Raising a family in South Florida.... Please help! (Miami, Tampa: crime, house)

[LIFL]

Originally Posted by Tulippsy

I have to second Browardnole's opinion. My stepson grew up in Parkland and drugs were a huge problem. The materialism was
the other issue I couldn't abide. And so many enabling parents! Several of his friends are being supported by or living with a parent. And not working. Just stay very involved in your kids' lives and pay attention.

Parkland is like an urber-safe suburb, how much safer do you want?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[BrowardNole]

Originally Posted by isles20

Cooper City? That place is like 90% nice, but isn't the hellhole you describe it as. And North Port is a boring suburb, nothing to do, and Port Charlotte is like what you describe Cooper City as.

Cooper City is a bubble of "okay" in a sea of concrete and decay.

[City Guy997S]

I grew up in Ft Lauderdale and later moved to Boca Raton.......neither would be ideal for raising kids in my opinion.

The money/materialism aspect is hard to explain to kids (what....not everyone has Iphones in elementary school and gets dropped off in a Bentley?). I have family in the Midwest and they get excited to see one expensive car on a summer day. Boca/Miami/Ft Lauderdale you see one at every traffic light! The flash is insane in S. Florida and not everyone is making money legitimately!

[StreetSmarts]

Its easy to rent a BMW/Mercedes and look the part. I bet I make mor ethan some of them but I drive a beat up truck lol.

Ugh...... South FL...... what are you gonna do though? (move when you can!) .... hahaha.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by isles20

Cooper City? That place is like 90% nice, but isn't the hellhole you describe it as. And North Port is a boring suburb, nothing to do, and Port Charlotte is like what you describe Cooper City as.

Agree, I drove through Port Charlotte a few years ago and the place looks like it was hit really hard by the crisis. I felt very uncomfortable there.

[JohnD_fla]

Originally Posted by ruski

Weston

You always say that.

[JohnD_fla]

If I were moving from somewhere else with young children, southeast Florida would not be among my top choices of places to move to. But since you are already here then you probably already know that its not exactly the worst place to be either.

Here's the real low down on southeast Florida: people complain about it for a variety of reasons. Some don't like the fact that so many immigrants from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America have moved here. Some people don't like the fact that so many people are speaking a language other than English. Some people don't like the fact that pretty much every industry here (except the service industry) is dead, and that most of the jobs that are available are low-paying customer service type jobs. Some people don't like the crowding and traffic, the lack of adequate public transportation, the high cost of everything, the corrupt local governments, the bad attitudes and rudeness of people... whatever!

I believe that if you're looking for a reason to be miserable you will find many. Yes, we have some issues here but some of the complaints are overblown. I have had many patients who try to cope with modern south Florida living by combining psychotropic medications with alcohol. The stories some of them tell me are quite frightening, but I don't judge. I think that its easier to just accept the world the way that it is. No place is perfect and any place at all that one moves to is going to have issues. "Wholesome" is subjective. Mayberry, USA doesn't exist. The best that you can do is to make it a priority to educate yourself and your children, establish a reasonable value judgement system. Respect yourself first, but also show respect to others. That's it! If you can do that then you can do ok just about anywhere.

Some people here like to show off themselves. But money and material things are fleeting. A good quality of life and solid people relationships are much more valuable than stuff. You don't have to be just another materialistic parent who gives things to your kids because you can afford it. Let them learn to appreciate the value of things by working for rewards instead of just giving them stuff. Talk to them, ask for their opinions and ideas, and, most importantly, listen to what they say. Kids aren't stupid. They understand expectations. And if they trust you they will listen to what you say most of the time.

You did not make a mistake to move here. You just have to not let yourself be discouraged by some of the bull**** that you will see around you.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by JohnD_fla

You always say that.

Always

[LIFL]

Originally Posted by JohnD_fla

You always say that.

Sticking to his guns

[ruski]

Originally Posted by JohnD_fla

You always say that.

Originally Posted by ruski

Always

Originally Posted by isles20

Sticking to his guns

Find me a place that is better than Weston as a whole.