How did it get so damned expensive???
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9/16/2006
I've posted twice about this city, which I used to love. This love has turned into a twisted hatred since I came back from the military. In a matter of 5 years, housing costs have shot up from an average of $130,000 to an average of $240,000. With this rise in housing costs, wages have only increased by 1.4% statewide. This translates to an affordable, livable city becoming a rich-friendly, crime-ridden hell-hole. Due to constant increases in property taxes and homeowners insurance costs, people are getting priced out of homes they had almost paid for in full. Apartment complexes are mostly going condo to take advantage of the rising prices. Those that don't go condo simply raise the rent about $150 every year to cover tax increases. Now the mayor has a new plan every week to attract more rich people. I'm not exactly poor by U.S. standards, but I am definitely feeling the crunch. Now they want to put in a beltway around the city to connect all the suburbs to add more sprawl. I'm at the end of my rope. We can't keep switching apartment complexes yearly to move further and further away and jump the cost increases. All of my family lives here, and it pains me to leave... But I really have no choice. My soon-to-be wife and I want a house, and a safe place to raise a family. Tampa just won't do, anymore.
David | Tampa, FL