98COBRA281
10 Year Member
yeah florida sucks... i live on the east coast... 4 miles from the beach, and havent been there in 3 years, to many paople, FLORIDA SUCKS!!!!!
Pics of my '01 yellow "wyldpny"
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Damn.....you just convinced me to pack up and move to PR with your last post there 
Eh, i kinda like New England. I'd miss the snow and the foilage
Eh, i kinda like New England. I'd miss the snow and the foilage
SaleenGT2001
Well-Known Member
i thought your car was a show car saleen 
i have the custom chipped paint look
98COBRA281
10 Year Member
Stark77
Member
Jacksonville, FL here - and this is one of the cheapest nice towns to live in here in FL. None of the south Florida wise guys and no snowbirds. Beach, river, no tourists - just a major business/port/shipping/financial town. Cheap property taxes with MUCH LESS poverty, crime, and economic/social disparity than in PR. Everything is cheap in Puerto Rico, especially life - check out the national crime rates/murder stats.
Unless you have actually been in the country side of PR and lived here for more than a visit, how can you really talk about what PR is like compared to other places?
As for crime stats in PR, keep in mind that they are based on the city of San Juan and San Juan is NOT the entire Island. Plus we are on the other side of the island on top of that. That would be the same as using the crime stats from Boston MA and then tossing in the country side of VT and NH or using the crime stats from Miami and tossing in areas like Jacksonville with it.
Like I said, my wife had relatives in FL for many years who we visited quite often, sometimes for up to a month at a time, and most recently her aunt passed away who lived in Seminole which is a very nice area. So I am very familiar with both the out in the "country" parts of Florida as well as the big cities like Tampa and Miami and also the smaller places like Clearwater, Indian Rocks, etc I have also been on the other side of FL in the Jacksonville, Atlantic Beach, Orange Park, Green Cove and around the lakes and even down to Daytona Beach. I would agree that Jacksonville is a bit nicer than further down near Tampa or Orlando it is not even close to what you experience in any part of PR once you get even a few miles away from San Juan.
I heard Jacksonville was considered the bottom end of Georgia which could explain part of why it is nicer than many parts of Florida. But it is in the most northern part of Florida near the Florida and Georgia border so you certainly don't experience the 85 degree all year 'round weather like we do in PR
San Juan suffers from the same problems that places like Miami suffer. It is not only a large congested city but it is also a port, so they have both city crime and port/drug problems just like Miami does. I would however not be so niave as to tag Miami crime onto the rest of Florida would be silly and make no sense so to tag San Juan crime onto the rest of PR is just as silly.
You say you consider your property taxes cheap, based on? I bet it is still pretty high compared to many other states and areas in the U.S.
Remember, I pay NO property taxes. Just think of all the extra things you could do with the money you pay every year in Jacksonville, no matter how inexpensive you feel they are
You say everything is cheap in Puerto Rico, especially life? Just curious what your basing that statement on?
I would agree and have already stated that many things are less expensive in Puerto Rico, and I would say that life here is very laid back and relaxed, not cheap. I think PR is today what Florida was back 25 to 30 years ago or more. It is said that PR may become the next Florida. A nice warm relaxed place to retire to. I hope that doesn't happen any time soon as we are certainly enjoying relaxing and living in one of the best kept secrets of the U.S. and it's territories
Damn.....you just convinced me to pack up and move to PR with your last post there
Yes, it is very nice here. Calm, relaxed and very peacefull.
It never ceases to amaze me though how often I meet or hear from people who think PR is some crime infested, rocky dirt roads, backwards living, poverty stricken, poor crappy place to live. I get to the point of thinking that maybe I will stop trying to convince everyone I meet who thinks like that otherwise, and keep my mouth shut and allow them to keep thinking that. Thus leaving the unspoiled beauty and non touristy beaches we enjoy everyday all to those of us who are actually down here and know better
Well, I can say that I have lived in New England for 40 plus years, and yes the beauty of the fall foilage and the scenes of the newly fallen snow is something to marvel and enjoy. But I have also lived the past 40 years with below zero weather, freezing wind chill, snow storm after snow storm that constantly needs to be shoveled, slippery roads with both day and nite driving in treacherous weather for many brutal months followed sometime in maybe May or June with some nicer weather and then summers that are at best barely a few months long if your lucky before the fall chill hits once again followed quickly by more of the...Brrrr...
So yeah, those foilage days and beautiful winters are nice and all, but car cruises, meets and shows all year 'round and 85 warm degrees all year 'round with swimming in the warm ocean anytime of year is pretty nice now too.
If and when I might miss the in person sight of the fall foilage or a newly fallen snow, they are still only a plane ticket away
Steve
Stark77
Member
I based my statements on several figures - such as economics indicators that can be found on BLS.gov. If the dispersion of wealth in Florida was as drastic as it is in PR (ie: huge unemployment numbers, weak economic / avg wage data, and high metropolitan crime rates) then a blanket statement about the state of Florida would be well deserved. Situations like PR is currently in - especially given the higher than avg increases in prices coupled with decreases in tourism/ US importation - I would be very scared to live on an island with lots of poor, hungry people if I, myself, were doing well and had enough extra loot to drive around the city with my lambo doors up. Being as far away from San Juan as possibly is definitely a good way to circumvent that problem. However, the fact remains that regardless of how beautiful the island life is - it's isolated and the largest city/port/exit route in case of emergency is highly volatile and unsafe.
I live in south florida and the family has houses on both coasts. Naples (main one) and melbourne. I also go to school in Boca. I'm not a wise ass at all, and neither are my friends. All three cities are very nice. Melbourne doesn't really have all the snowbirds. Naples on the other hand is insane. Old people everywhere. Boca is full of rich Jewish people so there are alot of snobs there. But the plus side is I'm 45min away from moroso (still haven't gone though) Jacksonville is too big of a city for me. Can take 20 minutes or more just to get to the ocean.
EDIT: I spent some time in PR this summer and I can understand how people it is crime infested. Where I was every house had bars on the window, every cab driver had some sort of weapon. The cab driver I talked to said that some parts are nice but a lot of PR is crime infested and heavy into drug smuggling. Now Im not saying PR isn't a nice place because I am not one to judge. I haven't personally spent enough time there to come out with worthy statement. I was just stating some information our guide told us while he was ushering us around. Personally I had a good time there and IMO a lot of the people there drive insane, I would never own a nice car there.
EDIT: I spent some time in PR this summer and I can understand how people it is crime infested. Where I was every house had bars on the window, every cab driver had some sort of weapon. The cab driver I talked to said that some parts are nice but a lot of PR is crime infested and heavy into drug smuggling. Now Im not saying PR isn't a nice place because I am not one to judge. I haven't personally spent enough time there to come out with worthy statement. I was just stating some information our guide told us while he was ushering us around. Personally I had a good time there and IMO a lot of the people there drive insane, I would never own a nice car there.
LOL Sorry but San Juan is not highly volatile and unsafe.
Crime is pretty much limited to the large city as it is anywhere you would travel in the world, and to be quite honest I have been in San Juan and the police presence there is pretty nice and even in the big city you feel very safe. You have to remember that in the past 10 years or so San Juan has become a HUGE hub for tourists and much of the cruise ships all use San Juan as a hub. If crime was as bad as some people think I highly doubt you would continue to see the ever growing influx of tourists and cruise ships as you do here and it is only getting bigger.
Crime is not a PR thing, it is a people thing. Would you walk alone in a bad area of NY? How about Boston? Washington DC? Tampa?
And you don't think that some of the cab drivers in say NY don't have weapons? Seriously, how long were you here and what are you basing the comment "every cab driver" on? Having used the cabs a few times I can assure you that cab drivers having weapons is the exception and not the rule.
Oh yeah, the wrought iron bars on the windows, doors and other areas LOL. I always forget how those who don't know take those as thinking what they do. I guess if my wife and I hadn't known better when we first came here about the Spanish architecture we too probably would have been freaked out seeing many of the homes looking like they were prisons with all of the wrought iron bars over the windows and doors. PR is a Spanish first and then English and other places a far second in both being influenced by and speaking a language on the island, though many locals do know some English many are Spanish speaking only. The Spanish influence here is huge of course and if you knew any of the history of Spain you would understand much of the reason why the look of the architecture of the buildings with all of the classic wrought iron is the way it is. Bars on the windows though increasing your home security is more a bonus than a need as it is actually more a nod to the classic Spanish architecture design than specifically for security. Most of the newer homes built in the last 10 to 15 years though do not use much if any wrought iron in their home design. Our home is one example as it was recently renovated and all of the wrought iron bars and such were removed. It's just not the "in" thing anymore to have wrought iron bars all over your home.
As for fear of being seen as a rich person on an isolated island that is not a problem or a concern. Though San Juan is the largest port it is not the only one as there are many all over the island. Plus there are quite a few airports as well. There are three major airports with San Juan being the largest followed by a slightly smaller one in Ponce and then the one we use mostly located in Aguadilla.
Though San Juan is the largest port it is by far not the only one in PR as there are many all over the island. Plus there are quite a few airports as well. There are three major airports with San Juan being the largest followed by a slightly smaller one in Ponce and then the one we use most of the time located in Aguadilla.
Like I said, San Juan has become the hub for tourists and cruise ships that travel anywhere in the Caribbean.
There are quite a few retired Americans here, many having been here for many years and I have talked to quite a few in the last year or so. They all have similar stories of just how nice it is here and no one that I have talked to has had any fear of being somewhat wealthy on an island type of feel. There are many wealthy Puerto Ricans here also due to either being retired military or having worked in many of the large industries that are here over the years. One local guy that speaks no English that we bought our Suzuki Sidekick from owns a 95 GT Mustang that he has put a LOT of money into, so many locals do have money and it is really not as bad as many think here.
I have been to NY on many accassions over the years and I remember on one of my first trips trip where we took a cab and after the Taxi driver got done giving us his unasked for tips about being careful in NY for a few minutes I had the fear of New York thrown in me. After I got out of the cab and for the net few hours I was totally paranoid that every person was going to mug us, every person was going to kill us, etc
There are some really amazing cars down here and I am not just talking about late models either. PR is actually seen as one of a few places that is seen as a place where you can find vintage unrestored classic cars. I see vintage cars and trucks all the time and many are used as daily transportation. Any car show I go to I see some of the best classic cars I have ever seen with many being unrestored.
Take a look at a few of these pics from a recent Mustang show to prove that PR is actually a great place to own a "nice" car:
Stark77
Member
Sorry - it's going to take more than a picture of a car show to convince me that PR is safer than my neighborhood.
The I wasn't bashing the taxi cabs or anything. That comment was fact, not opnion. Every comment I said you seemed to compare with NY. I have never been there so I could care a less if you comare the two. I was just stating what I saw and experienced. I've spent a week there at a single time and also went through PR as a port on a cruise. I never said that there wen't any nice cars there. I said I would never own or put money into a nice car there because 90% of the people there are crazy ass drivers. I rode through PR and went to the rain forrest and almost got in 4 accidents on a 30min ride. Reckless driving in America has **** on some of the people in PR haha. Just my 2 cents
oxfordgt
Member
The biggest problem I would have with living in PR is there are too many peurto ricans there. Dealing with my wife and here family is about all I want to put up with. My father in law was born and raised in PR and he says it sucks and crime is terrible. He and his family moved out of there as soon as they could.
Oh he hates the vertical doors too.
Oh he hates the vertical doors too.
Well, being that it is Puerto Rico...go figure
If he grew up and/or lived in the city years ago he was probably very lucky to be able to move out of there
To each his own
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