Need some honest advice on South Florida! (Miami, Pembroke Pines: fit in, lease)

[need4answer]

When I first moved to SoFla in 1985, it was a lot more pleasant or maybe I just had starry eyes to be in such a pretty place. However after Hurricane Andrew in 1993 or 1994, many people moved up from Miami and the demographics changed. I lived in Coral Springs for over 20 years and it sure has changed. It definitely is overrun with Hatians. I lived about 1 block from that section. I am sorry, but I do not feel comfortable that wherever I go shopping etc. mostly all the employees are Haitian and are very rude. They totally ignore you if you are not Haitian. There is no little pleasantries or thankyou at the end of a shopping transaction. Or in my places of employment there are groups of Hispanics and they speak amongst themselves and same with the Haitians. if you are not wealthy enough to live in Boca or by the ocean, where you will not run into much of that, this is what you will have to contend with on a daily basis. Also, crime is a real problem, from women getting mugged in mall parking lots, to people being carjacked just getting gas. You really have to be aware of your surroundings here. I am looking to move to North Florida. Hopefully, in a quieter area. All in all, I would say this is not a very wholesome area and I wish I never raised my child here.

[brittransplant]

I live in Palm Beach Gardens and have done so for the last 23 years. It has changed in that time but it is not how some posters are describing Florida. We are not over run with foreign nationals of any country but there is a mix of nationalities (for instance I am one!!) In the area I live in there is very little crime but some pockets of specific streets about 8 miles away have really bad crime. SE Florida is full of gated communities that you can buy in if you want security.

I am also an elementary teacher here. ...in a Public School. Education does not "suck" here as some posters say....however it may not compare to other states in America. Some it may be better than and others it may be worse. A school is made up of kids and teachers. If the kids come from poor deprived backgrounds then the results are less as the student starts with less. If the OP's kids are kids with ambition, drive and come from a family who will back them up then they will do well. Palm Beach County has many Magnet schools that specialize in particular subjects. Millions of dollars are poured into these schools. Dreyfoos and Suncoast are at the top of the league of the best 100 schools in USA. Palm Beach County has spent a lot of money on upgrading its schools in the last 12 years.

I came from another country....not even another state...to live in Florida and I have loved my time here.

[kmbjbb]

With respect to any teachers here in the Palm Beach School District. Maybe you are not aware of how the Administration office treats some people when they move into the area. Yes, I was home schooling, and so I registered with the home school office as per Florida Home School Law. When the time came for me to send in the paperwork at the end of the year, I had it ready. They questioned my daughter's and had the nerve to be the 2nd school district in her education to say she should have been institutionalized. Yes, my daughter has many, many learning disabilities and has to go about learning a different way than most kids. She's 19 now, and because I had 2 uncaring school districts and no support and once school system that totally failed at her needs, she never got above a grade 5 level.

So, I still stay Palm Beach District schools SUCK big time. Then again, So does the Hallsville R-IV School District in Hallsville, MO.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by kmbjbb

With respect to any teachers here in the Palm Beach School District. Maybe you are not aware of how the Administration office treats some people when they move into the area. Yes, I was home schooling, and so I registered with the home school office as per Florida Home School Law. When the time came for me to send in the paperwork at the end of the year, I had it ready. They questioned my daughter's and had the nerve to be the 2nd school district in her education to say she should have been institutionalized. Yes, my daughter has many, many learning disabilities and has to go about learning a different way than most kids. She's 19 now, and because I had 2 uncaring school districts and no support and once school system that totally failed at her needs, she never got above a grade 5 level.

So, I still stay Palm Beach District schools SUCK big time. Then again, So does the Hallsville R-IV School District in Hallsville, MO.

You blame the school district for your own poor home-schooling of your learning disabled daughter?

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

You blame the school district for your own poor home-schooling of your learning disabled daughter?

Funny..we had the opposite with our daughter, we didnt homeschool but because of her learning issues and lack of experienced teacher in NJ long story short, we had to retain her in NC in 3rd grade, when we moved to Boca for 4th grade omg we had a great experience with the school s they did a 4 month learning evail, and well it was extremely helpful as the school not only gave her the help she needed, she was right on par where she needed to be academically..the district was a god send for us as well as her teachers...today she is in 8th grade and pulling all B's last yr and sure this will be a great year...we are back in NC however..

[kmbjbb]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

You blame the school district for your own poor home-schooling of your learning disabled daughter?

I had to home school because they would not teach her at all. She has special leaning needs and her IEP dictated what needed to be done. The school said the could not and would not do it. Therefore I had to quit my job and home school. Took three years before she could read.

With my home schooling, my son graduated at age 15. With my home schooling, my husband can finally do basic math and read. With my home schooling, my mother's dementia does not take her brain and cognitive function as rapidly. With my home schooling, my son also learned 5 languages.

My daughter has a ton of learning disabilities, but she has a heart of gold and can function. She did not need an institution.

[kmbjbb]

This school district was bad when my husband was in school. this school district was worse when my family moved here and i had to transfer into it. My MIL is the one who reminded me of this crappy school district and as much as she was against home schooling, she told me to continue as long as I needed to. The schools in the area where we live, I would not ask my worst enemy to send their kids to. Gangs in school. Weapons, drugs and possible sexual assault. No thank you. I value my kids life too much.

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by kmbjbb

This school district was bad when my husband was in school. this school district was worse when my family moved here and i had to transfer into it. My MIL is the one who reminded me of this crappy school district and as much as she was against home schooling, she told me to continue as long as I needed to. The schools in the area where we live, I would not ask my worst enemy to send their kids to. Gangs in school. Weapons, drugs and possible sexual assault. No thank you. I value my kids life too much.

sorry to hear about your daughter, however not all schools in the district are like that...

[NurseDreamer]

Originally Posted by rb89509

You're my hero NurseDreamer!, I have made the same type fact based posts on other threads and have been invited to leave the state by one of the South Florida True Believers around here. They are in total denial that their precious state is being taken over by foreign nationals from every banana republic in the Western Hemisphere. What few "reputation points" I had, I have given to you. Stay Strong. ;-)

Finally!! Here I was beginning to think no one out there was capable of understanding my viewpoint!! Thank you and bless you! I can't wait to move back to the USA as Miami definitely doesnt qualify as part of that anymore. It's a paradise for the people who are select and don't have to deal with reality and for people that are taking pride in sapping the government and ruining this country. But not for average hard working white Americans. As was already demonstrated on the forum topic by other posters., we are not welcome here anymore.

[NurseDreamer]

Originally Posted by Angela369

Honey, I'm a military wife and we have lived all over this country but I can honestly say that Florida is the worse and I grew up there!

Hi Angela... Good to hear someone can confirm why I am saying what I'm saying. I was a military brat and have at least been to every single state in the continental USA. Most of my childhood and twenties has been spent in central Florida, where semi rural enclaves of middle class America still exist. Hard working people, polite words like thank you and please were used, and doors were held open for ladies and older folks. Racial tension was virtually unknown. Diversity existed, with no major problems. Immigrants learned English because they has to in order to get along in the community. Drivers were polite and obeyed traffic laws for the most part. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad either. I was raises in that environment and with those values. What a shock Miami and broward counties have been these past five years. I'm so tired of trying to explain why should be so obvious. It's sad to see such a beautiful place ruined by people who wouldn't know what being polite is if it bit them in the rear end. I just hope I make it out of south Florida without being killed by an uninsured BMW driving drug dealer who doesn't speak English. I see patients in the Emergency Room weekly that have this fate. To all the "white American haters" out there I just want to say "BLESS YOUR HEARTS!!!"