[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by DoctorRain

Progress to me is NOT building cookie cutter developments all over FL. If people think that is progress, then their heads are in the wrong place. I think FL should have the city and the country without any of those inbetween stale places that kill culture. It only looks good on paper to be far from the city, yet closer than people an hour or more into the bushes.. the life is not sustainable and people drive even more and pollute the air even more. Neighbors are close yet you are located far from any major urban center.
Progress, I dont think so. Progress to me means becoming more tollerant of others, not building through nature and building all kinds of chain stores where all those con men and *******s are attracted to moving to.

I don't like it either, but on the other hand some people's family have lived in rural areas and small towns for generations and I can understand why they'd like to stay. Much of Florida's suburban growth is also due to people moving from out of state, rather than from within the state.

[NativeFloridan]

Florida will always be called Southern by people who truly know Florida but if your looking for the deepest Southern(culturally) counties you can ask anyone of over 8 million people living there in Florida everday, I calculated this as the population for counties located in the Panhandle, North Florida, Florida Heartland, and parts of Central Florida. This is a conservative estimate and doesn't even include Southerners living in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange, Brevard or any counties on Florida's SouthWest or Southeast Coast (these areas total in population around 9 and 1/2 so a more accurate number of true Southerners in Florida would be closer to 9 million or more (more than twice Alabama's population and a little less than Georgia's at 9.829,000). So there are plenty of Southerners in Florida there just more concentrated and in control where those 8 million live, the Panahandle, North Florida, Florida Heartland and parts of Central Florida. There are still Southerners in Occupied Florida (South Florida) just as there are in Atlanta or Nashville...just hard to find them sometime because of all the yankees.

[cynical geezer]

Originally Posted by NativeFloridan

Occupied Florida (South Florida).

I love that. I'm going to start using it.

[southernflfolk]

Originally Posted by hymnsinger

Lake City, Columbia County.

Lake City is at the crossroads of I-75 and I-10, 90 miles west of Jacksonville. The town of Live Oak is just 20 miles further west and Branford is slightly south where the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers meet. Last time I was there, Branford's school was K-12! There are beautiful blue water springs and the Ichetucknee Springs/River too. The town of White Springs is a countrified place too. It's as "country" as you get, where tur-uck has two syllables! Almost everybody has a bass boat, a float boat, and a horse or two. It's VERY agricultural. And yes, while I lived there I cut the grass and found a car . . . And yes, the porch did collapse on the dogs but they were ok! Really.

One day my neighbor asked me if I wanted a "mess of fish," and dropped a 20 lb catfish on my porch. Another day it was a field dressed deer! There is just about anything you'd want to hunt, and my 14 yr old daughter nearly landed a 14lb large mouth once.

What else . . . Houston is pronounced House-ton . . . sweet tea is what they drink in the daytime . . . It get's WAY too hot in the summer and brutally cold (teens to 20's) in the winter (at least at night). I really miss the Whippoorwill calls in the evening and the Spanish moss, but I sure don't miss the heat!

//www.city-data.com/city/Lake-City-Florida.html

Tracey
Now in Boone, North Carolina!! We still have snow on the ground!

Hi Tracey,
Aren't ya glad to be back in North Cackalackie,lol
I have lived in both myself and I love and miss NC more so than N FLA, I am at the moment in central east coast of Florida.
It amazes me that the power company is a monopoly in Live Oak (a co-op) and surrounding areas-it is owned by the customers and for a dbl wide the 1st place I had there was over $400 for an ELEC DEPOSIT!! My elec ran me an average of 450-700 bucks a mo for a dbl wide-(2 people living there-with barely cooking on the stove-mainly grilling with charcoal or using a small convenient toaster oven-never once the conventional main oven in over a yr and minimal elec used ea month (accept the coldest or hottest nights with barely setting the thermostat to be slightly comfortable) After getting my 1st bill, I had the elec company out there a few x's to check things out and still to no avail of help and the place was lovely and 10 min from Live Oak-however, I had prior lived in Ft White loving it but, again high elec (not as high as Live Oak) nothing there but beautiful nature and the lovely springs what so ever (still loved it-just me-I am an equine and nature lover) although it was not efficient for shopping or to really do anything.
Live Oak on the other hand, was mainly not knowing what neighbors you can trust not only the neighbor children but the adults.
I am a friendly outgoing person and felt very unwelcome in Live Oak unless I was spending money on someone or their place of business even though I spent tons ea month and am very friendly as well as helpful to most anyone. I felt as though the folks mainly cared about themselves in a way they "wanted" all the time, much more than caring about others as just to be a friend. If things appeared to be a chance to benefit themselves then they would be more friendly but, always looking for whatever they may be able to get.
One quite hospitable regular acquaintance I met was still trying to shop at my home each time her and her husband came over yet the gift they would want to give (and they had much more than myself to offer) would always be of mainly something silly like one time they wanted one of my pairs of expensive antique lamps yet wanted to give me an alligator key chain worth about 50 cents (I am a Florida Native,lol and they would act like I was a bad guy if they could not have what they wanted from me no matter how big or small. If I did something for them they acted as though they expected twice more the next time they visited. If I could not answer right away on the phone they would constantly call me back even with a fast answer just to let them know I was at a VA appointment or whatever I was held up with at the time doing for my own self. This is only 1 of many things I ran across.
Basically stating that friendly folks on the average but, after a little while most acted as though they were out for themselves for all they could get or they did not act like your friend so much any longer and would be more distant. I am not one to judge normally but, I REALLY did feel helpless as to why a lot of folks were just plain fake in the way they appeared to be after knowing them a short time. Seemed like most families there had a lot of drama always going on and more nosey at what their own neighbor was eating for dinner or doing in their properties than themselves just for some conversation the next morning in town, hahaha-too funny.
I have lived in many places in our beautiful country and I am one to state my own personal experience that if I had to choose for an overall of friendly, caring, very affordable living and things to do and not too bad of weather for an overall yrly.,not to include work, my top 5 choices are most stars meaning the Best)...Please I ask that nobody take this as personal-I'm only using my own OVERALL experience..Thank you!
~TOP 5 OF MY CHOICES FOR SMALL TOWNS AND OVERALL-not to include employment :
*****NC-mainly ALL over....it is TRUE-You will always have a fiend in NC
****Northern and slightly western middle of TX
***North central Alabama most of the time
**Southern middle GA Nice folks or not so nice-not much in between so to speak
*Near or in Columbia, Mo
~~then following for the best place for most of the above reasons of mine would be in N Fla accept for making too close of friends.

~The top 5 places I do NOT recommend to LIVE in for all around reasons as for SMALLER areas of states like above top 5 choices are: (accept most stars indicating the worst)
*****Nearby Wellsboro PA-Worst most NOT friendly place I've been-very RUDE folks
**** Connecticut
*** Maryland-suburbs of Baltimore area
** Near or in Salinas and Seaside California
* Suburbs of Atlanta
So between all of the states then if I was to have to choose 2, It would have to be NC vs Florida and the hospitality that has ALWAYS been over many yrs in NC verses FLA is over 65%.
I miss NC much more. I wish you the best!

~For those that may have felt offended I do only mean this as my own experiences and it does NOT mean I did not like those places or some of the folks there.
May God Bless America!

[Jimbobster]

I am little confused: were you saying, SouthernFolk, that people were or were not friendly in Northern FL?

[NativeFloridan]

just be glad you have a co-op and dont have Progress Energy....North Carolina company in Florida that is destroying everthing including historic Apalachicola with those monster industrial metal poles..they could care less how dangerous they are and how theyre destroying the economy of the historic town. The company is employed with a bunch of heartless soulless people who care nothin about the damage they cause.

[AuburnAL]

The OP might also want to look at Florida communities near Dothan, AL. Dothan's a little smaller than you're looking for, but it is is easily accessible from Florida, and the traffic won't be as bad as a lot of the cities in the Panhandle especially once summer comes. Since you'll be on the opposite side of the county from the beach you won't have too many transplants diluting the local culture.

[NativeFloridan]

Originally Posted by southgeorgia

You gotta get out more!

From my experience, anything outside Tampa, Orlando, and Miami is still pretty southern. Jacksonville, although a major city, would still be considering "southern" in my opinion; especially once you get outside the downtown area and definitely along the st. johns river.

Taylor county FL and the surrounding areas make alabama look like california.

The "most southern" people I've ever met were from southwest Florida.

Thats the truth...Taylor County is Deep Deep South

[rootzdread]

[quote=ComSense;13292051]

Originally Posted by southgeorgia

You gotta get out more!

From my experience, anything outside Tampa, Orlando, and Miami is still pretty southern. Jacksonville, although a major city, would still be considering "southern" in my opinion; especially once you get outside the downtown area and definitely along the st. johns river. If it's still small town and rural, yes, many are still considered southern. But in FL, nowadays, it's FAR easier to find a transplant than a native, and most cities are a large mix of people. Small towns in Central FL like Oviedo, Winter Springs, etc... are made up of a ton of people from the midwest. Kissimmee and Deltona are very hispanic. Bithlo is still very southern. But there arent a lot of cities that I can think of in South or Central FL that are still southern. Lake Placid, Loxahatchee, Davie, Ocala, Clermont and much of Lake Co is still southern.

Taylor county FL and the surrounding areas make alabama look like california.

The "most southern" people I've ever met were from southwest Florida. LOL, that's hilarious!

Davie isn't Southern IMO, at least not anymore.