OMG! The Floridians Are Coming, The Floridians Are Coming!!!!

[DeSwiss]

Sunshine doesn't pay the bills

St. Petersburg Times
By DAN DEWITT
Published June 11, 2007

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THONOTOSASSA - The half-dozen child-sized violins lined up on Cynthia Jolley's driveway were once played by students at her Temple Terrace music studio. She closed the studio in October because of increasing expenses and declining enrollment - including 10 students whose parents either left the state or told her they planned to. By last month, the violins had become yard-sale fodder to unload before she and her husband, Walter Hause, move to her hometown in central Tennessee. "Actually, if we stayed, we wouldn't have had anybody to teach, " Jolley, 40, joked. "It seemed like we were losing everybody."

So it is across the state. Squeezed by rising property taxes and homeowners insurance rates, and frustrated by crowded roads and schools, increasing numbers of residents are moving from Florida, which since World War II has been one of America's favorite states to move to. To be sure, Florida remains a strong lure, particularly for retirees, but evidence is mounting that the migration boom it experienced in the first half of the decade is over:

- Public school enrollment, expected to climb by nearly 49, 000 students last school year, dropped by 3, 571, the first decline in 24 years.

- The number of Florida drivers seeking licenses in other states has increased since 2005, while the number of out-of-state drivers moving to Florida has fallen.

- Three of the nation's largest van lines moved more customers out of the state than into it last year, reversing a decades-long trend.

more: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/11/State/Sunshine_doesn_t_pay_.shtml

*** - If they leave, who'll count the ballots???

[Matsubara]

1. Ha - I was one who left Florida - in 2004

If there is such a place as hell, it must be close to South Florida.

All the miseries in the story are true. Plus - I lived in Miami, so I had to deal with insanely loud noise from booming music at all hours, the rudest drivers in the US (according to every survey for years now), shitty customer service everywhere, in fact, in many stores its hard to get help from anyone who can speak English.

I'd rather be poor in a studio in California than a millionaire in a palatial home in Miami - it's that bad.

[ElizabethDC]

3. Hey, not all of Florida is bad

I've lived here (Tampa) pretty much my entire life, and I love it.

I've heard bad things about Miami, though - my mom lived there about 30 years ago and pretty much refuses to go anywhere near it.

[Selatius]

5. You live in Japan now, yes? Isn't American standard of living shitty in general compared to there?

[Matsubara]

8. Depends on your criteria.

I like it better here, but I have heard people tell me that hanging out laundry to dry is an eyesore, yards and housing square footage tend to be smaller.

But personally, I prefer the change of seasons we have year over the year-round sweltering heat of Miami. I like the safety and that neighbors are considerate of each other.

Overall, things are better in my neck of the woods. It must be tough to live in Tokyo, though.



The rich-poor gap is much more noticeable in the states than here - its much more equitable here. But recent LDP administrations have been using Reaganomics tax policies, so we are seeing changes similar to what the US had in the 1980s. :(

[Selatius]

10. There was an economic statistic that came out about Japan around the start of the year

It was in comparison to the US.

In Japan, it said that the bottom 90 percent of the population owns roughly 60 percent of the nation's wealth. In the US, it said that the bottom 90 percent of the population owns roughly 30 percent of the nation's total wealth. Stark contrast indeed.

[TahitiNut]

13. Japan has about the most equitable distribution of income in the "1st world."

[Edweird]

7. I live there. Near Dade county line.

It has its ups and downs. The underground scene is 2nd only to NY. But the people suck big time. Criminals from all around the world.
Drivers are definitely the worst I've ever seen.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

2. More pressure on an already stressed real estate market...

maybe I should keep my license here in AZ

[KG]

4. bye! more space for me....

personally, i love it here.

[fishnfla]

6. More like: "The people who used to live here are moving back!"

Everyone here is from somewhere else...

[ElizabethDC]

12. My thoughts exactly

I mean, I'm a lifelong Floridian (as is my mother, actually), but we're few and far between!

[Matsubara]

9. To be fair, Florida's doom has been predicted before...

From 1981:




(It is not, and has never been a "paradise" - It's a drained and paved swamp...)

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. Glad you found that cover....

There was a famous ad campaign that came out in the same era (I had no luck finding the ad slick on google) that was of a topless woman in snorkle gear on the beach, looking back over her shoulder to the camera and the subtitle something to the effect "Miami. The rules are different here" That ad campaign made every prude in Dade county all a-twitter but it was exactly what we needed.

That Time magazine cover made a HUGE amount of noise in the local press. There were bumper stickers that said "Will the last American leaving Miami please turn out the lights?"

Florida has had it's ups and downs over the years. There was a study i read about recently that suggested Orlando was now one of the hottest job markets in the country.

There might be a current net loss of population but the weather is still a huge draw down here. It is hard to beat laying on the beach in 75 degree weather on January 15th when there is 12 inches of snow on your driveway in Cleveland.

[TahitiNut]

11. OMG!! The mosquitoes will starve!

:evilgrin:

[Mojorabbit]

15. I hope it keeps up

It was so much nicer when I was a kid than it is now. Way too many people moved here and what was once so beautiful is now paved over. Still I love it here.