[Pondskating]

Originally Posted by Mike1306

I am glad you agree but who is a real estate agent?

It's very obvious you're Mike Peterson and had a name change.

[grapico]

Most of my friends and I left Florida after college as Florida pays poorly for educated white collar workers in comparison to other states... See TX, NC, VA, most of the midwest and east coast major cities, west coast major cities and other larger cities of the southeast. After being educated in Florida high schools and universities, namely UF and FSU, it was a no brainer to leave afterwards due to lack of good job opportunities in the state... And this was 10 years ago in 2002. I think the situation is even worse now. I wouldn't have an issue living in Florida if jobs paid well there, they don't. Most of my friends have Masters degrees and PhD's, they pay exceptionally low in Florida. I know tons of people who have left for Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, Houston, Austin, Dallas...and many more who venture off farther to SF, LA, Chicago, NYC, DC, etc... There is nothing like these cities in Florida really that pay commensurate. Orlando, Tampa and Miami all pay garbage wages for the most part. Tallahassee and Gainesville also pay notoriously low wages. Educated people will continue leaving for the most part until FL brings in good industry and values people with higher education outside of standard things like Law or an MD.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by Pondskating

It's very obvious you're Mike Peterson and had a name change.

I also never disputed that, it has been discussed before.
The question still remains, who is a real estate agent.
Something tells me you are the daughter, who was also previously banned, coming back.
Just a guess, hadn't read your other posts yet.

[Mr.Kurtz]

Originally Posted by grapico

Most of my friends and I left Florida after college as Florida pays poorly for educated white collar workers in comparison to other states... See TX, NC, VA, most of the midwest and east coast major cities, west coast major cities and other larger cities of the southeast. After being educated in Florida high schools and universities, namely UF and FSU, it was a no brainer to leave afterwards due to lack of good job opportunities in the state... And this was 10 years ago in 2002. I think the situation is even worse now. I wouldn't have an issue living in Florida if jobs paid well there, they don't. Most of my friends have Masters degrees and PhD's, they pay exceptionally low in Florida. I know tons of people who have left for Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, Houston, Austin, Dallas...and many more who venture off farther to SF, LA, Chicago, NYC, DC, etc... There is nothing like these cities in Florida really that pay commensurate. Orlando, Tampa and Miami all pay garbage wages for the most part. Tallahassee and Gainesville also pay notoriously low wages. Educated people will continue leaving for the most part until FL brings in good industry and values people with higher education outside of standard things like Law or an MD.

I'm born and raised in Central Florida and agree 100%.

[**NoodLes**]

Businesses continue to make great money down here, but they don't pay their employees crap.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

Businesses continue to make great money down here, but they don't pay their employees crap.

The gov jobs are even worse in Florida than the businesses. Teachers and state workers in Florida make some of the lowest wages in the country. Quite sad actually, considering Florida's GDP is relatively high as a whole. I remember laughing at some of the low wage starting salaries starting at 22k and such which is barely breaking minimum wage in other states for legitimate jobs. Other states with comparatively LOWER COL often pay close to double for similar positions in Florida. Florida isn't exactly a cheap COL state overall, esp when wages come into play. I take that it is probably b/c Florida more than any other state is more invested in the wishes of transplants than any other.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by grapico

Most of my friends and I left Florida after college as Florida pays poorly for educated white collar workers in comparison to other states... See TX, NC, VA, most of the midwest and east coast major cities, west coast major cities and other larger cities of the southeast. After being educated in Florida high schools and universities, namely UF and FSU, it was a no brainer to leave afterwards due to lack of good job opportunities in the state... And this was 10 years ago in 2002. I think the situation is even worse now. I wouldn't have an issue living in Florida if jobs paid well there, they don't. Most of my friends have Masters degrees and PhD's, they pay exceptionally low in Florida. I know tons of people who have left for Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, Houston, Austin, Dallas...and many more who venture off farther to SF, LA, Chicago, NYC, DC, etc... There is nothing like these cities in Florida really that pay commensurate. Orlando, Tampa and Miami all pay garbage wages for the most part. Tallahassee and Gainesville also pay notoriously low wages. Educated people will continue leaving for the most part until FL brings in good industry and values people with higher education outside of standard things like Law or an MD.

This was a very nice and truthful post. I've also had many friends and family that left for Washington, New York, Boston, Philly, and Dallas and they too, never looked back. I left in 2001 and tried twice to come back. Both times, I fell hard. I relocated to Florida (Fort Myers) in 2003 with a little under $15,000 to live on until I found work. I ended up busing tables at Perkins in Lehigh Acres and went through my cash within 6 months.

I'd love to move back but wouldn't dream of it until the economy and pay improved. I'll likely be a Texan for the rest of my life and that's okay. It's nice and affordable here and there are a lot of jobs and they pay well, Plus, even though our beaches aren't as nice as Florida, We still have them, Palm Trees, hot weather, mild winters, ect, ect.. It's a great place to be. Obviously EVERYONE from the North moved here to avoid the poor economies in the rust belt..

[**NoodLes**]

Agreed, I know kids in Texas starting out making $12 basically doing monkey jobs in "real" cities.
Florida is the slave state, always will be.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

Agreed, I know kids in Texas starting out making $12 basically doing monkey jobs in "real" cities.

I'm the first to admit, We have TONS of minimum wage jobs, and guys like Mike1306 are quick to jump on that stat but I think back to applying for jobs in Florida like McDonalds when I couldn't find anything else (When I lived in Ft. Myers) and being told that they had over 700 applications already. It's not like that here. Anyone that WANTS to work here can work. There is no "700 applications." ect, ect..

However, We also have A LOT of good wage paying jobs as well. Texas, especially Houston, Dallas, and Austin are not hurting in this economy. We're doing well.

Time for the Texans to win a playoff game !

Edit: Just look at this as an example for Houston...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Medical_Center

Tell me those are all minimum wage jobs..

[grapico]

Yeah my post wasn't a bash on Florida at all... But I think young people have to choose, do they want a solid career and foundation? Or do they want to stick in Florida for the weather and outdoor amenities/lifestyle? Unless you were born fairly rich and can live off your parents dime or well connected, FL just hasn't been a place for native Floridians to get a good leg up in their career in comparison to other options even in own region such as TX, NC, VA or a big business city like Atlanta. Not to even mention other options around the country. I think a lot of people would have stayed in FL if there were good paying jobs there, but many of us who could, left. Not that FL isn't a good state, it's just not the best place for a young adult who is educated or mildly ambitious. The whole gov and econ of FL are setup against people say 22-40 trying to make a career. I know many peers which have had great success after leaving Florida. It's too bad as FL has some good universities, and despite what people blast it for, some really good high schools. They just have nowhere to go after that into the workforce. Talk to some bright juniors and seniors at FSU or UF, and I will bet you will find PLENTY that are itching to jump ship out of Florida... Talk to people at UNC or UT Austin... Many would like to stay in their respective states b/c they have nice jobs lined up. Charlotte, Raleigh Research Triangle, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Austin have been hot job centers for the past 20 years now. I don't think any city in Florida could EVER say it was a hot job center in that same time frame.