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“One of the first things they say is, ‘I don’t want to be in one of them X or Y political party neighborhoods,’” Desautels said. “I spend hours listening to people vent to me about fleeing the communist government of XYZ and they want to come to freedom or whatever. So the politics have been the biggest issue when we get the call.”

What’s so weird about the article is 3 of the 4 people leaving describe themselves as conservative, but the state is just too batshit for them. And they all seem confused by it

Imagine moving to Florida and being surprised by hurricanes.

I grew up there. I always, always hated living in FL. I fled that shithole 15 years ago. The only thing I ever appreciated was the natural beauty, and every time I go back to visit, they paved over more of it.

The lady from Ct made me laugh “I didn’t expect it to be 100 at night”..lady you moved there for the weather.

Too often cities push for real estate flipping be ause it means more tax revenue. Any land near the beach is under threat of imminent domain seizure because it's now legal for a city to sell that land to private developers for a tower of condos and tax revenue instead of the 2 bedroom home that used to be there. Police just seize anything they want from motorists. Insurance prices are insane, I could not afford windstorm Insurance for the 1st time in my life. Auto insurance per year costs more than my car is worth. Beaches have started charging 30.00 to park to keep people away allowing the rich residents a more private beach.

The worst part is the lack of affordable housing....all the while half the condos on the beach are empty because rich snowbirds only use them a month out of the year.

This whole state has become a POS

That's the problem with decades of "fuck the poor" policies. Eventually, people will suddenly realize that they aren't in fact, "temporary embarrassed millionaires." They will find out that the policies they've been conned into supporting are specifically targeted at hurting them, and will drive them to utter destitution if not to the grave. The only good news is that these far right policies will do so much damage and cause so much pain that it will inevitably create the circumstances for its collapse.

She was already considering a move out of the state when she was told by her homeowners insurance company that she would need to replace her home’s roof because it was older than four years or her insurance premium would be going up…

Is this normal in Florida? You have to replace your roof every four years?

My parents were just telling me about a friend of theirs who moved back to Ohio... fucking Ohio... after discovering that retirement in Florida was terrible.

Yeah it must be pretty bad if Ohio and Kansas are looking better.

IDK why anyone is considering moving to FL with global warming picking up speed. Seems pretty foolish to me. This issue alone is enough to take it off my retirement list if places to live.

Florida is on a Gilead speed run, I don't predict good things will be happening there until they get their Christofascism problem under control.

she said the final straw was when she couldn’t find a surgeon to remove a 6-inch tumor from her liver that doctors warned could burst at any moment and lead to life-threatening sepsis. After being passed among doctors, she finally found one willing to remove the tumor. But when she called to schedule the surgery, her calls went unanswered and her messages weren’t returned. After months of trying and fearing for her life, she returned to Kansas to have the procedure done.

What's with Orlando doctors? Is this sort of experience common there?

and it was expensive, very expensive.”

People hear “no state income tax” and don’t read any further. Property taxes are high if you want to live anywhere civilized. For instance Ft Myers is 4.7%. Insurance is crazy, as noted in the article, and the state is not kind to aged retirees.

It’s a great state if you’re an independently wealthy Republican.

Imagine living in a tourist state and thinking it won't have the pitfalls associated with everything being catered to tourism.

They came to gentrify and were shocked, SHOCKED, to find there were already people living there.

I grew up here and swear to God I almost want to run for governor with the slogan "Make Florida Freaky Again" We are not built for this conservative imbalance. We have churches and strip clubs, a strong tradition of tolerance and acceptance of, well, freaks. Circus people, drag queens, swingers. I grew up hanging out with drag queens and old gay dudes in leather and punks and skinheads at the same concerts. And even our version of the absolute scourge of racism, while nasty as fuck, we don't really have as much geographic segregation, I've never lived in a "white" or "black" neighborhood, they are often majority one or the other but not homogeneous and it's block by block. It was way, way too violent when I was young but that had already gotten better before this sudden turn to the fascist side. How the fuck did we get here? How can anyone, with a straight face, say drag queens don't belong here? In two years a pivot from my kid's middle school teacher doing a drag performance at the teacher and student talent show, to this being an unimaginable affront, contributing to the delinquency of minors or something? What state do they think they are in? Go to Alabama, assholes. It's you who are destroying our heritage.

Sorry, this rant has been building a long time.