Florida Appears to Be Losing Its Sunny Magnetism

[Crewleader]

By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 9, 2008; Page A03

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The vast flow of people into Florida from elsewhere in the United States has been the defining feature of the Sunshine State's 20th-century history, draining swamps and spurring development, swelling the economy and shaping politics.

Now, the migration has stalled, according to new census figures. With hurricane fears and the soaring costs of housing and storm insurance, many here have begun to fret that Florida, long a mecca for tourists and snowbirds, has lost its allure.

"The word has gotten out about Florida. It is not the paradise that many people once thought it was," the lead editorial in the Miami Herald warned Monday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803890.html

[niyad]

1. I believe thqat the "limp dick state" needs to be sawed off at the border and floated

into the bermuda triangle, where it so clearly belongs.

I think it highly amusing, and appropriate, that the state with the highest percentage of impotence clinics looks like a flaccid phallus (notice that there aren't too many florida tags anymore with a map of the state on them?)

of course, another thing that I thought was funny in a very black humour sort of way, was how many nursing homes were right next to the funeral homes. guess it cut down on the transport charges--just wheel them out one door and into the other.l

[Warpy]

7. Well, not until the Democrats are evacuated

and all the fundy nutcases flown in. It's a perfect place for them.

Honestly, I wonder what took people so long to figure it out, although I'm sure 4 major hurricanes in one year crisscrossing the state were a help. Florida is hot, humid, buggy, swampy, backwards, and completely unpleasant unless all you want to do is go between high rise condo and neck deep in the ocean for the rest of your natural life, which might be shorter since overfishing has made sharks hungrier than usual.

My parents retired to "god's waiting room." My mother hated it from day one, said she liked seeing all the high rise buildings going up because it would make the whole state sink a little faster.

[AnneD]

10. God's Waiting Room....

:spray: good state motto. Love your mother's observation. Mom lives in Az. and when I visited her during the break and couldn't help but notice all the development. I ask her if Az. was in a drought and she said yes-has been for several years. Then I ask her why folks were continuing to build-why folks come here for the desert view. Well they better get here quick cause the skyscrapers are starting to block out the mountains. I think she thought I was being a smart ass but I was serious. Houston is no picnic, but at least we have water.

[angstlessk]

2. ya mean its gone downhill since jeb boosh and the repukes took over??

well knock me down with a feather!

[demnan]

3. My brother left Naples, FL in 2006

I think it was a big mistake. They moved to North Georgia in a very rural area and he hates it there.

[Atman]

4. I grew up on the beach in Florida...and I wouldn't go back for nuthin'

Florida is a hell-hole, imho. I grew up in an idyllic lifestyle, in a house on Cocoa Beach, surfing, had an air boat we cruised the mangrove islands in, was in or on the water all day every day. But I'd never go back. The ONLY reason to be in Florida is to live on the ocean, and in my old home town of CB, you can no longer get insurance on your home (unless it's government flood insurance). Inland, every town is an exact duplicate of the next. If you fell asleep in the car in Jacksonville and woke up in south Florida you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Everything is a fucking concrete strip mall with and an Eckerd's and a Publix, everything looks exactly the same. Around Orlando they have six lane highways with nothing but tourists and retirees driving 'em. What a nightmare! Add the heat and humidity and bugs to it (you need air conditioning in Orlando the same as you need heat in New England), and I just don't see the appeal. It was a great place to grow up, but I couldn't live there now. It's turned into "the south," with country music and rednecks and republicans everywhere. Yuck.

I can still go down and visit the family and surf and play for a few days, but I'm always happy to get back to New England.

.

[Nay]

8. YOu and me both, Atman. Born in Tampa and raised in Redington

Beach. We spent our lives two blocks away at the beach, swimming and sunning. For a special treat, we used to drive 50 miles north to Weekie Watchee, where we swam in those crystal clear waters. For free. Sand Key, right near Clearwater, used to be a wild area of Australian pines, raccoons, sea grapes -- now it's all hi-rise hotels and condos.

I would never go back for the reasons you cite. The real Florida is gone, not to be reclaimed until you and I are long dead, if ever.

[AnneD]

11. Sounds like...

Arizona. I miss the vistas.

[Crewleader]

12. Hi Atman....here's the latest on

Foreclosures in Brevard County, FL
From Scott Ellis

[Mojorabbit]

5. Hurray

Maybe now people will quit coming here and they will quit paving the state over. There has been uncontrolled growth for too long.

[monmouth]

6. Moving trucks going north on I95 far outnumber those coming south..n/t

[bunny planet]

9. Pass-a-grille beach in St. Pete Beach is still beautiful. I guess not for long

though, they started to build McMansions there too, although zoning won't let them build beyond a certain height. My little town down there is pretty too, all 1920's bungalows for the most part, on Boga Ciega Bay but the insurance costs are killing us, we may have to sell soon, but of course no one can sell either. I grew up down there too, very sad.