Florida living overrated?

[HOGFAN]

It sure sounded good last winter when we were in sunny Florida. But a co-worker that use to live in Orlando says the schools are terrible there. Also the healthcare and most salaries bad too. It was get mighty warm in summer.

 

[chyam]

In my review of the DIS Boards I notice that there is a number of postings about moving to Florida. Many posters describe the goal of moving to Florida, or an actual move. They describe live in Florida as being heaven on earth and that anyone who lives somewhere else is just crazy.

As a frequent winter visitor to many parts of Florida, I wonder what all the hype is all about. Sure Florida is nice as a winter vacation. But for 8 months of the year Florida is:

Hot
Flat
Economically challenged
Full of low paying service jobs
Overpopulated (ever drive from Tampa to Naples?)
Full of crackers and rednecks
Has lots of crime
Generally Poor schools
Unresponsive government
Tons of traffic
Poor mass transit
Hurricanes
Forest Fires

I could go on and on!

What is the appeal of Florida, other than mild winter weather and the beach?

And where exactly do you live? Heaven? No place is perfect
Hot yes..........but Denver is 104 today
Flat...............so are many other states Kansas etc. but they don't have Disney, beautiful beaches and wonderful winters.
Economically challenged...........well maybe a little but up until recently the cost of living has been a lot less too
Overpopulated........how about New York, New Jersey, Boston LA.
Full of crackers and rednecks..........to me that is a slam, there are plenty of racists, gang members, drug addicts everywhere!
Lots of crime............Everywhere not just here.
The only thing I may agree on is the hurricanes, but hey North Carolina gets them, Texas gets them, Alabama etc. and it much more rare than the blizzards up north.
Forest Fires, they too happen everywhere.
So you go on and on and when you find paradise let us all know..........something tells me that nothing would make you happy. And if FL is so bad I am sure you don't have to vacation here.............try Siberia, I hear the traffic is low, they aren't overpopluated, they don't have rednecks and you wouldn't really need mass transit!

 

[Planogirl]

I have no particular desire to move to Florida but I can see the attraction. Lots of beaches and other things to do, what could be wrong with that?

As for weather, it's about the same in Texas and I'd personally like to get away from the heat!

 

[ChristmasElf]

Conversationalist mentions he/she is a regular VISITOR here.
I love the way people that "visit" here think they know ALL there is to know about living in Florida.

While there are some school districts that are not the best, there are more that blw the doors off of other states schools. Boca Raton has the 3rd best school district in the NATION and will not hesitate to let anyone and everyone know about it either. Most of the schools in Palm Beach County are rated A as well.
(Not to mention that a fair percentage are run by former NewYorkers,NJ and Conneticut transplants)
We pay NO STATE TAX here either. Look at your paychecks and see how much your state keeps from YOUR money earned.
Our property taxes are fairly low compared to the rest of the nation as well (thanks to all the tourists )

Since you visit so often, I'm sure you have driven on our nice evenly paved, smooth roadways. There are some places that are being expanded or widened, however we have NO potholes that could eat your car if you hit them wrong that is for sure.
Sure we are hot here. But, we have no snow, bitter zero temperatures, plows that block our driveways, salt damage to our cars, cars that still look like cars years after you have junked your old rust buckets.
Our children swim year round here compared to 2-3 months up north.

We have traffic-heavy traffic-so does NYC,LA,Houston,Dallas,Detroit, we just deal with all the "visitors" LOL.

You have lists. We have lists. Santa has lists. Let's all make lists.

By the way, Jeb is a darn good Governor

 

[Planogirl]

We pay no state taxes and have pretty low property taxes. I won't comment on our governors.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

In my review of the DIS Boards I notice that there is a number of postings about moving to Florida. Many posters describe the goal of moving to Florida, or an actual move. They describe live in Florida as being heaven on earth and that anyone who lives somewhere else is just crazy.

As a frequent winter visitor to many parts of Florida, I wonder what all the hype is all about. Sure Florida is nice as a winter vacation. But for 8 months of the year Florida is:

Hot?

No--it is hot for 4 MONTHS...it is a darn mild to warm and comfy place to live the other 4. And "winter" lasts 1-2 months long .

Flat

Better gas mileage

Economically challenged

How so?

Full of low paying service jobs

High tech jobs, too!

Overpopulated (ever drive from Tampa to Naples?)

??? Then don't move to Tampa!

Full of crackers and rednecks

What a bigoted statement that is....don't know any where I'm at!

Has lots of crime

Generally Poor schools

No argument from me-- though homeschooling and private school.

Unresponsive government

Tons of traffic

My father in DC laughs whenever I complain of the traffic!

Poor mass transit

Yeah--and South Carolina, Texas, Nebraska--they're just rolling with subways, aren't they?
(no offense to those residents)

Hurricanes

Aaahh yes--but the earthquakes and tornadoes seem to be under control

Forest Fires

Hmmm....I belive Arizona California and Colorado seem to be busy with wild fires right now.Most fires in Florida are on a small scale--the last "big" one that could be close to a "forest" fire--was when I got married in 1998. Nothing close to it since.

I could go on and on!

Please don't!

What is the appeal of Florida, other than mild winter weather and the beach?

If you have to ask--then it's not for you!!! In the meantime, the generalizations are just tooo .

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Actually, it's flat all of the time.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Nice post Lisa!

 

[chyam]

I'm out of this one...........No place is perfect and now that my memory has come back I remember this poster as one who does like to stir the pot....the last post I remember from him/her is about how Disney is racist and they don't treat black visitors the same (this was several months ago) Seems conversationalist just visits enough to cause a little trouble.
Florida is not perfect and I often wonder why I am still here, but it also has a lot to offer...........do I miss living up north in Wisconsin, well yes sometimes I do, I have been here 23 years and I am sure if I moved north again it wouldn't take long and I would miss FL again but at least I am able to visit Disney ALOT! And there are lots of other wonderful things to do here.
So I say Conversationalist stay away!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Okay--have to respond for real now.....

The midwest has temps in the 100s...hardly ever gets to that at the beach.

And the lack of a state income tax is pretty nice.

And I do get Florida Resident Discounts at Disney.

 

[questioner]

I looked at Conversationists posts and thought they were interesting, thought provoking questions. He/she seems to stay away from the fluff that seems to overwelm this board on and off.

I agree with most of his comments about Florida.

 

[nocnurse]

You forgot to put horrible bugs on the list of things to hate in FL. Fire ants, palmetto bugs (giant flying cockroaches is more like it), many other types of cockroaches, banana spiders, scorpions, and so on, and so on. I lived for 2 years in Bradenton and was so happy to move back to MA. It just wasn't for me.

ChrissyK, I don't know where you lived in MA, but it is nowhere near as hot here in summer as it is in FL.

And I'd rather have a blizzard than a hurricane any day. You can push the snow aside and get on with life. No evacuating, no loss of houses, no flooding, no roofs being blown off. Around here they never close businesses for snow, and school gets called off only if a big storm doesn't stop in time for people to shovel the sidewalks in the morning. Snowstorms are mostly just an inconvenience, not a disaster.

Although I don't necessarily agree with everything the OP listed, I found the heat, the lack of mountains, and the scary bugs too much to live with.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You forgot to put horrible bugs on the list of things to hate in FL. Fire ants, palmetto bugs (giant flying cockroaches is more like it), many other types of cockroaches, banana spiders, scorpions, and so on, and so on. I lived for 2 years in Bradenton and was so happy to move back to MA. It just wasn't for me.

ChrissyK, I don't know where you lived in MA, but it is nowhere near as hot here in summer as it is in FL.

And I'd rather have a blizzard than a hurricane any day. You can push the snow aside and get on with life. No evacuating, no loss of houses, no flooding, no roofs being blown off. Around here they never close businesses for snow, and school gets called off only if a big storm doesn't stop in time for people to shovel the sidewalks in the morning. Snowstorms are mostly just an inconvenience, not a disaster.

Although I don't necessarily agree with everything the OP listed, I found the heat, the lack of mountains, and the scary bugs too much to live with.

We have no bugs in our home. That's what the exterminator is for.

Mosquitos--now I do hate that bug!

Florida gets hurricanes as often as some snow states get blizzards. You clean up, you move on...just takes a smidge longer than shoveling snow--but by golly--things get up and running real quick!

 

[disneymom3]

The bug thing--we have mosquitos here too. They are the unofficial state bird. Seriously.

The heat--it was 98 here the other day with 80% humidity and there is no ocean in sight which would help a lot. And of course, there is the oh so beautiful 20 below temps of January to sorta even things out!

Flat--ever been to MN?

Bad Schools--we just had an article in our local paper that our district has the highest average class sizes in the state (31 students!!) We homeschool--don't ya just wonder why? So, schools don't effect me.

Hurricanes--Tornadoes

Bad traffic, no mass transit--okay, MN has busses and a very small light rail line. It takes DH over an hour and a half to drive 40 miles to get home. And that is if it doesn't snow.

Forest fires--huh?

Overpopulated--our city used to be considered the country. Now it's a suburb.

There are problems wherever you go. In FL at least you are warm when you are dealing with them.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Having actually lived in both the northeast (MA), and florida, I'd pick florida, for the simple fact that MA just doesn't get enough sunshine in the winter.

We lived in Miami during graduate school and it was just, COOL. I didn't feel comfortable having kids there, but it was a blast hanging out on south beach and eating breakfast at the pelican on the weekends.

We moved to Boynton Beach, about an hour north, and bought a house. We lasted a year before boredom drove us to Atlanta, where my husband's family lives. We like Atlanta, but we don't *love* it.

We think a lot about moving to Tampa, but our friends in Tampa say the housing prices in Tampa have gone completely and totally nuts, so we may wait until the real estate market bubble bursts before making any big decisions.

We both love the feel of the ocean breezes on our faces, but realize, having lived in FL, that you need culture and family, too. We've sorta got that in Atlanta (it's getting better, the aquarium's opening soon), but we think we may be able to convince both sets of our parents to all retire down to Florida so they can hang out with their grandkids.

Nice dream, we'll see if it works into a plausible reality.

Boston has had 7 days of heat over 90 degrees, Atlanta has had 4, so I don't think the Northeast is any cooler in the summer. Florida has the best, most extensive air conditioning anywhere, so I don't think you should necessarily factor in summer heat as a drawback. You can't escape it in non-airconditioned New England, you can in Fla.

 

[chyam]

I looked at Conversationists posts and thought they were interesting, thought provoking questions. He/she seems to stay away from the fluff that seems to overwelm this board on and off.

I agree with most of his comments about Florida.

I think you are Conversationist! Smells like a troll to me! neither lists where they live, their gender etc.

 

[nocnurse]

Boston has had 7 days of heat over 90 degrees, Atlanta has had 4, so I don't think the Northeast is any cooler in the summer. Florida has the best, most extensive air conditioning anywhere, so I don't think you should necessarily factor in summer heat as a drawback. You can't escape it in non-airconditioned New England, you can in Fla.

There's more to MA than Boston. We have had 0 days over 90.

 

[Danvers]

I always tell them not to move here. I can't wait to move out! It is not paradise.

P.S. I didn't choose to move here, my mom moved me here when I was in High School and then I attended college here, then I married my husband who is too far into the State retirement system here to move. But we are OUT OF HERE the day he retires! 10 years and counting.

ITA!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I think you are Conversationist! Smells like a troll to me! neither lists where they live, their gender etc.

Ding ding ding ding!!!!!


(and that's not southwest chiming in )

 

[kerrynic78]

My DH makes twice what he was making in CT doing the same job, we go to Disney anytime we want, we go to the beach whenever the mood strikes, the winter here is heavenly (I go swimming while my dad is in CT shoveling out of his house just to make it a mile down the road and have to turn back because the snow plow has not plowed a street) and a weekend trip to the Bahamas is not out of the question. I ain't complaining bout nothing!!