[FireFawn]

Well, I haven't read all the other responses but I'll tell you my info...

I was born, raised and currently live in South Florida....have lived in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties at one time or another. My mother is also another native Floridian currently living in Broward and all 4 of her brothers and sisters live in Florida and have raised their familes here as well. My grandparents moved here as newlyweds right after the end of WWII.

That being said, I love it here. I like the city and neighborhood I live in and all the great things living in Florida has to offer. The weather is beautiful which I'm very appreciative of this time of year. My husband and I work at jobs we truly enjoy where we are paid salaries that are very competitive for our respective careers.

Would I change anything? Well sure, who wouldn't? It would be nice to shave 10 min. off my commute. It would also be nice to still be paying my insurance rates of 2002 (not that mine have really gone up as much as others though). But honestly, the positives far outweigh any negatives I could think of.

There always seems to be a very negative slant to all of the posts on this Florida forum which I suppose is reasonable considering most residents that post here seem to be on their way out of the state. I stumbled upon this forum and read it from time to time since the naysayers can actually be mildly entertaining in small doses. However anyone reading this forum with actual plans to move here needs to understand that what is represented here many times is the absolute worst of the worst and rarely depicts what life is like living in one of the many nice, normal middle to upper middle class neighborhoods. The people living happy, fulfilling lives here have probably never visited this website and have better things to do with their time than skulking about the net pounding out their aggression on their keyboards.

[Suzanne45]

Originally Posted by Mark My Word

I have read alot of the posts on here and see both sides, but it seems that the people that have lived in Florida a long time maybe born and raised have not liked what Florida has become on the other hand people that have lived in Florida less than 10 years think its great. I would like to know how long people have lived here with their opinions to see who really is telling the truth before I can make up my mind. Thanks.

I agree that Florida neighborhoods are not conducive to ordinary people. Central Florida is now more diverse than South Florida. People speak Spanish rather than English, would rather ram the grocery cart into the next shopper and the number of murders is on the rise! Just check the Orlando and Orange County stats.

Not a place for retirees or even empty nesters. If you are looking for safety, congeniality, kindness, look elsewhere.

[flybob63]

Originally Posted by Mark My Word

I have read alot of the posts on here and see both sides, but it seems that the people that have lived in Florida a long time maybe born and raised have not liked what Florida has become on the other hand people that have lived in Florida less than 10 years think its great. I would like to know how long people have lived here with their opinions to see who really is telling the truth before I can make up my mind. Thanks.

I have lived in south Florida since 1978 when I was a sophomore in High School. Palm Beach County was very laid back and parts of it were very rural. It was great. Jupiter was a small town of a couple thousand people with very few traffic lights and no traffic problems. We had mango farms on Center Street and pineapple plantations on Indiantown Road.

People used to ride their horses from Jupiter Farms all the way down Indiantown Road and ride them in the surf at the beach. Now in most places you can not even take a dog on the beach and try riding a horse on Indiantown Road. We used to go shooting in the acreage but now that is so built up you would be guaranteed to shoot someone with the first stray bullet and would certainly be arrested for just shooting in the area.

I-95 did not even come through northern Palm Beach County or any of Martin County then. You had to take the turnpike or US1 north to Ft. Pierce to pick it up. If you wanted to go south you had to take Alt A1A to PGA Blvd. because 95 stopped at PGA Blvd. It took less time to get to the Palm Beach Mall in West Palm from Jupiter then then it does now and now the roads are better and more direct.

Port Saint Lucie basically did not exist then. Now it has a population of 130,000 people. It sucks living there now.

My wife and I have already bought our retirement property in Tennessee and will be there in a few years.

Florida is great if you are a city person and like shopping malls, crowds and traffic. As for us, what was once a great place to live has become a living hell.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by flybob63

I have lived in south Florida since 1978 when I was a sophomore in High School. Palm Beach County was very laid back and parts of it were very rural. It was great. Jupiter was a small town of a couple thousand people with very few traffic lights and no traffic problems. We had mango farms on Center Street and pineapple plantations on Indiantown Road.

People used to ride their horses from Jupiter Farms all the way down Indiantown Road and ride them in the surf at the beach. Now in most places you can not even take a dog on the beach and try riding a horse on Indiantown Road. We used to go shooting in the acreage but now that is so built up you would be guaranteed to shoot someone with the first stray bullet and would certainly be arrested for just shooting in the area.

I-95 did not even come through northern Palm Beach County or any of Martin County then. You had to take the turnpike or US1 north to Ft. Pierce to pick it up. If you wanted to go south you had to take Alt A1A to PGA Blvd. because 95 stopped at PGA Blvd. It took less time to get to the Palm Beach Mall in West Palm from Jupiter then then it does now and now the roads are better and more direct.

Port Saint Lucie basically did not exist then. Now it has a population of 130,000 people. It sucks living there now.

My wife and I have already bought our retirement property in Tennessee and will be there in a few years.

Florida is great if you are a city person and like shopping malls, crowds and traffic. As for us, what was once a great place to live has become a living hell.

Very well said. I'm a fourth-generation Floridian and couldn't wait to leave my formerly beloved home state. It's funny, as more and more Northerners move to Florida, more and more Floridians move to NC and TN.

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by Mark My Word

I have read alot of the posts on here and see both sides, but it seems that the people that have lived in Florida a long time maybe born and raised have not liked what Florida has become on the other hand people that have lived in Florida less than 10 years think its great. I would like to know how long people have lived here with their opinions to see who really is telling the truth before I can make up my mind. Thanks.

Don't have the whole history but my father retired down there. We had a lovely vacation home. In 1989 even Miami/Coconut Grove was nice. It was a city with quaint shops and restaurants, near Dinner Key I remember Monty's stone crab.

We bought another house in 1999; believe it or not Boca Raton seemed quiet- they had Steinmart (near Rte 441) and all, but it wasn't filled with urban sprawl. The traffic was not bad that first year. What happened?

In fairness the northern/NW part of Fl, Navarre Beach is still beautiful. Palm Beach County now looks exactly like Long Island N.Y.