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ft lauderdale, unfortunately you are probably right about the sex offenders. i looked it up, and i got about 71 i think within 5 miles. one is literally right down the street. i could probably hit his house with a rock from my house. but remember, i gotta hell of an arm, kid! hahaha
all joking aside, why does orlando seem to bring in such ppl? it's like why orlando? why do so many ppl come here with criminal records? .
Well, the place exploded in population in 10 years, the infrastructure never really kept up with it, so the quality of life is not so great(which explains a bit why certain types of folks moved in), the economy there was always a very dicey service type industry, where workers come and go, and well, since Orlando was based on a BOOMING come-and-go economy, those kind of people just, well, came and went. The law enforcement agencies also do an incredibly crappy job in keeping up with the crime rate, where they become, to a certain degree, totally ineffective. The unskilled workers mostly came because they lacked skills to be employed anywhere else.
The difference with MY Community was...
*built primarily as a commuter suburb for a very major and established city. people tend to keep their jobs
*great schools, attracting families
*not much crime
*people got their homes for a steal, but enjoy it deeply, so they just stay put
*great highway infrastructure bring convenience to Miami and entertainment in Fort Lauderdale
*ethnically diverse because people came from all over the country and the world to seek the sunshine along with a high quality of life, but put aside cultural differences and united as humans
*police force grew with population
*you need a background check to live almost anywhere here. Not many sex offenders can even make thier way in if they wanted to.
In general, my city/county is just not a criminal friendly/county city due to those factors.Of course, in some areas, you don't have the schools aspect,but in general, these factors built western Broward County. Unlike Orlando, this area was pretty much built like your traditional American suburb. In my opinion, western Broward County is the closest thing to a consistently affluent/well off suburban environment in the state, because the "Good neighborhoods" are really just consistent west of University drive all the way from the north end of the county to the south end. Seminole County is a close second, but even that has a bit of good mixed in with bad, but there was more classic rural poverty in Seminole. Still, Orlando, because of the factors I mentioned, remains quite an attractive place for criminals, as well as a place to breed crime, and also a huge breeding grown for white supremacy, because everybody is looking for a group to blame for the tension.
Wow. You asked me to look at your situation. You have a tough nut to crack, but there is hope.
I need some more information:
(1) You and/or your wife have family in Orlando, S. Fla and Greenville. Where in S. Fla?
(2) You compare jobs in Orlando and Greenville. What type of job? What do you consider "good pay"?
(3) You want little or no crime, little traffic, friendly people, good pay, cheap housing and a nearby beach. Who doesn't? Does that place exist anywhere in the world? By the way, neither Orlando nor Greenville is anywhere near the beach.
(4) You don't like Greenville cold, but you didn't mention than N Florida gets cold, also. For that matter, Orlando gets too cold for me. How much cold are you willing to tolerate?
(5) Your wife likes "N Florida", but you mention that you have not consider the panhandle, and I doubt that you will find good paying jobs in Jaspar or Live Oak. On the other hand, you reject Amelia Island because there is no family there. What is your definition of N FLorida?
You mention that both you and your wife like St. Augustine, and in another sentence mention that she likes N Florida, then seem to contradict yourself and say that she wants familly close by. Let me try to understand this. Your family is in Orlando and S. Florida and hers is in Greeenville, right? You used to live in Florida, apparently close to your family, then you moved to Greenville, close to her family, then you moved back to Florida and close to your family again, and now you're thinking about going back to Greenville and her family again. Do I have this right?
I don't know how old you are, but when my wife and I first got married, we said, "The heck with family" and moved to Massachusetts, 12 hours away from either of our families (outside Pittsburgh). Then, when we were 32 years old and had two kids, we moved to Port St. Lucie. We made those decisions based on where we wanted to live, and the heck with family. We've been in PSL ever since, 35 years, and we've never been happier. We've lived here more than half our lives.
It sounds like neither you nor your wife is going to be satisfied until you make your families equal.
Almost exactly halfway between Orlando and Greenville is Savannah, Georgia. Beautiful city, friendly people, close to the beach, presumably big enough to have good paying jobs, can't see how the traffic could be any worse than Greenville and probably not as bad as Orlando, no clue about crime, but my observation is that crime is about the same for honest people in a decent neighborhood in any area of the nation.
hi all, i have not discussed this with any of my family members b/c some family will be happy and some will be sad, that is if anything becomes of this situation...
as many of you know, i live in orlando and used to live in nc. due to orlando's crime, traffic, rude ppl, lack of good paying jobs, expensive hosuing and so forth, i would like to move.
here is my situation though. i would like to move to northern fla, and my wife really likes n fla more than orlando, but she could be happy in orlando too, b/c we have family here. however, my wife would like to either remain in orlando, or if we move, she would like to return to the greenville, sc area b/c her family is close. i also have family close to this area, but i'd rather live in northern fla. i have family in orlando as well as south fla, so moving out of the state is hard for me to do. but the fact remains that orlando is not a place i want to remain and raise our kids. (if anyone out there lives in orlando and loves it, i am glad. please don't take this as an insult). i lived in fla before and orlando has changes a lot, and unfortunately, it just isnt the same place, and many places in fla are just no longer what they used to be. it's disappointing b/c i like fla a lot, and would like to remain in fla.
so, my dilemma is
1. moving to northern fla which we both like a lot, but have no family there, and my wife is really big on having family close by. i like to have family close by just as much as she does, but a half-a-day's drive doesnt really bother me b/c i have lived much further away at times.
2. do we stay in orlando where we have family, but i am unhappy about living here due to things i've mentioned above?
3. move to greenville, sc, a city we both like, but now i am away from my family here in fla, and i will w/o a doubt miss fla?
greenville certainly has it's advantages over orlando. less crime, nicer ppl, less traffic, cost of living much lower, jobs pay about the same, etc...
but the fact remains that i am florida-born, like living in fla (although not crazy about orlando), love the beach, not a big fan of the winters in sc, school system isnt any better in sc either. overall, when comparing orlando to greenville, i think greenville wins relatively easily, but i will miss fla if i moved there. when you live in fla and move out of state, you miss it. it happened to me already. i couldnt wait to move back to fla, i just didnt know orlando was going to be so disappointing for me.
any suggestions out there? once again, i have not spoken to family about this, b/c i dont want to get hopes up for some, and some family will be sad if i move away, and i will miss them very much. overall, we have more family in fla than we do in the carolina's. our next move, wherever that my be, will be a move in which my wife and i will want to stay put for quite some time. we want our kids to grow up and not be moved around. i just know if i move to greenville which is a big compromise, i will miss my family and i will miss living in fla. i never thought i'd contemplate moving out of fla once i got here. but all the guys out there know, you got to keep the wife happy. you have to compromise and find a happy solution for both.
I know some people, born and raised in FL, which moved, and are very unhappy. (5 people....1 in GA, 1 in TN and 3 in NC....the only one happy is the one in GA)
I just think, you can take the people (native) out of the sate, but not the state out of the people. I just think, if you would leave FL, you would NOT be happy. You will start to compare everything, and it won't hold up.
I would consider checking into an area maybe 1 or 2 hours AWAY from Orlando area. It's still going to be in reach, still accessible, friends and family ties are still preserved, and you guys are still in FL.
Start taking road trips to check out areas, and start doing some homework.....and involve your wife in the search process. Some areas are so beautiful, one just falls in love looking at it.
Good luck...
It sounds like family is the most important factor in your joint decision. There are plenty of good places to live, both in and out of Florida, where you could be content with regard to other things.
You and your wife need to agree on how family translates into realistic terms: How often do you realistically expect or want to see your family? What level of family involvement do you want for your children? (holidays - weekends - special events - babysitting?) Will family give you something that you cannot otherwise get? (social or emotional network/cushion - values - heritage - practical help?) How close, in terms of hours or driving distance, do you need to be to accomplish the level of family involvement that you want? (two hours? half day? occasional flights?)
I wish we could say the heck with family, like psOldTimer did! I would have left Florida years ago! But we did the opposite, we chose to be near one side of the family after we married, for the kids. That left two states to pick from. My husband's career was the deciding factor, and continues to be. So far we are within two hours driving distance from family. The benefits, for the kids, have been worth the hassle. But if we could plant his career elsewhere, and still accomplish the level of family involvement that we wanted within say a 6-hr drive, or an airplane flight, we would move.
Where in So Fla is your family? You ought to look into an area like Jupiter if you can afford it. Seriously, you never have to leave Jupiter/ Palm Beach Gardens, and you have plenty to do.
Last edited by compelled to reply; 07-25-2007 at 09:32 PM..
i like that area a lot, and would have prefered it over orlando; i have family in the area too. but, cost of living = too much!!! my wife an i make approx 90k b/w us, and we are doing okay right now in orlando, but pbg or jupiter would take us out of our "financial comfort zone." the exception to this would be psl or in that area, b/c col is less there... but i'd actually prefer to move northward. but, pbg and jupiter are easily better than orlando imo.
i like that area a lot, and would have prefered it over orlando; i have family in the area too. but, cost of living = too much!!! my wife an i make approx 90k b/w us, and we are doing okay right now in orlando, but pbg or jupiter would take us out of our "financial comfort zone." the exception to this would be psl or in that area, b/c col is less there... but i'd actually prefer to move northward. but, pbg and jupiter are easily better than orlando imo.
Yeah. I would say thats the place if you had the cash. Then again, this is coming from the person who found the Fort Lauderdale area an escape from Orlando .
Can you bring the income with you to Northern FL, or do you need to find a new job?
Here's the thing with family. Maybe if you settle in a nice enough place which is accessible to them, they just might up and move and join you.
I would find ways to keep close with them regardless, even if it means a lot of driving, and seriously, start looking at all the places you are considering moving to. Spend time there, drive there, look at houses/apartments, roads, recreation, etc.
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I would have left Florida years ago! But we did the opposite, we chose to be near one side of the family after we married, for the kids. That left two states to pick from. My husband's career was the deciding factor, and continues to be. So far we are within two hours driving distance from family. The benefits, for the kids, have been worth the hassle. But if we could plant his career elsewhere, and still accomplish the level of family involvement that we wanted within say a 6-hr drive, or an airplane flight, we would move.
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