Florida Gated Community = PITA

[dioxide45]

The condo we moved in to is part of a gated community. In the few weeks we have been here we have simply realized that a gated community is more of a pain the the @$$ than anything else. Does it really provide any extra security? Case in points;

• The day after we arrived, we had movers coming to help unload the truck. They were able to get past the gate and were waiting by the moving truck at the scheduled time.
• We sold the washing machine that was in the unit because we were buying a new washer and dryer. The guy who came to buy the old washer had no trouble getting past the gate.
• If there is a line of cars, once one person enters their code a good two to four cars can follow. Especially at peak rush hour times when people are returning home.
• The people delivering and installing the new washer and dryer had no problem getting past the gate.

We finally asked the person doing the install on the washer and dryer how they get in. He says that after enough installs they know the codes to all the communities and often people use the same codes. Just try 1111, 1212 or 6969 and they can usually get in. Given that the community probably has about 200 or so units, and the codes are only four digits, you probably have about a one in five chance of getting any given code to work. So I am not really seeing any provided security benefit. Perhaps for some out of staters like us who had no clue, it would keep out but for most others and for the clever burglar, I am sure it doesn't stop them.

Why it is a PITA;

• You have to stop and wait for the super slow gate to open before you can get in. If you don't have a remote like us, you also have to roll down your window, enter your code then wait. The gate is super slow.
• If you are behind someone at the gate to get in and they are slow, or like tonight, and have to get out of their vehicle to enter their code, it can take a while.
• Same on the way out. The gate takes a good 10-15 seconds to open enough for you to get your car through. You see people trying to squeeze through before it is even fully open.

I am not fully sure what the draw is and Florida is riddled with gated communities. It would seem unless you have a live guard at the gate, there isn't really any added security and it is really more of just a PITA.

 

[bbodb1]

And it's hot there@##&*^!@^!

 

[dioxide45]

And it's hot there@##&*^!@^!

Yes it is, but it is HOT in Ohio now too. I am hoping that come November or December we will be thankful we have moved to Florida

 

[VacationForever]

You have nailed it. We live in a 100% gated community here... 100% because there is a gate into every sub-community within this larger community. We have always thought it is a good deterrent but if someone wants to come in to commit a crime, they can. It only keeps out the casual curious passersby. FedEx, UPS, Ontrac and USPS folks all have the gate codes and we have no issues with it because they are employees of the companies. Amazon drivers - not so much. We don't use our home address for Amazon deliveries anymore because they use a whole bunch of "independent contractors" who are not verified [Reported offensive comments deleted.] We use Amazon lockboxes for our Amazon orders.

Communities that are guarded by live people are definitely alot more effective in providing better security. Absent of that, we still prefer to be behind a gate than without.

 

[dioxide45]

but if someone wants to come in to commit a crime, they can.

I actually saw some notices posted by the mailboxes, one of them was a reminder to lock your cars because they have had several break ins. Either someone in the community is a thief, or they have people easily getting in that are.

 

[klpca]

I bought something from someone who lived in a gated community. Her pick up instructions to me were to wait near the gate until someone else drove in, then just follow them through the gate. Worked like a charm.

 

[Panina]

Most gated communities are more of a status then actual protection though someone might hesitate committing a crime and go to a easier location.

While looking for a new home I visited a gated community a few times and came across two different people at the guard house. One took my name and license plate, the other just let me in.

 

[am1]

Are there cameras at the gates? That’s a big help.

 

[buzglyd]

It only took a few weeks for you to turn into a GOF!

 

[OldGuy]

I am hoping that come November or December we will be thankful we have moved to Florida

We are.

No gates there, no gates here.


- - - - - -
Not that important, but one of our timeshares is in a local gated community, it is done well, and it is a good thing. We own there for golf, which I don't do there because I have been at another golf course for 11 years, and it is in a gated community, and it, too, is a good thing, even though the guard shack has not be manned/womaned since the Great Recession of Ought 9.

 

[Brett]

We are.

No gates there, no gates here.


- - - - - -
Not that important, but one of our timeshares is in a local gated community, it is done well, and it is a good thing. We own there for golf, which I don't do there because I have been at another golf course for 11 years, and it is in a gated community, and it, too, is a good thing, even though the guard shack has not be manned/womaned since the Great Recession of Ought 9.

no gates here either (not in Florida)
In northern Virginia they use RF key fobs but it's easy to follow other people in a gated condo community

but did the Great Recession actually start in "Ought 9" or ought 8 or maybe way back in ought 7 .. ?
perhaps the Great Recession started at different times for different people
I hope there is not an "ought 20" Great Recession !

 

[OldGuy]

Oughta not be.

I use Ought 9 cuz I've looked at lots of BLS figures, followed foreclosure peaks (valleys), The Dow, etc. &, it's just as good as Ought 8.

To be really specific, the bottom of the bottom, also the beginning of the Recovery, was March 6, 2009.

& it has continued since

 

[Brett]

Oughta not be.

I use Ought 9 cuz I've looked at lots of BLS figures, followed foreclosure peaks (valleys), The Dow, etc. &, it's just as good as Ought 8.

To be really specific, the bottom of the bottom, also the beginning of the Recovery, was March 6, 2009.

& it has continued since

........ keep looking at those figures !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2008

but the beginning of the beginning, bottom of the bottom ... it's all about the same for some people

 

[OldGuy]

There is the Recession, and then there is the result, if that make sense. Let me show the "employment figures" for the peak month at a popular vacation destination for the years we're talking about:

The first figure is the size of the labor force and the second is the number employed. Things were still growing/increasing until Ought 9, and that's when they turned.

2006 Jul 45462 43465
2007 Jul 45820 43683
2008 Jul 46881 44328
2009 Jul 46959 42823
2010 Jul 42298 37679

Just for heck, let me show subsequent years. Things hit bottom here:

2013 Jul 41057 37468

and here's the latest:

2018 Jul 43993 42423

What happened in that area is that employers discovered they could get by with fewer employees, and as that played out people left the labor force, so it never has recovered to the pre-Recession levels.

What were we talking about? Gated communities. Oh.

 

[Brett]

There is the Recession, and then there is the result, if that make sense. Let me show the "employment figures" for the peak month at a popular vacation destination for the years we're talking about
The first figure is the size of the labor force and the second is the number employed. Things were still growing/increasing until Ought 9, and that's when they turned.
2006 Jul 45462 43465
2007 Jul 45820 43683
2008 Jul 46881 44328
2009 Jul 46959 42823
2010 Jul 42298 37679
Just for heck, let me show subsequent years. Things hit bottom here:
2013 Jul 41057 37468
and here's the latest:
2018 Jul 43993 42423
What happened in that area is that employers discovered they could get by with fewer employees, and as that played out people left the labor force, so it never has recovered to the pre-Recession levels.

What were we talking about? Gated communities. Oh.

right, for you the Great Recession started in Ought 9
for others it started in Ought 7, and for some people it may have started in Ought 8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2008

but the important point is your golf guard shack wasn't staffed after Ought 9 and you had problems getting an early tee time
yeah, that's the start of the "Great Recession"
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2008

 

[dioxide45]

In northern Virginia they use RF key fobs but it's easy to follow other people in a gated condo community

They have key fobs in our community too. Actually two types. You can get an RF card or a remote. The problem is that they charge $25 for the card and $50 for the remote. So most people spring for the $0 least secure four digit codes. If they made the cards free, it might make things a little more secure if they pushed everyone to those and got rid of all the codes except for those needed for delivery drivers and RE agents.

We paid the $100 for two remotes so we don't have to open our window in the heat!

 

[Snazzylass]

And now you know.
We have a live guard currently during the day. We used to have them later. It's true! It's not the safeguard people think it it. A former cop explained this to me.
I love my location and being gated does help. Still, I know to keep everything locked up.

 

[DaveNV]

Maybe ten years ago we were looking at real estate in Las Vegas. An Agent had emailed us a bunch of condo listings, and said to drive around and check them out, then let him know if we wanted to see any of them. He said to do the "follow somebody through the gate" trick if the community was gated.

At one place, we did the trick, and got through the gate. The guy in the car in front of us stopped cold, got out of his car, and walked back to demand why we were there, and where was our key, and whatever. I explained we had only done what the real estate agent had told us to do. The guy got really mad, and said they'd had too many break-ins, and they couldn't trust anyone, and he was going to complain to the agent's broker. I played dumb, and said I just did as I was told. We didn't stay long - that develop was a wreck.

And we didn't end up buying anything at all on that trip. Oh well.

Dave

 

[Glynda]

We lived in a gated community once. However, the gate was only closed at night. Had the same problem with people who did not have a remote holding up traffic punching in a code, some getting out to do so.

 

[joestein]

My brother lives in a gated community in Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. The community is its own Town and has its own police department. The community is gated and walled and the gate is manned by the police 24/7.

The HOA fees for single family homes are $300+ per month. The community owns some nearby shopping centers on A1A and earns quite a bit through rents that help support the community.

 

[rapmarks]

We have a sticker in back window. When we pass the reader, the gate goes up. It doesn’t stay up long enough for another car to get through

 

[OldGuy]

right, for you the Great Recession started in Ought 9
for others it started in Ought 7, and for some people it may have started in Ought 8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2008

but the important point is your golf guard shack wasn't staffed after Ought 9 and you had problems getting an early tee time
yeah, that's the start of the "Great Recession"
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2008

Fake News.

I'll agree the call it the Great Recession of Ought 7/8/9, followed by the Great Recovery of Ought 9/19.

My point was that the greatest results of The Great Recession occurred for several years after it started, actually during the Great Recovery.

As I already pointed out, unemployment peaked in 2013. Foreclosures peaked about the time we pulled the trigger, 2011.

Down Index-wise, the bottom was March 6, 2009.

None of that has anything to do with gated communities or tee times; this is just one of those little off-topic detours that occur frequently.

 

[OldGuy]

The community is its own Town and has its own police department.

I guess thing's even out because of FL town/city does not have a police department. Maybe your gated community has ours.



BTW, a walled community with 24/7 policing sounds a little scary.

 

[Brett]

Fake News.
I'll agree the call it the Great Recession of Ought 7/8/9, followed by the Great Recovery of Ought 9/19.
My point was that the greatest results of The Great Recession occurred for several years after it started, actually during the Great Recovery.
As I already pointed out, unemployment peaked in 2013. Foreclosures peaked about the time we pulled the trigger, 2011.
Down Index-wise, the bottom was March 6, 2009.
None of that has anything to do with gated communities or tee times; this is just one of those little off-topic detours that occur frequently.

[superluous political reference removed]
there might be a reason some think the Great Recession started in 2009 or 2010
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2008

 

[OldGuy]

OK, we've gone from gated communities to The Great Recession/Great Recovery to news sources (edited out).

Can we add any more topics, or have we hit the limit?