[backtofla]

"If you want to know just go to myspace and type in florida."


firemed, what do you mean?

[PJBower]

I visited and then moved to Sarasota about 4 years ago, and, I would suggest it would meet your desire for a great place to raise kids, and also enjoy the sun, sand, surf, and relaxed atmosphere that I have found there...I actually purchased another wonderfull property there recently and have my original and also a wonderfull property for sale...Sarasota has a lot to offer and I would encourage you to check it out...its also, at present, a buyers market...Check out the Indian Beach/Saffire shores area west of the trail...

[PJBower]

I have also heard good reports about the Military Academy...there is an elementary school in the Indian Beach area that I have heard has a waiting list...I have also heard good reports and know students that have attended the ethnically mixed Booker High school and have prospered...the Ringling School of Art and the New College of Florida are also in this growing and evolving area in the north trail area...

[mother3]

There are drugs, and gangs in every state and in every city and you can say every country. I live in Gainesville Florida , the city is not bad far as drugs(I don't hang in the street or go clubbing)as I know, the schools are good(the state used a grading system). The bad thing about Gainesville is the University of Florida, if you are not an student it's hard to survive. A decent 2 bedroom in a decent section of town is a bout 700.00. The pay stink .Some people with degrees only get about 12/hr and that's sad. Aside from that Gainesville is GREAT place to live, we don't get hurricaines(just the rain, and wind)

[THASPECIAL]

Originally Posted by jsta_grl22

I grew up California and moved to a COLD state. Big mistake. I am miserable here. So I am trying to find a nice place to live that is warm year-round. Florida sounds nice: oceans, beaches, close to attractions. But I hear so many negatives about Florida that I don't know what to do!

For the past year I have been saying "yes i'm moving there" then "oh wait no I'm not". I am going absolutely insane in my head going back and forth on the issue. I need to make a decision, maybe you guys can help?

I am open to moving anywhere in Florida besides big cities like Miami. Are there any places (maybe small/medium towns) that are truly a nice place to live? Places where there are no gangs, drugs, and little crime? The biggest issue is the schools- I keep hearing how bad they are and yet I can't imgaine that there aren't any good schools in the smaller towns. I just wish there was a nice place to raise a family. Thanks for any suggestions.

I'm sure you have heard the negatives and they are true to an extent otherwise people wouldn't speak about them, but I think if you have the money to move to a nice area near Orlando that you would have a nice time living here....I would suggest places like Doctor Phillips, Windemere, Lake Mary, Oviedo, Wekiva Springs, Altamonte Springs (near the mall), Bay Hill, or Lake Buena Vista (on 535 going out towards Windemere)


Overall these are good areas.......Altamonte Springs is good on the east side of town but if you get near Ronald Regan BLVD and north of State Road 436 there are some ghetto areas.....but any of these places i have mentioned have a minimal chance of serious crimes taking place.....



As far as the good schools in small towns goes ..you should know being from California how that is....For instance Fresno isnt the biggest city and look at the gang problem and crime they have and my cousins live and went to school in Hanford and my mother told me that she heard that the schools in that town werent the best because of gangs and fighting


The same goes for Florida ....the small towns vary.....Like Poinciana wouldnt be the best place to send your kid to school and that is a small town and Kissimiee is kind of a toss up in the safe schools department too, there are lots of towns you can look at on a map and think they are ok by the size but its never a given.........Sometimes when i hear the question about out of towners wanting safe good schools i dont know where they are coming from.......There are different backgrounds of people that say that so its hard to say what is safe and what is not.......What i mean is that i know some parents that are overly protective of thier kids and want thier kids to not ever experience seeing a fight and then there are parents that know that kind of stuff happens but just dont want to send thier kid to a school that has metal detectors because of previous problems with guns....


By my experience in Florida Schools i went to elementary school in Tallahassee at "Astoria Park elementary" and then in White Springs (forgot that schools name) and then i went to another school in Lake City named "Summers Elementary" and i saw a couple fights there, and some kids knew about smoking weed and did smoke with older kids but i went to middle and high school in "Miami-Dade County schools" and i went to "P.S.N. elementary" school in Miami for my last year of elementary....first day kids threw rocks at me and i saw a couple fights there after school sometimes, then i went to Miami Lakes and Lake Stevens Middle schools it was like i was in the middle of gang activities all the time at those schools,


and then i went to American highschool and saw fights every day of my 9th grade and some black guys tryed to jump me the first week but i got away and about 80-85% of kids i knew were into drugs and 40% of kids were involved with gangs at that school and i dropped out because people were always fighting and i was tired of walking the other way everyday when i would notice people with bad intentions so i just started skipping class......someone stole all my books and personal stuff out of my locker the second week of school and i saw some dude get beat up for stepping on someone elses shoelaces in the hallway and the kids in my Biology class stole the teachers Iguana when we had a substitute one day and the sub wasnt even there until 20 minutes of class went by....then i saw some black dudes fighting over a garfield book..... LOL......they knocked alot of desks over wrestling and hitting each other....the teacher just stood there and laughed and then security came and broke it up.....someone spray painted the whole back of the school ....then i remember a riot in the Auditorium one day and some guy hit the teacher with a crate and some other guy threw a desk at someone......I fought some bully in 9th grade in a portable....the guy would choke other kids and hit other kids everyday literally ....well he choked a girl one day and i had enough and told him to stop.....well he waited till after class and pushed me over a desk and i got up and spit on him and he started coming at me so i punched him then we got to wrestling and the teacher got security out there and they broke us up....i got a bruised rib and chipped a tooth but i blacked his eye though.......i fought 2 other times at that school.......and the amazing thing is that i only showed up 20% of 10th grade and 2 weeks in 9th grade so 3 fights is alot for the amount of time i was actually there.......i have tons of stories from American High....but no shootings on the property that i experienced but i did have a friend of mine go home and get a gun one day after someone on the football team theatened to jump him


and after i left that school i dropped out for lots of reasons and a couple months later i went to American adult education program in Carol City to get my GED but dropped out of there for some of the same reasons as the highschool had and for some personal things at home with the divorce.

[orlando32819]

Moving to Fl! It's great! If you are retired from northern states with a good pension. The weather is great. You do not have to deal with snow. After you sell you house from DC, MD, VA, NJ, NY, MA, etc., you can buy a nice house in a great (safe) neighorhood. Then, you would have more $100,000 left for back up. Then, you have working experience, you can get a job to get additional income.

If you have kids between 1-18, public school systems are bad. Private school is the only option. You should spend about $18,000/kid each year for tuition. Then, the kids can enter college of their choice. After college, your kids would have a hard time to get a job with good pay - (average is about $18K-$22$ for BS). You kids will have to go to another state to get a job. In another word, you have kids - Donot move to FL.

If you single, it is not a bad place to live. If you do not mind to do labor work by starting your own business to make decent income. Nice weather, beach, girls, and boys are great when you have free time from work. If you have to work for someone, you need 2 jobs to pay for rent, insurance, utilities, car payment, etc. The average income is about $7.50/hour.

That is my experience. I was a teacher in Maryland, and my annual income was $92,000/year. I retired with pension of $65K/year. I am in 32819. I love it here.

[orlando32819]

Originally Posted by riveree

I kid you not. We have a gang unit and they report that we have kids tagging (spray painting) gang symbols, but no real gang activity in Jacksonville.

Most of our violent crime is drug-related, but gangs are not part of the picture .

Really, Gangs are a big problem in central FL. They are in Dr. Phillips HS, Olympia HS, Winter Park HS where houses are in $400,000 - $10,000,000. The school systems have been changing boundary to dilute gangs and drug problems, but it helps to expand to all kids.

[babyblue32]

hi i am wondering if davenport a nice safe town

[mariamover]

I also lived in California, was born and raised there until I was 10. Then we moved to Florida and growing up here, I was not impressed. In california I felt so safe and had so many friends right near me where as in FL, we lived in Boca for a year and even though it is nice, the school I was zoned for was not, so we had to go to private school. Then for middle and high school, we lived in Lighthouse Point which is a very very nice city, but because it is so small, it is basically across the street from a really bad area. The crime in our actual city was not too bad, but my parents never felt safe letting me go places on my bike alone, even though when I was much younger in California, they let me do much more. Again, because the city was so small, I was zoned for a high school where I had many friends (who were pregnant and would have their boyfriends offer to kick them in the stomach to get rid of it). It was not a safe school, so again I went to a private school which was quite a drive, and quite pricey. There are some places that are good, but it is very hard to find because although you may live in a safe neighborhood, it doesn't mean your kids will be able to go to a good school and it doesn't mean that crime isn't going to happen. I would not raise my kids in florida, I am actually planning on moving back to Cali. Oh, and, I unfortunately (even though I don't have the money for it), am spoiled or at least think I am because of where I grew up. At my school, everyone drove lexus, mercedes, bmw, etc...everyone wore expensive designer purses, and I am not saying that this doesn't happen in every state, but girls down here are obsessive about it and do anything to put you down if you arent that kind of person and everyone ends up feeling inferior if they cant afford to keep up.

[Marlin331]

There are plenty of good places to raise kids in Florida. I was raised in South Florida (between the "evil, non-family friendly" places of Key West and Miami) and I - as well as several people I know - turned out just fine. In South Florida alone there are DOZENS of communities where families are living happily.