[MHC2332]

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. I am a Democrat, would not be happy living with Republicans. So, I guess the better question to ask is: where to live with Democrats and mixed religions...I wouldn't necessarily want to join a synagogue.

[jwolfer]

Originally Posted by MHC2332

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. I am a Democrat, would not be happy living with Republicans. So, I guess the better question to ask is: where to live with Democrats and mixed religions...I wouldn't necessarily want to join a synagogue.

Basing where you live on political party affiliation is a bit limiting.

You might actually like someone who has different views. Even married couples can have differing political opinions, famously Mary Matalin and James Carville one a staunch Republican strategist/commentator the other a staunch Democrat strategist/commentator. There are people who agree with you politically who you dont really like very much on a personal level

Find a place you like, has the ammenites and aesthetics you want; who cares what your neighbors think, spend time with people you like and who like you

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by jwolfer

Basing where you live on political party affiliation is a bit limiting.

You might actually like someone who has different views. Even married couples can have differing political opinions, famously Mary Matalin and James Carville one a staunch Republican strategist/commentator the other a staunch Democrat strategist/commentator. There are people who agree with you politically who you dont really like very much on a personal level

Find a place you like, has the ammenites and aesthetics you want; who cares what your neighbors think, spend time with people you like and who like you

This ^^^

[CapnTrips]

Asking where in FL you can find Democrats only is like asking where in FL you can live where its not so humid.

[flashes1]

I'd strongly recommend the OP look at Southeast Florida. A lot of liberal Jews there. So what if it costs a couple extra bucks, they would be buying piece of mind.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by MHC2332

Looking for recommendations for place to live on the West Coast of Florida that has mixed religions. I am Jewish. The East Coast - Miami Beach, etc. seems to be too expensive to buy. Would like to live near the beach in an updated condo community, with a pool, exercise room and beautiful surroundings. Suggestions? What about Venice?

I would stick to SE Florida as someone with similar political views as most of the rest of the state tends Tea Party heavy and isn't the most comfortable environment for someone who doesn't have hateful thoughts towards minorities. While the Miami area can be pricey there are other places less soo where you'll fit in just fine. Check out cities like Boynton Beach, Deerfield Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and even parts of Boca Raton.

[StarfishKey]

Originally Posted by flashes1

I'd strongly recommend the OP look at Southeast Florida. A lot of liberal Jews there. So what if it costs a couple extra bucks, they would be buying piece of mind.

Where? As I noted, my friends have not found many at all.

[StarfishKey]

Originally Posted by jwolfer

Basing where you live on political party affiliation is a bit limiting.

You might actually like someone who has different views. Even married couples can have differing political opinions, famously Mary Matalin and James Carville one a staunch Republican strategist/commentator the other a staunch Democrat strategist/commentator. There are people who agree with you politically who you dont really like very much on a personal level

Find a place you like, has the ammenites and aesthetics you want; who cares what your neighbors think, spend time with people you like and who like you

This sounds very nice, but it's just not true. For many, politics are not a hobby, they are a reflection of one's values in life. Either you believe that all people are equal and should have the same protection under the law, or you believe that it is right to discriminate and treat other people differently based on their sexual orientation, religion, or skin color. People who have a strong political view will tend to have far more things in common with other people who share that strong political view. It's not that you can't be friendly with people who have differing opinions, but if their core values differ wildly from your own, you are never going to become very close with them, and you are going to feel very lonely never finding anyone to talk to who gets you - whereas where you came from, basically everybody you met instantly got you and your point of view. In NYC (particularly Manhattan and the inner boroughs), strangers often strike up conversations on the subway platforms about subjects like Black Lives Matter, LGBT rights, or other current issues that affect daily life - and everyone knows ahead of time that everyone will pretty much feel as passionately as they do and share the same opinion, so it can be spoken about in a friendly and bonding way. Suddenly moving to a place where you can't speak to anyone about all of what is happening in the world around you because they will spew out a bunch of hate for people who are your friends, or because you will end up in an argument and feel totally misunderstood and not trusted, is very isolating and disturbing.

Many Southerners feel the same way upon moving to NYC, where they suddenly feel they can't speak as casually as they could about topics they are used to, and like no one gets them or trusts them. They too, end up feeling lonely and out of place.

Despite the ongoing insistence of quite a few in this forum that SE Florida is so "liberal," note that in actuality SE Florida counties are swing counties, and even when there is a majority voting Democrat, both sides are very close to 50%. People are staunchly Right Wing or staunchly Centrist, with not that many people staunchly to the Left. If the GOP didn't consistently put out Right Wing nutjobs, many of the Centrist people would probably choose to vote Republican. People who are from NYC do NOT find Miami very liberal AT ALL. By comparison, it is an extremely conservative and openly racist city. In 2012 for example, 82% of Manhattan voted Democrat. By comparison, only 61% of Miami-Dade did. And that was in a year with an incumbent Democratic presidential candidate, which means typically that Democrats would typically have an advantage. That represents a marked difference in political and social environment between the two cities. It means that everyone you meet on the street is not going to automatically share similar values to you, and that a large percentage are staunchly in the middle, or far to the right. That is not true of living in most of NYC (except the outer sections of boroughs that are more suburban).

The 2008 presidential race in particular is a pretty good barometer of Florida's values, because Senator McCain represented the core values of most conservatives pretty well, and Senator Obama represented the core values of most liberals pretty well. And at the time, neither had an incumbent advantage exactly - although Bush was in office, McCain was not Bush. Some could argue that Sen. Obama had an advantage, because the country' economy had tanked under Bush - if that did in fact give him an advantage, then these numbers are skewed more Democratic than they would normally be (but that's hard to say, because in a financial panic people tend to seek out the familiar in an incumbent party). Anyway, no FL county elected President Obama in what you might call a landslide exactly. There were only 15 counties that voted a majority for Obama, with a vast majority voting McCain. Of the 15 that voted Blue, most were actually very close to 50-50 in the vote. The state of FL is overwhelmingly to the Right (and in most cases, to the FAR Right). The counties with the highest percentages voting for President Obama were actually Gadsden county in the Panhandle with 69%; Leon with 61%; Alachua county, also in the North, with 60%; Palm Beach county with 61%; and Broward county with 67%. Miami-Dade came in at only 58%, and Monroe County (the Keys) came in at only 52%. By comparison, Manhattan voted at 85% for President Obama. Not a single county in FL got anywhere close to that. [For reference, San Francisco voted 84% for Obama, and Baltimore City and Prince George's Counties in Maryland voted 87%, and 89% respectively.]

Can McCain and Obama be friendly? Sure they can! Are they going to be best friends? Likely not. Their core beliefs and life experiences are just utterly different.


OP, for a guide to where you might find the best political fit for you, check out this Politico election map of Florida by county for 2008: Election Map 2008 | Detailed Presidential, Congressional and Gubernatorial Election Results - Politico.com
And also the election results for 2012 by FL county: Florida Election Results 2012 - Map, County Results, Live Updates - POLITICO.com

In SE Florida, the county with the highest mix of people and more liberal views would be Broward, with the Wilton Manors area known to be the most liberal. It is also the most openly gay area in Florida, which may or may not work for you. But it's no Greenwich Village exactly.

Note that on the West coast specifically, the most liberal counties (the ONLY ones that voted a majority Blue in 2008), are: Pinellas County (53%) and Hillsborough County (51%). But I have friends who are very liberal in Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater, and so far they have found the areas to be uncomfortably conservative.

That said, if you really want to live in FL, move anywhere that you can afford and EMBRACE it - the more people who do, the more you will find who share your views.

If you're looking for the most politically liberal and diverse crowd, hanging out with Jewish people in FL is NOT going to achieve that goal. If you're not religious and don't plan on going to synagogue, there is no other reason to seek out a larger Jewish population in FL. Generally speaking, if that's what you're worried about when you say you want "religious diversity," most people in Florida are not going to freak out because you're Jewish, even in the most conservative counties. On the other hand, some people in the most conservative counties WILL freak out because you're liberal, because you have friends of diverse skin tones or sexual orientations, or god forbid if you mention anything at all about restricting guns. Even restricting the sale of machine guns to children on the internet is apparently akin to locking a person up with no due process and throwing away the key. It is a "freedom" to kill whoever you want here, as long as your skin tone is lighter than a paper bag of course... [A white person who kills someone is "defending themselves," or "mentally ill" - regardless of whether they invoke the name of Jesus or God ever in their life before killing. A person with dark skin killing someone white is "violent and targeting white people" or if they kill someone with dark skin it is dismissed as "more Black on Black crime" with no other justification or investigation needed. If the person is Muslim, no matter what their skin tone is and who they killed, they are a "self-radicalized terrorist." If you want to know the views of most of Florida, just watch FNews for a shortcut... complete with the rampant and aggressive sexism.]

[JazzmanLI]

Best Place for jewish family on the west coast of FL?
Id recommend Naples area... lots of NYers there.
I see you mentioned Venice... I spend lots of time in Sarasota county. As it is full of mixes faiths, it is very conservative compared to Southeast Florida.

As far as you wanting to live away from republicans?
First, we are a state strictly under republican leadership. I would not recommend living on the west coast of Florida if thats a big concern. Probably have better luck in Miami and Broward. Those counties always seem to go blue during elections.

[vaughanwilliams]

Originally Posted by MHC2332

Looking for recommendations for place to live on the West Coast of Florida that has mixed religions. I am Jewish. The East Coast - Miami Beach, etc. seems to be too expensive to buy. Would like to live near the beach in an updated condo community, with a pool, exercise room and beautiful surroundings. Suggestions? What about Venice?

Try St. Petersburg. I've met hundreds of Jewish folks over the years though I'm sure they're not all from New York. St. Pete is a pretty opened minded city-especially for Florida.