Does living in Florida kinda suck now?

[number six]

First off, I'm a Florida Native and lived here all my life.. so not some transplant from Ohio that's pissed about the heat.

Previous to this I've always enjoyed living here. It's not cold, people were mostly reasonably nice.. tons of attractions in state.. Water when you want it.. no weird laws or draconian taxes.. but the last 10 years (and especially since Covid) this place has changed.

First the influx of people has really ruined just about everything. No matter what you want to do or where you want to go expect a crowd. Our little area outside of Tampa used to be relatively quiet but now there's a traffic jam at 11pm on a Sunday. Disney used to be a 45 minute drive.. used to have passes.. now that's 90 minutes if you are lucky, more like 2 hours most days and if there's an accident closer to 3. The Beaches are the same. Basically doing anything fun around here takes forever because of people and the traffic.

Second, people. Besides being too many of them it seems like all the northeners we got that moved down here are all dicks. Seriously people are assholes down here now. Nobody cares about anybody else, they just treat everyone like garbage.. there's been a serious shift in culture. Even the rednecks have changed, when I was growing up the rednecks were the polite 'yes ma'am, no ma'am' types.. the newer generations are more like Kid Rock and its 'hey no fuck you man!' situations. We travel to NYC once a year and honestly people are 100x more chill there than here.

The roads are dangerous. OK driving in Florida has always been an adventure but the amount of crazy shit I see has just ramped up in recent years. Even a short trip down back roads is likely to give me at least one 'OMG I can't believe I'm seeing this' incident. I swear I'm going to die on the roads here. It's alot more concerning than crime or anything else..( which is also not great here BTW). Thank god I no longer have to commute on I4 as the interstates ramp this up to another level.

Cost of living here sucks. Tampa has been #1 for Inflation in the country for 2 years in a row. We also have some of the lowest salaries in the country. It's the worst of both worlds. I know you'll get slammed with more taxes in other parts of the country but you are likely to double your salary. Also while we don't have that income tax guess what? Home insurances and property taxes are just about evening that out.

Anyway that's been my rant. I don't know that I'll stay here forever.. my parents are both in their 80s so I'm not leaving anytime soon and I'm not sure where I'd go but the shine seems to be off Florida which is.. disappointing but I guess things have a tendency to change and not for the better. I think everyone flocking here after COVID really tipped the scales.

[BigMatt]

Born here in fort myers. You are definitely not alone and I expect others will chime-in in agreement like I am now. I 100% onboard with your analysis, I've been actively seeking transfer to somewhere semi rural in the mid west and will leave this state behind. Problem is I do elevators and very difficult to get a rural transfer. The beach is SUPREMELY over rated and imo that's all this state has to offer geography wise. Maybe I'll switch careers, the overcrowding has killed our easy going lifestyle here, I can't believe they are still piling in despite all the hurricane damage we've had recently, shit is bananas

[offset]

It is much more expensive now. While I can afford to live here, my kids can't, so I end up subsidizing them as they live on the edge of being able to afford a place to rent, etc.

Used to live in Orlando but moved closer to Daytona Beach as I knew if my teenagers learned to drive in Orlando they would likely end up dead before they could adapt (also could send them to public school vs private school in Orlando, etc).  After some years, they are now well adapted drivers (almost too well since they drive I95 a lot, lol).

My entire family loves living here but will prob have to figure out something different to make it work long-term here (ie. cut expenses, etc).

[Niloc]

I'm sure there are a ton of factors, but one of them is just too damn many people.

About 40 years ago, when I was a kid, the word population was "a little under 4 billion - 3.8 or 3.9 billion".
Today it's a close to 8.2 billion. More than doubled, in less than 40 years.

Florida matches that trend almost exactly 11.04 million (1984), around 22.9 million today (according to Google anyway).

Works OK if people have to commute to "where the jobs are" (because housing close by is unaffordable), until the commute gets to be 1 hour+ each way, and people who were borderline surviving get screwed. Car breaks down, can't afford to fix it, closest real jobs are a long drive away, so what now? Meth? Usually meth. Cascade effect of things breaking down.

Other stuff too of course, many factors, inflation isn't helping. Does anyone eat fast food anymore? I had Taco Bell like 2 years ago and that's about it. Too expensive now. 2 large pizzas cost $66 last time I bothered. As mentioned, Florida wages do not keep up with this at all.

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

humans are an infestation to this planet, nowhere is safe from overpopulation.

[k7]

i'll rant. paying $15 an hour to a taco bell worker, and then we wonder why a quesadilla that still looks and tastes like crap,
now costs $6.00.

people have ALWAYS sucked. i'll be dead from road rage, and i will most likely be the one that instigates it, due to someone
else's stupid ass inabilities to function on the road ways.

i do chuckle, as i occasionally find myself mapping out the cost of my repairs, if i have to pit "driver X" into a canal off the highway.

so to sum it up: Florida doesn't suck. State policies and people suck.

[tufnel1530]

I actually left almost 2 years ago so Ill chime in… mainly left for work but still.

It is most definitely getting more expensive and there is probably no end to that. That is everywhere though… we will be paying the bill for pandemic era bullshit economics for years.

Florida was a great place to do business tax and expenses wise when I started in 2008 but every year that changed.. warehouse space is expensive as hell now for example. Didn’t used to be.

Housing- I sold my house in south Tampa in 2019 which I regret (financially at least) and its now magically worth almost 2x what I sold it for? That is crazy in just a few years.

House has changed hands again since I sold it, the guy who bought it off me just flipped it to make money when the market went nuts and house went up in value way higher after that. Cool house and location but not that cool. Doubled in value in 4 years?

Agree with drivers and people generally suck but really that’s everywhere. Traffic did get worse year after year and things got more crowded even just over the time I was down there…

My other issue was weather… the storms keep getting bigger and bigger every year. Every hurricane season I would feel like I was in the crosshairs for a few months. The whole country gets extreme weather now but Florida is more prone than other places and always has been.

Another thing to note if you aren’t aware of this… large corporations are buying up tons of residential properties in Fl. to use as rentals. It’s been happening for years.. so the affordable housing market housing is getting smaller and rents are going up.

I could go on and on but that’s off top of my head.

[PunkicCyborg]

yeah welcome to DeSantisland
This place sucks now

[djude]

I came here in 88 when I got out of school.  Figured we'd beat everybody to punch by retiring to FL. in my 20s.  Well, I succeeded in beating everyone.... but... eventually they all figured it out.  I live on the west side of Orl. right behind Magic Kingdom.  We are surrounded by Brazilians, with no end in sight.  I can't remember being in a store where English was the predominant language.   I've always said it won't be the weather that makes me leave... it will be the people.  We are less than 10 years from becoming California and all that comes with it... it makes me sad.

[Centaur Brother]

+1 on learning a second language. Have just one parent left and when she passes I'm moving to the mountains of NC. Been her since 89, kids born here, married twice, just not the same as back then for all the reasons above.

[RussG]

Great posting here and all truth!  I've been ranting about this for the past 10 years but the last 4 years have tipped the scales to what I liken to a free-for-all feeding frenzy of greed, rampant sprawl, population booms, and "I'm going to get mine and f you to everyone else" attitudes.
The most noticeable trend is the traffic and all the inconsiderate ahole aggresive drivers on the road.
I'm a lifelong Floridian born here in 71. It's devastating to see the changes.

Florida used to be mostly polite and considerate but that's all changed and I don't see the genie ever being put back in the bottle.  It's very sad.

[daviddnv]

I agree, great post.  I moved down in 88, right out of high school in Philly.  All things are relative, so you have to compare things here to other places.  FL will never be as bad a Philly (in the city).  I was in Punta Gorda for the first 30 years.  Great place, seen the boom, bust, boom of things.  But I think it's still a nice place.  I live in Orlando now and Daytona Beach on most weekends.  I agree with the language thing.  I'm in Lake Nona, nice place, but very not English, lol.

I don't think storms are getting worse, they just get hyped up more and there are more people living here, so more people/property are impacted.  Insurance rates will start to level out because the bond market is coming back (IMHO).  The bond market has been decimated in the last two years and that is the largest investment of the insurance companies.  They make their profit on either your premium or their investments, but they make their profit!

Traffic... yeah it's bad, but it's bad where people live and want to go, that's how it works.  Who remembers I4 in Polk county when it only had 2 lanes each way, I do!  That was bad!  Now, us27 and I4 is a mess because of more people.  And that is not stopping, look at US27 south of I4, all new apartments and subdivisions, and no other way to get to Micky then I4, lol.  It will get solved, eventually.  If it gets too bad, people leave, and it fixes itself or roads get built/widened and it's fixed. 

I travel(ed) a lot over the last 30+ years, I'll take Florida (all things considered) over any other place.

David

[Clark]

Wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[ibis]

And it's -20 in Kansas City......ya I think I'll put up with whatever I have to to stay here.  Ill never leave.

[Sid]

and to keep it on this trend...

I love living in Clearwater.  I've traveled all over and there is no place I'd rather live.  This is home.