Tell me why I wouldn't want to move to Florida... (Miami: fit in, home)

[SoFLGal]

Kitty, (hope you don't mind me calling you that) it sounds like you're interested in many different things! Maybe Photoman and Old Man Winter can direct you to some clubs, etc for photography.
Here are a few that I found: Sarasota Photo and Photography Club , Home (http://sarasotacameraclub.com/default.aspx - broken link)

Here's a computer club in Sarasota: Sarasota PC Users Group Regular Meeting Info
VACUG - Venice Area Computer Users Group - Venice, FL 2007

If you love helping cats then please check out Sarasota in Defense of Animals: Front Page You'll meet some wonderful people over there. They help with the feral cat population and in many ways thoughout the community.

Sarasota Garden Club: Welcome to the Sarasota Garden Club Selby Gardens is in Sarasota and I know gardening is huge in the area. There are many master gardeners around.

Senior Friendship Center in Sarasota: Senior Friendship Center Inc in Sarasota, FL | 1888 Brother Geenen Way, Sarasota, FL

The Friendship Volunteer Center in Sarasota, FL

You might want to check out Meetup.com as well.

Jnanner, I think you should start a New Yorker Group. There's enough of ya down here The homeschool group I'm in with the kids has a message board kind of like this one and they have so much stuff to do you would be busy every day, all day if you attended it all. They have park days nearly every day, camping trips, get-to-gethers at various places around town. It would kind of cool if we could have a section on this board where we could do that same type of thing. Seems there are a ton of people here who would love to get out and about doing things.

Joeydog-what's CG Jung Foundation? Is that psychology? Turtle watching/volunteering is really neat. It's awesome to watch them hatch and scurry down the beach. I remember as a kid living out on Little Gasparilla Island, walking along the beach at night and seeing the little guys crawling to the water. Amazing.

Pixistix-I bet there's many people here who feel as you do. {hugs}

Dlhanson-that's a great idea. Many people meet other people at church. Another idea is the gym. That's where I meet my husband.

[Nortport Jim]

Originally Posted by verobeach

For me, it's the people. You'll get cold calls where someone will want to talk bible at you, some people are outwardly racist and you'll hear comments you haven't heard since the 70s up north.

Originally Posted by davery5872

I only live in Sarasota for about 3-4 months a year, but I have never found it to be racist. In fact. I find more racists in Ohio (where I live the other months) than Sarasota. I have interviewed for jobs in some of the interior counties in Florida and have found a bit of racism there. Which is why I would not live there. I also found much more racism in Pinellas County than Sarasota County.

Originally Posted by Racelady88

Come to my house. My neighbors have just added 3 large confederate flags to their "white trash lives here" display. This in addition to the nasty comment about Haitians lettered on the back of his truck (added a week after the earthquake), nice when you live a block from a Haitian church. I listed last month and I begged and pleaded with them to remove the largest of the flags, which was planted square in the center of the rusted out hulk of a lawn tractor that has been sitting where it died for so long that it has sunk past its axles.

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Originally Posted by jnanner

as far as the other stuff, yeah - i was shocked by some crazy backwards racist comments. I was so confused, the person couldn't actually be saying what it seemed like they were saying. It only happened once and i guess there are kooks everywhere but I that was an eye opener.

Racist in the area?

Let’s see… Is there a lot of white trash in the area?

Record breaking unemployment, and a apathetic approach to the illegal immigration problem in SWF fuels the hatred that often lies just below the surface here.

This topic comes up on the board every once in a while, and the same members always come forward to say that they don’t see a racist problem. My personal experiences have led me to conclude that it’s a very real problem here. Maybe it’s only readily apparent in certain levels of society.

I had a reaction identical to Jnanner and verobeach to the racist comments at first (couldn’t believe what I was hearing) but in my case it was a daily occurrence at work, and became something I had to accept for what it was, keep my mouth shut and get used to, (just like the heat and humidity) if I wanted to keep my job.

To the members who truly don't think it's a big problem here, I can only conclude that you must be isolated from it somehow.

[Nortport Jim]

Originally Posted by Rushmore

When we were house hunting, there was a beautiful house we were actively considering in Deer Creek. When we went back for a second look, the owner of the neighboring house was home, working on his oversized shiny pickup truck, and so were his two snarling, bloodthirsty aggressive dogs, standing at the end of the driveway, threatening us like the Hellhounds of Hades. The owner had essentially the same general demeanor as his lovely pets. It was quite clear he was enjoying not having a neighbor on that side. We figured our skinny little goofy mutt would be carrion for the vultures pretty quick, and that we would, uh, shall we say, not have anyone from whom to borrow a cup of sugar, so we excluded this property from our search. It is still on the market 11 months later.

P.S. The owner was African-American, so, uh, yeah, it takes all kinds.

I don't get it. What does the neighbor's race have to do with the story? Did I miss something?

[Rushmore]

Originally Posted by Nortport Jim

I don't get it. What does the neighbor's race have to do with the story? Did I miss something?

The point was that it wasn't this guy:

[Rushmore]

Originally Posted by joeyddog

As beachymom has said -once you move from a place you have roots in to a place where you have no connections it takes a while to feel part of a community. When I moved to New Haven, Ct I spent the 1st 4 months looking out my window, crying. It took a while but did form great friendships. Since I'm not yet a permanent Fl resident, my opinion may not hold much weight, but my DH and I plan to really throw ourselves into our special interests: DH- tennis, writing, CG Jung Foundation; myself- bird watching,bridge,something to do w. nature- maybe joining the turtle watch or volunteering at Myakka, art classes. Our house is in the Meadows, an older non-gated community with serious tennis and golf. Tons of people out walking, biking. So far people seem very approachable and friendly. Once we get our dog here, I'm sure that will be a way to connect w. like individuals.I hope this strategy works- it all remains to be seen.

I find it difficult to imagine you might have much problem with this perspective.

Best of luck!

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by jnanner

i'm not in a gated community. i KNOW the houses are occupied because i see their garbage and recycle bins once a week.

we did alot of research (SoFlGal probably remembers! lol) and I have an idea of another neighborhood that may work. We actually went trick-or-treating there as a reconnaissance mission! lol

I also can't imagine my kids learning to drive here. It is really bad!! (and I am coming from NY - at least they pay attention and stop at stop signs in NY) Am I missing something, are those octagonal red signs Stoptional in Sarasota??

Where are the older neighborhoods? In my case I need to be near school so my options are limited i guess.

I'm not in Sarasota, but at least in Palm Beach County, the older neighborhoods are the gentrified (or gentrifying) near downtown, and the historic areas and neighborhoods. I do know Sarasota has some. The key is to not confuse "older" with "the ghetto." See if there are any areas that invite the outside community "in" for special events, such as historic home tours, etc. Such neighborhoods tend to have pride, and are welcoming, rather than unwelcoming (big gates), and most likely (no guarantees) will feel like "old time neighborhoods up north."

Here, the "newer" neighborhoods tend to be West of the Turnpike, where you can get a bigger house, gated, etc. for the money that you can farther east. That is what many people like and want, and more power to them. I don't know if I could ever do it. I can only truly speak for the neighborhood I live in, as well as the neighborhoods my friends who also live in the older neighborhoods live in, of course, but I have been shocked at the level of neighborliness --- for the positive (if anything, I'M the recluse!).

In my neighborhood, for example, it's non-gated, and voluntary "HOA" ($30/year). There's holiday home tours, monthly or bi-monthly get togethers, last week we had a 30+ home neighborhood super garage sale, where I met even more neighbors. There was a walking tour a month or two ago, Spring garden tours, holiday light decorating contests, a halloween block party, etc. etc. etc. One long time resident (decades living in the neighborhood), died and there was a neighborhood memorial for him. There are also e-mail blasts periodically to keep everyone up to date, and if something bad happens in the neighborhood (a break in, for example), we're all informed basically immediately.

A couple miles South, friends of mine live in another non-gated section of the city, and just had a baby. Neighbors brought over food and gifts. If my friend has the hood up on his car, two neighbors will come over to ask if they can help, etc. etc.

The next town over, Lake Worth, has similar neighborhoods with community pride and spirit, home tours, etc.


These areas do exist in Florida, which is why it makes me frustrated when transplants move from up north, straight into some behemoth gated development where everyone rolls in and out of their garage without ever getting out, and then lament a "lack of community."

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Nortport Jim

Racist in the area?

Let’s see… Is there a lot of white trash in the area?

Record breaking unemployment, and a apathetic approach to the illegal immigration problem in SWF fuels the hatred that often lies just below the surface here.

This topic comes up on the board every once in a while, and the same members always come forward to say that they don’t see a racist problem. My personal experiences have led me to conclude that it’s a very real problem here. Maybe it’s only readily apparent in certain levels of society.

I had a reaction identical to Jnanner and verobeach to the racist comments at first (couldn’t believe what I was hearing) but in my case it was a daily occurrence at work, and became something I had to accept for what it was, keep my mouth shut and get used to, (just like the heat and humidity) if I wanted to keep my job.

To the members who truly don't think it's a big problem here, I can only conclude that you must be isolated from it somehow.

You're quoting Davery and he said "I've never found it to be racist here" In fact it's much more racist in Ohio" Not sure why you included him in your comments.

Jnanner stated "It only happened once". "I guess there are kooks everywhere". The same with Racelady.

Verobeach doesn't live around here but stated it was a big problem where they lived.

I'm sure there are the occasional unwelcome incidents. It's my opinion that Sarasota is one of the tolerant cities around. I hear this over and over from many friends of different ethnic backgrounds.

North Port Jim if you're experiencing a lot of racism maybe you should change the environment you're in or the friends you keep. Dunno about you but I don't consider myself "white trash". If you tolerate racism it will never change. Guess you're willing to just settle for keeping company with racists. I don't care where I encountered it, I would put a stop to it. To be silent is to agree. Seems like we might live in the same town. Funny how things could be so different for me.

Ever heard of Rosa Parks? She stood up for what she believes in. Maybe you should read up on her.

[bequiet]

R U a realtor?!

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by bequiet

R U a realtor?!

If you're talking to me. Yes, I am. Hence the Realtor tag next to my name and the word "real estate agent" under my name

[jnanner]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

Jnanner stated "It only happened once". "I guess there are kooks everywhere".

i don't get out to socialize much, we work from home and I am busy with the kids. the comment came from a teacher from our school but in a social setting and it was flabbergasting. The circle of people in our little chat huddle didn't blink at the comment and did not get where I was coming from.

I stand by my comment that kooks are everywhere but i have never encountered casual racism like that in NY and I do worry that it's an underlying cultural norm here.