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Old 12-20-2006, 04:22 AM
 
Location: in the southwest
13,396 posts, read 44,879,341 times
Reputation: 13599

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bale002 View Post
You describe a good chunk of the population of the planet, the same goes for Christian11's comments above, where people even well into their 30s live with their parents (Europe is a good example, but not only).

The "golden age" of the middle class, when almost anyone with half an education could leave his parents' house and more or less replicate the same lifestyle through an "ordinary" job, is over.

US society, the middle class in particular, is declining towards a level approaching that of a significant portion of the rest of the world, and another significant portion of the rest of the world is slowly rising to the new, lower level of most of the current US middle class.

We are all meeting somewhere at a mediocre, low-level middle, and Florida, with all its particularities, is part of that general process.
Spot on, Bale.
This is *exactly* what is happening.
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Old 12-20-2006, 09:58 PM
 
Location: Living in Paradise
5,701 posts, read 24,087,323 times
Reputation: 3064
Jobs outlook good in Northwest Florida

Unemployment rates are low in Escambia and Santa Rosa, at 3.1 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, for October. This is noticeably lower than a year ago, and well below the state average of 3.1 and the national average of 4.1.

Escambia County added 5,459 jobs and Santa Rosa added 2,601 over the last 12 months, according to estimates by Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

This 4.2 percent increase in jobs would be the envy of most metro areas across the United States, and will increase somewhat in 2007, but remain below the nation average.

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/...1023/OPINION02
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Old 12-21-2006, 01:25 PM
 
61 posts, read 129,486 times
Reputation: 22
Guys,

I have no clue how you do it. I live in stamford CT and for several years I have been trying to move to the Palm beach to Boca to Frt Lauderdale area. Even Tampa for Jax.. I work in the IT support industry on a huge trading floor for one of the biggest Financial Institutions in the world. Job opportunity is good here as Salaries are nice towards 100K with bonuses. Trade off is weather just blows cold, and housing costs. I really love hot weather. I even go outside when its 100 degrees. I love fla and my retired parents live in Palm coast. I really dislike CT and like I said have been looking and looking in fla for some kind of employment for so long. I have found that IT support down there pays like $12\hr. All companies down there pay like $45K for support on the high end. I made that money when I was 26yo here in ct. Yes our housing costs are higher but a box of corn flakes is the same here as there. Same with gas, insurance, most everything else... How do you people do it? How do you live? I hate it up here but I can still get ahead even with a bigger mortgage. I have pretty much given up hope of moving down there unless I can come up with a business to start and run and I guess you pay people $12\hr. I can't believe there are that many people down there that there are not enough jobs? I thought most of the state was older retired people as well? Either way, again, Financial IT jobs that pay $80-110K are pretty much non-existant or pay $25-45K down there. How do u people do it? Your real estate taxes are like $8- $10K a year as well..? I guess the trade off for being miserable in the cold is I can purchase what I want.
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Old 12-21-2006, 02:10 PM
 
Location: Living in Paradise
5,701 posts, read 24,087,323 times
Reputation: 3064
tobusy4,

You make an excellent presentation of the pros/cons of relocating and trying to balance your options. I can't talk about south Florida because I don't own property in the locale, but I'll give you a view for Northwest Fl.

Got 3 friends that purchased a new home, average cost was $230k (1800 SQFT, 3 bed, 2bath, 2 car garages). Let me give you their financial position:

Family A: Male E-5 in USAF ($39K) wife teacher ($30K) one child
Family B: Male construction worker ($25) wife E-5 in USAF ($39K) no dependants
Family C: Male single IT Administrator ($52K) no dependants

All 3 families did research on market cost, taxes, additional expenses, insurance, utilities, etc and after a month of research they purchased homes in Crestview, Navarre, and Fort Walton Beach.

Family A & B had to make adjustments because they used to reside in military housing and they didn't pay any utilities ( ) and now they have to commute to work. Family C (the single IT dude) did not have too many adjustments.

Family A & C are doing great, adjusted some habits, but no great impact Family B is having a bit of trouble because their old habits were to expensive and don't want to change.

The key to a successful transition is doing the research and identifying habits that can take money out of your wallet. Create a budget, use a Financial Advisor, get as much info as possible, and follow your plan.
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Old 12-21-2006, 06:37 PM
 
Location: Orlando, FL - used to be nice, a dump now. Anyone speak English down here???
340 posts, read 428,518 times
Reputation: 77
Exclamation Reality check!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by tobusy4 View Post
Guys,

I have no clue how you do it. I live in stamford CT and for several years I have been trying to move to the Palm beach to Boca to Frt Lauderdale area. Even Tampa for Jax.. I work in the IT support industry on a huge trading floor for one of the biggest Financial Institutions in the world. Job opportunity is good here as Salaries are nice towards 100K with bonuses. Trade off is weather just blows cold, and housing costs. I really love hot weather. I even go outside when its 100 degrees. I love fla and my retired parents live in Palm coast. I really dislike CT and like I said have been looking and looking in fla for some kind of employment for so long. I have found that IT support down there pays like $12\hr. All companies down there pay like $45K for support on the high end. I made that money when I was 26yo here in ct. Yes our housing costs are higher but a box of corn flakes is the same here as there. Same with gas, insurance, most everything else... How do you people do it? How do you live? I hate it up here but I can still get ahead even with a bigger mortgage. I have pretty much given up hope of moving down there unless I can come up with a business to start and run and I guess you pay people $12\hr. I can't believe there are that many people down there that there are not enough jobs? I thought most of the state was older retired people as well? Either way, again, Financial IT jobs that pay $80-110K are pretty much non-existant or pay $25-45K down there. How do u people do it? Your real estate taxes are like $8- $10K a year as well..? I guess the trade off for being miserable in the cold is I can purchase what I want.
Dude, Floridians in general don't make it every month. There is a large segment of our population that live in motels off of SR-192 in Kissimmee, for example. No one can afford rent or buying a house here. The people on this board that have a house of their own, these guys bought it a few years ago, when FL was kinda affordable. Now, homes in the ghetto sell for $200k, it's insane. People often come down here with a degree, dreaming of sunshine and mild winters and learn that the $50k job they had in their home state pays like $15k or $20k here and these people end up in poverty or they wise-up to the situation and leave. This is not a suprise to me anymore, I have met tons of couples at church that come down here and IF they can get a job, the job pays a lot less and they are not prepared for this kinda of cost of living. That is also why you see apts with like 4 or 5 roommates packed in a 2-bedroom apt unit. It's filthy, I have gone to an apt like that, I was nauseous just being there fr an hour.

There was a time, 4 or 5 years ago, that jobs were still plentiful and the population levels were under control. The cost of living was still affordable, people could actually rent their own apt and liveand still have food to eat in the end of the month. Oh, people also loose their homes because of insurance hikes or layoffs (lots of jobs are freelance or peak-season-only jobs) and people get laid off and go to the unemployment office. Overal,, the job situation in Central Florida is scarry at best.

Right now, we have massive urban sprawl, massive numbers of illegal aliens taking a lot of jobs and inflating the workforce and lowering wages. The population keeps on growing at alarming rates., we have no infra-structure in terms of roads, hospitals, schools, etc for all these people. Granted, in Orlando we must have about 100,000+ illegals, so a big chunck should not even be here, but they are and the government refuses to enforce the law.

The surplus of people causes wages to go down, no question about it. This is called "supply and demand". The demand for workers and professionals in the past caused wages to rise. But the large powerful corporations (mainly Walmart, Microsoft, Tyson chicken, Swift, etc etc) learned that to lower wages and still be able to get workers, they must lobby Congress and the President to keep teh US-Mexico borders open so we have a suplus of people, not a suplus of jobs. See, a surplus of jobs would cause wages to go up, and the coprs want massive profits.

It's simple, really. That is why it ANGERS ME that we have poeple in this country that cannot get a job, while corporations ensure illegal immigration gets this bad, so they can hire illegals intead of US workers.

Welcome to FL. This is our reality, you either tough out the winters in CT or you tough out borderline poverty and a mediocre lifestyle for the mild winters.

Merry Christmas!
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Old 12-21-2006, 11:59 PM
 
Location: central flo
14 posts, read 16,297 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
Hello Everyone,

I am in extreme dire need of full-time employment.
I have faxed and emailed resumes, signed up and interviewed, and rather not go the job placement agency route.....unfortunately I've just had no luck. I'm in Palm Beach county and would prefer employment in the Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, or Palm Beach Gardens areas.

If anyone knows of anywhere that's actually hiring, please let me know. I have a Bachelor's in Advertising & and a degree in Teaching, with 5 year experience in Training & Development & Promotions Management. I am seeking similar work.

Thanks in Advance. All Postive Replies Welcomed
I was unemployed 4 months, I lost all my savings, I work in business management, lost job because I do not speak Spanish, I shouldnt have to speak anything, i am in America, right?

My mom is a teacher, lost her job in sept 06, cannot find new work, forget it, she has a Masters, its terrible for jobs here, one job she found paid 28k only.

Moving down here was a bad idea, it is not nice like people say it is, it's awful!!
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Old 12-22-2006, 01:29 AM
 
Location: western East Roman Empire
9,294 posts, read 14,181,407 times
Reputation: 10013
Quote:
Originally Posted by tobusy4 View Post
I have pretty much given up hope of moving down there unless I can come up with a business to start and run
These are the key words. Your best bet is to start on your own in Connecticut, build credibility with a portfolio of customers, perhaps working from home if the nature of your business permits it, and maintain them if you move down here. Then, if you have time, you could look for some local customers in the Boca Raton/West Palm Beach area, difficult but not impossible if you have the right connections.

I know a couple of young fellows in southern Palm Beach County who service small business and home IT systems, they work out of a tiny office, perhaps a home garage, they have remote capability enabling them to serve customers anywhere in the world (they maintain their "snow-bird" customers during the low season), and at least one drives a huge utility vehicle. Now, I don't know if they are in debt, but they seem to be making it.

So use your talents and experiences and turn them into a low-expenses, home-based business if you can.

And good luck!
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Old 12-22-2006, 11:47 AM
 
61 posts, read 129,486 times
Reputation: 22
Default Making lifestyle adjustments is hard

You guys make some great points. I agree in fla you have to make adjustments to live. My old roomate used to fly up from frt lauderdale each week and fly back thursday night because he would make somewhere around $90 an hour up here in the IT industry. He said you could never find that kind of pay down there. But If I sold my house up here I would be able to buy a $450K house down there without a mortgage. But I feel like I will still be working for bills and taxes only at $45k a year salary without being able to put much aside and grow it (like I can here). When your use to driving a 911 carrera 4s its hard to drop down to a camry. I guess you just cant have your cake and eat it too, or you have to figure out how. I think owning and running a business down there is the only way to make it. Either that or I have to look to California but with their real estate prices and the fact that that state might fall into the ocean one day thats a big gamble as well.
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Old 12-22-2006, 12:30 PM
 
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,111,529 times
Reputation: 7018
Quote:
Originally Posted by tobusy4 View Post
You guys make some great points. I agree in fla you have to make adjustments to live. My old roomate used to fly up from frt lauderdale each week and fly back thursday night because he would make somewhere around $90 an hour up here in the IT industry. He said you could never find that kind of pay down there. But If I sold my house up here I would be able to buy a $450K house down there without a mortgage. But I feel like I will still be working for bills and taxes only at $45k a year salary without being able to put much aside and grow it (like I can here). When your use to driving a 911 carrera 4s its hard to drop down to a camry. I guess you just cant have your cake and eat it too, or you have to figure out how. I think owning and running a business down there is the only way to make it. Either that or I have to look to California but with their real estate prices and the fact that that state might fall into the ocean one day thats a big gamble as well.
Where did you say you live? There are no roads in Florida where you can hit the pedal on that Carrera and make it worth its engine.
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Old 12-22-2006, 01:27 PM
 
Location: Central FL
1,683 posts, read 8,185,198 times
Reputation: 853
My mom is a teacher, lost her job in sept 06, cannot find new work, forget it, she has a Masters, its terrible for jobs here, one job she found paid 28k only.


This makes no sense at all...they were begging for teachers last summer....even held workshops to help people with degrees in ANY area and wanted to make a career change, learn how to become a teacher. It was all over the news.

As far as IT jobs go...there was an ad on Orange County Access TV today for a systems Ad for 69K-79K plus great benefits working for Orange county.
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