taught cursive yet. My son entering high school used the same math book as a Freshman that he had just had in 8th grade. These are 2 specifics that I distictly remember...but unfortunately for my kids, they were not challenged during the first year here and eventually fell in line with what the schools here were teaching

Do you think this is mainly because there is so much emphasis put on the FCAT here? My 4th Grader was in tears at breakfast this morning, facing his first FCAT writing test this morning. Too much pressure, too young I say and for what?

[Floridabrit]

"For the posters who want specifics and not generalities on why people want to leave Florida...Quality of education would easily be my number 1 reason to leave..or not come at all. My kids all went to public schools in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. They ranged from 1st grade to 8th grade when we moved here...2 in elementary school and 2 in middle school with the oldest ready to enter high school. I am very blessed and fortunate, as my kids are all A students. I am not kidding or exaggerating one bit when I say that all 4 of my kids were 1 full year ahead of where their classmates were when we came down here...and yes, that means even my 1st and 3rd grader. My daughter learned to write cursive in 2nd grade up north. She had to go back to printing until the end of 3rd grade because the rest of the class had not been taught cursive yet. My son entering high school used the same math book as a Freshman that he had just had in 8th grade. These are 2 specifics that I distictly remember...but unfortunately for my kids, they were not challenged during the first year here and eventually fell in line with what the schools here were teaching"

Do you think this is mainly because there is so much emphasis put on the FCAT here? My 4th Grader was in tears at breakfast this morning, facing his first FCAT writing test this morning. Too much pressure, too young I say and for what?

[pianomom]

I live in south Georgia at the moment, and my husband and I are 95% sure we're moving to the Davenport Fl. area by the time my son graduates from 1st grade. We have friends in that area, and are very excited about the move. We're used to the traffic, you should live here Especially going thru downtown Atlanta during rush hour traffic (not to mention accidents even), is a living you know what! We live in the middle of nowhere also, so we're looking forward to being 10 minutes away from Wal-mart I see alot of negative issues about Florida, but I have to say, several other states are in the same boat in reality. It's not just Florida. I say, if you're happy where you live, that's all that really matters! Have a nice day

[Stavs]

Originally Posted by pianomom

we're looking forward to being 10 minutes away from Wal-mart

You're kidding right?