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I'm admittedly very biased about this topic in particular, but between CRI, CBI, and Courageous Boston has some really awesome, non-profit institutions that get people (kids especially) on the water. The Head of the Charles is a big rowing event every year. There are a few different canoe/kayak rental places on the river. There's also a decent amount of private watercraft on the river and in the harbor. Not to mention the rowing/sailing teams from the universities that will also practice and race on the river.
A lot of boats will sometimes crowd in for July 4th (an older picture, but the best I could find quickly): https://flic.kr/p/3dmWW
I'm admittedly very biased about this topic in particular, but between CRI, CBI, and Courageous Boston has some really awesome, non-profit institutions that get people (kids especially) on the water. The Head of the Charles is a big rowing event every year. There are a few different canoe/kayak rental places on the river. There's also a decent amount of private watercraft on the river and in the harbor. Not to mention the rowing/sailing teams from the universities that will also practice and race on the river.
A lot of boats will sometimes crowd in for July 4th (an older picture, but the best I could find quickly): https://flic.kr/p/3dmWW
A fleet of boats in NYC on July 4th as well Older pic.
I've lived in NYC (The Bronx) Orlando amd Palm Beach County. For me it comes down to money and quality of the areas you get for your money. Obviously Florida is cheaper and they justify low pay by saying "but no state tax" in reality state tax is a tiny burden. Federal tax is where the bulk comes from. The 6 maybe 7 percent i paid in NY didn't justify the massive and I mean massive pay hit I took. I went from 130k a year not including over time to 48k a year not including overtime. I did a transfer through my union so I had the same job title, rank, experience, because the union recognizes it accross the the US and some of Canada. That 48k is just the standard down in Florida's lovely local 803. Not only that health insurance is disgusting. My NY union coverage i literally never came out of pocket for ANYTHING. I paid my $20 co pay from emergency rooms to doctors to specialists and everything was covered 100%. Florida i came out of pocket for alot. It didn't cover much and even if it was covered I needed to meet a $2500 deductible before it was covered. Apparently this common and growing up in NY I just never knew how ****ty health insurance was or could be...
As for COL. People told me I could get an apartment for around $800 no problem. Well I did find a few. The BEST NOT WORST THE BEST was $900 a month for a 550 sqft 1 bedroom with a beautiful view of the juvenile prison directly accross the street. The owner of the property kindly put up a bush so you didn't have to stare. Needless to say I didn't take it and upped my price range a bit to 1200 max. Now for reference I've taken over a 60% pay cut and was paying $1600 for an 800 sqft 1 bedroom in the Bronx. Now people think of the Bronx as a ****hole thats burning or whatever. There are some affluent areas bordering Westchester like pellham Bay, throggs neck, Woodlawn, and especially Riverdale, to name a few. I was in a neighborhood with extremely low crime compared to the majority of the city. The NYPD cops with 5 years to retirement transfered to the precinct because the job was easiest there and they could relax for the last 5 years.
So looking into the few good areas I could find I went with a $1200 650 sqft 1 bed in celebration because my job site was the expansion on celebration hospital so I was basically living at work atleast until the job was done in 2 years. And it was actually nice liveable and in the budget. Also it was not bug infested or accross the street from a prison. Btw the realtor had a can of raid and actually used it a few times on one of the amazing $800 apartments.
So I buy myself a decent used car for 10,000 settle in to my apartment and start work. I get my first check that Friday and decide to go down by mills in downtown to see what the hype is is about. My car broke down on two side of the road after 1 week of owning it amd driving it 2 miles to work for 5 day. So I call the dealership (a very notable one in the area) Reed Nissan. Their response was you're responsible for checking the cars before you buy them (i did) I told him you're mechanics should be checking them before you sell them I want a different car. He simply replied "sorry I can't help you" I called a lawyer and found out Florida has no lemon laws. If the car is heald together with string and falls apart before you drive off the lot its your problem. Only cars bought brand new are protected and only protected from manufacturer defects. So I dip into my savings again find a new car and now have a car payment which I ****ing hate. I like owning my cars and new cars are way over priced an unnessarry bill when you can find a good car for half the price and pay cash imo.
Now a few weeks go by and I get my first round of bills. $120 electric (NY was $250) internet $87 (NY was $73) car insurance $320 full coverage (ny was ($180 liability) car payment $225 (NY $0 i got a monthly metro for $180) NOW MY FAVORITE 1200 RENT WAS 1425!!!!!! so I went to the office and said hey I think there was a mistake my rent was 1200 you charged me 1425. Nope! Water which is always covered by the landlord in NY was $50, sewage was $50, garbage removal was $100 and my pet fee was $25 even though I put a $500 non refundable deposit down for my dog.
Well needless to say financially life in Florida (orlando) was much more taxing and caused me more financial stress then NY. Not only that Celebration is considered an affluent area and the poverty surrounding it caused them to come in to celebration amd steel the rims off cars, steel bikes, steel from cars, amd steel the whole damn car once, alot of burglary there as well. Being someone who grew up in NYC it makes sense why rob poor people when the rich ones live 5 minutes away. Also in my neighborhood in the Bronx of your caught doing something stupid like that they'll yell out and you'll have 3 guys beating your ass until the cops come. In celebration they take a picture and post it on the community FB page instead of being an actual community and coming together to keep crime out.
Anyway I decided to put in for a transfer to palm beach. Atleast that way id be a little closer to my parents retired down in Boca. 14 months of struggling to get by later and I got the call for an opening in Broward and went for it. The pay was a little better 65k vs the 48k in Orlando. Still half of my 130k NY pay. I started looking at apartments and found none under 1500 that were in even half way decent areas. Atleaat this time I didn't have any hidden fees. However my electricity went up $30 a month, my insurance went up $50 a month. Gas was more expensive, my commute to work was 45 minutes with the traffic and no public transit alternative. So with the raise came higher cost of living.
Again I really do like Florida and tried to make it work but in the end I ended up putting in for a transfer back to NY because of the pay. If Florida ever gets its shot together and pays a decent wage compared to the cost of living I'll gladly come back. But in NY I could afford my rent plus a condo in Florida. Sad but true. Unfortunately the wait list for NY is 3-5 years so im still stuck here for another 2ish years but God i can't wait for that call.
On another note NY is one of the safest major cities in the country so low crime and good neighborhood have a different meaning. I mean I've been to bad neighborhoods in NYC and they really aren't all that bad there's a couple crack heads that will ask for a dollar or a few corner boys that will ask for a cigarette. If you go down OBT or certain parts of Kissimmee they are selling drugs on the corner and offering them to you like "I got bud" " you need ice" and hookers walk around waiting to be picked up. It's like the south bronx before Giuliani cleaned house. The ghettos are alot worse in Florida... ALOT.
Last edited by BronxKid11; 11-12-2020 at 05:05 AM..
The biggest east coast sailing meccas like Newport RI and Annapolis are too small to make a "major city" list. The best sailing in the US is in Maine and Washington State. Portland ME isn't much of a city. Seattle isn't where most of the boats are.
I would definitely add Metro Detroit to the list. Michigan ranks 2nd or 3rd in the country in number of registered boats (depending on the data source), and the state's largest metro area shares in that boat culture, both in inland lakes (especially Oakland County) and Lake St. Clair/Detroit River.
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Older pic.
