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Old 03-21-2016, 01:41 PM
 
Location: NH
4 posts, read 4,009 times
Reputation: 18

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Thank you for your lengthy reply. You've given me a lot to think about. We are interested in the Punta Gorda / Port Charlotte area. We currently live in a community with mostly elderly people. We are comfortable with that because it feels safer to us. Liberal creep is alive and well here in NH! It's not the same place it was even 10 years ago. Contrary to what people say there is plenty of diversity here..Bernie Sanders won here! I blame all the brainwashed college students for that. Republicans are now a minority here. Living anywhere near Debbie "Blabbermouth" Schultz would be too much for me to handle! lol Thanks again!
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Old 03-21-2016, 03:39 PM
 
2,752 posts, read 2,563,989 times
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I am sure you will find Punta Gorda/ Port Charlotte 360º different from SE Florida. 40 yr resident here and I have been over to the East coast many of time. I find many more retired folks over on the east side with "early bird special" a way of life over there. A north east coast influence is a given. Over on the west coast of Florida, I like to think of us as the working folk. I like to visit family on the east coast of florida every once in a while, while partaking in some great food you can only find there. Lots of flavors to find in Florida. If you don't find it in one spot, keep moving, till you find home.
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Old 03-21-2016, 06:51 PM
 
Location: N.H Gods Country
2,360 posts, read 5,226,687 times
Reputation: 2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by sb2017 View Post
I am also currently living in Florida (25 years now) and am moving back up to NH after my daughter graduates next year. I can't wait to get out and I can't imagine retiring here. I am posting because relatively recently I had this heart-to-heart with myself about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and where I wanted to do it, and laid out my own pros and cons of staying versus going. You didn't specify what part of Florida you are considering so keep in mind my "expertise" is in the southeast Florida region. Things could be very different say in the panhandle or on the west coast. Reasons in no particular order:

1. No seasonal changes. No autumn leaves. You might occasionally get a "colder" winter that hits 40 for a few days but otherwise, not much changes. (Although, you probably would be amused to see "natives" bundle up like it's 40 below on those days.). Spring is about a day - blink and you'll miss it.

2. Christmas for that reason is horrible. You feel like you are on Candid Camera while you are digging out all of your Christmas decorations in 80+ degree weather in your tanktop and shorts and flip-flops. I actually have to reassure myself that my neighbors are decorating, too, even after 25 years.

3. Flat, flat, flat land. Roads are generally laid out in grid format, at least in my neck of the woods. I miss rivers, hills, mountains, forests, pretty scenic drives, curvy and hilly roads, etc. There also aren't many natural streams and rivers and lakes. Most are man-made canals and man-made "lakes", which everywhere else would be considered a puddle or a pond.

4. Houses are all generally either bland "older" 80's style ranches, or the new McMansion type house in every size imaginable. Within any given neighborhood, houses pretty much all look the same. Most newer neighborhoods all look the same. Land is only for the extremely wealthy unless you go to the middle of the state in swampland or no-man's land. My house is on a 1/3 acre and is considered to be huge for the typical suburban neighborhood. Most have zero lot lines. You can find the occasional street, generally in the heart of the cities, with older Spanish-style houses, which are very lovely, but then you have to worry about your surrounding streets.

5. No basements because the water table is about a foot below ground. Roads flood easily because of this, too. Most attics, if a house has one at all, is like a crawlspace deal. Storage is a problem and self-serve storage facilities are all over.

6. Most neighborhoods are run by HOA's. Really hard to avoid them, again unless you are out in no-man's land in the middle of the state.

7. After a while, the beach and Disney are old news.

8. Getting very crowded all year round. It used to be that it was quiet and peaceful in the summer and only got busy when the snowbirds came.

9. The people. Very self-centered, very demanding. Bad drivers. I-95 is a mainstay to get around north/south and it's crazy out there. And don't even get me started on the old drivers.

10. I have no intention of being lumped in with the stereotypical "Florida retirees" and older. I'd never in a million years move to a retiree community. To me, that's just a depressing thought. A huge proportion of of the population are in the over 65 crowd and while I have nothing against them, I don't want that to dominate my life. Even if you choose a regular community, the retirees dominate life here.

11. When it's hot, it's really hot. And humid. Really, really humid, which makes it feel even hotter.

12. Most family is up north. It gets tedious and expensive to see family, or entertain them for a week or two at a time. Family visits end up being such a big production and more stress than enjoyable.

13. Everyone always wants to come to your house for their vacation. Cool and fun at first but it also gets old really fast. As does the assumption that all you do with your life in Florida is go to Disney or the beach. "What do you mean you have to work?!"

14. Liberal creep. I'm in southern Palm Beach County, bordering on Broward County (west thank God), and the liberal creep of the cities, especially in the southeast like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, just keeps spreading as more and more people come down from the northeast. Florida generally has decent laws for now but it's a struggle to keep them. I mean think about it: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is one district over from me! (Just tossing that out there, as I'm aware some people might find that a positive. ) **Disclaimer** This is not meant to be inflammatory or start an off-topic debate in this thread, but it is something that is happening down here and people like to know, whichever side of the fence they are on.
You really hit the nail on the head with that post. Your list is pretty much identical to what I would have put down if I was making a list. We were on the west coast 30 miles north of Tampa for ten years and that was longer than we wanted. We had to stay longer due to business and real estate obligations. I truly believe what you say about weighing the pros and cons. Once I honestly piled the pro's and cons on that imaginary scale the result's were very obvious. As soon as we were able to fulfill our business obligations and sell our house we were gone. It was an ok place to live for a few years but when the novelty wore off it became real old real quick. I couldn't imagine retiring down there. With the different seasons here there is a totally different set of activities. We find ourselves much more active up here in these mountains than we ever did down in Florida.I'm sure you will find many changes after being gone for 25 years but for overall quality of life you'd be hard pressed to find a better place. Good Luck with your move.
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Old 03-23-2016, 05:15 PM
 
9,327 posts, read 21,959,411 times
Reputation: 4571
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebNashua View Post
My culture shock wasn't too bad. By the time I moved, I had been living in NYC for about 20 years and was so ready to be done. I had grown up in the suburbs (NJ) and spent every Summer on Martha's Vineyard, where my family had a rustic cape on 2 acres where I spent a lot of time riding and rolling around the countryside. I went to school in New England and otherwise had spent some amount of time in NH and VT and upstate NY.

I think my biggest cultural adjustment was how white it was here. It was shocking, and even a little unsettling, to me not to see any ethnic people anywhere (and I say this as white person myself). I feel that there is more cultural diversity now, though. Or maybe it's a little more diverse where I live now.

I find that I am so, so sensitive to mindless noise these days. You would think after living in NYC, that I would be immune to it, but I think the opposite is true. Someone sitting outside honking their horn, a car alarm that won't stop, some loud, thumping music blasting and I actually feel my pulse start to race and my ears start to ring. I think it is almost a mild PTSD from years of being trapped by noise. Luckily, this type of noise is few and far between here.

The one thing that I do miss about NYC (other than some of my friends there) is all the great restaurants, especially ethnic places. And the ease of being able to walk out your door and go to a restaurant or bar. Going for cocktails and being able to have more than one drink because you're not driving home! Running in Central Park, I miss that too. The regular, day-to-day living though is much better here. I loved NYC and wouldn't trade my experience there for anything. I just wish that I had been able to move up here a little sooner. I think that I was ready for it about 4 or 5 years before I did it.
OMG.. I just realized that I am approaching my 7 year anniversary in NH..


Where I've lived:
San Francisco -> Detroit (First job) --> New York (Columbia grad school and work) --> Adelaide, South Australia (Grad school #2, job) --> Toronto --> New Hampshire


What I miss about:
1. NY: Diversity, ethnic food, the subway to get around, walking 20,000 steps a day. The noise (I once called a friend in Manhattan and he stuck his phone outside the window so I could hear NY in Australia)!!!
2: Australia: the sun, the sea, the seafood, the people, beer, meat pies, vegemite, the laid back vibe, the friendliness (outside Sydney) and speaking Australian English (not the bogan croc hunter English)
3. Detroit/Toronto: Nothing. OK maybe my health care in Ontario was pretty good (seriously!)

What I don't miss about:
1. NY: High cost of apartments. Cut throat.
2. Australia: my allergies were sky high (eucalyptus trees killed me), the tall poppy professional athmosphere (google it)
3. Detroit/Toronto: I don't miss anything about these 2 cities.

What I love about NH
1. I've gotten used to the people, they're not up front in your face friendly like an Australian or Californian, but you will make good friends. They are definitely warmer than Torontonians who were reserved and it was difficult to make friends.
2. The countryside is gorgeous
3. Summers - love the low humidity.'
4. If I need a city Boston is a little over an hour and NY is doable for a weekend (I go once/month)
5. I can have 2 cars AND a motorcycle.. In fact buying a motorcycle helped me realize how awesome this state really is.. I love touring and looking about and love the twisties and driving to the coast and to the mountains.
6. I can say M******* and not feel like I just said a dirty word!

What I don't like about NH:
1. Lack of diversity. It has gotten better but oftentimes I add diversity when I walk into a restaurant. Remedied by Boston or monthly weekend trip to NYC (I'm paying 88 round trip, including tax, next weekend to fly!)
2. Ethnic food is not as prevalent. I don't like having to drive an hour for dim sum or longer for other types of ethnic food.
3. The winter. But buying a motorcycle helps me look forward to the end of winter and once riding season is here I forget winter.

Overall.. and I used to say this about living in Australia. I am blessed and I'm chuffed to bits to be living here. Glad I'm here and not.. um.. Florida. I'd be happy to trade winter for heat and humidity.

Last edited by minibrings; 03-23-2016 at 05:36 PM..
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Old 03-31-2016, 05:15 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
7,673 posts, read 5,395,712 times
Reputation: 16119
Quote:
Originally Posted by NHSUNLOVER View Post
Thank you for your lengthy reply. You've given me a lot to think about. We are interested in the Punta Gorda / Port Charlotte area. We currently live in a community with mostly elderly people. We are comfortable with that because it feels safer to us. Liberal creep is alive and well here in NH! It's not the same place it was even 10 years ago. Contrary to what people say there is plenty of diversity here..Bernie Sanders won here! I blame all the brainwashed college students for that. Republicans are now a minority here. Living anywhere near Debbie "Blabbermouth" Schultz would be too much for me to handle! lol Thanks again!
I don't want to go off-topic, but am interested in NH and FL and also some comments made by you and one or two others in this thread.

I'm wondering if "liberal creep" includes those of us who are moderate Democrats?
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Old 03-31-2016, 05:37 PM
 
4,899 posts, read 3,536,114 times
Reputation: 4471
Quote:
Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer View Post
I don't want to go off-topic, but am interested in NH and FL and also some comments made by you and one or two others in this thread.

I'm wondering if "liberal creep" includes those of us who are moderate Democrats?
I think she meant creep as in it's creeping, not that liberals are creeps.
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Old 03-31-2016, 05:57 PM
 
Location: Ossipee, NH
385 posts, read 342,749 times
Reputation: 984
My post was deleted for trolling... I can assure you Yac, that was not the intent.
Moderator cut: your post was one of many deleted and If I assumed you intended to troll, you would get at least a warning with it. Yac.
And yes, I meant creep as in moving slowly, not that liberals are creeps.

Last edited by Yac; 04-01-2016 at 02:55 AM..
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Old 03-31-2016, 06:04 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
7,673 posts, read 5,395,712 times
Reputation: 16119
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northeastah View Post
I think she meant creep as in it's creeping, not that liberals are creeps.
LOL. Of course I knew what was meant by the word "creep", but I really do want to know whether those of us who are moderate Democrats are welcomed. Please enlighten me.
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Old 03-31-2016, 06:38 PM
 
6,533 posts, read 6,683,424 times
Reputation: 8695
Quote:
Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer View Post
LOL. Of course I knew what was meant by the word "creep", but I really do want to know whether those of us who are moderate Democrats are welcomed. Please enlighten me.
You can move anywhere you want.....does not mean the locals have to like your politics. In any event NH is no longer much of a conservative state, so your worries are meaningless. If you are concerned NH residents are going to somehow get in your face, well, that's highly doubtful. People mind their own business up here.

If anything, you will find yourself ignored, and it will not be because of your politics, but because people in New England are naturally taciturn.
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Old 03-31-2016, 06:45 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
7,673 posts, read 5,395,712 times
Reputation: 16119
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brave Stranger View Post
You can move anywhere you want.....does not mean the locals have to like your politics. In any event NH is no longer much of a conservative state, so your worries are meaningless. If you are concerned NH residents are going to somehow get in your face, well, that's highly doubtful. People mind their own business up here.

If anything, you will find yourself ignored, and it will not be because of your politics, but because people in New England are naturally taciturn.
I have no worries, I just posed a question. My Mainer friends aren't the least bit taciturn, and I haven't a clue about their politics, as we've never discussed that.

I am, by the way, directly descended from Mayflower ancestors and I don't suppose one can be more New England than that.
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