Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I like to live in liberal yuppie neighborhoods because I like being around educated liberals because I'm an elitist liberal ******* and proud to be one.
Must spread rep.
Its funny how this is one of the stereotypical negatives to be proud of. But i can't agree more. At least its better than having flags, stickers and whatever patriotic decor for a country/culture that was so horrid you left it and came here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WINTERFRONT
I never thought of JM as the bigot most people here make him to be.
Agreed. He shared real observations and interactions. Some were too uptight to handle it.
Xsobe is right it was tragic and for more reasons than any of you have thought.
Imagine yourself loosing everything in one city and moving to another one and finding that move wasn't permenamt. Imagine yourself sitting and knowing you can't go back but can't stay.
The reason we moved here was the loss of our mother. We lost our last living relative and the homestead was gone. Miami became our homestead, all our hopes and dreams for the future depended on it. Imagine yourself sitting there with no place to call home. Now what do I do?
As happy as I was to get out, part of me was sad because Miami was my homestead. Once again, I lost.
We had a 12 month plan, we knew we would move to Miami and where we would live initially would not be ideal. The plan was just to get there, find an area we fit for year two. At the 3 month mark we both knew no place in Miami was workable. Rather than walk our lease, we stuck it out.
How did I end up in MIMO? Typical Miami BS. We came here and put in an application on a place in Surfside on Harding ave. Walk to the beach! We asked if they accepted dogs. They said yes, so we went back to Dallas to pack and move. They came back and said no to dogs and at that time we're back in Dallas. My son had accepted a job transfer to downtown Miami and was due to start in 10 days from the time we received the news. Now what to do?
I got on the phone and started calling realtors. People wouldn't return emails or phone calls and were less than enthusiastic because we were not here and I had a dog. If you've ever tried to rent a place in Miami with a 50lb dog, you know the problem.
It came down sadly not to a place we wanted but place we could even get done. Our place in MIMO looked fine on Goggle maps and everything I read said "up and coming". What nobody told me was I would have hookers standing in my front yard and the Citgo at 79th and US1 would come to be known as "the place we almost lost our lives."
The house we lived in was beautiful and completely remodeled, Stainless steel appailces cherry wood floors, new berber carpet all the fixtures were Kohler, we had 1,000.00 celing fans and where I looked on the tax rolls, it was on there for $500,000. 500k buys a lot of house in Texas, we didn't know. When we looked at the safe map, it was considered Average. Outside it looked cool as hell, had a backyard and it was available in 10 days and would take the dog and it was 10 minutes to my son's job downtown. Most important is we finally found someone to help us.
The day we moved in, we had a confrontation with one of our neighbors. My son had parked his car in our driveway to unload and it was blocking the sidewalk. One of our neighbors told my son that they knew we were new here but if he blocked the sidewalk again, the guy was going to key his car. Welcome to Miami.
That was the start of all this but I had so much riding on this move that I chose to ignore it and thinking the aggressiveness and unconscionable behavior was isolated. What I found was it wasn't isolated at all.
At first, Miami totally seduced me. I would walk to Biscayne bay every day just to gaze on it's incredible beauty. I would roll over the causeways in just shear amazement. I loved rolling downtown and the sunrise on the beach was one of the most magical experiences of my life.
I would look one way and was inspired, I would look in another direction and lost my inspiration. Miami is a city of extremes. I was caught up on how clean the city was. Loved the blues and greens and whites. I still think it's an incredibly beautiful place and I've been all over the US.
At the 3 month mark it became evident that everywhere in Miami had people who I didn't like and there were things going on I found objectionable. What suprised me was how acceptable it seemed to be. Did I see crack dealers in Brickell standing on the corner? No, but I didn't like the snobby greedy pretentious people there.
One day I was in MKV at lunch time and was alone. I walked into a BBQ place there and they would not seat me at a table. Because I was alone they told me to sit at the bar. That would have been fine except there were no places to sit. My choice was to wait for someone to leave the bar or find another place to eat. I finally left because they would not seat me at at table. Who does that?
Still in MKV, I walked to the Burger King. The employes in there were hateful as hell, miserable at their job. I stood outside and heard all the honking all over Brickell and it was echoing all through downtown. What part of any of that is pleasant?
I can't deal with all the honking in Miami. I mean, I REALLY can't deal with it. I get angry. One day I was sitting on my scooter, which they later stole from my yard. I'm sitting on a two way street waiting to turn left. Two Hispanics rolled up behind me and LAY on the horn because they want me to move so they can turn right. Who does that?
I've seen people honk behind people when the light was RED. Who does that, and let that light turn green for a nanosecond and if you are not on your way, expect to be reminded to get out of the way. Who wants to live like that?
Xsobe is right, I lived in Chiapas. I spent two years in southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. I live in Texas 30 years. I'm no stranger to Mexicans. I came to Miami believing that I knew what I was getting myself into but found out the difference in Mexicans in Dallas and Mexico and Cubans in Miami was the difference in a Apple and a hand grenade. I don't like the Cuban bravado.
I did come here with all the right motives and looked forward to assimilating and enjoying the people. What I found it that I wasn't welcomed and they expected me to speak Spanish not they speak English. I had huge problems with the workforce and really struggled to communicate.
I even bought Rosetta stone to learn more Spanish just to live here, but the people of Miami I found so distasteful, that for the last 9 months even the sound of Spanish sounded like fingers on a chalkboard. I didn't come here to hate Miami at all, nothing could be farther from the truth, I bet everything on Miami.
We could have moved literally to any US city. NYC was on the radar, Denver, LA, WE picked Miami, we didn't have to move here at all. We thought we would just go live at the beach for a while and see how we liked it. We had all these pie in the sky notions of how wonderful life would be there. The reality didn't match our fantasy.
Even given my total disappointment with Miami, I'm not sad I moved to Florida, even Miami has been extraordinarily good for business.
Pay close attention to what I'm about to say.
We are good business people coming out of Dallas. We do what we say we will do, when we say we will do it. We get with the program, know what we are doing and provide excellent customer service. We are friendly, empathic and sincerely try to help people and we smile a lot.
South Florida has a been a gold mine for us because those traits are such an anomaly here. People remember good and reward those who do the right thing.
The upside is there is undoubtedly TREMENDOUS opportunity for good business people, the downside is you have to live with people who in many cases are not. The default here is nobody is to be trusted, prove you are trustworthy and south Florida will be the goose that lays baskets full of golden eggs.
That's why we're not going anywhere, we just had to find someplace where there is less of the things we find objectionable in Miami and for now at least, that's Delray.
I have a very nice south florida life now, one of my neighbors told me the other day where we live is the quintessential Florida lifestyle. I don't know what that is, but my day to day life is very pleasant. I have all the goodness of South Florida with much less of the bad.
I'm not saying Delray is Valhalla or Mayberry, it's not but is CONSIDERABLY less of the things I found in Miami objectionable and after my personal experiences in Miami, Delray is a significant upgrade.
People of Delray seem to Love it and I've spoken with many who have said " I'm not going anywhere", and from what I have seen, I understand why, and we're not planning on going anywhere either but ask me in 3 months after I'm over the culture shock of being introduced back into an all American city.
I was going to leave my last post as my final thought on this thread but it's my hope that this reply helps .
I hear the frustration in your post but you can not pin this on race and be taken seriously . I don't think anyone will argue that there aren't cultural influences as well as racial tensions in society but it not the explanation of what you describe .
You point at a lot of problems but you also OMIT things too. For instance there's no crime in Delray at all ? No arrogance ? No one keying a car ? No one of your ethnicity capable of doing this in Delray ?
If you like labels so much why not include even more labels like age ? gender ? socioeconomic ? education level?
The list is endless BTW if one looks only at differences as the explanation .
And what of those within the race or culture who would reach out to you to save your life in a medical emergency ? You conveniently skipped that part of my reply in the last post . What of those who are firefighters, police officers, military, or teachers .. of those races ? Don't they deserve recognition ? Why lump them in as part of this bitterness you shared ?
It's what you chose NOT to say that presents all these gaps in your argument . So you chose to simply fill that gap with race or culture --leaving out the rest .
That said .. you came to Miami from a position of turmoil . It's sad to hear of your hopes and dreams which were met with the many problems of this city . The housing market, the economy, and many of the problems of Miami happened to be fused with your own personal hardhips . and yes Miami has changed .. but so has Delray too and each region has its own hurdles .
You came here with a dream and brought your dog . I understand exacly how much ones hopes and pets mean to them ... but making a move is HUGE . It takes covering all bases in terms of expense , job planning, short term lease offering , and pets .
I don't want to say that you were ill prepared but if you "lost everything" then I will say that perhaps your expectations were unrealistic .
With time, self inventory , a fresh start, and the experience of moving .. and the ability to cope and heal from the loss .. I hope you find peace in Delray .
I honestly dont know what he is talking about. Palm Beach county has a large Mexican, Jew, Haitian and black population and the poor tend to live in the same neighborhoods Yes there are more Mexicans in Lake worth but they are also in other parts of the county because there is huge farm area West of the county. The only segregated places are Boca and maybe some gated 55+ communities which are quite common in Delray. Out of the places in PBC, Delray Beach is the last one I would recommend to anyone under 70. The place is God's waiting room.
----
Boca is very nice, but just as Miami is Hispanic, Boca is mostly NE Jewish and the average age is quite high. There's a small and quaint black ghetto called Pearl City where you can walk at night. There's a small and affluent Hispanic community.
I don't think that Boca is the right place for Mr. Lacey. Not that there are not some nice very nice areas in Boca inhabited by Christian Middle to High Middle Class, but I guess those properties and apartments are way too expensive for Mr. Lacey.
Delray is either very old, Jewish and black. I'm sure there are some very nice Anglo (Christian) areas in Delray, but those areas would be far too expensive for Mr. Lacey. About one third of the population is black and they are not static. One of my schoolmates originally from Chicago that visits here constantly owned a large apartment building in Delray...He sold the entire apartment building because he received constant sues from the NAACP. He later bought at Coral Park and he owns several homes there.
Boca and Delray are nice, but are places for high income people. You have an area for the rich and high middle class people, and a "service area" for the "staff and workers" on the "wrong side" of the track or intra-coastal. Just like my hometown.
Jews are nice, cultured people, but they can also be a pain as any other ethnic group, more so when they start with their festivities, victimization, etc. They are also very clannish, more so when they are the majority.
Second person in the thread to be proud of being something... same day and page too.
Anywayz... I do agree that Jm is not really in the position to talk about a whole county based on Haitians (who are a very small minority) and their neighborhood (one of the three worst).
Let's be clear where I lived. I didn't live on 2nd ave or Miami ave. I was 1/2 block off US1 and 1/2 block to the bay.
But like I said, I didn't like it anywhere in Miami. Admittedly, I only went to Kendall once. I saw an ambulance and police cars there pulling what looked like a dead person out of the woods. Not sure what they were doing but it looked like a body bag to me.
I was in Hialeah one day standing on the street talking on the phone. A woman walked up to me asking for money. When I pointed to the phone on my ear, she called me an a-hole and stormed off. LOL
One day, I was driving and had my window down. A woman came running up to my car yelling help me! I thought she was being attacked, but she just wanted money.
I was sitting at a light at us1 and somewhere south of downtown. A truck ran a red light and hit a motorcycle. The whole thing played out right in front of our eyes.
I could go on and on, but what's the use. I can now go to Wendys and not have the door blocked by a homeless person and that in itself is worth the move.
There's a lot of crime in Delray...in the crime areas of Delray...
Old Dixie/Swinton and I95 is ghetto. Haitian gangs are taking the place.
Boynton is far worse.
Just like any city, just like Miami.
If you have enough money to live in Atlantic Avenue, you won't even hear a shot.
Boca is very nice, but just as Miami is Hispanic, Boca is mostly NE Jewish and the average age is quite high. There's a small and quaint black ghetto called Pearl City where you can walk at night. There's a small and affluent Hispanic community.
I don't think that Boca is the right place for Mr. Lacey. Not that there are not some nice very nice areas in Boca inhabited by Christian Middle to High Middle Class, but I guess they are way to expensive.
Delray is either very old, Jewish and black. I'm sure there are some very nice Anglo (Christian) areas in Delray, but those areas would be far too expensive for Mr. Lacey. About one third of the population is black and they are not static. One of my schoolmates originally from Chicago that visits here constantly owned a large apartment building in Delray...He sold the entire apartment building because he received constant sues from the NAACP. He later bought at Coral Park and he owns several homes there.
Jews are nice, cultured people, but they can also be a pain as any other ethnic group.
I think that's fair and I think serves to prove up my point. For me, it has nothing to do with what races live around me but how they behave that matters most to me. Just don't act like a fool, and we'll get along fine.
Actually, I find it a good mix of young, old, and middle aged but I'm still new here. Could be I see what I want to see here too but that's what I think today.
As I'm the king of stereotyping, Boca seemed boring and snobby, Boynton seemed low class and by the time you hit Lake Worth you're on the edge of Bubba and boiled peanut country. Boynton was cheaper, Boca more expensive. Places in Delray were more than Boynton less than Boca and had a fun factor. It's not free here but pretty reasonable. I live on the water here, have more square footage for the same price as our place in Miami, food, gas, parking, everything is less expensive here.
We do have many NYer's here. We both like people from NY. I own a NY Yankees hat. I spent 7 years of my life going back and forth from Dallas to Manhattan and we both considered NYC when we moved to Miami. I have no problem with NYer's or anybody else for that matter as long as they respect me as I respect them. I'm not free, but I do try to be reasonable.
There's a lot of crime in Delray...in the crime areas of Delray...
Old Dixie/Swinton and I95 is ghetto. Haitian gangs are taking the place.
Boynton is far worse.
Just like any city, just like Miami.
If you have enough money to live in Atlantic Avenue, you won't even hear a shot.
Uh huh, old Dixie, Swinton and I'll add north Linton and I95 is ghetto and just like Miami one block means live or die.
That's exactly the problem I had in Miami but this time I made sure I moved to the right side of the street. Nothing goes on where I live I'm told by the other people in my building but this is south florida and something unsavory can happen at any time.
What I am finding is less dodgy on the streets where I shop, live and play. I've lived here now 17 days and haven't been panhandled once. As long as it's "over there" and stays over there, it doesn't effect me day to day. My problem in Miami was "it" was everywhere.
You know the area well. Those are pretty cool houses in that ghetto area and I could see that area going the way of Pineapple grove or the Arts district here. Maybe not in my lifetime but if Delray could keep the ghetto west of i95 I think it would improve it's image considerably. I've been told that's where all the 1/2 way houses are too. That area doesn't have much to do with me, but we all know it's there.
"I don't agree, however, that narcissism is genetically inherited by the parents. Maybe I'm wrong, but I fail to see how blood can transport personality behaviors."
That is still up in the air. There have been many experiments in the animal kingdom showing personality traits are inherited. There is a 50 year long experiment in Russia with foxes where they have created a domesticated foxes, and super vicious foxes, all by select breeding based off of personalities.
This is the whole "nature vs nurture" argument that goes on. I even have a personal example of this that I am too lazy to go into detail, but an adopted person displayed similar personality traits throughout growing up and into adult hood as his ethnic group is stereotypically associated with, even though the adopted family lived no where near any member of the group and was not a member of the ethnic group, and the person them self did not even know they were adopted until adulthood. One example of course that does not mean it is fact.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
