Why Does Everyone Hate Florida So Much??

laughoutloud8 · Aug 10, 2009

Well I consider my self from FL been living in this state a majority of 25 years of life. As a Navy brat I have lived in Chicagoland for 3 1/2 years Virginia Beach for 5 years so I consider myself well rounded. There is no perfect place people everywhere you go you can ***** and moan about something trust me.

Chicago winters are long and harsh, terrible traffic, lake michigan is consider a beach lol, and personally I dislike the annoying accents. Many positives as oppose to negatives, such as endless entertainment Hello you are in the "second city".

Virginia Beach is just to darn expensive for what you get paid, the area is engulfed with military families which lacks the I am home feel. I found few positives to this place so I hauled ass back to FL when I got out of highschool. Colleges are very pricey.

FL school system do stink I started out in it back in 1989 in Jacksonville and when I moved to Chicago I was behind. From all my coworker in the Tampa Bay area it has not changed. Way more positives than negatives to me in FL. I plan on moving after I get my BSN in 2011 if I do not decide to do that somewhere else. Tutition is sooo cheap here where else are you going to get cheap ass tutition. Jobs here suck big time.

nurseforlife · Sep 6, 2009

I just relocated to the Tampa Bay area with my family about a month ago. I am going to tell you what I think so far. Relocating is obviously a huge plunge we've taken. My motivation was to move away from the harsh Winters of the North. I am very excited about that, and I know that if I miss snow, I will look at some pictures and remember why I left. I am happy to be in the sunshine state. The summers are scorching hot, and so that means we are constantly looking for a way to cool off. We preplanned and got a home with a pool, which was a must for us. A few months of heat is definately worth the beautiful winters here.

The schools were a bit disappointing. I can't afford private schools, so my kids had to go to public. I am not completely impressed with them. My daughters middle school looks dingy, with concrete floors and walls. I really felt like crying the first time I saw it. school buses are far and few. They require a min 2 mile distance to qualify for a bus. That means that we need to drop and pick up our kids everyday. (two different school, with different times) There is no way i would let my children walk alone for 2 miles. The traffic at the schools is unheard of, well, cause everyone has to drive their children. The kids only get a half hour lunch break all day. No recess, or other breaks. I like the fact that the schools serve hot lunches though. Usually for about 2 dollars a day. I can't say anything negative about the teaching or curriculum cause they only started.

The pay may be less than other states, but there is no state income tax. The nice thing about Florida is that we love the beaches, the parks, the people, the weather, the tropical plants, the wildlife, the geckos, the birds, (including alligators), the shorts and t-shirts, the concerts, and the many amusement parks, aquariums, museums, etc. This makes it alot of fun to plan a family day.

lactnet · Sep 6, 2009

We too relocated to enjoy the weather and love it. As far as schools look into a charter school in your area. So far I really love the one my son attends.

HTH (hope this helps)

:0)

laughoutloud8 · Sep 7, 2009

The schools were a bit disappointing. I can't afford private schools, so my kids had to go to public. I am not completely impressed with them. My daughters middle school looks dingy, with concrete floors and walls. I really felt like crying the first time I saw it. school buses are far and few. They require a min 2 mile distance to qualify for a bus. That means that we need to drop and pick up our kids everyday. (two different school, with different times) There is no way i would let my children walk alone for 2 miles. The traffic at the schools is unheard of, well, cause everyone has to drive their children. The kids only get a half hour lunch break all day. No recess, or other breaks. I like the fact that the schools serve hot lunches though. Usually for about 2 dollars a day. I can't say anything negative about the teaching or curriculum cause they only started.

The walking is no joke, elementary kids have to walk far. I remember my long walks in Jacksonville . Let me know how Tampa turns out for you. I like it here just time for me to go explore the rest of America.

katherinecm · Sep 7, 2009

The schools were a bit disappointing. I can't afford private schools, so my kids had to go to public. I am not completely impressed with them. My daughters middle school looks dingy, with concrete floors and walls. I really felt like crying the first time I saw it. school buses are far and few. They require a min 2 mile distance to qualify for a bus. That means that we need to drop and pick up our kids everyday.

Hey, I no longer live in Florida but I did go back & forth between it and the midwest as a child, and my dad was the chief of police in his town and my stepmom a teacher there.

The schools have concrete walls for a couple of reasons:

1) They serve a dual purpose as storm shelters. It's very rare for a hurricane to directly hit Tampa Bay, but it does happen, and it is MUCH better to have every school be a shelter than end up with some sort of superdome catastrophe a la New Orleans. It's easier to provide the needs (food, water, safety, sanitation) for a few hundred people at a time than it is thousands. It's also much easier to move 100 people at a time if a shelter fails than it is 10,000 people at a time.

2) The warmth and humidity also make wood/drywall structures rot a LOT faster than in the north. Being made of concrete means they cost A LOT less in long term maintenance, heating, and cooling costs. Also, you really don't want to build a structure out of drywall and then not air condition it all summer long in that kind of humidity. Remember the toxic mold all over the news after Katrina? It wasn't from the hurricane, it was from no power and air conditioning to control the mold. Concrete may mildew a bit, but a quick rinse with either lysol or a mild bleach solution will get rid of it for a year. You can ignore the mildew for a decade and a concrete wall will still be structurally sound and NEVER grow toxic mold. When I was a kid there was an abandoned stick-built home down the road from us. In less than a year after the people left it all the neighborhood kids were forbidden to go near it because mold had made the subfloor rot to such an extent that you would likely step through it. In less than 5 years, the roof caved in (though there was a hurricane in the middle of that somewhere that I'm sure was partially to blame for that). Your child's school may be back from the age before air conditioning. If that's the case, the concrete has enough thermal mass that it meant it would warm up very slowly during the day and cool very slowly at night and never get unbearably hot or cold even if the air conditioner fails. The concrete means your child will be safe and healthy.

3) School busing is not necessarily a good idea either. 10 or 15 years ago there was a heat wave and a bunch of kids got really sick from overheated air on school buses. It shouldn't take more than 40 minutes to walk home less than 2 miles from school, and maybe 15 minutes on a bike including the time it takes to unlock it. If she were to take the bus home after school the busses run for 30 minutes waiting for all the kids to load, the kids are sitting around in the heat breathing diesel fumes the whole time, then waiting out the long hot bus ride to & from school? In the north, where winters mean icy roads and frostbitten toes that might be necessary, but it is certainly not in Florida. Kids don't need institutionalized exercise at schoool if they walk 2-4 miles 5 days a week. It's healthier for the kids, it's healthier for the environment, and that little bit of exercise will get her wide awake and ready to concentrate when the school day begins. Just teach her how to get there safely. Walk with her several times if you're concerned she's incapable of walking herself to school, of staying in crosswalks, of not getting hit by a car. Find a neighbor she can walk with, or get her a scooter or bike instead. If you must pick her up then at least she won't be sitting breathing in diesel fumes for half an hour every day. That stuff is toxic.

Blackcat99 · Sep 8, 2009

I presently live in eastern WA. I had to drive to work during the winter and my car completely slid all the way to my job. I couldn't see anything!!!!!! I had to drive with my head sticking out all the way and still I could barely see anything. It was absolutely terrifying!!!!!! I am only alive now because God was driving my car on those days. My car had 4 brand new snow tires on at this time and it made absolutely no difference. I am happy to say I am moving on Oct. 12th to Gainesville, Florida. :yeah: I am so glad that I won't have to risk my life totally just trying to get to work this winter. Fortunately,I love insects. I met the palmetto bugs in a swimming pool when I visited last May and found them to be absolutely fascinating!!!!!

lele2be · Sep 8, 2009

haha! these posts are hilarious! ok, so fl isn't for everyone i was born and raised here and i can say i wouldn't live anywhere else... there is a lot to do beaches, attractions, bush gardens, disney world, hop on a cruise line and head to the islands.. the heat isn't so bad but it's obvious you get dehydrated pretty quickly doing laborious work on the hot summer days!! the humidity is what is the killer... lol although all of us floridians are use to it. yes, i like to travel to see mountains and snow and the trees changing in fall but i couldn't take the freezing snow in mi (i have lots of family up there)... call me a beach bum but i couldn't function anywhere else

i find it pretty amusing when i go to disney and i see people amazed by the lizards… too funny! also, as the school situation goes… its different anywhere. i don’t feel that my high school was challenging and i don’t think they provided the best education although there are private and magnet schools which if i’m able to when i have children i would like to put them through private school. i believe our college’s are up there with the best in providing quality educations.

ebphillips · Sep 10, 2009

I was born in New England, but my family moved here when I was an infant, so I'm technically a native Floridian. At First we lived in Central FL (Ocala/Gainesville area), then NE Florida (Jacksonville) and now my husband and I live in Tampa Bay (Pinellas Side)... I don't like living here anymore. The bugs are horrid- palmetto bugs come around when there's a lot of water- hello! We live on a peninsula- there's water EVERYWHERE! And it even comes from the sky like clockwork between 2 and 7 daily from August to November. AND we have regular cockroaches to boot. There are spiders that I had to look up online to see if they'd kill me or not (google jeweled spider and you'll see what I deal with!), disgusting property values and even more sickening property taxes- all because people moved here in a steady influx for the past 50 years, and now that the economy sucks, TONS of foreclosed properties state wide.

As a CNA, I have pretty much unlimited job opportunities, because we now live in Plaza de los Muertos/God's Waiting Room, which is pretty much the bottom 1/3 of the state... however, the pay is disgusting, the more I read about other states/areas. This state truly is the place where retirees come to die. Here in Pinellas County, we even have a poplulation growth from October/November to March-ish. They're the fabeled Snow Bird- creatures from as far as Canada that migrate and drive up gas prices.

As far as education goes, I was blessed to attend private school on a scholarship through my junior year of high school- when I went to public school my senior year it was a complete joke... VAST educational differences. I wish we could afford to send our kids to private schools, but with pay being what it is, it's absolutely out of the question.

So, if given the opportunity to move north, I absoultely would. I would take driving in the snow (which I've only done once, and slid through an intercection) than dealing with dummies down here. I would gladly pass up 95 degree weather added with 87% humidity (which equals about 110 heat index) for 85 degrees and little humidity with no a/c. I went to Denver Colorado in August of 1993, and I can tell you- 103 degrees in dry weather is Floridas 85 in August. And absolutely more comfortable!

The only things keeping me here are our immediate families and finances...

My :twocents:

NurseJacqui · Sep 21, 2009

Agreed.

NurseJacqui · Sep 21, 2009

Good evening!
As a former New Yorker (3 years ago) I wish to say i can't wait to leave Miami. My main problem people are rude here.
Thank you.

Ruder than NYC? I am originally from NJ and have been living and working in NYC as an ER nurse for several years now. The lack of common courtesy and social graces in this city infuriates me(especially on the subways) and when someone actually IS courteous/kind, it is a pleasant surprise.....I may be relocating to Miami area for my fiance's job in the next month....other than the bugs(which freak me OUT...here we just have rats and roaches), I think it may be a nice change of pace from the big , bad city....that remains to be seen, I guess:) I know salaries are lower though:cry:

NurseJacqui · Sep 21, 2009

I really don't like living in Florida, and I am a native.
But the West Palm Beach/ Boca Raton area, is a special kind of Hades, that is difficult to surpass.
Patients in WPB/BR- I have never met a nastier, more psychotically elitist group of patients in my life. I have had famous patients and rich patients before, and none of them treated as badly those in that area. They have money, they want you to kiss their feet, and they seem to frequently suffer from an abundance of unadmitted psychological disorders, substance abuse (from meds prescribed by several different MDs - who don't know about each other), inappropriate behavior, and psychosomatic illness.
They, of course, do not recognize or admit that there is anything wrong with them. A random example: I had several patients that would promise to eat, so you would give them their AM insulin and then refuse to eat. They expected you to beg them to eat....then if they bottomed out, and "accidently" pull out their IVs, you would have to restart (a lot of drama there with the stick) and give D50W. Then they would get the family in with the drama on how THEY ALMOST DIED!!!!! and everyone fawns, and takes the nurse to task on how that happened, and why is the old IV site bruised, and how bad it will look at, and surely we can get in a specialist to heal it faster....maybe a plastic surgeon....and.....and....and WHY didn't you call the MD to come in to start the IV or use nitrous oxide so that Mamma would have been more comfortable....and....
Well you get the idea.
I had 3 of these, within 6 weeks of an assignment.....and carried 6-7 on dayshift, on a floor that gives chemo - with 2-3 admits and DCs per day.
One of them jerked the MDs and the staff around for 6 weeks, because she did not want to go to rehab....did want to go...can't wait to go...won't go if her life depended it.... should have gone yesterday but her MD screwed up....After being emotionally held hostage by her, the facility finally DC'd her against her will, complete with police presence. Upon leaving, she got so angry, she took her freshly manicured nails and dug the into her forearm, cutting a nasty gouge in her arm. This of course, was witnessed and charted, cared for and sent, anyway)
Two hours later, the receiving facility called trying to send back, and threatening file a complaint - because she claimed the staff did this to her, and was demanding to go to the ER.(As to why someone was demanding to go back to a facility that so "abused" her, and wouldn't go to any of the other close but non-private facilities, is anyone's guess)
I felt like I was in a giant psych unit there....but I am not a psych nurse.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As far as the rest of Florida, the pay is poor, conditions for nurses are bad, ratios that are dangerous, and the patients are older, sicker and with more comorbidities. I have had nights that a third of the patients were having sundowner's

Lol...sounds like NYC:D

NurseJacqui · Sep 21, 2009

I grew up in New Jersey. We lived in North Jersey, very very close to NYC. I went to nursing school in Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia. The only reason I am living in Florida is because of my parents. My Dad's job transfered him down here to the Tampa Bay area while I was halfway through college. I had no choice after graduation but to leave PA/NJ/NY and relocate to the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am an only child. No siblings. My mother has many health problems. Dad now has many health problems as well.
In my experience, healthcare in Florida is very backwards and is many years behind healthcare in NY/NJ/PA. The hospitals up north are much much better. Technology, equipment, training, education, staffing, all much better in PA/NJ/NY in comparison to Florida. Nurses in NJ/NY/PA earn much better salaries and better benefits and live very comfortably.
I have friends I went to nursing school with who stayed in Philadelphia, and they work in some of the best hospitals in the USA. The type of hospitals with Magnet status and that only hire RNs who have their BSN. My nurse friends earn very good money and live in very nice houses and live comfortably. They are given lots of vacation time. They are very happy in their nursing careers. They are not at all worried about the current economy. They know their jobs are secure and they are well paid.
Compare that to Florida. Florida nurses are very very underpaid. Our salaries are lower than nurses up north. Our gas is just as expensive. Our groceries are just as expensive. Our cell phone bills are just as expensive. These stupid deed restricted master planned communities that are everywhere in the Tampa Bay area are expensive. Cars are just as expensive. The cost of living in the Tampa Bay area of Florida is very similar to the cost of living up north, but we have to make do with a lot less money. Our working conditions are worse. The hospitals I worked at in Pennsylvania and the hospitals I had clinical at in PA were way better than the hospitals down here in Tampa. I don't care about TGH, because TGH has got nothing on the best hospitals of NYC and Philly.
Nurses down here in Florida have less education. There are too many LPNS and ASNs from 2 year community colleges and not enough highly educated RNs with their BSNs here in the Tampa Bay area. Nurses up north are better educated. Here in Florida, the hospitals don't care if you have your BSN. The salary for an ASN nurse is exactly the same salary for a BSN nurse. I never see job postings down here that say "BSN required". The hospitals do not give enough incentive for their nurses to go back to school and further their education. Tuition reimbursement is not great down here.
I don't like living in Florida. I hate the weather. The hurricanes are deadly. The bugs are disgusting and dangerous. Gators, nough said. There is very little mass transit. We have no trains. Tampa is a dinky little city, nothing compared to NYC and Philly. Nothing to do down here, compared to up north. The only reason I am stuck down here is thanks to the major corporation my father is employeed by. They relocated us. As an only child who has 2 aging parents who have health problems, I feel it is my duty and responsibility to be here for my parents. But, I know I would be happier and better respected and enjoy a great social life and be paid higher if I could move back home to NJ or PA or NY.

You really do sound like a jackass. A BSN does not teach you how to be a nurse(and yes, I have one) Regardless of which program you complete. everyone takes the same boards. Nursing school does not teach you how to be a nurse. All it does is provide you with a foundation that allows to sit for and hopefully pass NCLEX. The unit in the hospital that hires you teaches you how to be a nurse. I will take a diploma educated nurse with 15-20 years experience over a new grad with a BSN from Columbia any day of the week. You really should climb down from your elitist soapbox because clearly you cannot recognize your ass from your elbow. Just sayin...