Does anyone of you feel like South Florida is a dead end like a dead end street? (Miami: middle-class, real estate)

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

Yes, NY is expensive, but the truth is that I will be paying the same rent in Coral Springs, that I pay here, but I will have a 3 bedroom with w/d and my own bath, instead of a 2 bedroom and washing my clothes at the laundromat. I think (from the times that I have visited that everything else is relative to NY. Food is the same, clothes are the same and I believe that gas is just a little more expensive in Florida than here, but my opinion is that the quality of life is very different. Please don't mistake me as a NY hater, I'm not. I love NY for many, many reasons. If I were single or had a child into the arts, I would think that there is no place on earth better than NY, everything at your finger tips. But, I am married, with two boys, so I think that means I'm raising 3 boys (no offense guys) and they love the outdoors and live for sports. I think, I'm making the right decision. What is left of our little family is there. It is just the job - job - job situation. It really is scary!

Gas is more in NYC than Florida, everything else you said is spot on. it is about what YOU like and what YOU are looking for. Best wishes!

[Shoegal1075]

When we were there over the holidays, gas was just a couple cents higher than NY, but that was then.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

Yes, NY is expensive, but the truth is that I will be paying the same rent in Coral Springs, that I pay here, but I will have a 3 bedroom with w/d and my own bath, instead of a 2 bedroom and washing my clothes at the laundromat. I think (from the times that I have visited that everything else is relative to NY. Food is the same, clothes are the same and I believe that gas is just a little more expensive in Florida than here, but my opinion is that the quality of life is very different. Please don't mistake me as a NY hater, I'm not. I love NY for many, many reasons. If I were single or had a child into the arts, I would think that there is no place on earth better than NY, everything at your finger tips. But, I am married, with two boys, so I think that means I'm raising 3 boys (no offense guys) and they love the outdoors and live for sports. I think, I'm making the right decision. What is left of our little family is there. It is just the job - job - job situation. It really is scary!

That's the problem. Salary differences. That's where Florida falls short.

[Shoegal1075]

I here you MisterNY, but I think if I made lets say 60K there (which I'm already hearing is impossiple), I would bring home just about the same as I do here. So, it really all balances itself out.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

I here you MisterNY, but I think if I made lets say 60K there (which I'm already hearing is impossiple), I would bring home just about the same as I do here. So, it really all balances itself out.

True, but what you fail to see is that overall expenses here are not lower than NYC. You dont get your money's worth. I'd stick to NYC for a bit.

As Wild Style stated for example gasoline is more expensive in NYC than FL, but factor in that some people do not have cars in NYC. Some take the train, have their metro card versus a car, insurance, maintenance, and gas. See how that all adds up...Oh let's not forget to add the endless parking tickets you get for double parking or parking on the wrong side during street sweeps (in NY if you have a car). . I know people in NYC that never owned a car and are doing fine, but I could not live without a car in NYC.

What I did, was insure it upstate, park it on Long Island at my sister's and use it mostly on weekends. I had to do all that to keep my car from being dented and fined so often. Here you need a car, you cannot live without it, and you will appreciate parking more than the locals do .

Rent here is not cheap at all, unless you want to live in areas, that even crackheads have to think twice about. You may find decents rentals, but the norm is not cheap for a good area (that's anywhere). You have a few breaks, such as car insurance down here vs NYC, but you'll get hit on homeowners insurance if you own a house. This is a higher risk area compared to NYC(hurricanes etc). Your taxes here are more than taxes in the city. I know Long Island is about the same as here. You'll have to go step by step and see if it works for you.

To sum it up, moving down here is up to you, you just have to weigh things out, see what works for you and what you will have to tolerate or do without. I am from NYC, and love it. I also got the best of NYC, making good money at the time, not having kids,and had fun. If you ask me if I will move to the city with my kids now, I will honestly tell you no. I take them there to see friends and family, and have fun from time to time, so I understand you very well. Another question about Florida, do I like it? NO! I dont hate it either. I just never cared for it, and dont think I will either. It has things that I decided I did not want to deal with, and I am working diligently to move this year...I have a choice to leave, which is a right that I am exercising. I'm in the process of a move late summer. Florida may work for you, it may not. You can only try and establish networks and see how it fairs for you and your family. I hope things working themselves out for you and yours.

[Shoegal1075]

Thank you, I really do appreciate all your knowledge. I like a lot of people on this forum have really only visited Florida (Ft. Lauderdale area), so of course it is appealing to me. I am very realistic about things though, people might say pecimistic, but I still say I'm a realist. I like the city, but I do not utilize the fabulous things the city offers. I lived in Maryland as a child and think that I would fair far better in a place like North Carolina, as far as what I can get used to, but my husband will never move to NC, he would stay here first. I really like the whole small town feel, I'm not sure that Florida will give me that, but I guess I will have to continue to see as I visit.

[mooie2e]

I moved to Fla. from Bklyn in 1976 and moved back to NYC in 1988. Very important that you have a support group - family/friends already down there. I had one friend and I only saw her on weekends. My husband was a cop who worked the night shift. It was very lonely.

You must already have a decent paying job - It took me 6 months to find this and this was back in 1977!! I worked for Motorola in Plantation. At least I made a few friends there.

You must love the heat and humidity. It is quite brutal here during the peak months - your boys are only going to want to go swimming. No one, but absolutely no one is outside between April and September. It is extremely hot and uncomfortable, therefore everyplace you go has to have air conditioning.

South Florida's population has totally exploded since I have lived there. It's quaintness has disappeared and now it has too many people, too many cars and too many malls. I was lucky enough, though, to have lived on a block that was mostly New Yorkers and lots of kids. I have one boy, myself.

After living there for 14 years, after my husband got laid off, we moved back to NY. I now live upstate NY in the country. I do commute to NYC - I make excellent money and have great benefits - so the commute is worth it. So glad I am back home!!!

If you can handle this, then I wish you the best of luck and much happiness.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

When we were there over the holidays, gas was just a couple cents higher than NY, but that was then.

I based my statement off of July 2008 (five months ago) numbers which was the last time I was in NYC so your figures are far more accurate than mine (shrugs)

[EnjoyTheSilence]

I feel the same way.

Before some smartass makes the usual "if you don't like it here, leave" comment, I want to make it quite clear that I (we) cannot leave just yet because of family obligations. It's easy to tell someone to just pack up and leave, but not all of us have that luxury.

As for South Florida, I don't know about dead end street, but there's a real lack of job opportunities here. I am very lucky to have the job that I have, but if my company go under (which is a real possibility), I'll probably find it extremely hard to get another job, being as I don't speak Spanish (and refuse to).

It is very difficult to meet people here -- I've always found that during the 6 years that I've lived here. Most people I've met here seem to be clones of one another; into the same boring things such as clubbing, going to bars, cars, or have a particular taste in music that doesn't appeal to me. I've also found that there's a big tendency of people here to take advantage of you, with a bizarre "hustler" mentality that so many here have. I have no time for users and people who take advantage.

I find that there's basically little to do here that interests me. I'm an "outdoors" kind of guy and even if you drive far, far away from the urban expanse of South Florida, there's little in the way of scenery, unless you call the Everglades "scenery". South Florida basically consists of strip malls, cookie cutter homes and neighborhoods (that are a million miles from anything), gas stations, fast food restaurants and Publix supermarkets, littered with empty condos and gated communities. There are few parks, or places where you can go to just "unwind" if like me, you're not into the beaches here (too crowded).

Most people I meet here tend to be either rude, loud, obnoxious, ignorant, arrogant and extremely narcissistic (or all of those things rolled into one). People party here for the sake of partying, which is fine if you're into that, but I'm not. I don't want to hear reggaeton music non-stop, nor do I want to deal with disrespectful people, many of whom do not even speak English (or simply choose not to). Heck, that's another problem I have -- being treated like a foreigner for speaking English (and I refuse to learn Spanish to pander to these people any further).

Another issue I have with South Florida are the drivers. Call it ridiculous, but driving here is another "negative" aspect of life in this part of the world. Drivers here aren't just rude; they are reckless and downright dangerous and stupid, in so many cases. Every day (several times a day), I see so many examples of horrible driving that would potentially land you in jail in many other places (the cops here do nothing). I've never known of a place with so many "hit and run" murders and driving here is a very stressful experience (a stress that I could do without). I am tired of worrying about my safety and more importantly, the safety of those I care about when they're out on the roads here.

Like I said, we can't just pack up and leave yet due to family obligations. I would love to see this part of the world improve, but I don't have much optimism, given the fact that I don't rate many of the people here too highly, based on personal experience.

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by BCreass

I feel the same way.

Another issue I have with South Florida are the drivers. Call it ridiculous, but driving here is another "negative" aspect of life in this part of the world. Drivers here aren't just rude; they are reckless and downright dangerous and stupid, in so many cases. Every day (several times a day), I see so many examples of horrible driving that would potentially land you in jail in many other places (the cops here do nothing). I've never known of a place with so many "hit and run" murders and driving here is a very stressful experience (a stress that I could do without). I am tired of worrying about my safety and more importantly, the safety of those I care about when they're out on the roads here.

Chelc...^^^ is a more accurate description of the driving, rather than labeling plain aggresive. And you know why they drive like that?