We were very excited to move to Florida and we thought everyone in Florida would be excited that we selected them! We were headed south to be one of them and believed they would be happy and welcome us into the Florida brotherhood.
That didn't happen.
Other transplants were welcoming. For Florida natives and residents who had been in Florida for decades? They weren't as friendly.
Many of these communities were small dusty orange groves not that long ago. And they have watched as their wilderness has been paved over and huge housing tracks grown. Their infrastructure is stressed, the roads are overloaded, the lines are long, and the services are consumed. And its all these newcomers that are to blame.
We have read the responses. "We are full, go home". If you mention anything positive about where you came from (like, we need a Kosher deli), the response is "if you liked things from where you came from, go back there", The bad drivers are always northerns. Wild animals in the neighborhoods is because outsiders are stealing all their land and pushing the wild animals out of their nature habitats. And, the demands of the newcomers is making everything unaffordable for the native Florida residents.
For a while, 1000 people per day were moving to Florida. The number now isn't that high, but it is still very high. All those people need housing and services. Unfortunately, Florida couldn't build housing fast enough. Even though there is continual road building and road expansion - it is never enough to keep up with expanding traffic.
A while ago, I needed to get some blood work done for my doctor. I had to wait for three weeks to get an appointment because the lab's schedule was packed. Every time I go to the lab, it is standing room only in the waiting room. These services can not keep up with all the demand.
We have a local car dealership. Anytime we set up an appointment to get service done on our car, we show up and they try to convince us to go someplace else. The dealership was not designed for the amount of demand it is receiving. That is leaving the customers upset because they can't get service.
This growth didn't happen over a long period of time. The growth has been explosive. One of the largest farms in my area recently sold to make room for thousand of houses. Meanwhile, a neighboring piece of land is putting up houses by the hundreds. What was once Florida wilderness a few months ago, is now streets and houses.
Coming to Florida might answer a long held dream for you, and you might be very excited. Just be careful expecting others to be as excited for you when you arrive. It was a big surprise for us.
