[hiknapster]

I left during the housing boom so the economy had nothing to do with it, although I could see the crash was coming and I didn't want to be there for it.

I lived in Orlando for a brief time and really liked it. I made a lot of friends although the crime was really horrendous.

But when I moved to Fort Myers I knew I made a grave mistake. There are too many people running from someplace else, down there, and then spending all their energy trying to leave. It's a tough place to make friends and there is an underlying sleaze factor, usually from con artists trying to scam the retirees.

You can even see it on the Florida forums. There is far too many people that feel that their lives would be oh, so much better, if they could just get to Florida. Cripe, Florida is a state, it is not going to be your saving grace. It won't solve all your problems. In fact, it just may create more. There are an awful lot of opportunists banging around.

And no one seems to trust anyone. It was nice to leave and come back to an area where people are friendly and assume you are nice until you prove them wrong.

I think that some retirees can enjoy the area if they fall into a great group of people but younger people may have a tough time in the wrong area.

But if you honestly feel that your life will improve just by moving to Florida, and you don't have some sort of fabulous job offer or are retiring, then I suggest looking in the mirror. No matter where you go, gosh, there you are.

[faithfulFrank]

Thread closed due to not being able to keep on topic.