America's Most Stressful Cities (Jacksonville, Mayo: real estate, neighborhoods, quality of life)

[projectmaximus]

Hmm, when I read the intro I totally knew Jax would be on this list (what with all the mentally unstable, alcoholic, and divorced folks). Of course, it flies in the face of the article I posted half a year ago where Jax was the third-most fun place to work in the US.

America's Most Stressful Cities, 2012 - Yahoo! Real Estate

[cricketfan]

Ahhh!! All this stress is just killing me!

[Eugene80]

I can believe it. Florida in general is a bad place to live. There were threads on this forum that were like 50 pages long debating Florida, and the consensus was, it's not a very pleasant place to live (the sunshine is misleading).

[TyroneParker]

lol ... The sunshine is misleading.

[eureka1]

It's the traffic! I swear it's the traffic! Driving on bridges doesn't help either.

[FSUMikeJAX]

I'll get slammed for this, but for all those who clamor about Florida's tax burden being one of the lowest in the country (it's not), consider what we have foregone for lower taxes: amenities that contribute to an increased quality of life that would help soften the blow in this weak economy.

Had previous administrations embraced a progressive agenda rather than pandering to the lower taxes faction, then we could probably have many more amenities that tie communities together. I'm talking active and passive neighborhood parks, better lighting, more viable transit options, policies that favor sustainable development.

Instead, Jacksonville is only a large city based on technical definitions. We are similar to Atlanta's metro in that we are a collection of small neighborhoods with shortsighted goals and an aversion to collaborating on the future.

[projectmaximus]

I'll get slammed for this, but I agree with FSUMJ.

[cricketfan]

The word "taxes" is a dirty word in today's politics. Everyone wants to live in a city with a world of amenities but no politician will ever get elected in a GOP dominated city like Jacksonville by suggesting how to pay for those amenities other than to cut spending. And by cutting spending beyond a certain sustainable minimum will only diminish the few amenities that we already have. We don't have big revenue resources from tourism or from manufacturing, etc. so while we boast about lowest taxes, our amenities will continue to suck.

[FSUMikeJAX]

Originally Posted by cricketfan

The word "taxes" is a dirty word in today's politics. Everyone wants to live in a city with a world of amenities but no politician will ever get elected in a GOP dominated city like Jacksonville by suggesting how to pay for those amenities other than to cut spending. And by cutting spending beyond a certain sustainable minimum will only diminish the few amenities that we already have. We don't have big revenue resources from tourism or from manufacturing, etc. so while we boast about lowest taxes, our amenities will continue to suck.

This is why I hope Mayor Brown and his Republican allies can help right the public's perception on increased taxes. Tax cuts stifle progress as there is no additional revenue to tackle quality of life issues.

The Jacksonville mantra seems to be, "I don't want to pay taxes, but I want my road repaved or widened when traffic inconveniences me. I also want safe lighting to ride my bike at night, playgrounds for my children, JSO visible at every corner and no one who is not my skin color within 5 miles of me."

When will the average Jacksonville resident realize that low taxes, budget cuts and anemic revenue do not promote anything but stagnation and blight? Taxes bring in the revenue and can put us on equal footing with at least Charlotte in the intermediate future.

[fsquid]

I can understand why taxes are a bad word when you see such waste at all government levels. No clue what that has to do with stress though. I've found my stress level to be much lower here than it was in Charlotte, but I'm a weird dude anyways.