On 9/29/14 12:42 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Sep 2014 11:53:25 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 9/29/14 11:32 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:38:17 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 9/29/14 7:16 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

On 9/28/2014 4:46 PM, F*O*A*D wrote:



Florida has nice beaches and great fishing. I remember sky-high car and
property insurance rates, grocery prices in Publix higher than they were
in Giant, fundamentalist churches seemingly on every corner, too many
houses with T1-11 siding and no basements, water shortages, congested
and underdeveloped state roads, lousy schools, a lack of drastically
needed social services. Of course, things might have changed in the last
20 years.


Florida has changed. Many of the undesirables moved out.





Oh, really? I can think of a handful of rec.boats posters living in
Florida who are "undesirables."

We were in Florida earlier this year and noticed that the grocery store
prices were still higher there than here. As we were in SE Florida, I
didn't notice as many fundie churches. The main roads were very
congested and not in great repair. An environmental engineer I know in
Florida says the state's fresh water shortages are serious and are not
discussed enough.

Florida does have great beaches for swimming and terrific salt and fresh
water fishing, though. Maybe the best in the country. It's always a
pleasure to visit SE Florida, especially in February and March, and
especially if you can fly in and out of Ft. Lauderdale and avoid the
Miami airport.

http://findnsave.washingtonpost.com/...nt-Food/10135/

I don't see any huge bargains there compared to Publix and the steak
they are bragging about is $2 a pound more than what Publix puts it on
sale for.

I said I noticed the prices were higher in Publix than in Giant.
Obviously there is much fluctuation in prices from week to week. When we
moved to Florida, though, I noticed that food prices were here, as were
car and homeowners insurance prices. Perhaps that was the impact of Andrew.


I would agree about insurance prices, simply because we have more
hurricanes. Personally that is not a big deal for me because I don't
buy wind and flood but it is a significant cost for people who have
mortgages. Your insurance bill can be almost as much as your mortgage.
(why the lady next to me defaulted on her house)

I do all the food shopping here and when I compare it to shopping on
the road, the difference is pretty insignificant. It may just depend
on what you buy. They are going to mark some things up and price lead
on other things but in an international marketplace, food cost is
pretty constant at the wholesale level. Transportation cost may make
things higher if you are really out in the boonies but Publix
distributes from Lakeland (Tampa) or Miami, where the imports come
in.

A lot of our produce is actually local at the right time of year.



SE Florida is what they use for the example of what they don't want to
happen here when they build. I have no opinion about it but to say I
passed on a transfer there a year before this became available.,
There are 3 places in Florida I would never consider moving to. Miami/
Ft Lauderdale/WPB corridor, Orlando or Jacksonville and they seem to
be your favorites. No wonder you have such a low opinion of Florida.
You chose the worst **** holes then bitch about your choices.

I like the SE Florida area for lots of reasons. I used to go to Orlando
for the Disney/Sea World/ et cetera attractions, not for Orlando. We
spent time in Jacksonville because it was convenient at the time, with
really good direct air service to DC and reasonably convenient for my
wife when she was getting her Masters in Science. I never said I liked
the Jacksonville area, other than the good fishing, boating and
uncrowded beaches and the flora and fauna.


I am 15 minutes from an international airport so that is not an issue
for me.
You will have a hard time finding a less crowded beach than Lovers Key
and that is a 20 minute boat ride. Most of the beach is most easily
reached by boat so you can usually have about a half mile of it to
yourself for most of the year.
Even in the season, when people are willing to hike out to the remote
parts, you are still going to be a hundred yards or more from the
closest other person.
The "good boating and fishing" is plenty of reason for me to be here,
if there was nothing else and I don't even fish.



The beaches in and around Jacksonville were amazingly uncrowded. We used
to boat a little north of the St. Johns River mouth to Nassau Sound,
where there were beautiful exposed sandbars at low tide, perfect for
swimming in the channels between them, and beaches with heavy foliage
along Big Talbot Island State Park. Hardly anyone there. Even Jax
beaches were pretty uncrowded back in those days. I don't know what
they're like these days. Oh...and St. Augustine had some uncrowded
beaches, too. Still does, I've been told.