larrysofla

The main point of this post and its basis was the way our region gets treated in the legislature. We pay more in taxes to the state than we actually get back in the form of services. The legislature short changes our schools (they AGAIN cut funding for Broward and Miami-Dade schools, Palm Beach fared a little better but not by much), and is WAY out of touch with the majority of the voters down here. That is my point. And as far as Miami-Dade being Republican, I can only say two things: One, Miami-Dade is still a majority Democratic, and Two a Miami-Dade Republican isn't exactly the same thing as being a North Florida Republican. Most Republicans favor tight immigration control, English only laws, and other such measures that most Cubans are opposed to. It is interesting to note that the Miami-Dade Republican who was to become President of the Florida Senate in '08, was recently sabotaged by his fellow Republicans, and replaced by a white non-Hispanic. On another note entirely, it has been very fun and interesting to see the comments posted here as a result of this topic. I have enjoyed reading everyone's opinions.

It's funny you talk about cultural diversity, because Broward county is MORE diverse than Miami-Dade. Broward's diversity index rating is 2.467 Miami-Dade's is 2.454. It is just a small difference, but it's funny because people think of Miami-Dade as being more diverse than Broward. Diversity is measured in how likely a person is to be a different race if picked at random, in Miami-Dade Hispanics are the clear majority, therefore it is less diverse. In Broward county there is NO one race of people accounting for more than 50% of the population, there is in Dade. Whites are, as of this year, a minority in Broward county (the largest minority, but still a minority at 49% of the population. So 51% of Broward is now minority, and that number only grows every year. If you want to check those numbers, as I'm sure you will, you can click the links at the bottom of this post. The thing about rappers never mentioning Fort Lauderdale... most people from a national standpoint consider the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area one big metro (so does the Federal Government who combines the counties together for census reporting, and sees the area as a one metropolitan area). As you can see from the other posts left by other members, Broward is no longer the sleepy county of the 80's or 90's. Things have changed big time. Broward has come into its own in a big way. The King Tut Exhibit (only going to 4 cities in America), the biggest thing of cultural relevance to hit South Florida since I don't know when, it's not in downtown Miami, its in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The first ever national tour of the Broadway smash musical Wicked, not at the Jackie Gleason, it's in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Center. We recently had a OAS summit with leaders from all over LATIN AMERICA in attendance, not in Miami, in Fort Lauderdale off 17th st. When Madonna premiered her new cd to be listened to for the first time ever (the CD was accompanied by a body guard, and destroyed after it was played through) it was not played at a club on South Beach, it was played at a club in Hollywood at the Seminole Paradise. You get the picture. It used to be that every time something important came to town it was only in Miami, not any more. Now BOTH Miami-Dade AND Broward have got it going on. http://broward.org/planningservices/bbtn18.pdf http://broward.org/planningservices/bbtn3.pdf

I am in both Broward and Miami-Dade counties every day for work, I don't really see the "huge" difference you talk about. Sure there is some difference: Dade is more built up, has a bigger downtown, ect. And as far as all those suburban little cookie cutter communities you talk about... have you ever been to south dade? Not all of Dade is sky scrapers, not by a long shot.

The state of Florida is going to hold public hearings on Broward County's new slot machines law... the only problem? They are holding it in Tallahassee, where virtually none of the input will come from the actual voters who approved the amendment. Here's a quote from one of our elected officials regarding the decision to hold the hearings hundreds of miles from Broward, "'That's absurd,' said Rep. Ron Greenstein, D-Coconut Creek. 'The hearings should be in Broward. It just shows their arrogance.'" And he is absolutely right. First of all it is arrogant of them to be trying to overturn our constitutional amendment, just because they don't "like it," and secondly it is just insulting that they would hold hearings on an important issue for our area and not include us, the people of Broward, in the discussions. For the entire article from the Sun Sentinel go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/bro...la-news-broward Just another example of how South Florida gets treated in this increasingly conservative state. Also, as for those comments about Miami-Dade being so conservative: While it is true that Dade is the most conservative county in the South Florida region, it is still a majority Democratic county. Miami-Dade has 457,215 Democrats, and 371,154 Republicans. Miami-Dade county went for John Kerry in '04, although not by the huge margins that Broward went. Broward is our most liberal county: In Broward County Democrats number 534,444 and Republicans number 284,844 "Other political party affiliation" numbers 243,705 so as you can see in Broward the Republican party has little more membership than a third party.

Well it's funny that you would say those things, because that IS what many people from North Florida say about the South Florida area. They see our area as a cesspool of illegals and shady people, and many here feel like they have entered a different planet when they cross north of the Palm Beach county line. You show an obvious distaste for the people of South Florida in your post, I know many in Northern Florida share those negative feelings, so maybe we should just seperate... you know, kind of like a divorce. You get to keep Disney Word, and the Yee Haw Junction, and we can have South Beach, the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop, and everything in the state of cultural relevance. So how about it? Deal?

People have talked about the idea of South Florida separating from the rest of the state for years. The reasons are varied but here are a few, the region gets screwed in school funding from the legislature in North Florida, our votes are drown out by the rest of the state's largely conservative votes, we share such little in common with the "hillbillies to the north," ect, ect. I thought that this poll would be an interesting topic of discussion, and the questions are designed to let us all learn a little bit about our fellow citizens and their views. Just a couple of quick facts: If South Florida were its own state it would have a population of around 6,000,000. The three counties that comprise the South Florida metro account for about 1/3 of the entire state's population. There is a South Carolina and a North Carolina, why not South Florida and North Florida? Discuss!