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

[MiamiRob]

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?????

since when were Puerto Ricans immigrants? How can you be an immigrant if you're a citizen?

[Chet S.]

I grew up in St Petersburg before moving to Gainesville 8 years ago and all my life I heard nothing but bitching from transplants especially those from the NE. Yet year after year more and more came. Every year the snowbirds would come from Canada and they would ***** non stop the whole time about how bad their dollar was compared to ours yet they came every winter and left us shabby tips. Then came the never ending waves of immigrants some legal and many not. Slowly but surely it got more and more crowded and more and more expensive. If you arent happy pack the U-Haul and leave. I love Florida even with its current problems. It is not the cheap place to live anymore although there are some remote areas that are still very cheap. I love the weather, I love the ocean and fishing. I like not paying state income tax. In North Florida its less crowded and the people are more laid back and friendly. In the metro areas there are more things to do There are some parts of the state I like better than others. I thought St Pete was decaying so we moved. I didnt **** and moan about it just found a new place we'd try as home. Now I miss the water and Gainesville's property values to me are too high and to be honest its a little too slow so we might move to the east coast and try it out there especially since it looks very cheap. Complaining about it doesnt help just have the courage to make a change. My Father in law who has since passed was a true Key West Conch. A multi generation Floridian who over the course of a lifetime saw the entire state completely changed. He didnt complain just accepted progress was coming whether you liked it or not. Florida is growing and its going to experience pains and problems. Our economy right now isnt helping with recession looming especially with peole not being able to use their homes equities like a ATM machine. This state doesnt have the industry to support all the people flooding in so by all means if its terrible do the rest of us who want to make it work a favor and try somewhere else that will make you more happy.

[xtranaut]

Florida used to be a great place...lots of nature close to the cities..farms and orange groves...quaint towns and low taxes and reasonable home prices that older people on a small fixed income could afford...

Now the Orange groves have sold out to developers..houses are built on zero lots and crammed together...insurance companies write half-a-sed policies, if they do at all, there is a water crisis, the ecology of Florida and the wildlife are in major threat, aquatic life (like Manatees) are being obliterated by idiots with boats who have more money than sense, and in general, the place is over-run with high crime and concrete.

I have lived all over Florida since the sixities and I can tell you truthfully that
it is sad to see what has happened to a place that used to have so much natural charm and offer a simple life.

This is the same madness that turnned California into the same kind of place...the lands of fruits and nuts, high taxes, high prices, and misery in the sun.

[xtranaut]

I can only tell you what I know. I have spent most of my life in Florida but was born in Tennessee. It's beautiful here (TN) but everything is still a good old boys club - even though it's got a nice glossy facade. Still, I felt that if I could cash out at the height of the Real Estate boom and make double on my house, then I should. So I moved back to Tennessee. Why?

I can get all the sunshine I want in DENVER and still have the same miserable taxes, traffic, and crime...and snow actually doesnt bother me. Whats the difference? Staying in your house with the AC on 70 because its too hot to be comfortable outside...or staying in your house with the heat set to 70 because it's cold outside?

I pay a sixth of the taxes I paid in Florida on my home in Tennessee! I live on three acres, 15 miles from downtown and my house cost me 50 grand UNDER what I paid for my comparable house in Florida that, I ended up selling for $540,000! Is it beginning to make more sense?

I moved to Tampa in the late 70s, when everybody knew everybody. You knew all the business merchants and housing was so reasonable that you always asked yourself, "how long before paradise is discovered?"

NOw the old folks who came here to sit on the St. Pete green benches to retire in their boarding house room, can afford to buy a cup of coffee in Florida.

I still like Florida but I don't LOVE it in the way I did when every town had an individual personality. MOST of this residual "like" is just because I spent so many years in a Florida that was a sweeter place to live with few major problems. IT was also REASONABLY affordable - which it is not any longer.

So I came home to Tennessee, which is beautiful and much in the same place it was when I grew up here but showing signs of development..mostly for retirees and tourism. Tennessee, and particularly the Chattanooga area, does not like to bring jobs in. This is the old south and old money still controls most everything. THIS IS "THEIR" PLAYGROUND AND THEY WILL PROGRAM THE ECONOMY.

But what do I see most of? FLORIDA LICENSE PLATES. Many old farms are being sold off to developers to create new subdivisions and condos to attract miserable Floridians who miss the four seasons and nippy weather but little snow and a mild climate.

Do I think there is a lot of validity to the Sentinel story about discontent Floridians -- ABSOLUTELY. Go on the Tennessee boards and you will see plenty of it in detail without having to solicit what's wrong.

That being said -- there is always a trade off -- ANYWHERE you go. THE GRASS IS NOT ALWAYS GREENER.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

The more people that leave, the better it will be for the rest of us.

[amax41]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

since when were Puerto Ricans immigrants? How can you be an immigrant if you're a citizen?

Citizen??? Um not quite. PR may be a US commonwealth but it is NOT a state. They actually refuse it - want to have their cake and eat it too.

A citizen is - A person owing loyalty to and entitled by birth or naturalization to the protection of a state or nation.

As far as I'm concerned they are immigrants. They come here, knowing hte relationship with the US and take advantage of it - this is actually worse than immigrants. They do not care to follow our laws, customs, or language. Moderator cut: comment

[mojow]

Originally Posted by oresident

I was actually going to defend Orlando from King's irrational negativity, but your post kind of hit on something that I think King probably would agree is bad about this place. It's funny how people communicate with crossed wires. Here you are offering up what you mean to be good points, but they ultimately just confirm his "woe is me" worldview.

In particular, what is the deal with all the "landscaping" everywhere? I have never been in a place where so many people consider living next to a manmade golf course to be some kind of major draw. But around here it seems everyone wants to mow down all the natural beauty and replace it with "landscape," which seems to be usually some stubby-looking out-of-place palm trees, absurd tracts of grass, and a lot of parking spaces.

The truth is the landscaping is terrible around here. There is indeed beauty in Florida, but it's where there isn't landscaping. As soon as you drive outside Orlando, it's shocking how pretty this place could have been.

There is something strangely sterile in the tastes of satisfied Orlando residents. A pretty landscape is a golf course? "Shopping" is a strip mall? "Good restaurants" mean a chain? I was told by some Orlando enthusiasts how great it is here because there are a lot of good malls! Am I the only one wondering what these people are thinking??

I have been amazed even in threads on this forum to see people extolling the virtues of the latest strip malls and chain restaurants to bless their neighborhoods. Do people really think this is the good life???

ores

You just said a mouthful, I know just what you're talking about.

And as far as landscaping, I can not stand to see trees mowed down and a house put up and then... there it sits, under the sun, with no "life" around it whatsoever.

The manicured look just feels so ... dead or something.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by amax41

Citizen??? Um not quite. PR may be a US commonwealth but it is NOT a state. They actually refuse it - want to have their cake and eat it too.

A citizen is - A person owing loyalty to and entitled by birth or naturalization to the protection of a state or nation.

As far as I'm concerned they are immigrants. They come here, knowing hte relationship with the US and take advantage of it - this is actually worse than immigrants. They do not care to follow our laws, customs, or language. .

Puerto Ricans are citizens. I have no problem with people coming here from PR. Hell they can come and go all day, because they are citizens.

The last I knew, Pueto Ricans were serving in our armed forces. They are not some third world population. They have every right to come here.

I like PR. I think it's a cool place.

[amax41]

There is a line of thought out there that can take each side. I take the non side because these peole do not pay taxes and for the most part while there are SOME that are fine to deal with MOST of them turn this country into a free-for-all dump.

Facts are simple -

They do not want to be a state
there for they are freeloaders
we should cut them loose

not even worth any more breath I don't deal with the overly politically correct nation of dipsticks.

go vote for Hillary and totally screw us all

[filipinofolk1]

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.

You have got a serious point there. I haven't been mad about Floridians moving here, but i've just seen them EVERYWHERE here in georgia since about 6 years ago. I figured they were all just tired of Florida. On top of that, i live in the Atlanta area, and I meet people from ALL OVER, and all they tell me is that they are "looking for work." I'm on the same page with you, my dream is to live in Florida, and it makes me kind of happy that things are getting worse down there, so by the time I get there things will be much better. Sounds selfish, but I believe going through tough times is what makes a great place greater. One of the best things to do, I believe, is to just be patient when everyone is walking away. Hopefully Florida-lovers and natives will have a lot of faith in their state.