The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
I noted in two posts yesterday ideas about moving to Florida. It is a great place to live for its climate. And that is very important to many people. Where I live is snowbird heaven...that season is from around December until end of March. Then they move back UP NORTH. It is also a huge crowded urban area with horrible traffic. That said, I would advise anyone considering this state to log on to government websites for links to major cities and newspapers. You will find the following: The state is in money trouble. Cuts are being made in huge proportions for services and education. Housing prices, both sales and rentals, are sky high. Property taxes and insurance are over the top. Jobs are scarce except in low-paying service industries. Tourism, the great money-maker here, is way down. Gas prices are influencing everything. Food prices have escalated over 5% in most basic needs in the past year. Medical care is extremely expensive and physicians are taking down their shingles due to high cost of liability insurance. Many major insurance companies are refusing to write policies for homes here due to hurricane history. Buying state-owned and run homeowners' policies is usually the only option. Car insurance is headed in the same direction. Foreclosures are rampant. More people are leaving the state than are moving in....an historical first. No state income taxes, but huge percentages levied locally for the necessary monies to operate government. The two major state universities have stopped accepting new students for next fall due to budget cuts. Local school systems are facing huge cuts for next year. FCAT is the state-mandated testing program in elementary and secondary schools.....getting great criticism. There is a teacher shortage but not enough money to hire. I suspect many states in this great country are in similar situation, but if I were considering a move here (or anywhere for that matter) I would definitely try to do my homework. I moved to FL for family reasons. It is not nor never would it have been my first choice for economic reasons. But if it is climate you are after, it is wonderful from October through April.....hurricane season is dicey and hangs like an albatross over you head from June through November. Summers are hot, but no problem if you like heat!! It is a very beautiful state even if terribly overdeveloped and crowded.
Thanks, my primary concern was the schools and that concerns me. Taxes never really bother me because 1 I'm dirt poor and 2 I never own anything LOL. I am concerned about the heat and humidity in the summer tho. I can barely stand NC in July and Aug and I bet it's 10 times worse there. I think my problem here is that the only issue for me is the schools. If I could resolve that somehow it would be fine. Perhaps I can find a private shcool with scholarship or some other solution. Maybe just changing schools within the district would be an option. Maybe after some stability of not moving and having things in order I can get a better system of order in place and they can get it together.
Are you sure you're not talking about Hawaii and not Florida? LOL
I think any tropical, tourist-destination, snow-bird-ville state goes through a lot of the same problems. Although in a sick way, your post on Florida's woes makes me feel like Hawaii's not alone in it's own problems:
Sky-high taxes No affordable housing Dismal public school system High cost of living in general Health-care crisis because of insurance rates - all our doc's are leaving here, too. Low unemployment (wait, that's a plus, isn't it?), but too many businesses out here can't KEEP good employees, and many of the businesses out here have a nasty habit of only wanting to pay you part-time wages for full-time work.
And that's just the entire state - each county (or island) has its own set of woes with their own county governments too.
Yes, these "paradise" states of ours are all fitting the profile in this hard economy.
I have lived in two of these states. And each of them shares the problems I mentioned yesterday. I have also lived in two mid-western states. By going on-line to the old hometown papers, I see that they are also in the midst of economic problems, bad development, etc. So perhaps it is rampant across the country. Of course it is, not perhaps!!!
The point of my post yesterday was to remind people to research and do homework before deciding to move. We did that in both of our retirement moves. Good thing, too. Retirement brings great joy to most lives, but if you aren't financially secure, watch out!! We are lucky in that respect, but it took years of planning and discipline to arrive at that.....I don't know that the upcoming generation looking to retire in the next decade are going to be so lucky.
Anyway, home is where the heart is. (Right, Debilyn?? and good luck to you on your dreams of moving home!!) and life is where we are TODAY, right now. My plan for today is to buy flowers for my two decorative pots and find a new handbag for the upcoming season. In addition to those goals, I will practice, practice, practice patience with my son and his life.
