Live in S. Fl? Why don't you move? The pros and cons...

[Scott L]

Surely you've heard the expressions "hairy knuckles", "cotton heads" or "q-tips"? Referencing what you see behind you when you look in the rear view mirror. :shocked2:

Yes, blue heads in left lane with left blinker on. I know the drill all too well...

 

[Rick Inman]

Is it just me, or is this thread beginning to sound like a Carl Hiaasen novel?

Which he borrowed from John D. McDondald's Travis Mcgee.

"We're getting a thousand new residents a day... We get thirty eight million tourists a year... And the rivers and swamps are dying, the birds are dying, the fish are dying. They're paving the whole state... Everything is going to stop working all at once. Then watch the exodus." Travis in CINNAMON SKIN, p.101. Published 1982

 

[DennisS]

Which he borrowed from John D. McDondald's Travis Mcgee.

"We're getting a thousand new residents a day... We get thirty eight million tourists a year... And the rivers and swamps are dying, the birds are dying, the fish are dying. They're paving the whole state... Everything is going to stop working all at once. Then watch the exodus." Travis in CINNAMON SKIN, p.101. Published 1982

I haven't read about Travis Mcgee in years. I think I have a couple of old paperbacks somewhere that need to be re-read.

 

[adurso]

I started reading Travis McGee novels in the 60s. Cannot say how disappointed I was when I finally got to the Bahia Mar marina; I looked everywhere for the Busted Flush and Ms.Agnes.......

 

[Rick Inman]

I started reading Travis McGee novels in the 60s. Cannot say how disappointed I was when I finally got to the Bahia Mar marina; I looked everywhere for the Busted Flush and Ms.Agnes.......

From Carl Hiaasen's introduction to the reprinting of the McGee series:

“In all the years, I’ve never stopped to look for slip F-18 at Bahai Mar. It is, after all, a very large marina. Quite possible the old houseboat is tied there still; McGee on deck, tending a few fresh bruises, sipping his Boodles, and watching the summer sun slide from the sky over Las Olas Boulevard.

Anyway, that’s what I want to believe. If he’s really gone, I don’t want to know.”

 

[F106A]

From Carl Hiaasen's introduction to the reprinting of the McGee series: “...McGee on deck, tending a few fresh bruises, sipping his Boodles....”

So Ian, James, Travis (the other McGee) and I are still enjoying our Boodles, when not sucking Sapphire?

 

[NJ to FLA]

AND the old people do the "eventual turn" and leave blinkers on FOREVER and don't turn.

 

[tibenmiami]

I'm a recent transplant, am in south Florida, and am on a boat. I've been coming here for 10 years, but just moved. I'll share my observations.

I consider south Florida anything below Orlando. That gives you the options of 2 bodies of salt water, countless bodies of fresh water, a swamp, a megalopolis, small towns, teeny towns, ethnic diversity, redneck hell, island life (which is the same everywhere, but somehow different here), and Key West, somehow like no other. Yes, there is traffic. If I lived in Miami or had to commute there, I would be somewhat nuts. It's one of the reasons I left Houston. I don't deal with it day to day, so when I get stuck in it I've learned to be zen about it. I say that living on islands are the same everywhere because nobody stocks anything. Everything is at least a day away, so you learn patience. I've lived on islands a lot of my live, and the patience an island will teach you is one of life's great lessons.

Tourons can be a nuisance, but they are the sustain-er of life down here. Nobody likes a blue hair and her hearing impaired mate driving a 40 foot RV on Saturday morning down the keys at 25 miles an hour scared out of their minds. But everyone likes the cash they spend in restaurants and at the beauty parlor. So, it's part of the price we pay for living in paradise.

Hurricanes? Pish. You plan for them, make sure you are prepared and don't worry about them. There are places to store critical things that can't get destroyed like family papers, and heirlooms, and you insure the rest. When you buy a house, have it inspected before to ensure that the hurricane clips are sound, you get hurricane shutters, you make sure the gas in the drum is fresh every summer for the generator, you give a critical eye to the marina and ensure that the dock hardware is sound, not just in your slip, but the neighbors too. Marinas and boats do OK in a cat III, when a 4 or a 5 are coming in make sure you evacuate early and often carrying the irreplaceable stuff with you.

As far as corrupt government officials go, I've never seen anything like it this side of Mexico. It doesn't effect a resident, though, unless you want to build something. Sure makes me shake my head. It's like they get elected, and steal everything they can get their hands on before they get caught. When they get caught, their protection network closes in to shield them from having to give it back or go to jail (remember, the protection network is busy taking what they can get too), the official resigns, it hits the paper for 3 days, turns into a big joke, and we elect a new person with a whole new idea to steal the taxpayers blind. Honest folk aren't allowed to run for office because they might make the corrupt ones look bad. Keep your head down and all they steal is your tax dollars.

People are moving away. Florida is currently losing 50,000 residents per year. U-haul is trucking in trucks and trailers by the semiload into Key West because folks are leaving in droves. You can buy a decent house here for $200k. $200k is unheard of for housing in KW for the past 20 years.

I moved from Houston to here. The Mexicans in Houston were not bi-lingual and weren't going to be so. They want all of us to learn Spanish, and get offended when we don't. they are second tier citizens and non-citizens for the most part. Of course, there are exceptions. The Cubans here are at all levels of society. They are service personnel, store and bodega owners, industrialists, and politicians. They are bilingual and culturally diverse. They scratch their heads when I try my Houston Spanish on them, smile, and speak back to me in English that is more proper than most schoolchildren speak. Haitians can be another story. Like the Mexicans of Houston, they tend to congregate in their own communities and don't seem to want to become a part of what makes America great. It's a little irritating when in the local Publix grocery store and the Haitian bagger looks at the reusable shopping bags I brought and starts stuffing my groceries in plastic. When I protest, I get the stupid cow look like they don't speak English. That's when the patience lesson kicks in again, because I don't reckon I will change the Haitian culture in America by myself.

But best of all, you won't need to shovel snow.

Some of your assessments are wrong. You can not put all Cuban or Haitian in one bag. Some Cuban or Haitian do not speak english. This is a fact, but they are usually hard worker and do not live on government hand out. I am Haitian. I have a MBA and provide jobs for Cuban, Haitian and American. I am part of the American Dream

 

[trigfunctions]

It's a little irritating when in the local Publix grocery store and the Haitian bagger looks at the reusable shopping bags I brought and starts stuffing my groceries in plastic. When I protest, I get the stupid cow look like they don't speak English. That's when the patience lesson kicks in again, because I don't reckon I will change the Haitian culture in America by myself.

Some of your assessments are wrong. You can not put all Cuban or Haitian in one bag. Some Cuban or Haitian do not speak english. This is a fact, but they are usually hard worker and do not live on government hand out.

I have to agree with tibenmiami here. Complaining about the quality of bagging services at Publix is a little petty, isn't it? You could always go to Whole Foods and pay extra to bag the groceries yourself.

I have never had a problem handing the bagger at Publix my reusable bags and asking them to please use them. Almost all cultures in the world understand Please and Thank You - if not the words, then the tone of voice. In South Florida, it more often seems to me that Please and Thank You are foreign words to many of the American transplants who move here!

 

[CosmoKramerOfTheDeep]

A humble Central Floridian's prospective:

Florida is just like anywhere else in that there are good spots, bad spots, and just about everything in between. I moved to FL when I was only 6 from WV. . . pretty stark change in culture, but having grown up here and been pretty much all over the state I've come to the conclusion that it is certainly not worth living in FL unless you're by the beach. People down here, especially the more inland you are, seem to live in a constant state of stress and are trying to meet some deadline, whether they are in line at the gas station or waiting at an intersection (I've never seen so many people that have the constant urge to move up 2 inches every few seconds at a light until they are right at the bumper of the car in front of them. . this is bad for brakes . . and my sanity). Don't believe me? Google who America's angriest city is. . . . that's right, Mickey Mouse Town edged out Detriot for the top spot. That being said . . . I do find that there are many enjoyable coastal towns that this is not so prevalent in, but aren't south FL. . . more along the lines of Cocoa beach (just stay away from the druggie NASA people) and Melbourne, and if you dive, both Pompano and Jupiter I've found to be pretty laid back cities. Gulf coast is really nice too. . I'm partial to Clearwater and Venice Beach.

I guess I would also address what appears to be the most prevalent topic here . . . yes we do have a lot of Hispanic immigrants throughout the state. I am also of the impression that you cannot generalize a group of them based on the actions of some, growing up in such a diverse area (my graduating class was 60% hispanic), I had friends of about any race imaginable. With that disclaimer out of the way, crime, especially in Central FL has become absolutely dreadful . . . I've lived in both prevalently caucasion and prevalently hispanic neighborhoods, I would be lying if I said that there was no difference in the amount of crime and ratio of violent to non-violent crimes between the 2. I don't know what to attribute it to. . . more than likely just that lower income neighborhoods will always have higher crime rates than more affluent ones; not so much the ethnic makeup of the area, but the fact is undeniable.

If you really want to see if an area is right for you, I have a tried and true method to get the general feel for what kind of people live in a particular place. Go to the local walmart at 2am on a weekday. I've done this in many different places .. . do it in Huntington WV and you'll see more mullets than a bait shop . . . do it in Hilton Head South Carolina and you will see the rarefied geriatric insomniac looking for a bigger pair of wraparound sunglasses . . . .Central FL, you can see at least 5 generations of the same family, and they all came in a 2 door Focus.

I guess what I'm really saying is that. . yes. . . there are places that are as bad as they've been made out to be on this thread, but there are also a lot of places that have managed to hide a relatively sane, kind, and laid back feel from the craziness that is our Florida Population and the farther you get from our waters, the crazier it gets.