Northeast to Florida - Happy with your decision? (Tampa, Sarasota: amusement parks, HOA fees)

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Rushmore

Why so mean?

Jeez, I wonder why people sometimes get the impression that some people from some particular areas are unnecessarily aggressive. Make a simple observation, get attacked.

I have lived in Bethel, Stamford, Norwalk, and Fairfield. Does that qualify as "visiting?"

That's OK. Apparently, you "can't stand Rhode Island" either, right?

Can I get a comprehensive list of places you can't stand and the forums for those places? That way I would know more about what you can't stand and ponder even further what motivates you to be so condescending to people who seem to enjoy those places.

And, of course, what might prompt you to participate in the forums dedicated to those places.

Actually, I love Florida. I own property in Venice. But you know the difference between the two of us? I can call a spade a spade.

Florida has a lot of crime. Actually, a heck of a lot. I've experienced it in small and safe Venice. The public school system is horrid. Look at the dropout rates in Sarasota vs the dropout rates in Fairfield. Or Bethel. Or Milford.

Connecticut consistently ranks 1 in Human Development (life expectancy, literacy, education, standard of living and overall well being). Florida doesn't even rank in the top 20. So while your standard of living in Florida might be okay, statistics show otherwise.

And yes - I cannot stand Rhode Island.

[Rushmore]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Actually, I love Florida. I own property in Venice. But you know the difference between the two of us? I can call a spade a spade.

Florida has a lot of crime. Actually, a heck of a lot. I've experienced it in small and safe Venice. The public school system is horrid. Look at the dropout rates in Sarasota vs the dropout rates in Fairfield. Or Bethel. Or Milford.

Connecticut consistently ranks 1 in Human Development (life expectancy, literacy, education, standard of living and overall well being). Florida doesn't even rank in the top 20. So while your standard of living in Florida might be okay, statistics show otherwise.

And yes - I cannot stand Rhode Island.

I'm sure you have some kind of point, but I have to go take an evening walk through my neighborhood with my kids now, not carrying a gun or looking over my shoulder at all.

Which is one of the reasons I left the northeast in the first place.

I'm sure that's just more of my mendacious and duplicitous (and inexplicable) need to lie about my home here in Florida.

[kidyankee764]

Perhaps you can counter with an intelligent post instead of your sarcastic responses?

...or are statistics too much to handle?

[Rushmore]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Perhaps you can counter with an intelligent post instead of your sarcastic responses?

...or are statistics too much to handle?

You and I will never see eye to eye. You strike me as aggressive and condescending, so I don't feel like engaging you anymore.

And for the record, the 2004 statistics you linked are for Florida in general, not Sarasota in particular. I have never once said anything about Florida in general. I can only comment on the places I have lived in Florida, which are Tampa, St. Pete, and Sarasota.

And anyway, even Blaise Pascal would tell you that such statistics do not tell all definitive truths.

So you can keep your apples and I will keep my oranges, and we don't have to continue to tolerate one another anymore.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

.Connecticut consistently ranks 1 in Human Development (life expectancy, literacy, education, standard of living and overall well being). Florida doesn't even rank in the top 20. So while your standard of living in Florida might be okay, statistics show otherwise.

And yes - I cannot stand Rhode Island.

Those standards are always biased and twisted towards the orgainization that establishes the criteria.


This is what I see, if you have a problem with crime, lock your doors.

Education issues? One of my good friends is in admissions for NYU and for a living my stepson's company writes admissions software for universities (Baylor, UVA, and Harvard Business School to name three in particular), and I can tell you that a kid with excellent grades and great extracurricular activities from a horrible school district is getting in Harvard, Yale, or Princeton before a kid from a good school district with the exact same resume.

A kid's education begins at home.

I also can't imagine living anywhere that winter is seven months a year.

As Rushmore said, apples to oranges. I'll keep my oranges in Florida.

[mikeandaija2009]

Originally Posted by blueherons

Those standards are always biased and twisted towards the orgainization that establishes the criteria.


This is what I see, if you have a problem with crime, lock your doors.

Education issues? One of my good friends is in admissions for NYU and for a living my stepson's company writes admissions software for universities (Baylor, UVA, and Harvard Business School to name three in particular), and I can tell you that a kid with excellent grades and great extracurricular activities from a horrible school district is getting in Harvard, Yale, or Princeton before a kid from a good school district with the exact same resume.

A kid's education begins at home.

I also can't imagine living anywhere that winter is seven months a year.

As Rushmore said, apples to oranges. I'll keep my oranges in Florida.

I apologize for being so upfront but your opinions are defensive, biased, and twisted when it comes to defending Florida. You jumped on my previous posts when I said wages, salaried or hourly, are higher in the Northeast. You stated hourly yes, salaried wages are equal. Facts dispute that but I'm sure you will say those facts are skewed also. Say what you will but Florida has a poor education system compared to other parts of the country, especially the Northeast. Our state politicians admit it and no one seems to disagree. Florida has a hard time recruiting businesses because of our poor education system. I'm sure you'll disagree with that but again those are the facts. As far Ivy league schools giving preference to kids brought up in a bad education system vs. someone from a good education system with equal grades and extracurricular activities? That seems to be way out there and I would love to see the facts on that. If you are including race or ethnicity into the equation, then I would believe you.

I understand you love Florida and would never leave. You moved from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which is probably more like Florida than any other part of the country. Although I don't agree with "kidyankees" approach, he does have a credible opinion, admitting he is from the Northeast and has property in Venice. You give an opinion to a Northeasterner who is thinking about moving to Florida from a South Carolina/Florida point of view which is not even an opinion as far as I'm concerned. It's almost if one cancels out the other because of their similarities.

Locking your doors doesn't deter crime either. Most crimes don't occur through unlocked front doors. The best crime deterrent is to end poverty, homelessness, and start to come down hard on illegal drugs. Florida has extremely high rates of all 3. These are the reasons for the high crime rate, not forgetting to lock your door.

And finally, I lived there for 46 years, winter doesn't last 7 months. Unless you live on top of Mt. Washington.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by blueherons

Those standards are always biased and twisted towards the orgainization that establishes the criteria.

Uh - these are statistics given by the FBI.

Originally Posted by blueherons

Education issues? One of my good friends is in admissions for NYU and for a living my stepson's company writes admissions software for universities (Baylor, UVA, and Harvard Business School to name three in particular), and I can tell you that a kid with excellent grades and great extracurricular activities from a horrible school district is getting in Harvard, Yale, or Princeton before a kid from a good school district with the exact same resume.

At least you can admit (or I THINK you're admitting) that Florida's public school systems are terrible. And it's mindsets like this that are the reason for the steadiness in your public school's low performance. Stop making excuses and giving the "howevers" and "buts" and start recognizing the problem. That's the first step toward recovery.

College bound seniors for Connecticut: 88%

What are the stats for Florida?

Originally Posted by blueherons

I also can't imagine living anywhere that winter is seven months a year.

7 months a year? What? You clearly aren't anything close to a meteorologist. It's October and is 75 and humid out right now. It begins to get cold in late November, and starts to warm up in March. That's about 3.5 months. After that 3.5 months, we see temps in the 60s and it steadily rises through August, then back down through October. So, the dramatic claim of 7 months is...pretty funny, actually.

Enjoy your air conditioning.

[Ken E]

Originally Posted by mikeandaija2009

I'm not going to whine or complain because I do have better things to do. We left Connecticut, and although we don't miss Connecticut and their taxes, we do miss New England terribly. It is very, very different here if you are totally uprooting from an area you have lived your entire life. Before I met my wife, she had lived in various parts of the country due to work and school. I never left CT. I thought the move would be easy for me because maybe it was time to go, but I wan't to go home even more than she does. Yes, the weather here is nice. But things never change, like the weather. There's no real anticipation of the change of seasons and holidays feel different. Time seems to fly here like I've never seen before. I think its because 1 day leads to the next and the next and on and on. Up north we looked forward to the leaves changing colors, prepared for winter, anticipated spring. You don't get that here. We have made a few friends and met a few people but most people keep to themselves here and aren't very friendly. I think it has to do with all the crime and con-artists down here. My wife was hospitalized for a while and it was just me and my son at home. Her car didn't move for weeks out of the driveway. I was shocked that no neighbors came by and asked if everything was ok. That would have never happened up north. Jobs are tough here but employers can be worse. My wife and I are both professionals and we both are shocked to see how our companies treated there employees. Honestly, like garbage. At my work, no one has been there more than 3 years and that's how a lot of places are down here, my wife's work too. We purchased our home and blew most of our savings getting here. My wife's old job will be opening up in a year and we can't wait to go home. Hopefully, our house will sell and we can leave with the shirts on our backs. Would I come to Florida again, most definitely. I would come when I'm 65 or older with a nice big pension and be a snowbird. For a middle-aged, working middle-class family, Florida is a difficult place to live.

Well said. You definatly hit the nail on the head with that post.

[scott19]

The people are nasty here, and they can't drive. I miss New York

[boston904]

Originally Posted by Ken E

Well said. You definatly hit the nail on the head with that post.