[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by luvthatmouse

We knew about the heat, hurricanes, tornadoes and lightening when moving here so we do not have complaints about the weather We love the heat even though it is a killer here in the summer. The sun is also VERY strong. Be very careful after you move and ALWAYS wear sunblock. Our sadness after moving comes from the pay, overdevelopment, the increase in insurance in such a short time, the property taxes, the electric cost, the cost and quality of groceries, the rise in crime, the rise in garbage all over, the rise in the homeless. Many of these things you have to be living here to know about. We vacationed in Florida several times a year and thought it would be a wonderful place to live. We researched our move for years. Things changed here very fast.

It is easy for people to say- well move if you don't like it. Like people have no ties to family here, or friends, or a career. Like you could list your house tomorrow and it will sell. Please, there are over 20,000 houses for sale in Orlando alone right now. It takes a little time for people to research a new place to move, a new job, a new house. Listen to the folks on this board. Get all the info you can!

Some people think the Fl heat is like Hiawaii heat or Califronia heat, but thyey are extremely wrong. FL heat is scorching, overpowering. You sweat so much even drinking 3 - 8 bottles of water a day, you still feel doozy and sluggish. No to mention stinky on certain days.

I think even LuvThatMouse (who comes across as an Orlando/Disney fan to me) acknowledges that it is becoming very overcrowded and sprawled in Orlando. With it comes massive traffic jams, angry people in traffic, trash all over the streets, and a ton of bums on the streets. Not to mention, everyone seems to be getting more and more unhappy and angry with how things are going down here and it's causing a LOT of unfriendliness in grocery stores and public parks. I used to see more smiles; now it's mostly frowns.

Also, the wages in FL have been steadily going down, which is a shocker, granted wages are slightly up across the USA right now. Employers often abuse the fact that FL is so overpopulated that they see this as a way to pay people as little as possible and offer no benefits. FL is almost like an employer's paradise and an employee's nightmare. FL is an "at-will" state and you can be fired for any reason, at any time, and the employers can fight you to the teeth to keep you from collecting unemployment compensation.

The increases in costs stem from car and home insurance, health insurance, cost of basic medical treatment (like Centra Care-type "cheapie" clinics), costs of RENT (which is getting worse now with the mass foreclosures in FL).

Things have changed here very fast since 2005. We got a bunch of Katrina people and our crime rates have basically quadrupled overnight (just as they have in Houston, TX, where the Katrina people primarily relocated to). FL seems to attract a lot of northern sex offenders and drug dealers because of the weather down here. I assure you, crime in Orlando was at 'nuisance' levels for many years and in just two or three years has become unberable/out of control and increasingly violent in nature.

The natural beauty of FL, what originally attracted us down here when I was a little kid, is almost all gone. Everywhere you look you see buildins and no more open spaces or grassy fields or woods. No more lakes that are not sourrounded by houses and piers/docks. That is VERY angering and depressing.

Local builders basically run the counties and they can build whatever they want, wherever they want, no restrictions. The builders do NOT contribute any special fees to help build roads, schools, or hospitals to help offset all the housing they construct.

Local builders are more and more choosing to build high-rise apartment buildings (not offices, apts for people to live in) and they are packing even more people per sq ft than ever before. This is causing more of the "where the heck did all these people come from all of a sudden" phenomenon! WE sometimes don't even see where the overcrowding is coming from, but it's coming from condo buildings.

I think locals, like myself, have PLENTY OF REASONS to express our frustration about how things are going. The foreclosure balst that is set to go off withn 6 months will greatly change FL and there is no reason to think this event will likely help anything. If anything, it will raise costs of rent and cause people to have to move even farther away from their work sites, causing more traffic, more urban sprawl.

So whether or not you consider this to be "negative", these are FACTS of what we are facing in Central FL. Locals are not happy about, out-of-town people are getting concerned about it, and naive people only find out when they get here and by then it's too late. Let's please look at facts and accept them, whether they are "negative" or rosey.

[watsont3]

I have been reading these boards for a while now and I read most of the threads. There are quite a few negative posters here and I read what they have to say but there are some whose posts I just disregard after reading them. They are the people who have nothing good to say about anything. Some of them don't seem to understand that everybody's situation is different.
Most people who are moving to Florida get their information from many sources. I would suggest that anyone looking for information read these posts and then try to verify what has been said by checking other sources. Most of us know a number of people who have moved to Florida or have relatives and friends who have moved and I would use them as a source of information, one that you know.
My biggest pet peeve is the Florida residents who tell us that living in the North and having the winters that most of us live through is not so bad. They say that heat is worse than cold when they have never spent days with temps in the 20s and no heat due to an ice storm. I will take the heat anyday over that. We know that Florida is hot, that's one of the reasons we are moving there.

[riverviewnative]

All they are saying is that it is their right to ruin our state. Of course it is. The government does it every day. Whey should we not be happy with the was Florida has taken a downward turn. Look at all the pollution and crime up north. Why would anyone want to live in that. Ruin your home state then come and ruin ours. None of them have any idea of roots, family or traditon. Bulldoze and burn. Now that is progress.And just like you all say we can not stop you. Just like a hurricane. We do not want it but sure can not stop it.

Originally Posted by tallrick

We natives are tired of running away. We are fed up and want to fight back.

[Donna-50]

I do hope that everyone that is unhappy with how the state is emailing and calling your government entities all the time to let them know of your unhappiness, also in voting. Everyone can make a difference if everyone takes action.

[luvthatmouse]

Originally Posted by watsont3

My biggest pet peeve is the Florida residents who tell us that living in the North and having the winters that most of us live through is not so bad. They say that heat is worse than cold when they have never spent days with temps in the 20s and no heat due to an ice storm. I will take the heat anyday over that. We know that Florida is hot, that's one of the reasons we are moving there.

I am from NY city and my husband is from MA (right on the NH border.) I was in MA for 9 years before moving to Central Florida. We know about cold winters That was one of our main reasons for moving to Florida. My father as well (my mother did not mind the cold.) I like the heat better than the cold but I will admit it is brutal in the summer here. It is like pulling teeth to get my parents or friends to do anything with us. No one wants to leave the AC-lol. We are still out in it though. Everyone said our 1st summer would be the worst but it was our 2nd one that did us in. It was really hot last summer. It is not just the heat/humidity but the sun. The sun is very strong here-you really need to be careful and wear high factor sun block. Totally different than up north. As much as we love the sun (and our skin is getting better conditioned to it) we still can not stay out as long as we might like in the summer. Unless you want skin cancer you just can not. So you are still cooped up in the summers a lot I have friends in their 20's that have had skin legions removed. They are careful with the sunblock too!

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by riverviewnative

All they are saying is that it is their right to ruin our state. Of course it is. The government does it every day. Whey should we not be happy with the was Florida has taken a downward turn. Look at all the pollution and crime up north. Why would anyone want to live in that. Ruin your home state then come and ruin ours. None of them have any idea of roots, family or traditon. Bulldoze and burn. Now that is progress.And just like you all say we can not stop you. Just like a hurricane. We do not want it but sure can not stop it.

Yes and they sure have done a good job of ruining Florida. We learned how to balance the positive and negative aspects of Florida then the invaders changed all the rules. I have a feeling that nature will have the last say in this state.

[riverviewnative]

Money talks here and all the rest is a waste of time. Big Bucks in the right pockets and that is the only way in Florida now.

Originally Posted by Donna-50

I do hope that everyone that is unhappy with how the state is emailing and calling your government entities all the time to let them know of your unhappiness, also in voting. Everyone can make a difference if everyone takes action.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Donna-50

I do hope that everyone that is unhappy with how the state is emailing and calling your government entities all the time to let them know of your unhappiness, also in voting. Everyone can make a difference if everyone takes action.

LOL I got as good laugh from this! So far, they have not even sent me any response other than a computer-generated e-mail. Remember they know that Florida voters are too dumb, or overworked and tired, or too busy looking through rose colored glasses to do anything. Also there is no reason for an elected official to listen to the public, all candidates are hand picked and funded by special interests. Individual people cannot do anything, that's my conclusion. I am teaching myself flash animation as I am going to make my own parody of life in south Florida and try and get some interest on YouTube or somewhere on the net in the hopes it makes it to mainstream media. Think of a jib jab style video about Floriduh!

[8.00 per hour]

This is my first post but what I'm going to say comes from my heart.

I'm 32 and have been in South Florida all my life, I'm African American and I currently reside in the Fort Lauderdale. I don't have a 4 year degree nor do I have outstanding creditals as far as jobs is concerned, I've most been a blue collar worker my whole life (cdl license, cook, customer service, lawn care).

I completly understand that with my skill set I won't make $50,000 per year or be able to afford a house with a beatiful view, however, I feel that I shouldn't be kept at the lower wages ( I make more than $8.00 per hour) and I feel that a hard working person should be able to at least see what his/her money is going too....

Basically, my main issue with Florida (primarily South Florida) is the low wages and the high cost of living. I honestly can't find a decent rental to live for under $800.00 per month in a decent area without having to worry about get robbed by some random street thugs and I don't like that. I currently have a couple roomates but at 32 years old, do you think I really want to share a place with other people? Any decent area in South Florida is going to run you $800.00 and over, even a room or garage that someone has converted into a studio is going for $650 and up (This is a studio apartment).

Also, granted I'm African American and I might have much room to talk or a leg to stand on but I notice alot of illiterate people down here who don't value education and cannot form a proper sentence to save their life. I think employers really take advantage of all of this and pay very low becuase of this.

Immigration is another issue that I have a issue with, it's a touchy subject but I don't really care for the large growth that we get every month of people who cannot speak english. I don't want to sound mean but I think this is America and English should be the offical language and that's just how I feel. These jobs that require someone to speak 2 languages are basically a slap in the face of many born and raised Americans and I don't think that is right.

Then again, I'm broke or barely getting by so maybe I'm bitter, if I had money honestly, I would love South Florida. This place is beautiful and the weather is awesome but it's not for the middle class and definetly not for poor people.

I was in Texas in 2002 and apartments were $550.00 for a 1/1, that's great and I would enjoy living there and hopefully I'll end up there one day...

I'm just speaking my mind, I don't want to get banned but I have serious issues with Florida in general.

Now you can count up all my spelling errors and mock me or lash out at me for my post, I was just being honest.

[bmurphy]

I may be wrong.

But look at the Orlando city-data crime stats.

It hasn't gone up overnight. It's been high for years.