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^ill take you more seriously when you learn to form complete sentences. Like that was a chore to read.
As for the HIV rate, don't blame that on Florida, a HUGE chunk of those people came from other states to live their remaining years in sunny Florida, and I can't say I blame them. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. But they certainly didn't ALL get infected here like you are implying. Maybe there are better health programs in FL than in other states.
I will next being moving back to a northern city after having spent several years in Fort Lauderdale watching city officials do nothing about attracting people to visit it's downtown area that has increasingly been built up with high rise apartment and condominium buildings where the people obviously go else where to spend their money as the Riverwalk shopping complex downtown is nearly empty and devoid of any of the stores or restaurants that once existed there and the park areas north and south of the Riverwalk lay mostly empty except for the occasional lost tourists and the homeless.
Its not that they're not doing anything on purpose. Its more a question of what can they do? Many of the people who have a lot of money and live in those expensive high rise condos don't live here full time and have little interest in investing their money here otherwise. They come here to relax and show off. In certain cases, there's only so far that some can go in terms of the rinse job that they are able to do with their dirty cash. Many others just aren't interested. This area is not a place where legitimate high rollers come to invest and make money. Despite the higher costs, many of these people STILL prefer to drop investment cash in bigger, more vibrant, and more culturally sophisticated places like New York and San Francisco where there are larger pools of better educated and culturally savvy people available to hire to work for them. There's really not a whole lot that local politicians can do to sweeten the pot here. The physical and social infrastructure here doesn't even compare. Too many people here have too little education or technical skills, and more and more of the people who move here also have little education, no technical skills, and no money. The powers that be in Fort Lauderdale still can't make up their minds about what they want the city to be: a conservative quiet zone for rich old people, or a lively city for people of all ages? It certainly isn't the latter anymore. And as it gets more expensive to live here the younger middle class people will have no choice but to move into the cheaper bad areas or suburban parts or move out of the area completely. There is a slow gentrification in progress, so we shall see...
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Originally Posted by HotandHumid
Fort Lauderdale sits in Broward County which has the 2nd highest per capita HIV infection rate in the U.S. and even though thousands of residential units have been built in the downtown area, there isn't a single office building that has been erected downtown in years to provide more jobs for the residents who live downtown. There is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse in this area and if you take a trip to the Publix grocery store in Wilton Manors which sits smack middle in a Gay neighborhood where you would think people would be health and fashion conscious, you'll find some of the saddest looking put together and worn out looking Gay people anywhere in the nation. There are usually both Gay and Straight homeless people begging for money or food at the door and you'll often see the outside tables occupied by more clusters of homeless, the down and out, and substance abusers.
You are correct about the substance abuse issue. It is a very big deal in this part of the country, but it isn't exclusive to gay people. Much of this stuff falls under the psychosocial domain, and this is an issue that too few people bother to address. Mental health isn't just for crazies, but so many of the patients I've worked with here are in total denial about their issues. Gay people are especially at risk because of the unfortunate stratifications in their community. I've worked with many in this population in the past, and there is a lot of desperation, racism, depression, loneliness, and anger (a bit more heightened than in the general population) that leads to the substance abuse issues. Its difficult to explain to a mainstream audience, but gay men in particular tend to follow stereotype extremes that are deeply rooted in 'youthism' and porn. They want a man who looks like such and such porn actor...and many are always looking for him in a bar. There is a lot more alcoholism and drug abuse because so much of gay culture is so deeply entrenched in bar culture. Aside from the bars there is a significantly higher percentage of gay men who use internet quickie sex sites like Grindr to meet anonymous partners than men do in the heterosexual world, and the sex is more likely to be unprotected sex. There are more one-night-stands with strangers who are likely to be co-infected with HIV and at least one other STD, and the resurgent popularity of 'bareback' sex makes HIV seroconversion highly likely. Many of these guys that I've had as patients don't seem to care very much about this anymore. Becoming HIV-positive is a relief to some because they don't have to stress about getting it anymore. Further, there are many free resources available to people with HIV these days---including the medications. There are special considerations that practitioners have to keep in mind when working with this population. Not everyone has the patience or the skills. Many of the patients that I've worked with here likely seroconverted here...sex parties, sex cruises, drunken orgies, drunken one-night stands, crystal meth, coke, heroin, anabolic steroids, you name it... over and over again with the same people, occasionally with some new people--but these guys are not stupid. They know the risks. I used to think that I had heard it all, but I am always being surprised by some of the things that some of these patients tell me. The problems within the gay community go much deeper than this. There is a strong need for mental health services here, but no one at all is talking about this. If the guys look tired and worn out its probably because they are. Most spend their youth looking for a stereotype that they are unlikely to ever find. Don't judge them too harshly for it though.
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Originally Posted by HotandHumid
I've learned to keep to myself here because of the transient nature of the people who move here thinking they'll find some sort of paradise where they can prey upon others. Many of the immigrants living in Fort Lauderdale, whose population is increasing so that it will soon outdistance in numbers people born in the U.S. as is the situation in Miami, come from the extremely poor areas of Latin America and the Caribbean and will work at very low pay scales just to find work to do which keeps the rest of the pay scales low here as rents and housing prices increase because of people from other wealthier areas of the U.S. and the world buying properties to use as vacation homes, which are rented out at high rents to other vacationers when the owners aren't on vacation here. Also, since Broward County had the highest numbers of foreclosures per capita in the U.S. during the last Recession, many of the working residents who could no longer afford to keep up on their mortgage payments ended up renting and that drove the prices of rentals through the roof.
You're going to find a measure of this no matter where you move to. Lots of people are moving all over the place in search of Utopia. It doesn't exist. You kinda have to find your own piece of ground, accept it for what it is, and make the most of it. I do understand your apparent frustrations with south Florida but keep an open mind that you're going to find some of the same thing in the next area that you move to. People often think that they're different, but we're not all that different. Not really.
Last edited by JohnD_fla; 08-09-2014 at 12:10 PM..
a HUGE chunk of those people came from other states to live their remaining years in sunny Florida...
Actually, this isn't really supported by the evidence. The poster seemed to have been referring to HIV incidence, not HIV prevalence. Incidence means new seroconversions, not people who were infected long ago and moved here to die. According to the CDC data, a significant majority of the new HIV infections in this area occurred here. They are able to make these inferences based on very specific questions that they ask the patients. Its not perfect science but its generally reliable. For a number of years, Miami was the #1 location for new HIV infections, then it rocked back to #3 and Fort Lauderdale became #1. Its probably impossible to figure these statistics with 100% accuracy. I feel certain that the gay male population is overrepresented in the samples, and this has relevance to the actual prevalence of HIV in south Florida. Why? Because HIV discussion and testing take place much more frequently among gay and bisexual men than among heterosexual men or women in any group. It just so happened that following the safer sex campaigns of the 1990s HIV testing became a prominent part of gay culture---and since then more gay men are willing to be tested for HIV.
Its a very different story when you do clinical assessments on heterosexual men. Even some of the ones who are very promiscuous and are inconsistent about using condoms do not view themselves as being at risk for HIV. They still think its a gay thing. Many of these people who I've suggested the test to have refused to do it. Many are out there screwing down the town and have never had an HIV test. Obviously, the increasing number of heterosexual women who've been testing positive for HIV in recent years didn't all give it to themselves. One of my patients had been sick for a very long time and was losing a lot of weight, and it never occurred to her at all that she might have HIV until she came to me and I suggested that she be tested. It turned out that she had AIDS, not HIV, and multiple STDs as well---all courtesy of the same guy whom she had been dating exclusively for 7 years. According to the patient, this dude also happened to be married and had other girlfriends so guess what's next for all these other women he's been having sex with... This case was so bad that the health department got involved and took over the surveillance. If HIV testing was being routinely and consistently done on all sexually active heterosexual men and women as the CDC recommended years ago there's no doubt that the HIV numbers would be higher but at least we would have more precise statistical data.
Another trend that no one is really talking about is HIV in older people. Perhaps due to the notion that old people don't have sex. Guess what? They do. And we in this area have no shortage of old people here. Many of them are in and out of the hospitals with all sorts of comorbidities but are rarely tested for HIV---even though sometimes their symptoms are consistent with AIDS. I'd bet money that some of those AIDS related deaths in older adults are written off as 'natural cause.' Maybe the families wouldn't want to know anyway. But, I digress...
Last edited by JohnD_fla; 08-09-2014 at 02:42 PM..
I've been here almost a year and I'm perfectly happy. Just bought a house, great schools for my kids, the weather was manageable, while hubby's job has a longer commute, it hasn't been too bad. I've met some great friends. And so on. But I totally agree with the above, home is where you hang your hat. I've come here knowing it would be different than what I'm used to. But with a positive outlook, we are very happy!
You must definitely not be from NY. Agreed. If most transplants had logical sense like this, you probably wouldn't hear so much griping.
Fort Lauderdale area is nice to me. I really can't see why people complain so much. You have the beach, Hardrock Casino or Las Olas. If going out isn't your thing there are festivals and parks. Everybody speaks English in this area unlike Miami.
You must definitely not be from NY. Agreed. If most transplants had logical sense like this, you probably wouldn't hear so much griping.
Fort Lauderdale area is nice to me. I really can't see why people complain so much. You have the beach, Hardrock Casino or Las Olas. If going out isn't your thing there are festivals and parks. Everybody speaks English in this area unlike Miami.
For now, perhaps. Many working class people who live in this area are strung out financially and only a paycheck or two from complete financial disaster. But, they love the sun and fun and don't want to leave. Still, I don't see most of the younger professional people staying here in the long run. The jobs and salaries here are too out of sync with what it costs to live here. More people will move here though...wealthier old people and foreigners. There will be more gentrification and more crowding and it will eventually become very much like Miami.
For now, perhaps. Many working class people who live in this area are strung out financially and only a paycheck or two from complete financial disaster. But, they love the sun and fun and don't want to leave. Still, I don't see most of the younger professional people staying here in the long run. The jobs and salaries here are too out of sync with what it costs to live here. More people will move here though...wealthier old people and foreigners. There will be more gentrification and more crowding and it will eventually become very much like Miami.
I agree whole heartedly with this statement. It kills me to see not enough big business in Fort Lauderdale now. Strange I always worked in Fort Lauderdale without a problem. Soon as a go work in Cuba, FL it appears the business ventures have left Fort Lauderdale and moved to Miami. I still can't find a job in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Plus you have so many people moving down here, so the competition is more to get a job.
I think Fort Lauderdale is a great place to live if you move here from nothing but a run down area of a country where there were no low end service industry jobs to work at or places to live that had running water or electricity because then it looks like you've entered heaven when you've moved here.
It's also great if you're extremely wealthy and buy property here and call it your primary residence so you don't have to pay state income taxes on your investment income like you do in several other states and if you start your own business, you can think about joining the ranks of others in South Florida who hire illegal immigrants to work for them since you then can avoid paying overtime and giving vacation and sick day benefits, along with not paying employment taxes and offering health insurance to your employees.
I'm sure there are lots of people who don't want to learn to speak English who feel they've found the perfect spot to live by moving to Fort Lauderdale where they can be surrounded by other people from their own country and buy houses and rent apartments in neighborhoods where they don't have to assimilate by learning the language and the modes of courteous behavior as immigrants to other areas of the U.S. do when they move to cities where the majority of the citizens are native born.
South Florida has an increasing population that has taken to the roads and highways increasingly in their motor vehicles causing the congestion year round that we used to only see during tourist season so if you're one of those who don't evacuate when hurricanes are coming in and prefer to ride it out at home, you'll be in good company since the evacuation routes can no longer handle the amount of traffic that would be on them in front of a major hurricane and there isn't enough space in the hurricane shelters to hold everyone who would want to go to them. Some locals actually have stated that they like it after a hurricane has hit because it creates so many jobs as people here scramble to find someone who can repair their roof or fix their car that was hit when the traffic lights went out of service because of high winds so if you're in one of those trades, South Florida may be exactly the place you're looking to call home.
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