As a southerner and former Floridian I love the video. One correction though. most of Florida is not "at or below sea level". It is low elevation, sure. But it is not New Orleans.
Orlando is a great example. Lakes and low-lying land like Mike mentions, but you also get a decent number of sandy hills you'll see if you take the West Beltway or come in through the Turnpike. And there's a lot of hills in the panhandle near Tallahassee and the state lines.
Southern shore of TB, here. I live half-way up a ”ridge”, a dry green island on the map of a gulf (see what i did there?) of 100-year Flood Zone / plain and I’M six feet above “Gulf level”.
A little fun fact from this Florida man: There's a region in south central Florida that no one really ever talks about known as the Florida Heartland. This region is significantly more southern in culture than the coastal counties it is surrounded by. It consists of Highlands, Hardee, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, and DeSoto counties. Very sparsely populated with a focus on agriculture.
Agreed! US-17 and US-27 run n/s south through there... Used to be a fun way to get from SoFla to Orlando/Central FL, but all the traffic lights in 27 at Sebring and Avon Park are a left-down...
When you grow up in Florida, you only have three desires to go hiking for the first time see mountains for the first time and touch snow for the first time
I for one love North Carolina and thinking about going to South Carolina and I'm a native born Floridian. Born and raised in Miami. Lived 68 years of my 73 years in Florida
As someone who grew up in Florida, I’ll just tell you right now. Everyone loved hurricane season and by everyone I mean kids, if you were a student in high school middle school or elementary it meant no school for possibly two days to even two weeks. Getting an email from your school talking about how they would most likely be closed for the next three days was the pinnacle of childhood happiness.
We had snow days up north. We could count on them every year. I live in what once was a lazy agricultural town in FL, but developers came in and it’s suburbia now. But we’re still remote enough that we see people’s pit bulls running up and down the streets and the owners could care less.
2003 Champs, wachutakinbautboi 😂. Cuban transplant here & South Carolina and Alabama landowner so you all better watch out Cuz land so darn expensive in FL we moving up boiiiiii 😅.
Amen to that! They're clearing and building in N. Jax. faster than I can keep up with. The politicians who promote this "growth" won't be satisfied until we're packed in like sardines. I guess they have to have "growth" in order to receive their bribes and kickbacks.
Here in the Daytona Beach area they have built 10 new apartment complexes to completion in just under 3 years. They have started 6 more in the last month. Not to mention the abhorrent amount of housing developments that have gone up, seemingly overnight! Margaritaville, one of the biggest retirement communities in Volusia County started in 2017 alone has affected wildlife, and woodlands which are being completely destroyed!!
Y’all EVER been to Everglades City, Clewiston, Winter Haven, Polk County? The South is still very much in Florida. You just need to know where to look.
True, but the culturally Southern areas that far south are mostly in pockets and are sparsely populated compared to other areas from Central Florida on south.
Yes, thank you! I live in Willow Oak outside of Mulberry and Polk County. My grandmother is from North Florida and my grandfather was raised in Hillsboro county. We are some of the first settlers of Florida.
As a native of south Florida we think of different neighborhoods being completely different states (or countries). This one is the Dominican Republic and that one is Brooklyn.
@@icallbullsxxt Why lots to see, St. Augustine is great, Daytona beach great and JAX very very big.....Orlando is civilized and metropolitan, Tampa and don't forget the panhandle beaches as well.
@@rafaelj.benero4880 nothing great about Florida anymore, the up north trash has ruined it. And it's funny, first generation people born here actually think they're "Floridians."
Born and raised in Ocala (north central Fl). I love this state. It has some of the most scenic landscapes I've seen. Just driving down a country road with the big water oaks hanging over you can be beautiful.
I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I then moved to Georgia for 35 years. I have since retired back in Florida. I live in the middle of the state now. I think you did a great job describing Florida. I hate all the traffic with the snowbirds. Other than that, Florida is a great place to live!
I lived in south Florida most of my life then 12 yrs ago moved to outside of Atlanta, then just moved to Ocala this past summer 😊.Can't handle the cold in Georgia.
Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, too. Live in Leon County, between Tallahassee & Monticello, once known as Miccosukee, for the past 26 years. I would never move back to South Florida. I like my slow, quiet life now, surrounded by pine trees.
Southeast Florida is practically another country, especially Miami, even though it's always classified as Miami, Broward, and Palm Beaches. Those three counties are very different from the rest of the state and each other! It's getting a bit cramped down here, so the south is slowly migrating north. And thanks to all the migration from the wealthy Californians & New Yorkers / New Jersey, the cost of living is getting insane, which is very hard on the locals, forcing a lot to leave
Perfect I live wpb same house came 1977 notcso great here talk about middle and lower classes hirting. We are now seeing a homeless population coming to rise ... Miami and ft laud flooding constantly Florida crowded all over Florida cities😢
That’s as logical as saying North Carolina is a very unique state. North Carolina tends to have a lot of people from other places, especially in its major cities.
@@BrendanMcClelland Yeah okay I'm not going to put NC over Florida when it comes to cultural diversity. Our Hispanic and African-American population is actually filling NC up.
@@BrendanMcClelland And you're wrong. Florida is unique. Other than California, Texas, IL (Chicago), DC, NJ and New York, where else in America can you walk into a grocer store and only hear Spanish or Creole? Or Vietnamese? Those are 7 states that are unique because they offer something that the rest of the country does not experience a whole lot of.
@@thedirtybubble9613 for any grocery store where can hear Spanish or any foreign language for that matter, the grocery store would have to be a specialty store that specializes in ethnic groceries whether it’d be Hispanic, Asian, or whatever. If you walk into a more mainstream supermarket, then you’re bound to see plenty of people that speak English.
On the infrastructure topic, Florida is also one of two regions in the Western Hemisphere, and the only one in North America, that has a waterway that connects two coasts. One is the Panama Canal (connecting the Caribbean with the Pacific Ocean), and here, We have the Okeechobee Waterway which connects Fort Myers on the West Coast (Gulf of Mexico) to Stuart (Atlantic Ocean). The waterway even has five locks similar to the locks used in the Panama Canal.
the state of florida almost had 2 "pananma" canals check out "Cross Florida Barge Canal" part of the great new deal project to connect central florida gulf to atlantic
I’m from Orlando born and raised. Now I live in Atlanta Georgia. Florida is definitely different from the rest of the south. More people and major big cities. And I’m a BUCS fan for life. We love the BUCS in central Florida.
It’s rare to see a video done on a state that isn’t dominated by the person’s biases. You gave a very accurate, factual, informative, and unbiased assessment. Great video! Btw, it’s so true about the further north you go the more southern it gets and vice versa 😂😂😂.
That's because the panhandle shares a border with Alabama, Louisiana & Georgia. You can't get more southern than that! I was born & raised in St. Pete., we are anything but southern but we also aren't N.Y. either. We're basically non-descript suburbia
I've seen some others make comments like this, so I wanna make one too! You actually inspired me to take interest in highways a couple of years ago. Now, I'm a highway design intern at FDOT! Thank you for your interesting content over the years!
Excellent Video! North Florida - Jacksonville to Pensacola is The South. The I-4 corridor is tourist trap. South Florida is gateway to the Caribbean. Pockets of cultures - Cubans, Haitians, Jamaicans, and other Latin American and Caribbean island nations have their influence in South Florida.
I would bring The South down to Ocala, though that’s getting overrun by northerners. Ocala and a little bit southeast has ranches and horse country. Leesburg area attracts bass fishing enthusiasts. But out towards Ocala National Forest, it’s southern country folk.
@Bittagrit I agree. What alot of people don't understand is that Florida has alot of None Florida people in it. So when we people come they hear alot of people that's really not from Florida and think that's how Florida people talk. If a person call you country and you from Florida, they parents most definitely not from Florida. So Florida is the south it just got a little extra more seasoning in it than the rest of the south
I was 2 when we moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 1961. I love my state. Grew up with no air conditioning. Back then, it was paradise. Growing up at the beach was awesome
Moved up from the Keys in 62 to Hollywood when I was 6 months old. Lived in Broward County until I retired at 54 having worked for the Library system for 37 years. It was paradise and so were the Keys where my Grandparents still lived. Live in Palm Bay in Brevard County now and am watching the destruction due to out of control building just as I did in Broward. Time to move again😮
We moved to the Panhandle over a year ago. Otherwise known as Southern Alabama! It’s a mix here with southern attitudes and lifestyles, but has quite a bit of northern transplants like my family. We are proud to be Floridians!
I'm from Tennessee but I have vacationed a lot in Florida although it took some getting use to some of the people 😂 I love it there always had a great time
I was a refugee from Los Angeles in 2001 when I arrived here. I had little more than the shirt on back. Today I have a solid 18 year career as a safety pro a couple hundred grand in the bank and a beautiful 300k home. Thank you Florida I love you
Good for you man! I always tell people here that if are in bad shape financially in FL (and don’t have some disability etc) it’s probably because you are lazy
We moved to the Orlando area over a year ago and we love it. Such a mish mash of culture and languages. We lived in Atlanta for over 8 years and it doesn’t compare in quality of life as we have now. We are an hour either side of the coast to the beach, Miami is 3 hours if we want to take a cruise or we have our own port in port Canaveral. We enjoy the Orlando attractions during low peak seasons. Great place to raise your family, truly wish we would have came here years ago.
Someone is exaggerating. I'm from Clearwater and drive to Orlando every day it takes almost 2 hours, and that's leaving at 6 am. Even living in between Tampa Bay and the Gulf, it still takes me about 20 minutes to get to the Gulf, maybe 10 minutes to get to the Bay. The overpopulation and traffic conjestion is no joke. Not to mention the terrible drivers.
@@metallurgy3586 Yep. Only transplants, city slickers, etc. would love living in that Orlando shit hole. Native Floridians fucking hate the place. Seriously people, stop moving to Florida and GTFO. Especially if you're bringing your city slicker/left wing attitude with you (Generalizing, not any person here in particular).
I was born and have lived in Los Angeles, California, all 50 years of my life. Florida is a place that I truly regret never visited. 🐊💚 Thank you for this very comprehensive and to the point mini documentary. I loved this video to be honest and will have to watch it again. Florida has been in the back of the mind as a place to visit and maybe even to live since the mid 80's because of so many movies and TV shows just like so many other people out there probably have seen. Miami Vice (both the 80s era TV show and later the 2006 movie with Jaime Foxx/Colin Farrell), Florida Straights, Scarface, The Mean Season, The Heartbreak Kid, and seeing documentaries about Navy Flight 19, the Interstate 4 Dead Zone/Sanford mystery, so many different news segments over ther years about the Everglades, hearing about the bands Limp Bizkit and Maryiln Manson started there. I truly love those two bands, so much great heavy music. Also, there was one documentary about a former civil war military compound in Florida that is now a museum/historic landmark that is allegedly severely haunted. I don't remember the exact name of the facilty, just "Fort"... something and don't remember where in Florida it was, on the coast or inland. The thing that stuck my about the place was some of the people interviewed there absolutely 💯 swore there was repeated paranormal activity there. If anybody out there can float a prayer up to the heavens to convince God to allow me a window to leave because there is no human language that can properly articulate how bad I want out of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. No words other than "God, please." I would be VERY grateful to anyone out there as I have failed at obtaining God's permission. 💯🏁🏁🏁⭐️💔
I’m from TN and have lived in both Carolina’s and have family in Georgia and Kentucky, I’ve been all over the south and I have been living in Orlando since 07’ - confirming all of this my man! This was a interesting video and a fun watch, good work bro!
Nicely done! Lived in Florida since '63 (on/off) and you pretty much nailed it. I'm really excited about the high-speed rail. I took a short trip and it was amazing! Cleaner and nicer than flying these days. Biggest downfall is...the traffic...and it's only getting worse. Road construction is never ending..especially on the interstates.
Another reason why I love Florida we got all these cruise ports more than any other state in the country. Bringing revenue to hospitality,restaurant and hotel businesses, etc
Florida actually has the largest cruise port in the WORLD. Which is why Florida is a international state. Many people from other countries come Florida
The snowbird phenomenon is also why there are so many places in Florida with the word winter in the name. Places like Winter Park, Winter home, Winter Garden, Etc
Well done. I have lived in Florida for 30 of my 71 years, up here in North Central Florida and I think you have done a good job with the video and all your information is accurate. Nature will take back Florida some day, but for now, humanity is on a roll devouring natural Florida like a plague.
17:10 haha! typical florida driver! great video mike! as someone who was raised in florida, your description was apt. in fact, i grew up in orlando and dreaded the tolls. never realized how anomalous this was until i moved up north. consider me a new subscriber
I wasn’t expecting this to be an such an historical educational vid! I learned so much & I lived here for years. Never really wanted to be here. Came by default years ago following my mom after a divorce and living a military life. Very informative. Thanks!
Great vid Mike (as always)! You know I love Florida, and all of your FLA videos!! Florida is a miss-mash of cultures from around the US and the whole planet, and with global tourism destinations, a vast array of opportunities to experience them, from restaurants, sports, culture and more. I Uber'd in the 305 about a decade ago, and you get to live it first hand, meeting people from all over the world, both those who now call Florida home and those just visiting!
I live in the panhandle, and even in northern Florida we NEVER get snow. Almost 20 yrs old, and the only time it ever "snowed" here, it was ice. However, ice can freeze on the roads and cause schools to be canceled.
Im from New Smyrna Beach, Snowed over 1 inch in 1982-83 on christmas day. and it snowed about 15 yrs ago. Not that it stuck around for long, but it does/has snowed here
@@robbgnarly Hey, I'm from the Destin area in the Panhandle, and it's never really 'snowed' here, the most we'd get is little flakes of ice every decade or so. It's weird because you'd expect it to snow in Northern Florida as opposed to Western Florida where you are, but that shows how truly wonky and inconsistent Florida's weather is🤣.
It has snowed several times in Florida you was born in 04 so you wouldn't know anything about it, hell I barely know anything about it and I was born in the 80s, my dad told me it snowed one time so bad when I was a kid, until it was snowing in both north Florida and Central and even South Florida was getting a little bit of snow.
@@rdf4315 that's why I mentioned I was almost 20 😁. Also, the fact that you're in your 40s and your dad had to tell you how bad it snowed down here gives me the context to know that the storm was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Even so, I highly doubt it will happen again because global warming is making the weather even hot. Regardless my point still stands that as a Panhandle resident approaching adulthood, I have yet to see snow.
@@atnicole461 for one I'm in my mid 30s not 40s and yeah you might be right even though it has snowed a few times since then, I don't think we're going to ever see snow as bad as they saw it back in 89 or 90.
Lifetime Bucs fan here. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a Super Bowl in 2002 way before Tom Brady was a Buc. There's more Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans than Carolina Panthers fans. That's for sure.
Agreed. I think some younger people don't remember the 1st Super Bowl win, and they had to trade most of their best players the year after for money reasons, corporate greed, etc. They definitely were not the greatest again for a long time. Real, longtime fans know the frustration and disappointment we've had since the 70s orange creamsicle days.
I remember when the Bucs won their first game and the Tampa Tribune's front page was printed in orange ink. That's when the Bucs wore the cream- kinda peachy-orange uniforms. Those got dirty too easily and the Bucs' mamas fussed so they switched to red, grey and black. 💙. The Bucs have done much better since changing their colors but Tampa is a tough market, lots of "home town fans" from someone else's home town rather than Tampa. Tampa Bay is the water and no one actually lives there except maybe some boats.
I've been a Floridian and specifically a South Floridian for 65 years. Once upon a time we were mostly southerners and then came an influx of people from Michigan and Ohio. That was fine.And of course the Cubans were great too. And then came the pinheads from New York and New Jersey who insisted on having everything their way. Our once wholesome and kind southern state was changed for the worse.
2024 n this 2025 a lot of rude n crazy drivers can be seen almost every day. They are short temper people. When I mention about this to northern friends , respond is might be emotional depress from drug addition! …Well I haven’t mention them about those people , most drive expensive/ luxury cars!!! 😳😵💫💔😱
Oh yes, there was an Orlando before Micky & I-4. It had some traffic lights and a Waffle House-type diner or 2. Then along came Uncle Walt and we were all singing M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E. I was about 10 when the first prototype displays were exhibited. I was a teen when Magic Kingdom opened & we've loved it ever since. Even the airport MCO = Micky City Orlando! Same with BrighLine. None of that would be in FL without Uncle Walt and his vision.
@@paulathepoodlelover The Orlando airport is actually called MCO after Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy, who was tragically killed in a B-47 Stratojet crash near Downtown Orlando in 1957.
We once hired a young lady just arrived from California. She said she felt like she was living inside a zoo. She was half elated-half frightened at the amount and variety of wild life living free around us: iguanas, alligators, sea turtles, owls, ducks, bats, and a long list of birds, insects and snakes, all share our parks, beaches and roads. I have lived in South Florida for over 30 years, I find it very amusing and still take pictures of huge iguanas when I go out for my walks. Great video, btw!!
Yes and don't tell her that we also have Black bears, Wild hogs (very dangerous), Bobcats and Cougars (state animal) and a few other things she'd not like to have around.
My friend's girlfriend from Minnesota would always call the police anytime she saw a gator sunbathing on the bank of our pond in the back yard 😂 Chill out, they're like squirrels here
I've been a Florida snowbird from NYC for a couple of years now, and I have to admit that I am starting to hate migrating back to NYC in the spring. South Florida is definitely its own thing. It's urban yet sprawling. It's also rural country. It's tropical. It's Latino. It's super glamorous but also very destitute. It's vapid but also brimming with culture. It has lots of alligators. It's definitely a vibe that you don't experience anywhere else in the world.
Lived in co op city (Bronx) and moved to Deltona (Volusia county). Lived there 16 years....and encountered two people my family knew from NYC who had also moved there lol
As a Floridian, you cannot go half a mile without seeing a publix's or a dollar store. unless it is in the rural areas. Then you see a dollar store every one mile.😂
I still remember within the first hour of being in Chicago, and I saw on the Stevenson Expressway, which I took right at its north end at LSD, at least 5 cars immediately use the shoulder to get around the standstill traffic. I did see that before on portions of I-95 in Georgia and Virginia, but it was still amazing to see that happen when I had only just been introduced to Chicago.
As a Pinellas (Tampa Bay) resident I consider that maneuver amateurish. I would have gone for the gap between the cars in the center and the right lane.
I moved to Florida a couple years ago, and live in Lehigh Acres. I'm quite happy to be here, and any disparaging remarks are probably referring to Lehigh of a couple decades ago. I came from a smaller city up north where downtown was a strip of 4 blocks or so. For an area that "doesn't have a downtown", Lehigh sure has a lot of stores and offices on Homestead and Lee Blvd. And when Lee ends, it turns into Colonial Blvd in Ft Myers, yet more continuation of commercial businesses. Lehigh was one of the fastest growing areas in the entire country in 2019; it actually has a larger population than next door Ft Myers, although the latter probably swells to larger size during tourist season. I check the realtor pages just for fun, and Lehigh has just an absolutely endless number of new homes being built. In fact, they usually swamp the number of existing homes up for sale.
I’m a Floridian I’ve lived in St Augustine grew up in Miami … the more north you go in Florida the more southern it is.. south east Florida is a completely different place
btw. I just got home from a night outing in NE Florida. We were talking about how "cool" it felt after a hot day. I checked the temperature on the car dashboard when we got in and it was 88 degrees at 10:00PM and so humid your shirt looks like it came out of a washing machine when you take it off. That's what a "cool" Florida night is relative to other places. Also noticed that the grass grew two feet high in the last two days due to heavy rains from a hurricane followed by a blazing sun in steamy humidity all day and night. Never saw that happen anywhere else.
I live in South Florida and at 5am is 90 with 89% humidity... that's getting really old for me after being here 16 years from NJ. I can't take the heat and humidity as I get older, time to move on soon.
@@anthonyfp24 How well I know! I am in NE Florida thinking exactly the same thing! I had to flip the Accuweather calendar two months ahead until October to see some cooler weather.
I live in Orlando, and I used to live in Baton Rouge and Phoenix. I consider the Orlando area to be semi-southern. Parts north of the Orlando area feel more southern, while parts south of Orlando are less southern. The Miami / Ft Laudable area does not feel southern at all. The reason I call Orlando semi-southern is because it has a somewhat different feel than the rest of the South, but you can still find plenty of restaurants that serve sweet tea, grits, greens, and other Southern comfort foods.
Not even that. We still country af and talk with Country Slang. Allcthe hoods are Southern, so idk where this notion of Orlando do not being a Southern city came from.
@@StaticbeyfrmSemoranNahhh Orlando definitely isn’t a southern city, it’s 90% tourists and doesn’t have that same southern flare as the rest of the south.
Dont forget the lizards, Florida has so many lizards. it's truly unbelievable. Nearly every home has dozens loving around it. There are so many that littel grass islands in plaza parking lots have their own family of lizards that inhabit it. You can not qalk to your car without seeing one on a sunny day.
I forgot that people arent used to Lizards! When I koved down here as a kid it was the COOLEST!!!! what wasnt!!! Was standing in an ant pile and then 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 bit up! I'm OG from KY so there were only black ants there! Once you got hit by 8 or 9 ants all on ya!!! You WERE TAUGHT!!!!! cause it was a real lesson to learn! LMADO!
I love those little lizards even though I know some are not native species. They're cute and they eat mosquitoes and palmetto bugs and for that I am grateful.
I've loved living in FL for 27 years. Its a beautiful state with very nice people. And theres so much to do and enjoy. The weather is wonderful! I never want to live anywhere else. Nice video.
I was born and raised in Miami and currently live in Broward. Even though I doubt I'll ever move back, there's no place like home. That city is nuts! 😂
I moved from Scottsdale AZ to Clearwater FL a year ago and I love it here critters and all. I have acclimated to Florida I follow all Florida laws and living rules.. I didn’t bring my Scottsdale shit over here but I can’t say that for others moving here that’s why Floridians hate us transplants…
Well that's good to hear it's going to be up to you to keep all the other transplants in line, but I have a question since you've been living here for a while, is it hotter in Arizona or is it hotter in Florida?
@@NWGuyNWchallenger It's often brought to my attention that Texas & Florida aren't considered to be the "traditional South" like for example Georgia, N. Carolina/S. Carolina & Alabama are
I'm in Ft. Pierce, and I see both of those trees. The difference between the Live Oaks here, and those in South Florida, is that the Oaks in S. Florida have no Spanish moss hanging from them. Plenty of moss, here in E. Central Florida.
I watched this to see if I agreed with your conclusion, but I subscribed after watching the video because you did an absolutely amazing job on this video. Based on this, I'll watch anything you put together. Thanks for the hard work!
As a native Floridian I can give this 2 thumbs up. To answer the question is Florida southern or northern...the answer is a simple YES! 😁 Side note, we added some toll express lanes to the southern sections of I-295 across the St.
Texas and Florida are not the 'traditional" south. They are their own unique state/region. Texas is a mix of wild western/desert, bayou, lakes/prairies, and forests. Florida is pretty much exactly how you summed it up!
As a transplant from NYC living in Tally and having been to every city mentioned, in these last ten years, you're pretty much spot on with everything from what i can see lol. You don't realize a lot of these things until you've stayed long enough and/or traveled the state. Tallahassee was spot on too lol. A lot of ppl here for school and other things all agree, we did expect more from the capital. If it wasn't for FSU, FAMU and even TSC, the capital would definitely not, be as known as it is now.
Great video! Well done comparisons of cultures. Just one suggestion. In the extreme southeast Florida, I would recommend possibly’Latin-American’ with northerners because it’s not just the greater Miami area but also of the same ethnic populations from South America move north into the Ft.Lauderdale and some areas near West Palm Beach, or ‘Broward and Palm Beach counties. I see a lot of immigrants from South America including Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela just north of the Miami area not to mention the great cuisine from these countries. Thank you for sharing.
As a Port Saint Lucie resident you’re 100 percent right . Nothing to do here . You can buy a home right now for 450k that someone bought 3 years ago for 150k and did no upgrades .
I bet the owner never even stepped in it either, so many homes vacant from rich north birds who buy for investment. Yet Florida working resident gets no benefits. Everyone around my age want move out to NC
So true. I always thought of Palm Beach County as New York with palm trees, especially on I-95. The New Yorkers started out in Miami and then got pushed north by the Hispanics. When I moved to Florida forty years ago, I felt like I had landed in paradise. I still love it. I don't blame all the folks who move here and visit us here.
As a NY'er who had to live in that hell hole for 34 years, I'd always said I was born 20 years too late, 1,500 miles too far north. Compared to the northern states, Florida is DEFINITELY the South. However yes, it's not as southern as the rest of the Southeastern US. The one thing I love about Florida though, is the absolutely wide array of cultures. Latin, African American, White, Asian, and any other culture you can think of absolutely have a fingerprint on this state and for the most part, we make it work as the founding fathers intended, as a melting pot. Far more than Upstate NY EVER did. Am I a transplant from a shit hole state with a shit hole mindset? 100%. But am I more proud to call myself someone who got out and moved to a BETTER PLACE? YES. And I embraced it. I don't try to change it. I moved here FOR change, not to 'enact' change. And that's how EVERYONE who moves to Florida should do it too.
Very true!!! Don't come down to get away from BS and then try to change it to be like the BS you left. We are a FREE STATE and we like it that way. If you don't then GO HOME and take your BS with you.😊
Absolutely. As a natural born 47yo Floridian I’ve lived here most of my life. I’ve left a few times looking for work in other states and have always ended up coming back. Even though I’m of German and Irish ancestry, I love Florida’s Hispanic heritage. Probably why I ended up marrying a Latina woman and have been married to her for more than 25 years and had two beautiful children, a girl and a boy.
@garymixson687 As a person born and raised in Liberty City, I am with you as I tell my peers . I like red I love Florida red and we will keep it red as Gov DeSantis said : Woke dies here . Don't bring your liberal BS here from NYC or any other blue city or state. Buddy is obviously NOT from here
I’m Brazilian and I swear to God the Brazilians here in Florida travel in packs where I live there’s almost no Brazilians but if you go to either Orlando, Miami or Fort Lauderdale, you are in for a party
As a born and raised Florida native I had managed to never pay a toll until this year trying to get to the Panama City Beach, it was either $2 for a 5 minute bridge crossing or a 2 hour drive around the river to another free bridge.
As a Native lifelong resident of Florida. I can tell you that we would much rather deal with the occasional toll . Then a state income tax that takes a much bigger toll on our finances
A State Income Tax will never happen since it is forbidden in the Florida Constitution. By the way Toll Revenues are miniscule compared to all of the Sales Taxes & Fees you have to pay for everything else as a Resident.
Last winter I visited Florida for the first time. Most of my time was in Central Florida - I visited family in the Villages for a while and spent the rest of the time based out of Lakeland - and it struck me that everything was either very new and shiny (Villages is infamous for this) or kind of run-down. The visitor center at Homosassa Springs State Park was a memorable exception since it was obviously built in the '60s and just as obviously well-kept-up.
Very true about Jacksonville being the exception when it comes to toll roads in the large metros in Florida. It is also the least “touristy” of the large metros in the state. It used to actually have more toll roads and bridges but all tolls were removed in the late 1980s and for decades didn’t have any tolled facilities until, as shown in the video at 14:17, SR 23 (aka the First Coast Expressway) in the western part of the metro opened. That road BTW is part of a future multi-billion dollar outer “quarter” beltway around the southwestern quadrant of the Jax metro that will cross the St. John’s River and eventually connect to I-95 in northern St. John’s county by the early 2030s. The section from the current end of SR 23 to near the St. John’s River is expected to open in 2025.
I lived in Jax when they took out the tollbooths on the downtown bridges, 295 across the St. John's and 202 (Butler Blvd) in favor of a 1/2 cent sales tax increase. Before that, there were HUGE backups at all the tollboths in the morning going into downtown and in the afternoon leaving downtown. It was a welcome relief when they were gone for anyone who worked downtown or who lived Eastside but worked Westside or vice versa.
I am from the panhandle and I am a southerner through and through.recently worked in southern Florida and everyone I met was a transplanted northerner. Southern hospitality is alien to them. So, I really liked it when you divided the state into north and south. I grew up hearing northerners referred to as Yankees and the ones that moved to FL as damn Yankees😎. I am from and still live in Panama City FL
Don't paint us all with the same brush. I've been in Ft Lauderdale all my adult life and I'm polite and kind to others. I do see a lot of 💩 people here, though they come from many places. The ones who come and complain and make trouble we refer to as carpetbaggers.
@@xoxxobob61 Want to bet on that? I live in Tallahassee and see droves of people moving here from Miami-Dade and Broward county. Myself included. Also, Gainesville and Jacksonville are absorbing a lot of south Florida residents. For the last 20-25 years, Miami has changed for the worse.
Interesting and informative video. My family has been here since the 1850's just east of the Tampa area. It is sad to see all the of the migration that has come here in the past 10-15 years.
The difference is 100 years ago Florida was the least populated state in the Southeast. Now, it has more population than the 2nd Georgia and 3rd North Carolina combined, and still the state with highest in migration. Hell, in 2022 Florida had 40,000 more deaths than births and still managed to add 444,000 in a single year. Thats an insane amount of growth.
Insane growth because the state is seriously overcrowded and has looming environmental problems like rising sea levels and diminishing fresh water tables.
Dude, I grew up here, and the water level on the seawall of my childhood home is still the same. Hasn't changed in the 60 years that ive been alive!@stephenpowstinger733
@@nathanstuart3677 More like people keep moving here instead! In 1970 Florida had 6 Million people & today that is the population of Metro Miami! The State's Population has nearly Quadrupled in the past 50 years.
Florida is a really interesting states. Don’t know I could personally live there. Spent the last week down in Key West. Flight from CLT got canceled with Debby so I got a rental car and drove the 14 hours in one day straight down 95. It was a longgg drive.
The big difference in my mind, is Florida (the coastal peninsular part) is run by real estate developers and their crony friends, Florida politicians. Its what drives the economy here. There's little industry or employment here that isn't related to real estate development.
I'm so happy it finally snowed here, as a 17 year old living in Florida, I'm pretty sure that made history and I was able to live through it, crazy. Also I thought throughout this video was "hmm, yes where I live.. everywhere is like this.. right?"
Native SW Floridian here. We are still southern, and I can prove it. Just go inland. My husband's family is from LaBelle, theyve been there for generations. You don't get more Southern than that. Can't judge the whole state because of its visitors.
1)As a born, raise, and still resident of Florida, you nail it Mileage Mike on why Florida is different from the rest of the South. 2)I still consider Florida part of the South despite the amount of transplants from the North. That could be because personally, I don’t relate to other regions in the US outside of the South. -Lifelong Cocoa, FL resident
@@marknewton6984 Not really, Central is definitely Northern. I live in the sticks in CFL and it’s 95% northern. Orlando is not southern. Not Brevard. Not Osceola. Not Lake. Not Polk. Not Volusia. Maybe you’re just in a very rural area.
@@TitaniumTurbine I live in Tampa. The parts of Central Florida that are culturally Southern are generally sparsely populated. A lot of Central Florida, especially Orlando and the coastal areas, definitely leans northern from a cultural standpoint.
I'd say, just because it's an older culture,that's still outdoorsy. Louisianas is. For example a gator tour in Florida would be looked at as Southern even if the tour guide was a transplant from the north,or someplace
Besides Louisiana's French/Cajun culture like in New Orleans how much of that culture dominates the rest of the state? Most of that state was settled by other Southerners while Florida was not.
As a resident of Cape Coral for 20 years, it's beautiful here. Yes, we see our fair share of Hurricanes 🌀. Ian left a memory that I will never forget. What followed after was amazing and heartwarming. The folks came together as one family to rebuild our beautiful piece of paradise. Florida is not for everyone, though, and that is fine. As for me, I hate the cold. I love Florida. It is gorgeous here. I love our colorful scenery as well as all its fine folks. Best place for a Colada and latin foods. The latin community is a beautiful one. I'm a man who loves a variety of amazing cultures. Get a SunPass folks. It's the best way to travel throughout the state. Have a wonderful visit or enjoy your new home. It's gorgeous here.
As a southerner and former Floridian I love the video. One correction though. most of Florida is not "at or below sea level". It is low elevation, sure. But it is not New Orleans.
Orlando is a great example. Lakes and low-lying land like Mike mentions, but you also get a decent number of sandy hills you'll see if you take the West Beltway or come in through the Turnpike. And there's a lot of hills in the panhandle near Tallahassee and the state lines.
I’m happy I live near a beach, at 13 feet above sea level. It floods by the Indian River.
Southern shore of TB, here. I live half-way up a ”ridge”, a dry green island on the map of a gulf (see what i did there?) of 100-year Flood Zone / plain and I’M six feet above “Gulf level”.
I was surprised by the number of hills just west of Orlando
OHH SO YOU LEFT US alright well bless your.. Lolz
A little fun fact from this Florida man: There's a region in south central Florida that no one really ever talks about known as the Florida Heartland. This region is significantly more southern in culture than the coastal counties it is surrounded by. It consists of Highlands, Hardee, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, and DeSoto counties. Very sparsely populated with a focus on agriculture.
Yep all down US27 past Hanies City
I think I’ve been to the okechobee
is that where Sebring is, where there is nothing but a racetrack and orange trees??
Agreed! US-17 and US-27 run n/s south through there... Used to be a fun way to get from SoFla to Orlando/Central FL, but all the traffic lights in 27 at Sebring and Avon Park are a left-down...
Indeed. Shout out from Polk! Close the damn border!!!
When you grow up in Florida, you only have three desires to go hiking for the first time see mountains for the first time and touch snow for the first time
Speak for yourself. Not my desires.
@ do you just hate the cold or smth 💀
Hah just got back from the mountains, moving to Florida for the Scuba diving now.
lol we had alot of snow back in 1980s in Miami im older i stay away from that stuff but agree with mountains and hiking does go with mountains
I for one love North Carolina and thinking about going to South Carolina and I'm a native born Floridian. Born and raised in Miami. Lived 68 years of my 73 years in Florida
As someone who grew up in Florida, I’ll just tell you right now. Everyone loved hurricane season and by everyone I mean kids, if you were a student in high school middle school or elementary it meant no school for possibly two days to even two weeks. Getting an email from your school talking about how they would most likely be closed for the next three days was the pinnacle of childhood happiness.
😂
Haha yup
Hell yeah! As a current Junior in high school down in here in West Palm/ Loxahatchee i can vouch for this
We had snow days up north. We could count on them every year. I live in what once was a lazy agricultural town in FL, but developers came in and it’s suburbia now. But we’re still remote enough that we see people’s pit bulls running up and down the streets and the owners could care less.
It's our version of "snow days", lol. As a teacher in S. FL, I can tell you we are just as excited for those days off as the kids are. 😉
There are many lifetime Buccaneers fans here in Florida, thank you. And they have been a team longer than the Carolina Panthers and Jax Jags.
God. Bless. Evans.
Hurt your feelings huh?? Lol
@supapsych191 No, just correcting an inaccuracy. If my feelings were hurt, I would have brought up our 2 Super Bowl wins. Hahaha
Go Bucs Go ... Go Bolts Go ... !!!!!
2003 Champs, wachutakinbautboi 😂. Cuban transplant here & South Carolina and Alabama landowner so you all better watch out Cuz land so darn expensive in FL we moving up boiiiiii 😅.
As a lifelong native, I am sad to see Florida quickly losing its wilderness to development.
Amen to that! They're clearing and building in N. Jax. faster than I can keep up with. The politicians who promote this "growth" won't be satisfied until we're packed in like sardines. I guess they have to have "growth" in order to receive their bribes and kickbacks.
@@LCCB Developers own our state government.
Losing both wilderness and farm land!
Here in the Daytona Beach area they have built 10 new apartment complexes to completion in just under 3 years. They have started 6 more in the last month. Not to mention the abhorrent amount of housing developments that have gone up, seemingly overnight! Margaritaville, one of the biggest retirement communities in Volusia County started in 2017 alone has affected wildlife, and woodlands which are being completely destroyed!!
I agree Florida is going to lose its wilderness. Period. Look at the Everglades and Key West over the years.
Y’all EVER been to Everglades City, Clewiston, Winter Haven, Polk County? The South is still very much in Florida. You just need to know where to look.
True, but the culturally Southern areas that far south are mostly in pockets and are sparsely populated compared to other areas from Central Florida on south.
Yes, thank you! I live in Willow Oak outside of Mulberry and Polk County. My grandmother is from North Florida and my grandfather was raised in Hillsboro county. We are some of the first settlers of Florida.
Polk County standing up to say we are still Southern.
Polk county here. Believe it or not we are getting roughly a thousand people a day moving in. Why? I have no idea 😂 but I’m glad to be a Floridian
@@TFLA995ha! I use to live on shady lane, off Bailey 🤣
As a native of North Florida we think of South Florida as a completely different state.
As a native of south Florida we think of different neighborhoods being completely different states (or countries). This one is the Dominican Republic and that one is Brooklyn.
I'm in Central Florida and I often feel that this region, South Florida and Southwest Florida are effectively in a different state from North Florida.
As a native of south FL, i hate going north of palm beach county
Thanks!¡!
@@icallbullsxxt Why lots to see, St. Augustine is great, Daytona beach great and JAX very very big.....Orlando is civilized and metropolitan, Tampa and don't forget the panhandle beaches as well.
I'm a transplant, I've been living in the Great State of Florida for the last 10 years...and I LOVE IT!!!...
@@rafaelj.benero4880 nothing great about Florida anymore, the up north trash has ruined it. And it's funny, first generation people born here actually think they're "Floridians."
Go home lmao jk
Go back
Born and raised in Ocala (north central Fl). I love this state. It has some of the most scenic landscapes I've seen. Just driving down a country road with the big water oaks hanging over you can be beautiful.
Did that in September US Hwy 27 from Ocala to High Springs. The oaks over the highway & the rolling pastures were really beautiful on that sunny day.
I hope you stay there forever and never leave...😊😅
Racehorse capital of the south.
@dondebomm6329 not anymore. With all the gas stations and car washes, there horses that maybe challenged
I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I then moved to Georgia for 35 years. I have since retired back in Florida. I live in the middle of the state now. I think you did a great job describing Florida. I hate all the traffic with the snowbirds. Other than that, Florida is a great place to live!
Totally agree! Even with the snow birds our traffic is still less than I have dealt with in many other areas of our country!!
And they suck at driving...Ormond By The Sea here...now in Jax for job. Want to go back.
I lived in south Florida most of my life then 12 yrs ago moved to outside of Atlanta, then just moved to Ocala this past summer 😊.Can't handle the cold in Georgia.
Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, too. Live in Leon County, between Tallahassee & Monticello, once known as Miccosukee, for the past 26 years. I would never move back to South Florida. I like my slow, quiet life now, surrounded by pine trees.
@@m_christine1070 Ocala here too lol. Originally Hollywood
Southeast Florida is practically another country, especially Miami, even though it's always classified as Miami, Broward, and Palm Beaches. Those three counties are very different from the rest of the state and each other! It's getting a bit cramped down here, so the south is slowly migrating north. And thanks to all the migration from the wealthy Californians & New Yorkers / New Jersey, the cost of living is getting insane, which is very hard on the locals, forcing a lot to leave
Perfect I live wpb same house came 1977 notcso great here talk about middle and lower classes hirting. We are now seeing a homeless population coming to rise ... Miami and ft laud flooding constantly Florida crowded all over Florida cities😢
💯🎯💯
Yep, native floridians are being pushed out of their homes. Can it even be called florida then, if there's no floridians.
Palm beach county is a soul less place that only cares about the old money families.
It’s called Gentrification.
Florida is a very unique state. It's full of everyone from everywhere.
That’s as logical as saying North Carolina is a very unique state. North Carolina tends to have a lot of people from other places, especially in its major cities.
@@BrendanMcClelland Yeah okay I'm not going to put NC over Florida when it comes to cultural diversity. Our Hispanic and African-American population is actually filling NC up.
@@BrendanMcClelland And you're wrong. Florida is unique. Other than California, Texas, IL (Chicago), DC, NJ and New York, where else in America can you walk into a grocer store and only hear Spanish or Creole? Or Vietnamese? Those are 7 states that are unique because they offer something that the rest of the country does not experience a whole lot of.
@@thedirtybubble9613 for any grocery store where can hear Spanish or any foreign language for that matter, the grocery store would have to be a specialty store that specializes in ethnic groceries whether it’d be Hispanic, Asian, or whatever. If you walk into a more mainstream supermarket, then you’re bound to see plenty of people that speak English.
@@thedirtybubble9613 I’m sure every US state is unique in some form or another. Of course, there are different levels of uniqueness.
On the infrastructure topic, Florida is also one of two regions in the Western Hemisphere, and the only one in North America, that has a waterway that connects two coasts. One is the Panama Canal (connecting the Caribbean with the Pacific Ocean), and here, We have the Okeechobee Waterway which connects Fort Myers on the West Coast (Gulf of Mexico) to Stuart (Atlantic Ocean). The waterway even has five locks similar to the locks used in the Panama Canal.
the state of florida almost had 2 "pananma" canals check out "Cross Florida Barge Canal" part of the great new deal project to connect central florida gulf to atlantic
I’m from Orlando born and raised. Now I live in Atlanta Georgia. Florida is definitely different from the rest of the south. More people and major big cities. And I’m a BUCS fan for life. We love the BUCS in central Florida.
It’s rare to see a video done on a state that isn’t dominated by the person’s biases. You gave a very accurate, factual, informative, and unbiased assessment. Great video! Btw, it’s so true about the further north you go the more southern it gets and vice versa 😂😂😂.
That's because the panhandle shares a border with Alabama, Louisiana & Georgia. You can't get more southern than that! I was born & raised in St. Pete., we are anything but southern but we also aren't N.Y. either. We're basically non-descript suburbia
Not really accurate but OK whatever. Everglades City, Clewiston, Winter Haven, Polk County? The South is still very much in Florida.
@@joyceellis9722 Not really accurate because there are a few exceptions? Interesting.
Mississippi not Louisiana
Florida boating culture is like no other from pensacola to key west. Boating is also heavily popular in the interiors too with the rivers.
You forgot all of the chains of lakes that we have inland in Florida.
Ahh yes Swaper boats with jumpin Gator
We are called New Venice also because of all the canals.
I've seen some others make comments like this, so I wanna make one too! You actually inspired me to take interest in highways a couple of years ago. Now, I'm a highway design intern at FDOT! Thank you for your interesting content over the years!
Excellent video! Lived in Fl since 84 except a couple of out of state moves. Always back ASAP. LOVE FL❤
Very nice job with the video, describing my home state of Florida is an almost impossible task that could easily be a documentary/miniseries.
I’m a transplant and I get excited every time I run into a born and raised Floridian; they are rare. Thank you for having me ❤❤❤
7th Generation Floridian here. You'll find this to be more common in North Florida
Boo! 👻🌞❤️
Born and raised Floridian here and I wouldn’t change that for the world. I love it here. Only thing missing is some mountains 😂
We aint that rare
Wait born and raised floridians is rare dang
The Cuban Sandwich originated in the Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City.
Yes & those are the absolute best! Or Carmine's for deviled crab rolls. Yum.
YAH AND IT WAS MAded by A mafia Resturant
REALLY ? IT didn't originate in CUBA ?
SO WHY didn't they call it an YBOR SANDWICH ?
Because it was Cuban immigrants in Ybor City that created it.
Just had one at La Segunda.
Excellent Video! North Florida - Jacksonville to Pensacola is The South. The I-4 corridor is tourist trap. South Florida is gateway to the Caribbean. Pockets of cultures - Cubans, Haitians, Jamaicans, and other Latin American and Caribbean island nations have their influence in South Florida.
Good summary
Best explanation
Facts
I would bring The South down to Ocala, though that’s getting overrun by northerners. Ocala and a little bit southeast has ranches and horse country. Leesburg area attracts bass fishing enthusiasts. But out towards Ocala National Forest, it’s southern country folk.
@Bittagrit I agree. What alot of people don't understand is that Florida has alot of None Florida people in it. So when we people come they hear alot of people that's really not from Florida and think that's how Florida people talk. If a person call you country and you from Florida, they parents most definitely not from Florida. So Florida is the south it just got a little extra more seasoning in it than the rest of the south
I was 2 when we moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 1961. I love my state. Grew up with no air conditioning. Back then, it was paradise. Growing up at the beach was awesome
Moved up from the Keys in 62 to Hollywood when I was 6 months old. Lived in Broward County until I retired at 54 having worked for the Library system for 37 years. It was paradise and so were the Keys where my Grandparents still lived. Live in Palm Bay in Brevard County now and am watching the destruction due to out of control building just as I did in Broward. Time to move again😮
We grew up without AC, too. It was fans and open doors & windows. Mom had AC installed after I went off to college at Stetson LOL
@@JamesStalnaker-z2pYo me too. 😂
We moved to the Panhandle over a year ago. Otherwise known as Southern Alabama!
It’s a mix here with southern attitudes and lifestyles, but has quite a bit of northern transplants like my family. We are proud to be Floridians!
As a Floridian thank you for complementing our state
Even though we are Culturally different in parts of Florida we do have a very beautiful State!
Thanks for the info!
Lolz
Florida is the greatest state in the USA.
I'm from Tennessee but I have vacationed a lot in Florida although it took some getting use to some of the people 😂 I love it there always had a great time
I was a refugee from Los Angeles in 2001 when I arrived here. I had little more than the shirt on back. Today I have a solid 18 year career as a safety pro a couple hundred grand in the bank and a beautiful 300k home. Thank you Florida I love you
Good for you man! I always tell people here that if are in bad shape financially in FL (and don’t have some disability etc) it’s probably because you are lazy
Cool story, Bro!
Good. Just don't go voting democrap
The Southeast economies grow out the ceiling. Good for biz!
Wow! This is really inspiring. I'm sure your 18yr journey wasn't easy but ANYTHING is possible. Thank you.
We moved to the Orlando area over a year ago and we love it. Such a mish mash of culture and languages. We lived in Atlanta for over 8 years and it doesn’t compare in quality of life as we have now. We are an hour either side of the coast to the beach, Miami is 3 hours if we want to take a cruise or we have our own port in port Canaveral. We enjoy the Orlando attractions during low peak seasons. Great place to raise your family, truly wish we would have came here years ago.
Someone is exaggerating. I'm from Clearwater and drive to Orlando every day it takes almost 2 hours, and that's leaving at 6 am. Even living in between Tampa Bay and the Gulf, it still takes me about 20 minutes to get to the Gulf, maybe 10 minutes to get to the Bay. The overpopulation and traffic conjestion is no joke. Not to mention the terrible drivers.
Please leave. We don't want yall here. We're over capacity
Raised in florida but left for Atlanta years ago. I everytime i come back for family i feel like moving back.
Oh, gawd - as an almost-lifelong Floridian, I hate Orlando! Too much traffic, crime, etc.
@@metallurgy3586 Yep. Only transplants, city slickers, etc. would love living in that Orlando shit hole. Native Floridians fucking hate the place. Seriously people, stop moving to Florida and GTFO. Especially if you're bringing your city slicker/left wing attitude with you (Generalizing, not any person here in particular).
I was born and have lived in Los Angeles, California, all 50 years of my life. Florida is a place that I truly regret never visited.
🐊💚 Thank you for this very comprehensive and to the point mini documentary. I loved this video to be honest and will have to watch it again.
Florida has been in the back of the mind as a place to visit and maybe even to live since the mid 80's because of so many movies and TV shows just like so many other people out there probably have seen.
Miami Vice (both the 80s era TV show and later the 2006 movie with Jaime Foxx/Colin Farrell), Florida Straights, Scarface, The Mean Season, The Heartbreak Kid, and seeing documentaries about Navy Flight 19, the Interstate 4 Dead Zone/Sanford mystery, so many different news segments over ther years about the Everglades, hearing about the bands Limp Bizkit and Maryiln Manson started there. I truly love those two bands, so much great heavy music.
Also, there was one documentary about a former civil war military compound in Florida that is now a museum/historic landmark that is allegedly severely haunted. I don't remember the exact name of the facilty, just "Fort"... something and don't remember where in Florida it was, on the coast or inland. The thing that stuck my about the place was some of the people interviewed there absolutely 💯 swore there was repeated paranormal activity there.
If anybody out there can float a prayer up to the heavens to convince God to allow me a window to leave because there is no human language that can properly articulate how bad I want out of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
No words other than "God, please." I would be VERY grateful to anyone out there as I have failed at obtaining God's permission. 💯🏁🏁🏁⭐️💔
Come on down
I’m from TN and have lived in both Carolina’s and have family in Georgia and Kentucky, I’ve been all over the south and I have been living in Orlando since 07’ - confirming all of this my man! This was a interesting video and a fun watch, good work bro!
Nicely done! Lived in Florida since '63 (on/off) and you pretty much nailed it. I'm really excited about the high-speed rail. I took a short trip and it was amazing! Cleaner and nicer than flying these days. Biggest downfall is...the traffic...and it's only getting worse. Road construction is never ending..especially on the interstates.
Another reason why I love Florida we got all these cruise ports more than any other state in the country. Bringing revenue to hospitality,restaurant and hotel businesses, etc
😮
Florida actually has the largest cruise port in the WORLD. Which is why Florida is a international state. Many people from other countries come Florida
Those cruise companies are why we don't have to pay state income tax!
@@deebee4575Cruise ships are also polluting Floridas beautiful oceans.
florida is in its own league
Shit league
N fla is the real South
We have the whiniest governor in the country. That's for sure.
@@markrichards6863 lol
I never seen anyone fall so fast.
Key West has a different vibe of its own. The local wits call it a drinking town with a fishing problem.
A floridian for 30 years, thank you for this fantastic video!
The snowbird phenomenon is also why there are so many places in Florida with the word winter in the name. Places like Winter Park, Winter home, Winter Garden, Etc
Great Report. As a lifetime Fl resident Thank you for posting your overall honest assessment of Fl.
Well done. I have lived in Florida for 30 of my 71 years, up here in North Central Florida and I think you have done a good job with the video and all your information is accurate. Nature will take back Florida some day, but for now, humanity is on a roll devouring natural Florida like a plague.
17:10 haha! typical florida driver! great video mike! as someone who was raised in florida, your description was apt. in fact, i grew up in orlando and dreaded the tolls. never realized how anomalous this was until i moved up north. consider me a new subscriber
I wasn’t expecting this to be an such an historical educational vid! I learned so much & I lived here for years. Never really wanted to be here. Came by default years ago following my mom after a divorce and living a military life. Very informative. Thanks!
You did a great job explaining Florida’s uniqueness. As a lifelong Floridian (in the northern “Southern” part), I learned a lot!
Great vid Mike (as always)! You know I love Florida, and all of your FLA videos!! Florida is a miss-mash of cultures from around the US and the whole planet, and with global tourism destinations, a vast array of opportunities to experience them, from restaurants, sports, culture and more. I Uber'd in the 305 about a decade ago, and you get to live it first hand, meeting people from all over the world, both those who now call Florida home and those just visiting!
I've lived in 4 states , I was not born & raised in Florida but it was the only place Ive moved to that felt like I belonged & was welcome.
Same
I moved almost 3 years ago from PA . I finally feel like I am home here in Florida.
I'm glad you feel welcome but it makes me curious about the other places you went and why you didn't feel welcome there.
@@awaitingSaint777 where do you live if you don't mind me asking?
@@nitroneonicman South Florida
I lived in South East Florida for a number of years. Now Jacksonville for 17 years. I came down to Florida 1985.
This video is very accurate.
🚗🙂
Damn you've been here for almost 40 years I don't know what state you came from and don't care because you're a true Floridian now .
ok florida man calm down
I've been here since 1991. I haven't a single friend down here.
If i could afford to move back home (CT.), I'd go back in a heartbeat.
How do you like Jacksonville vs South Florida?
A very accurate account of Florida! Thank you!
Over 60 year old 5th generation to Florida!
Thoroughly enjoyed that, my friend.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025🎉
Great video Mike. Very upbeat/energetic throughout the entire video.
I live in the panhandle, and even in northern Florida we NEVER get snow. Almost 20 yrs old, and the only time it ever "snowed" here, it was ice. However, ice can freeze on the roads and cause schools to be canceled.
Im from New Smyrna Beach, Snowed over 1 inch in 1982-83 on christmas day. and it snowed about 15 yrs ago. Not that it stuck around for long, but it does/has snowed here
@@robbgnarly Hey, I'm from the Destin area in the Panhandle, and it's never really 'snowed' here, the most we'd get is little flakes of ice every decade or so. It's weird because you'd expect it to snow in Northern Florida as opposed to Western Florida where you are, but that shows how truly wonky and inconsistent Florida's weather is🤣.
It has snowed several times in Florida you was born in 04 so you wouldn't know anything about it, hell I barely know anything about it and I was born in the 80s, my dad told me it snowed one time so bad when I was a kid, until it was snowing in both north Florida and Central and even South Florida was getting a little bit of snow.
@@rdf4315 that's why I mentioned I was almost 20 😁. Also, the fact that you're in your 40s and your dad had to tell you how bad it snowed down here gives me the context to know that the storm was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Even so, I highly doubt it will happen again because global warming is making the weather even hot. Regardless my point still stands that as a Panhandle resident approaching adulthood, I have yet to see snow.
@@atnicole461 for one I'm in my mid 30s not 40s and yeah you might be right even though it has snowed a few times since then, I don't think we're going to ever see snow as bad as they saw it back in 89 or 90.
Lifetime Bucs fan here. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a Super Bowl in 2002 way before Tom Brady was a Buc. There's more Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans than Carolina Panthers fans. That's for sure.
Agreed. I think some younger people don't remember the 1st Super Bowl win, and they had to trade most of their best players the year after for money reasons, corporate greed, etc. They definitely were not the greatest again for a long time. Real, longtime fans know the frustration and disappointment we've had since the 70s orange creamsicle days.
I watch that on a big screen in my front yard...welcome to florida
Arrrr🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
I remember when the Bucs won their first game and the Tampa Tribune's front page was printed in orange ink. That's when the Bucs wore the cream- kinda peachy-orange uniforms. Those got dirty too easily and the Bucs' mamas fussed so they switched to red, grey and black. 💙. The Bucs have done much better since changing their colors but Tampa is a tough market, lots of "home town fans" from someone else's home town rather than Tampa. Tampa Bay is the water and no one actually lives there except maybe some boats.
FIRE THE CANNONS
You did an awesome job with this video 👏👏👏
I've been a Floridian and specifically a South Floridian for 65 years. Once upon a time we were mostly southerners and then came an influx of people from Michigan and Ohio. That was fine.And of course the Cubans were great too. And then came the pinheads from New York and New Jersey who insisted on having everything their way. Our once wholesome and kind southern state was changed for the worse.
Agreed.
2024 n this 2025 a lot of rude n crazy drivers can be seen almost every day. They are short temper people. When I mention about this to northern friends , respond is might be emotional depress from drug addition! …Well I haven’t mention them about those people , most drive expensive/ luxury cars!!! 😳😵💫💔😱
Ok, you got me to laugh at that DMZ Map, never really thought of my Orlando home like that :p
I'm way down the street in Tampa and I never thought of my city that way, either! 😁
Me neither, but it kind of is - didn't realize it till he said it. :D
Oh yes, there was an Orlando before Micky & I-4. It had some traffic lights and a Waffle House-type diner or 2. Then along came Uncle Walt and we were all singing M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E. I was about 10 when the first prototype displays were exhibited. I was a teen when Magic Kingdom opened & we've loved it ever since. Even the airport MCO = Micky City Orlando! Same with BrighLine. None of that would be in FL without Uncle Walt and his vision.
@@paulathepoodlelover The Orlando airport is actually called MCO after Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy, who was tragically killed in a B-47 Stratojet crash near Downtown Orlando in 1957.
Same here that's why I love Orlando best place for all elements of living in Florida. Going on 16 years of Florida Life!
We once hired a young lady just arrived from California. She said she felt like she was living inside a zoo. She was half elated-half frightened at the amount and variety of wild life living free around us: iguanas, alligators, sea turtles, owls, ducks, bats, and a long list of birds, insects and snakes, all share our parks, beaches and roads. I have lived in South Florida for over 30 years, I find it very amusing and still take pictures of huge iguanas when I go out for my walks. Great video, btw!!
Yes and don't tell her that we also have Black bears, Wild hogs (very dangerous), Bobcats and Cougars (state animal) and a few other things she'd not like to have around.
When I first moved here, I was baffled by the birds half my height freely walking around. 😮
@@hopefulahchwathakazakiagregoryThose must be red head cranes.
@@hopefulahchwathakazakiagregory
Sandhill cranes
My friend's girlfriend from Minnesota would always call the police anytime she saw a gator sunbathing on the bank of our pond in the back yard 😂 Chill out, they're like squirrels here
I've been a Florida snowbird from NYC for a couple of years now, and I have to admit that I am starting to hate migrating back to NYC in the spring. South Florida is definitely its own thing. It's urban yet sprawling. It's also rural country. It's tropical. It's Latino. It's super glamorous but also very destitute. It's vapid but also brimming with culture. It has lots of alligators. It's definitely a vibe that you don't experience anywhere else in the world.
Vapid but also brimming with culture may be the best definition of Florida, or at least southeast Florida, I've read.
Lived in co op city (Bronx) and moved to Deltona (Volusia county). Lived there 16 years....and encountered two people my family knew from NYC who had also moved there lol
I've lived in Miami my whole life and this video is spot on!
As a Floridian, you cannot go half a mile without seeing a publix's or a dollar store. unless it is in the rural areas. Then you see a dollar store every one mile.😂
Central Florida to be more specific.
Has anyone been to downtown winter garden before? It's so pretty
yes hernando county 4sure
That red car speeding lol that’s exactly how nyc would drive with more space
Who needs more space to do that? lol
Really? I always thought it was a third world thing.
💯
I still remember within the first hour of being in Chicago, and I saw on the Stevenson Expressway, which I took right at its north end at LSD, at least 5 cars immediately use the shoulder to get around the standstill traffic. I did see that before on portions of I-95 in Georgia and Virginia, but it was still amazing to see that happen when I had only just been introduced to Chicago.
As a Pinellas (Tampa Bay) resident I consider that maneuver amateurish. I would have gone for the gap between the cars in the center and the right lane.
I moved to Florida in 1986 and I just wanna say this is a beautiful video
I moved to Tampa in 1986 too.
I came here to go to UT from Mississippi.
It's horrible down here and everyone should move back up north..... Thanks 👍
I.see what you did there 😂
Yes! 😂
Depends on how you vote. :)
🖕🏾 ain’t going nowhere
Amen !😂😂😂
I moved to Florida a couple years ago, and live in Lehigh Acres. I'm quite happy to be here, and any disparaging remarks are probably referring to Lehigh of a couple decades ago. I came from a smaller city up north where downtown was a strip of 4 blocks or so. For an area that "doesn't have a downtown", Lehigh sure has a lot of stores and offices on Homestead and Lee Blvd. And when Lee ends, it turns into Colonial Blvd in Ft Myers, yet more continuation of commercial businesses. Lehigh was one of the fastest growing areas in the entire country in 2019; it actually has a larger population than next door Ft Myers, although the latter probably swells to larger size during tourist season. I check the realtor pages just for fun, and Lehigh has just an absolutely endless number of new homes being built. In fact, they usually swamp the number of existing homes up for sale.
I’m a Floridian I’ve lived in St Augustine grew up in Miami … the more north you go in Florida the more southern it is.. south east Florida is a completely different place
btw. I just got home from a night outing in NE Florida. We were talking about how "cool" it felt after a hot day. I checked the temperature on the car dashboard when we got in and it was 88 degrees at 10:00PM and so humid your shirt looks like it came out of a washing machine when you take it off. That's what a "cool" Florida night is relative to other places. Also noticed that the grass grew two feet high in the last two days due to heavy rains from a hurricane followed by a blazing sun in steamy humidity all day and night. Never saw that happen anywhere else.
110%
Shirts with a vent like the fishing gear shirts made of polyester breathe enough in this humidity and heat down here in FL..
As a native Florida I always say if the temperature goes below 72 it's chilly.
I would never make it up North.
I live in South Florida and at 5am is 90 with 89% humidity... that's getting really old for me after being here 16 years from NJ. I can't take the heat and humidity as I get older, time to move on soon.
@@anthonyfp24 How well I know! I am in NE Florida thinking exactly the same thing! I had to flip the Accuweather calendar two months ahead until October to see some cooler weather.
I live in Orlando, and I used to live in Baton Rouge and Phoenix. I consider the Orlando area to be semi-southern. Parts north of the Orlando area feel more southern, while parts south of Orlando are less southern. The Miami / Ft Laudable area does not feel southern at all.
The reason I call Orlando semi-southern is because it has a somewhat different feel than the rest of the South, but you can still find plenty of restaurants that serve sweet tea, grits, greens, and other Southern comfort foods.
Not even that. We still country af and talk with Country Slang. Allcthe hoods are Southern, so idk where this notion of Orlando do not being a Southern city came from.
@@StaticbeyfrmSemoranyou might want to edit your post.
@@StaticbeyfrmSemoranNahhh Orlando definitely isn’t a southern city, it’s 90% tourists and doesn’t have that same southern flare as the rest of the south.
@@thisismyaccount6174 bro I'm from here. The ppl that r tourist don't stay here long. U can't tell me about my own city remember that
@@BrendanMcClelland i dont have to edit shit nigga. Figure it out like you do with everything in yo life tf is wrong with u
Dont forget the lizards, Florida has so many lizards. it's truly unbelievable. Nearly every home has dozens loving around it. There are so many that littel grass islands in plaza parking lots have their own family of lizards that inhabit it. You can not qalk to your car without seeing one on a sunny day.
I forgot that people arent used to Lizards!
When I koved down here as a kid it was the COOLEST!!!!
what wasnt!!! Was standing in an ant pile and then 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 bit up!
I'm OG from KY so there were only black ants there!
Once you got hit by 8 or 9 ants all on ya!!!
You WERE TAUGHT!!!!! cause it was a real lesson to learn! LMADO!
Snails! Snails and more snails!!! Ugh!!
I love those little lizards even though I know some are not native species. They're cute and they eat mosquitoes and palmetto bugs and for that I am grateful.
I've loved living in FL for 27 years. Its a beautiful state with very nice people. And theres so much to do and enjoy. The weather is wonderful! I never want to live anywhere else. Nice video.
I was born and raised in Miami and currently live in Broward. Even though I doubt I'll ever move back, there's no place like home. That city is nuts! 😂
I moved from Scottsdale AZ to Clearwater FL a year ago and I love it here critters and all. I have acclimated to Florida I follow all Florida laws and living rules.. I didn’t bring my Scottsdale shit over here but I can’t say that for others moving here that’s why Floridians hate us transplants…
Move back. Don’t care how you adapted.
@@prueensgloria4743 nope sorry I ain’t going anywhere.. last true red state and I’m stayin 😘
keep Florida red
Well that's good to hear it's going to be up to you to keep all the other transplants in line, but I have a question since you've been living here for a while, is it hotter in Arizona or is it hotter in Florida?
I’m a transplant or whatever y’all call it.. I’m bringing all my New York ways down here.. don’t like it oh well
Not my personal opinion, but is it safe to say Florida & Texas aren't part of the traditional South?
What do you mean
South of i4 isn't southern. North of i4 is.
@@georgerogers1166 indeed Destin is moderately, Hispanic
@@NWGuyNWchallenger It's often brought to my attention that Texas & Florida aren't considered to be the "traditional South" like for example Georgia, N. Carolina/S. Carolina & Alabama are
@@TheFinancialFrank I agree I live in Georgia and outside North Georgia mountains and metro Atlanta the rest of the state is very southern
If you see Oak trees, you're in the old south ...If you see Plam trees you're in the new south.
I'm in Ft. Pierce, and I see both of those trees. The difference between the Live Oaks here, and those in South Florida, is that the Oaks in S. Florida have no Spanish moss hanging from them. Plenty of moss, here in E. Central Florida.
Central Florida has both trees.
Miami has both.
I mean Savannah is pretty old south as it gets and is full of palm trees
I see both daily and Cyprus
I watched this to see if I agreed with your conclusion, but I subscribed after watching the video because you did an absolutely amazing job on this video. Based on this, I'll watch anything you put together. Thanks for the hard work!
BTW you are right. I grew up in rural south-central Virginia, which is the south. Florida is Florida.
This is one of the best, most-informative & factual videos we've seen to date - well done, sir!
As a native Floridian I can give this 2 thumbs up. To answer the question is Florida southern or northern...the answer is a simple YES! 😁 Side note, we added some toll express lanes to the southern sections of I-295 across the St.
Texas and Florida are not the 'traditional" south. They are their own unique state/region. Texas is a mix of wild western/desert, bayou, lakes/prairies, and forests. Florida is pretty much exactly how you summed it up!
Brightline is not high speed rail. It’s an enhanced service like some of Amtrak’s Midwest routes disguised as high speed rail
Don't forget about SunRail in Orlando
@@americanwalmarts3565 There is also Tri-Rail, in S. Florida, running from West Palm Beach to Miami.
Granted, Amtrak doesn't run HSR either. The rail tracks are too old, and need major upgrades
It's fast for us Americans tho.
As a transplant from NYC living in Tally and having been to every city mentioned, in these last ten years, you're pretty much spot on with everything from what i can see lol.
You don't realize a lot of these things until you've stayed long enough and/or traveled the state. Tallahassee was spot on too lol. A lot of ppl here for school and other things all agree, we did expect more from the capital. If it wasn't for FSU, FAMU and even TSC, the capital would definitely not, be as known as it is now.
Great video! Well done comparisons of cultures. Just one suggestion. In the extreme southeast Florida, I would recommend possibly’Latin-American’ with northerners because it’s not just the greater Miami area but also of the same ethnic populations from South America move north into the Ft.Lauderdale and some areas near West Palm Beach, or ‘Broward and Palm Beach counties. I see a lot of immigrants from South America including Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela just north of the Miami area not to mention the great cuisine from these countries. Thank you for sharing.
As a Port Saint Lucie resident you’re 100 percent right . Nothing to do here . You can buy a home right now for 450k that someone bought 3 years ago for 150k and did no upgrades .
I bet the owner never even stepped in it either, so many homes vacant from rich north birds who buy for investment. Yet Florida working resident gets no benefits. Everyone around my age want move out to NC
You're right, and I don't see where the jobs are to support a mortgage on a half million dollar home.
So true. I always thought of Palm Beach County as New York with palm trees, especially on I-95. The New Yorkers started out in Miami and then got pushed north by the Hispanics. When I moved to Florida forty years ago, I felt like I had landed in paradise. I still love it. I don't blame all the folks who move here and visit us here.
The native Floridians do mind
As a NY'er who had to live in that hell hole for 34 years, I'd always said I was born 20 years too late, 1,500 miles too far north. Compared to the northern states, Florida is DEFINITELY the South. However yes, it's not as southern as the rest of the Southeastern US. The one thing I love about Florida though, is the absolutely wide array of cultures. Latin, African American, White, Asian, and any other culture you can think of absolutely have a fingerprint on this state and for the most part, we make it work as the founding fathers intended, as a melting pot. Far more than Upstate NY EVER did. Am I a transplant from a shit hole state with a shit hole mindset? 100%. But am I more proud to call myself someone who got out and moved to a BETTER PLACE? YES. And I embraced it. I don't try to change it. I moved here FOR change, not to 'enact' change. And that's how EVERYONE who moves to Florida should do it too.
Very true!!! Don't come down to get away from BS and then try to change it to be like the BS you left. We are a FREE STATE and we like it that way. If you don't then GO HOME and take your BS with you.😊
@@garymixson687 100%
Absolutely.
As a natural born 47yo Floridian I’ve lived here most of my life. I’ve left a few times looking for work in other states and have always ended up coming back.
Even though I’m of German and Irish ancestry, I love Florida’s Hispanic heritage. Probably why I ended up marrying a Latina woman and have been married to her for more than 25 years and had two beautiful children, a girl and a boy.
Sounds like someone doing pretty well 😄😄@johngreenwald2954
Keep doing you man 😃
@garymixson687 As a person born and raised in Liberty City, I am with you as I tell my peers . I like red I love Florida red and we will keep it red as Gov DeSantis said : Woke dies here . Don't bring your liberal BS here from NYC or any other blue city or state. Buddy is obviously NOT from here
I’m Brazilian and I swear to God the Brazilians here in Florida travel in packs where I live there’s almost no Brazilians but if you go to either Orlando, Miami or Fort Lauderdale, you are in for a party
As a born and raised Florida native I had managed to never pay a toll until this year trying to get to the Panama City Beach, it was either $2 for a 5 minute bridge crossing or a 2 hour drive around the river to another free bridge.
What bridge was this? I never paid a toll to get to pcb
As a Native lifelong resident of Florida. I can tell you that we would much rather deal with the occasional toll . Then a state income tax that takes a much bigger toll on our finances
A State Income Tax will never happen since it is forbidden in the Florida Constitution. By the way Toll Revenues are miniscule compared to all of the Sales Taxes & Fees you have to pay for everything else as a Resident.
Last winter I visited Florida for the first time. Most of my time was in Central Florida - I visited family in the Villages for a while and spent the rest of the time based out of Lakeland - and it struck me that everything was either very new and shiny (Villages is infamous for this) or kind of run-down. The visitor center at Homosassa Springs State Park was a memorable exception since it was obviously built in the '60s and just as obviously well-kept-up.
Very true about Jacksonville being the exception when it comes to toll roads in the large metros in Florida. It is also the least “touristy” of the large metros in the state. It used to actually have more toll roads and bridges but all tolls were removed in the late 1980s and for decades didn’t have any tolled facilities until, as shown in the video at 14:17, SR 23 (aka the First Coast Expressway) in the western part of the metro opened. That road BTW is part of a future multi-billion dollar outer “quarter” beltway around the southwestern quadrant of the Jax metro that will cross the St. John’s River and eventually connect to I-95 in northern St. John’s county by the early 2030s. The section from the current end of SR 23 to near the St. John’s River is expected to open in 2025.
I lived in Jax when they took out the tollbooths on the downtown bridges, 295 across the St. John's and 202 (Butler Blvd) in favor of a 1/2 cent sales tax increase. Before that, there were HUGE backups at all the tollboths in the morning going into downtown and in the afternoon leaving downtown. It was a welcome relief when they were gone for anyone who worked downtown or who lived Eastside but worked Westside or vice versa.
checking in from Orlando! great video!
Thank you for doing all this research on the many reasons we love Florida.
5:02 “…aaannnndddd new lakes can appear randomly in the form of sinkholes.” Hilarious!!!
😂
I am from the panhandle and I am a southerner through and through.recently worked in southern Florida and everyone I met was a transplanted northerner. Southern hospitality is alien to them. So, I really liked it when you divided the state into north and south. I grew up hearing northerners referred to as Yankees and the ones that moved to FL as damn Yankees😎. I am from and still live in Panama City FL
Don't paint us all with the same brush. I've been in Ft Lauderdale all my adult life and I'm polite and kind to others. I do see a lot of 💩 people here, though they come from many places. The ones who come and complain and make trouble we refer to as carpetbaggers.
Florida is very much Southern. It's just not very southern anymore because of all the people from the Northeast moving down in droves.
Lifelong Florida resident here. Most of this state is Southern only in the geographic sense and it has been this way for a good while.
North Florida was Southern until the people from the Northeast and South Florida came there
@@mrjuicejunior Sorry but South Floridians aren't moving to North Florida.
@@xoxxobob61 Want to bet on that? I live in Tallahassee and see droves of people moving here from Miami-Dade and Broward county. Myself included. Also, Gainesville and Jacksonville are absorbing a lot of south Florida residents. For the last 20-25 years, Miami has changed for the worse.
Interesting and informative video. My family has been here since the 1850's just east of the Tampa area. It is sad to see all the of the migration that has come here in the past 10-15 years.
As someone who went to Lehigh senior high (Go lightning) you nailed the description of Lehigh , I dread Lee county but I’ll always have love for it
The difference is 100 years ago Florida was the least populated state in the Southeast. Now, it has more population than the 2nd Georgia and 3rd North Carolina combined, and still the state with highest in migration. Hell, in 2022 Florida had 40,000 more deaths than births and still managed to add 444,000 in a single year. Thats an insane amount of growth.
Insane growth because the state is seriously overcrowded and has looming environmental problems like rising sea levels and diminishing fresh water tables.
Dude, I grew up here, and the water level on the seawall of my childhood home is still the same. Hasn't changed in the 60 years that ive been alive!@stephenpowstinger733
@@stevepowsinger733 It's overcrowded because of bad development policies
@@nathanstuart3677 More like people keep moving here instead! In 1970 Florida had 6 Million people & today that is the population of Metro Miami! The State's Population has nearly Quadrupled in the past 50 years.
Florida is a really interesting states. Don’t know I could personally live there. Spent the last week down in Key West. Flight from CLT got canceled with Debby so I got a rental car and drove the 14 hours in one day straight down 95. It was a longgg drive.
The big difference in my mind, is Florida (the coastal peninsular part) is run by real estate developers and their crony friends, Florida politicians. Its what drives the economy here. There's little industry or employment here that isn't related to real estate development.
Where do you live?
@@maryewer7322 Sarasota
nothing but slave wage garbage jobs
I'm so happy it finally snowed here, as a 17 year old living in Florida, I'm pretty sure that made history and I was able to live through it, crazy. Also I thought throughout this video was "hmm, yes where I live.. everywhere is like this.. right?"
Native SW Floridian here. We are still southern, and I can prove it. Just go inland. My husband's family is from LaBelle, theyve been there for generations. You don't get more Southern than that. Can't judge the whole state because of its visitors.
1)As a born, raise, and still resident of Florida, you nail it Mileage Mike on why Florida is different from the rest of the South.
2)I still consider Florida part of the South despite the amount of transplants from the North. That could be because personally, I don’t relate to other regions in the US outside of the South.
-Lifelong Cocoa, FL resident
As someone who lives in Florida... It's definitely "The further north, the more south"
Central is still Southern...and hangin' on! 😎
@@marknewton6984 Not really, Central is definitely Northern. I live in the sticks in CFL and it’s 95% northern. Orlando is not southern. Not Brevard. Not Osceola. Not Lake. Not Polk. Not Volusia. Maybe you’re just in a very rural area.
Polk? Parts of Tampa? Lakeland?
Nigga no. Orlando is my ciry and we Cou try as hell we just a big city with some Skyscrapers. @@TitaniumTurbine
@@TitaniumTurbine I live in Tampa. The parts of Central Florida that are culturally Southern are generally sparsely populated. A lot of Central Florida, especially Orlando and the coastal areas, definitely leans northern from a cultural standpoint.
I always wonder why Louisiana can have a radically different culture from the rest of the South and still be considered Southern while Florida cannot.
Facts
I'd say, just because it's an older culture,that's still outdoorsy. Louisianas is. For example a gator tour in Florida would be looked at as Southern even if the tour guide was a transplant from the north,or someplace
Besides Louisiana's French/Cajun culture like in New Orleans how much of that culture dominates the rest of the state? Most of that state was settled by other Southerners while Florida was not.
@highway2heaven91 because Louisiana culture has always been southern and the same it's different but still southern
@xoxxobob61 right The the culture here is mixed in it's southern and still French and cajun
As a resident of Cape Coral for 20 years, it's beautiful here. Yes, we see our fair share of Hurricanes 🌀. Ian left a memory that I will never forget. What followed after was amazing and heartwarming. The folks came together as one family to rebuild our beautiful piece of paradise. Florida is not for everyone, though, and that is fine. As for me, I hate the cold. I love Florida. It is gorgeous here. I love our colorful scenery as well as all its fine folks. Best place for a Colada and latin foods. The latin community is a beautiful one. I'm a man who loves a variety of amazing cultures. Get a SunPass folks. It's the best way to travel throughout the state. Have a wonderful visit or enjoy your new home. It's gorgeous here.
Great information and as a florist since 1960 I agree to all your information.