A honest question

[Lithium]

Given the hell that people endure with hurricanes, the terror, the uncertainty, the monetary issues, everything that does along with a devastating hurricane.....why do you people live in Florida? I mean no offense, I honestly want to know what keeps people there. Do the benefits of living in Florida outweigh what happens during a hurricane season?

[sail7seas]

Millions of people relocated there during the last several decades when there have been few hurricanes hit. The region experienced a lull in fierce weather systems and it seems folks "forgot". Some well may pack and move after this season.

 

But, many regions of the country suffers from naturally occuring risks. California gets their earthquakes and horrible fires. Arizona fires. The Northeast gets blizzards AND hurricanes. The Great dust bowl gets summer scrorchers......The Tornados.

[Lithium]

I understand that virtually every place has some sort of natural disaster it is prone too. I live near a fault line for example and I also live in a droubt striken state. But it seems that hurricanes happen far more often than other disasters and have a far greater impact, except for maybe major earthquakes (which also rarely happen). We also get big fires here, but they rarely impact houses, and when they do, its no where near the scale it is with a hurricane.

[sail7seas]

Just seems (is) particularly bad this year. This is not a common pattern.

[Krazy Kruizers]

A lot of people move to Florida from the north as they want to get away from the winter snow storms, etc. After working all their lives and having to struggle to work on snowy roads and then come home to clean drive ways and sidewalks, they want away from that. So Florida appeals to them - warm sunny winters (hot and humid in the summer).

We thought about retiring to Florida and each year we look at places in Bradenton and each year we say no because we know about the hurricanes.

[Lithium]

There are many warm areas in the United States that have no snow. What makes florida unique so that so many people go there in spite of hurricanes.

[gliles]

There are many warm areas in the United States that have no snow. What makes florida unique so that so many people go there in spite of hurricanes.

I have wondered the same thing, especially lately. I don't really like Florida anyway, prefer the left coast myself. I have lived mostly in the east coast as a child, NY, PA, NJ but moved to Texas in '82 and gotta say I love those bumper stickers that say "I wasn't born in Texas but got here as fast as I could" I love Texas. I would like to be closer to the ocean but other than that, Texas is great. Sure we have tornados but I can dodge them!

[iluvcruzin]

Florida has traditionally been a haven for the retired. The cost of living is lower than in the northern states (with that salaries are too). Many move to Florida not only for the weather, but to find affoardable retirement communities. However, many are now looking outside of Florida - i.e. South Carolina is a up & coming locale.

 

As far as hurricanes, I don't think the percentage of them are as high as the number of Tornadoes. Also Hurricanes don't just strike Florida (N.C. and others have seen their share) There are better building codes now since Andrew in which many residents have much more secure homes. Unfortantely, there is a huge amount that do not. Many are living in trailer/mobile home communities that don't have as much protection. Hopefully they will be able to research and find better ways to protect these homes in the future as the lessons learned from the recent hurricanes. One could only hope.

[taszmom]

Well I'm going to give my reasons for moving AND staying in Florida for 18+ years. I was a Jersey girl, born in NYC and moved to Florida in her early 20's (as so did my husband from PA) looking for a job.

 

Hurricanes have threatened us for 18+ years and this was our second real experience with a hurricane (Andrew the first). There have been many times that we got ready, but were spared. It is just a freak of nature that we have been bombarded this month (the height of hurricane season) due to a high pressure keeping these storms lower rather than diverting them north as in the past.

 

Regardless I have no intention of leaving. I love the weather...I love having summer all the time. I have easily acclamated to the heat. We have a wonderful life here and could not even consider dealing with winter again. We have palm trees and green grass all the time. We have long sunny days - the best time of year is spring & fall when we have hardly any rain at all. We do enjoy our one week of "cold" weather when we actually get to wear a sweater and have even seen a few snow flakes drop and melt as soon as they hit the ground. There is so much access to culture, travel, job opportunites and the great weather...we love it. I have seen how South Florida has grown over the years. It is truly is a melting pot.

[HeatherInFlorida]

All my life I hated Florida. My mother told me it should be cut away from the rest of the country. That's how I was brought up. I swore you couldn't get me to live here in a million years. Then we visited friends here in West Palm one particularly nasty winter in the Northeast. On a January day I sat out on their patio watching the palms swaying gently in the warm breeze and uttered the words .... " I could do this". And the rest is history.

 

Florida isn't particularly pretty. It's flat. People are everywhere. But it is the most unbelievably wonderful lifestyle I have ever known. I have met more people here than any other town we have ever lived. People are friendly and welcoming. And as Sail said, except for Andrew there have been few hurricanes here in the last 25 years. The last one to hit Palm Beach was in 1935 (I could be off a year or 2 on that one, but it's around then).

 

If we were to write off living in any state that has severe weather problems, we would also have to eliminate at least the following: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and most of the middle of the country (where tornadoes roar through on a constant basis). In fact, NC, and SC get both the tornadoes AND the hurricanes as well as the snowstorms.

 

Just as an aside, except for the cost of the houses (which are going up as we speak;) ), there is nothing cheaper about Florida. I found that out after we moved here. Homeowner's insurance is through the roof and that's with a huge deductible. Auto insurance is tons more than NJ where we came from. Food, clothing, furniture is all the same. And supplemental medical insurance (when you reach 65) is way more than up North. So it doesn't cost less to live here.

 

But we have the palms and the ocean and the wonderful breezes from the sea almost every single day. And people keep coming so there just must be something about it:) .

[FoxyTerrier]

My family moved to Ft. Walton Beach, Florida in the panhandle in 1959. My father was an Air Force pilot at the time and was transferred there. I grew up in the area and it was a great place to grow up. The beaches are as pretty as HMC and about a 15 minute drive from our house. Inland water a 5 minute walk from my house. I spent the summers sailing, swimming and water skiing. This was before the days of jet skis, waver runners, etc which kids love now. People extremely friendly too.

 

My father is an avid golfer too and loves playing year round. Still plays 3-4 times a week at 81 years old.

 

In the 45 years my parents have lived in Florida only 1 hurricane has ever hit there. That was hurricane Opal in 1995. Not bad odds, but they are now facing Ivan this coming week. They are all prepared and will be leaving Monday or Tuesday for a safe place to wait out the storm.

 

Of course I worry about them and everyone else in Florida, but I also worry everyday I commute in to Washington, DC - not for weather, but for other craziness in our world today.

 

Why do I stay, because this is where my home is now, for better or for worse...

 

Joni

[FoxyTerrier]

I love Texas. I would like to be closer to the ocean but other than that, Texas is great. Sure we have tornados but I can dodge them!

 

The east side of Texas is on the Gulf of Mexico - the best of both worlds???

[peaches from georgia]

We lived at Wrightsville Beach, NC (Wilmington) at Cape Fear for almost 20 years and had many more actual and near-hit hurricanes during that time than if we had been living in FL. The hurricane track historically has been much more to the north up the east coast, making landfall in SC or NC. My parents had a few on the west coast of FL in the Sarasota area, but nothing like we did in NC.

 

I also heard if Ivan were to hit Key West it would be the first one they have had since 1919, 85 years. Now, that little statistic amazed me. :eek:

[Vicar]

Several of my aunts and uncles and some of my parents friends , moved down to Florida after they retired from CT and NY. Yes to escape the harsh winters, but from a finacial standpoint it was a win win situation.

 

As a previous poster stated, the cost of living is very low. As some may know the cost of living in the NY, NJ, and Ct areas is very high.

 

In the case of my family memebers and friends they moved at a time when house prices here were through the roof, They sold their houses for say 300,000 to 400,000, then they bought beautiful condos in Fla for like $50,000

Now these people are not high paid executives, these were working class folks living week to week with a small savings account.

 

Now after selling their home and buying their condo some of them had more money in the bank than they ever dreamed. Plus they were retireing with pensions based on northeast wages and they were taking them down south, where they went much further.

 

So you have an older couple, the kids are gone, the tuition, braces, groceries, school clothes etc, are all over. And they are starting a new phase of their life with in some cases $300,000 in the bank.

 

 

Granted this is not everyone who lives in Florida. I am only speaking of a few cases that I know , but I am sure there are many people who are in that situation.

[cruzincurt]

No State Income tax.

 

No local income or wage tax.

 

No snow.

 

No State inheritance tax (until you reach the federal taxable level).

 

Maximum of 5 hours driving time to the most distant cruise terminal (Miami), 15 minutes to the nearest (Tampa).

 

No snow.

 

You can see the hurricanes coming days in advance.

 

No snow.

 

Lot's of work for me, especially after a hurricane. (I design buildings).

 

Sunny days almost every day.

 

No snow (did I say that before?).

 

Lot's of new construction, not the worn out cities of the rust belt.

 

No rusted out automobiles.

 

Seems everyone wants to come here for a vacation. We live here.

 

Just to name a few reasons.

[CDRMark]

I am sure the fact that FL is one of the few states without an income tax figures into the equation. It is never just one thing.

[sail7seas]

And, unlike Taxachusetts, there is no State Income Tax.

 

Also.....for those who live on the East Coast, Florida is the best option for folks who maintain a dual residence. Many, Many Bostonians keep a home in the Boston area as well as Florida. They want to be within 3 hours flying time to go back and forth. They want to be easily accessible to their children and grandchildren. The "kids" will fly down for school vacations but would not necessarily fly to California, Arizona, Texas or some other distant state.

[mhshapiro]

We would not choose Florida as a permanent retirement residence mainly because my wife has a problem with her arthritis when she is in humid climates for too long. But I think it's unfair to single out Florida for the hurricane danger. Most of the gulf coast and much of the east coast is hurricane prone. A good part of the country is subject to tornados, and out here on the west coast we have earthquakes.

 

The key is to take the dangers into account when you rent, buy or build; and, do your best to mitigate what you can and to insure against what you can't mitigate.

[Krazy Kruizers]

cruizincurt

Did I get that correct - NO SNOW - Florida?? :D :D

[peaches from georgia]

The key is to take the dangers into account when you rent, buy or build; and, do your best to mitigate what you can and to insure against what you can't mitigate.

I do have a real problem with the taxpayers picking up the tab when people build and rebuild in the same risky areas. If private insurance does not fully cover damage to private property then I don't think the rest of us should be responsible for the funds to let these people rebuild over and over in the same place just because that is where they want to live.

 

Taxpayers have already given over $2 billion for just the first hurricane alone and you hear these people say they will use this federal $$$ to build again or buy another trailer on the same lot or on the same beachfront. Why should we subsidize this? :confused:

[sail7seas]

Much for the same reason tax payers subsidize health costs for people who show up in an emergency room with illnesses they acquired because they smoked two packs a day for 25 years. Because they are in need. Because they need the help. Because they are in emergency situations.

 

Or should we leave them on the hospital stairs dying until they swear they will quit smoking?

[imsulin]

I lived in Florida as a kid in the late 50's for three years, after moving from Colorado. There was no A/C in homes back then, and the heat and humidity nearly did me in...and the bugs. We lived on Indian Island, right across the street from the beach....and that beach was my saving grace! I was just not used to the heat and high humidity...and sand flies, mosquitos, and cockroaches. I remember when the "bug spray truck" used to come down our street in the summer (gag..gag..cough..cough). Florida - nice place to visit, but probably wouldn't want to live there....especially east of I-95. Hurricane insurance and all that. A friend of mine has a saying: "All the retired people live in Miami. Their parents live in St. Petersburg:)". (HE lives in St. Pete!)

[iluvcruzin]

I forgot to say that Florida is beautiful which is another reason people are attracted to live there. Heather and Taszmom - West Palm Beach is one of the most beautiful places in Florida. I've been there before and it's very residental which makes it so nice. Marco Island is another favorite of mine. My dream is to own a condo there someday. (If not, a monthly rental get-away when I retire).

 

Cruzincurt - I'm ready to pack my bags after that list. :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

I forgot to say that Florida is beautiful which is another reason people are attracted to live there. Heather and Taszmom - West Palm Beach is one of the most beautiful places in Florida. I've been there before and it's very residental which makes it so nice. Marco Island is another favorite of mine. My dream is to own a condo there someday. (If not, a monthly rental get-away when I retire).

 

Cruzincurt - I'm ready to pack my bags after that list. :)

:D Yes, I loved that list, too!!!

 

iluvcruzin, yes it's lovely here ... flat, but lovely. As a girl growing up among the rolling hills of N.E., I miss the northeast, but you can't beat the climate.

 

After all the work putting everything back where it belonged and cleaning up all the debris and rubble, I have to tell you that a condo rental is looking pretty good to me right now, too! When we're just too old for this (right around the corner;) ), that's our next move.

 

Or better yet, get a condo on ResidenSea or whatever it's called, and just cruise all over avoiding hurricanes, blizzards and everything else you can imagine:p

[cruzincurt]

KrazyKruizers...As fate would have it, I was born and lived in McKeesport most of my life. My wife is from Port Vue. My parents still live there. I also lived in Elizabeth Twp, and spent 5 years living on Jacks Run Road in White Oak!

 

I was just back for a visit two weeks ago, strictly family duty. I've been in Florida now for 16 years and don't regret it a second. After one miserable winter in 1988, I think the one snow storm left 3 feet of frozen white stuff, and after sliding up and down Route 48 going to work every day, we decided to sell the house and move to Florida. Needless to say, we ain't ever coming back.

 

Yes, you read it correctly, no snow.

 

Oh, and Peaches from Georgia, I don't think the government (FEMA) GIVES anything free to people to rebuild, what it GIVES is low interest loans. Then again, I don't really appreciate some of MY tax dollars building highways around Atlanta. What ever happened to neighbors helping neighbors?

 

Then there is that whole issue of spending $87 billion to rebuild Iraq.