[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by LaLaLandLarry

Nobody is claiming it's a Gallup quality poll. It is a representation of the people, who have lived and visited Florida. It's people's OPINIONS based on their individual experience.

Really, Florida is 'what you make it'? That sounds like something idealistic that would come out of a 9 year old's mouth who really has not had a dose of reality. Florida is what it is. You either like it, or you move. You can't 'make it' be a pleasant place to live just because you dreamt it.

I have lived in several FL cities and found the good in all. And I'm a senior citizen not a youngster who doesn't know the real world. I've lived in MI and MO and found the good there. I've visited CO and found the good their. Some just like to be negative if they can't find utopia.

[ChrisA70]

Found good in every of the 8 cities I lived in here in FL. I love the town I am in now, always have. Went to the beach today at Fort Myers Beach, we had a great time. The only dislike I have is the long, hot, seemingly never ending summers here...

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by ChrisA70

Found good in every of the 8 cities I lived in here in FL. I love the town I am in now, always have. Went to the beach today at Fort Myers Beach, we had a great time. The only dislike I have is the long, hot, seemingly never ending summers here...

For all the back and forth we have had on here, I will give you this, you do sum it up very well for many.
I know there are a large group of people that love Florida except for the weather.
I know many think I am strange for loving the heat but weather aside I think Florida is great. I just get the added bonus of loving warm weather.

[Nomadicus]

My mother is a life long native of nearly 90 years and loves the heat. Arthur doesn't bother her as much when it is hot. She uses very little AC. She even worked out in the heat until her mid 80's mowing her own lawn and it is a big one that she used a push mower on.

[Spring Hillian]

Great post. Totally agree with you.

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Some real deep seeded issues above. Lots of weird resentment of geography.

Florida is not a monolithic state where everyone has the same experiences or lifestyle. Period. I do not live the same lifestyle as someone in Tallahassee, Miami, Orlando or Micanopy. Heck, I have a vastly different lifestyle than people in the SAME CITY! Like the United States, Florida IS what you CHOOSE to make of it, and where you CHOOSE to go and how you CHOOSE to live your life in Florida can mean the difference between hating it and loving it.

Problem is, you've got people who CHOOSE to move to gated, walled communities with 3 car garages comprising the entire front facade of their homes, and then complain the neighbors aren't friendly. Really Sherlock? Ya think MAYBE people who have such distrust of the outside world that they choose to live in security enhanced neighborhoods might not be as friendly or outgoing as others?

You've got people who move here with no skills, no plan and no money, and then get upset when they can't find a job making $20.00 to be a store clerk. As the bottom rungs of the economy erode, this problem is increasingly becoming an "America" problem, not a "Florida" problem.

You've got people who move here, and then complain about how hot it is, as if Florida's climate is a secret kept by the chamber of commerce in an attempt to fraudulently conceal hot summers to lure new residents! I certainly wouldn't move to Alaska and then pretend to be SHOCKED at how cold the winter is!


And by the way, while it's not a gallup poll, people who have only "visited" the state really can't say whether it's a good place to live, work, have a family, etc. Some people simply FAIL in FLorida, just as people FAIL to thrive in other "dreamer" places like NYC and Hollywood. They can't make it here, and that's really not Florida's fault.

[P Andrews]

YES, YES, AND YES!!!!!!!!

OH YES, we have always kept July, August, and Septembers weather a BIG secret, and don't let it slip we could even be pron to the occasional hurricane, lol!!!

[P Andrews]

I like your Mother, love the hot weather, my home here was built in 1927, a Spanish style railroad design house with lots of wood sash windows, and no a/c, lots of cross breeze, screen doors line up front and back, and a $35 to $45 electric bill every month. Florida is do-able without a/c, I have lived in this home for over 23 years and raised all three of my children here.
Heck, when I went to school, we didn't have a/c in the classrooms. The only problem today, is the way the homes are built. They don't design homes that provide the owners any way of receiving any cross breeze. They build them so you have to have air conditioning, or you can't breath.
The kids love coming over, "the air is always fresh", and you can hear the birds singing in the morning when you wake up, "from your bed" you don't have to walk outside!!
P.S. I bet your mom is an awesome lady!!

[P Andrews]

There is nothing wrong with loving your home, the fact that you love it's warm sometimes "sticky" weather, is just icing on the cake, so Kudos to YOU!! The state has so much to offer, and as long as we protect what we have here, we and many after us will be enjoying all it's amenities for many years to come.
I also believe this state is a paradise, but as this thread has shown, everyone is entitled to their own opinion of paradise, and some do not think of Florida as anything close to a "Tropical Paradise" but that's OK, we just wish they would leave our lovely state, and look elsewhere
You only have the chance to live once, why not be happy Just drop anchor somewhere else right???
The world is a big place........

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

I've noticed that current Florida residents like to say to themselves and others that most of the problems today, high insurance costs, high rent costs, crime, poor economy, ect, ect, ect exist in other states too.

Yes, those things are in almost every other state, HOWEVER... they are nowhere near the scale that they are in Florida.

Even California pays higher wages then Florida.

I know this is an old thread but.... we looked into moving to FL last year (2010). We did extensive research and found it is much more expensive to live in FL than it is to live in TN were we currently reside. Everything but clothing is cheaper here. And we have a lot less registered sex offenders and crime.

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by P Andrews

I like your Mother, love the hot weather, my home here was built in 1927, a Spanish style railroad design house with lots of wood sash windows, and no a/c, lots of cross breeze, screen doors line up front and back, and a $35 to $45 electric bill every month. Florida is do-able without a/c, I have lived in this home for over 23 years and raised all three of my children here.

How can a 90F to 100F humid breeze cool a house? The hot humid air may be moving, but it's still hot as blazes. Our house in TN where the summers can be just as hot as in FL, has cross ventilation but we still need A/C once it gets into the 90s.

Heck, when I went to school, we didn't have a/c in the classrooms. The only problem today, is the way the homes are built. They don't design homes that provide the owners any way of receiving any cross breeze. They build them so you have to have air conditioning, or you can't breath.

They can use exhaust fans if the house lacks cross-ventilation.

The kids love coming over, "the air is always fresh", and you can hear the birds singing in the morning when you wake up, "from your bed" you don't have to walk outside!!

P.S. I bet your mom is an awesome lady!!

I can't imagine how hot wet air can be comfortable, moving or not. It can get over 100 where I live and no breeze is going to make a difference. But then you may be one of those people who, like my departed mother, can take the heat and humidity that would make others pass out.