South East FL vs. Atlanta (Miami, Tampa: homes, schools, university)

[compelled to reply]

Georgia schools, on a whole, rank even worse than Florida schools. All 50 states have the same NCLB-based crap now anyway, the only states that seem to be making it are the ones where most of the schools meet "adequate yearly progress", so the schools can get the government off of their ass and do more creative/advanced things.

[BornInFL]

Atl does have a more educated black population over S FL, easily.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by Newyorker2

Thanks very much for taking the time out to reply but my assessment of the schools in both FL and ATL was in comparison to the schools in the Northeast which is where i currently live. As we all know Education begins at home but its also the schools responsibility to ensure that the children are challenged and also have opportunity to excel in their interests. A complaint that many friends who have migrated both to ATL and SoFL have had is re: the school system in both areas.

Yet, living in the New York City area at the moment, I can't tell you how many times I encounter people who grew up here, went to school here, and have trouble making change (in a retail position, for example), performing the most rudimentary tasks on a computer, etc. If the schools are so much better here, why would this be?

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

The criteria I am using to evaluate schools is the experiences my children and my neighbor's children have had in the local public schools. In my opinion the curriculum is lacking and the schools have become focused on doing well on the state's standardized tests.

We should take this to another thread probably.

Anyway, I have nieces and nephews in Florida public grade schools now, and this is not at all the story I get from them (or their parents).

There were standardized tests when I was in grade school in Florida, too (sure can't remember the name of them, though), and most of my teachers did a bunch of stuff that they didn't have to do per the official curriculum. Out of maybe 50 public grade school teachers I had, maybe 2 or 3 were what I considered "bad" teachers (they didn't do much other than mumble from a textbook, etc.), whereas I had many who were outstanding.

Re teachers "pushing students to excel", I don't really agree that that refers to something unambiguous. The best teachers I had in Florida public grade schools tended to function on a number of different levels at once--everything from trying to help the kids who didn't want to be there and do anything get through and learn as much as possible to opening up a lot of "deeper" and tangential (but connected) information to the students who were interested and wanted to learn as much as possible, while being receptive to different types of approaches/levels of work from the students. I had many teachers who fit this description . . . although from any perspective, it's not as if all teachers are the same.

I have experience as an educator, too, by the way, although I haven't taught in public grade schools.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by Newyorker2

ATl has the second or third largest population of educated blacks behind the DC and VA areas.. I will pull the site if you would like.

I was asking what the statistics were based on and where you got them from, so yeah, I'd be interested in looking at that.

My husband owns a MOBILE business which services COMPANIES with trucks and cars, ie the rental car industry, large landscaping companies, moving truck rental companies etc.. which is why i said that his business has him on the road 100% of the time (again the traffic factor). He can travel to many of the towns in either the palm beaches, broward or Miami depending on how he works his routes for that day.

Okay but those companies already have relationships with other body/mechanic businesses in the area, if they do not have their own. I'm sure competition could take some of that over though.

My question about ATL was if there is a concentration of that outside of ATL or would he only be able to find that inside the perimeter.

Well, within about the same distance as he'd be traveling in Florida, you'd have places like Columbus, Macon and Augusta GA, Birmingham and Montgomery AL, Greenville SC, Chatanooga TN, etc.

Again getting this from peoples experiences. I understand that the job marlet is not hot in ATL either (recession) however i have a relative who has an MBA in HR and 8yrs of experience, lost her job after 4mths to moving there and it took about 9mths for her to get another one.

Hard to base generalizations about this on a handful of other folks experiences though. There are too many variables that might be come into play for them that might not be a factor for you.

This meant no change of season.

Oy I don't feel like explaining this again . (I've done a number of discussions about it in the last month or so). Florida, just like anywhere else, does have different seasons. Seasons and temperatures are different ideas, but nonetheless, Florida has changing temperatures year round--the temperature just does not change as much as most other places in North America, and the temperature does not get as cold in the winter as most other places in North America.

I'd like to know who my neighbors are and feel secure in that they will be around for a while.

The friendliness of neighbors, in my experience, is not correlated with how long they've lived (or plan on living) wherever they live.

beauty obvisouly is in the eye of the beholder. MOst of the homes that i have seen that have appealed to me have been above 500K. those below that might be decent but doesnt offer the high end finishes that i would like to have, or it may be on a very small lot size or in a community with outrageous fees. This is obviously a case of personal taste.

It's simply not true that all of the houses in southeastern Florida under 500k are small, have small lots, are in HOA communities (or that all the HOAs have high fees), or lack things like granite countertops, custom tile or hardwood flooring, etc. Again, I don't know where you're looking.

While I agree that you can find far more properties with smaller lots than this, I just went on Realtor.com and searched for houses on at least 1/2 acre, within 30 miles of zip code 33401, between 200k and 500k, at least 3 bedrooms, at least 2 bathrooms, and at least 2500 square feet. I got 260 listings. If you change it to at least 2000 square feet you get another 75 listings. If you change it to "any size lot" (the only other smaller option), you get almost 8000 listings. If you change the upper limit to 350k, you get almost 4500 listings. If you lower the lower limit to 150k, you get another 500 properties. Many developments in Florida have lot sizes around 1/3 acre--which I wouldn't say is small. Those show up under those criteria, you just unfortunately can not do a search for only 1/3 acre lots and up.

[Newyorker2]

Originally Posted by Tungsten_Udder

Yet, living in the New York City area at the moment, I can't tell you how many times I encounter people who grew up here, went to school here, and have trouble making change (in a retail position, for example), performing the most rudimentary tasks on a computer, etc. If the schools are so much better here, why would this be?

Because Education begins at home, and obviously not ALL northeast schools or better. they are just better than FLs on average.

[faithfulFrank]

Good discussion.....but let's keep this thread about the Atlanta/Florida comparison, and let's try to keep race issues out of it.

If someone wants to start a "schools" thread, they can start a new thread....I'd be tempted to chime in there, since my school taxes in NY are higher then ALL my taxes in Florida

OK, back to the OP's question.......

Frank D.

[joanie55]

I'm currently living in south Florida and plan on relocating to Atlanta (which I know very little about except the research I've done and talking to people on this forum). What I like about South Florida - the weather! It's always the warmest place in the winter and never the hottest place in the summer. The ocean! Water is clear and absolutely beautiful.

The public schools are NOT good here, except perhaps in Boca Raton. There are some very good private schools.

The people are incredibly rude (you've never heard so many honking horns in your life!) and self-absorbed. They are very materialist and you'll see a lot of cosmetic surgury (not all of it very good either). YOu'll encounter more than your share of con artists looking to take you for your last dime.

Home prices are down so it's more affordable now than ever.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

Good discussion.....but let's keep this thread about the Atlanta/Florida comparison, and let's try to keep race issues out of it.

If someone wants to start a "schools" thread, they can start a new thread....I'd be tempted to chime in there, since my school taxes in NY are higher then ALL my taxes in Florida

OK, back to the OP's question.......

Frank D.

I don't mean to be disrespectful but schools WERE part of the OP's question.

[faithfulFrank]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

I don't mean to be disrespectful but schools WERE part of the OP's question.

No disrespect taken.....
You are correct...I just did not want to have the thread take a turn to just being another long debate about the schools.....it has already proven to be a subject dealt with repeatedly here.

You can certainly discuss school comparisons between Atlanta and South Florida, I just did not want us to get sidetracked here, when the OP had MANY concerns in weighing the two areas......

Our goal as Mods are simply to facilitate, and to keep things compliant to the Terms of Service hopefully not in a stifling way.......

Carry on.....

Frank D.