Any good reason to come to Tampa? (foreclosures, insurance)

[englishphd]

I would say that Florida is a beautiful place to visit, but you should definitely look elsewhere raise a family.

I have been here for the past five years and so desperate to leave that I am short-selling my house and taking a hit on my 780 credit. Now you may ask why...I'll bullet it so as not to waste your time with adjectives and expletives:

* Lacks culture and cosmopolitan appeal...very weak museums, attractions for the arts
* Poor economy... I mean really poor economy. With financial structure don't expect a Florida comeback for YEARS. I really hope there are no hurricanes this year cause a serious one would bankrupt the state.
* Rude people...very little compassion for others...insensitive and narcissistic
* Unaffordable considering the salaries
* Segregated...trust me its like stepping back 50 years in time in some areas. The old south still breathes in some areas. Just check out the enormous Confederate flag at I-75 and I-4!
* Hot, hot , hot...which brings on bugs, strange disease and strange people.
* Small homes...I'm from the midwest and my garage was larger than my home now
* No real economic base outside of tourism and dollars coming in to the state (hospitality reigns here)
* Smokers
* Poor k-12 educational system...this is coming from a college professor.

Good things you may like about Florida:

*Wonderful weather in the winter months; everyone in MI will be jealous during the white outs
* Lots of fishing and things to do in/around the water
* Beautiful bodies on the beach
* Everyone of your relatives would like to visit ( this may be a bad thing)
* Fresh seafood
* Smooth roads...no potholes like up North

Uh that's it. Oh, I forgot the cheap flights out of Tampa back North!

My advice to anyone wanting to start a business dealing with home improvement/maintenance: try again in a few years when the housing market rebounds. Right now nothing is progressing.

[seain dublin]

Well the schools were still segregated here until the 1970s. I have heard and posted on this before people using the N word because they assume since you're white it is ok to talk that way.

I had someone who was from here, who I was just introduced to start talking about black people and using the N word. My mouth dropped open. This was literally five minutes after being introduced.

Growing up in NY and then moving to CA people wouldn't dream of talking to someone they just met and using derogatory remarks about another race.

Why they fly that huge confederate flag is beyond me. If you check the Florida Civil War website it says FL played little to no role in the Civil War. Yet they have now increased the size of that flag twice.

That is really good for people from other states and countries to see when they visit.

Then they wonder why tourism is down here in addition to a bad economy. It is a poor reflection on Tampa and the mindset here. JMO, I think it is done more to create contraversy than to honor the Civil War dead.

[seain dublin]

I have to comment on what englishphd said about smokers.

Everyone smokes! You see people puffing away while driving and my favorite healthcare workers in scrubs outside taking a cigarette break.

I have never seen so many smokers as there are here. Given the fact it is 2009 and for years we have known what damage smoking does.

Again it ties into the lack of education here and ignorance.

[cameraLens]

Originally Posted by Dane Austin

1) There are no unskilled jobs availible. I see a lot of whining about low pay jobs (under 40k) not being availible. Personally I don't care about these jobs anyway. I am relocating my business there as well and will create my own job market.

Do you actually plan on paying employees a decent livable wage, or are you gonna be like all the other businesses in this area?

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Again it ties into the lack of education here and ignorance.

That's because the jobs are so bad here that there's no incentive to get an education. And those who do get an education LEAVE.

[Artsywoman]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

I have to comment on what englishphd said about smokers.

Everyone smokes! You see people puffing away while driving and my favorite healthcare workers in scrubs outside taking a cigarette break.

I have never seen so many smokers as there are here. Given the fact it is 2009 and for years we have known what damage smoking does.

Again it ties into the lack of education here and ignorance.

Ha that is funny, because I noticed that too. Also people do not walk anywhere. It is a nasty place to live and ugly as sin. Glad I left, but enjoyed writing about and mocking Florida. It is a unique atmosphere down there and the crime is so bad. I have collected a list of stupid crimes from the Sun-Sentinel blog. It is crazy. It is so nice to be home where people read, walk and actually do not view tattoos as a status symbol! OUCH!

[seain dublin]

I have to agree there is a "subculture" of people down here, not everyone, but we have seen "sights" here we have not seen elsewhere. Very Jerry Springer.

It all ties into a lack of education. When a state comes in at 45 out of 50 in people completing high school you are not dealing with bright bulbs.

We have been here two years and are shocked at the number of cases of child abuse and animal abuse in the news. Every week on the news and on TBO it is the same thing, abused and neglected kids or animals being starved.

We never heard of "mothers" driving around drunk or high with kids in the car. It is news here every month. FL has an underclass of people that for a lack of a better word "white trash", much more so than other states.

[xlabel]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Well the schools were still segregated here until the 1970s. I have heard and posted on this before people using the N word because they assume since you're white it is ok to talk that way.

I had someone who was from here, who I was just introduced to start talking about black people and using the N word. My mouth dropped open. This was literally five minutes after being introduced.

Growing up in NY and then moving to CA people wouldn't dream of talking to someone they just met and using derogatory remarks about another race.

Why they fly that huge confederate flag is beyond me. If you check the Florida Civil War website it says FL played little to no role in the Civil War. Yet they have now increased the size of that flag twice.

That is really good for people from other states and countries to see when they visit.

Then they wonder why tourism is down here in addition to a bad economy. It is a poor reflection on Tampa and the mindset here. JMO, I think it is done more to create contraversy than to honor the Civil War dead.

Yeah they don't bother with the small talk in Cali, they just yank em out of the car and take care of it Rodney King style.

[Davachka]

Originally Posted by englishphd

I would say that Florida is a beautiful place to visit, but you should definitely look elsewhere raise a family.

I have been here for the past five years and so desperate to leave that I am short-selling my house and taking a hit on my 780 credit. Now you may ask why...I'll bullet it so as not to waste your time with adjectives and expletives:

* Lacks culture and cosmopolitan appeal...very weak museums, attractions for the arts
* Poor economy... I mean really poor economy. With financial structure don't expect a Florida comeback for YEARS. I really hope there are no hurricanes this year cause a serious one would bankrupt the state.
* Rude people...very little compassion for others...insensitive and narcissistic
* Unaffordable considering the salaries
* Segregated...trust me its like stepping back 50 years in time in some areas. The old south still breathes in some areas. Just check out the enormous Confederate flag at I-75 and I-4!
* Hot, hot , hot...which brings on bugs, strange disease and strange people.
* Small homes...I'm from the midwest and my garage was larger than my home now
* No real economic base outside of tourism and dollars coming in to the state (hospitality reigns here)
* Smokers
* Poor k-12 educational system...this is coming from a college professor.

Good things you may like about Florida:

*Wonderful weather in the winter months; everyone in MI will be jealous during the white outs
* Lots of fishing and things to do in/around the water
* Beautiful bodies on the beach
* Everyone of your relatives would like to visit ( this may be a bad thing)
* Fresh seafood
* Smooth roads...no potholes like up North

Uh that's it. Oh, I forgot the cheap flights out of Tampa back North!

My advice to anyone wanting to start a business dealing with home improvement/maintenance: try again in a few years when the housing market rebounds. Right now nothing is progressing.

Shortselling your house has nothing to do with wanting to leave, it has to do with falling behind on your payments and being on your way to being bankowned.

[algia]

Actually short selling doesn't have to be related to the ability of someone making their payments at all...in this crappy market where properties don't sell as fast, if someone gets a job in a better city they can do a short sale to get rid of the property....it doesn't always work because most banks would rather foreclose than do a short sale...but at least it is a better option for a seller that has to go...why keep up a property here if one has a better place to go and no intention to come back!????

[tampaguy03]

Originally Posted by Dane Austin

My wife and I have been researching the Tampa area to relocate to. I have read several posts on here and mainly heard many reasons NOT to move to the area. What I get out of them is this:
1) There are no unskilled jobs availible. I see a lot of whining about low pay jobs (under 40k) not being availible. Personally I don't care about these jobs anyway. I am relocating my business there as well and will create my own job market.
2) Apparently there are no good schools in the area. I have three very intelligent children. Is there an school that can challenge them? We also teach our children at home in addition to what they learn at school (You know like it used to be before parents expected the schools to raise their kids).
3) Traffic sucks. Is it worse than any other major city in the US?
4) Apparently no-one that lives in Tampa likes it?

These are all things I have gotten from reading posts on here. Is this really how the Tampa area is?

Thanks,
Dane

First off, please remember that this is a Forum that is mostly entertained by a few dozen posters, in a city of Tampa population of nearly 350,000, and over 2 million in the Tampa Bay area. SO I would not base a decision based on this Forum alone, but im sure you already knew that.

Secondly, here is some of why I moved from NY's Long Island where I grew up, and LOVE living in Tampa for the past 20 years:
//www.city-data.com/forum/tampa...t-city-me.html