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I've lived in FL. It's a great state to visit. Living there comes with many issues, particularly for families. It is far far poorer than most would assume. It also has many hyper-rich areas. In a weird way, it's sort of further along the evolution where much of the country could be headed.
Can’t say I totally disagree with this. What part of Florida did you live?
Quote:
Originally Posted by trevor0101
I've lived in FL. It's a great state to visit. Living there comes with many issues, particularly for families. It is far far poorer than most would assume. It also has many hyper-rich areas. In a weird way, it's sort of further along the evolution where much of the country could be headed.
I've lived in FL. It's a great state to visit. Living there comes with many issues, particularly for families. It is far far poorer than most would assume. It also has many hyper-rich areas. In a weird way, it's sort of further along the evolution where much of the country could be headed.
Agreed. I lived in an upper middle-class bubble. Went one mile in any direction it went to 30%+ poverty levels. Sad.
Can’t say I totally disagree with this. What part of Florida did you live?
At one point I lived in Westchase (near Tampa), and I've also lived in Fort Lauderdale. Both had a similar thing where I could be surrounded by manicured estates, and then 1/4mi away and I'm in areas I wouldn't go near at night. My parents also had a place in Siesta Key, and the island itself was quite nice, however the entire area of Sarasota was really dicey. It was similar visiting a friend of mine in West Palm. Where he lived was a beautiful neighborhood. Go 1/2mi down the street and it was really rough looking.
I think in FL, there are people with a ton of money they made wherever, and then there are a ton of folks that came there broke, or with a menial job for the sun. And others are the "help" who just do retail, or other service work who barely make anything, and compete with a ton of other folks for the privilege.
I remember when I moved to Boston's suburbs I was blown away by how expensive all services were. The reason for that is that there was quite a bit of money all over the place, and relatively few people to do the service / skilled labor work. So these days most anyone makes pretty decent money here. There are pockets of poverty, but they are fairly rare. I think the main reason for this is a) the type of people coming here tend to be well employed and b) the people growing up here tend to be pretty well educated.
Obviously MA is not a sun + sand destination, so we do not really get those folks showing up, and trying to figure out how to eke out a living like FL probably does.
At one point I lived in Westchase (near Tampa), and I've also lived in Fort Lauderdale. Both had a similar thing where I could be surrounded by manicured estates, and then 1/4mi away and I'm in areas I wouldn't go near at night. My parents also had a place in Siesta Key, and the island itself was quite nice, however the entire area of Sarasota was really dicey. It was similar visiting a friend of mine in West Palm. Where he lived was a beautiful neighborhood. Go 1/2mi down the street and it was really rough looking.
I think in FL, there are people with a ton of money they made wherever, and then there are a ton of folks that came there broke, or with a menial job for the sun. And others are the "help" who just do retail, or other service work who barely make anything, and compete with a ton of other folks for the privilege.
I remember when I moved to Boston's suburbs I was blown away by how expensive all services were. The reason for that is that there was quite a bit of money all over the place, and relatively few people to do the service / skilled labor work. So these days most anyone makes pretty decent money here. There are pockets of poverty, but they are fairly rare. I think the main reason for this is a) the type of people coming here tend to be well employed and b) the people growing up here tend to be pretty well educated.
Obviously MA is not a sun + sand destination, so we do not really get those folks showing up, and trying to figure out how to eke out a living like FL probably does.
I can’t think of anywhere within 1/4th mile of Westchase that’s dangerous. Yeah, TnC is sketchy but it’s further away. Most places from Sheldon all the way to the beach are pretty good.
I’d be glad to live in any one of these states. If you’re choosing between Boca Raton, McLean (VA), Scarsdale, or Brookline you can’t really go wrong. Likewise, each state has places you really don’t want to live either.
I almost picked Massachusetts because I like its coastal influences a bit more.
But then realizing Boston and NYC are about the same for COL.
I went with NY. Boston is great but currently is overpriced. IMO.
You’re confusing Boston with Massachusetts. Once you get outside commuting range of the Boston job market, housing prices drop considerably. It’s also not all congested. My town has over 10 square miles of land trust and conservation easements. I live in the high density coastal harbor village part of town but my bicycle loop is mostly rural roads.
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