# The perplexing appeal of Florida **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2022, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021 "2022-09-22T08:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/221 "2023-01-23T19:46:27Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Shhhh! Let’s just keep our little secret. It’s a terrible place to live. Even visiting is awful. Actually, the worst thing about South Florida, I’ve found, is the winter influx of visitors, who crowd up the roads and the stores and restaurants. I’ve found it surprisingly tolerable in the summers (mostly staying in the AC from 9 AM through sunset)–the roads are empty, the stores and restaurants are open, and it’s pleasant weather for the most part, not that much different from the northeast, actually, Sure it’s hot and humid, but so is New York City and Boston and Toronto in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/222 "2023-01-24T07:49:30Z")
My mother-in-law likes to phone us up when we’re having a snowstorm, and cackle about not having to deal with it. Of course we haven’t had any snow here yet, and I don’t expect it any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/223 "2023-01-24T13:49:23Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > > [@Tibby](#): > > > > Shhhh! Let’s just keep our little secret. > > It’s a terrible place to live. Even visiting is awful. > > Actually, the worst thing about South Florida, I’ve found, is the winter influx of visitors, who crowd up the roads and the stores and restaurants. I’ve found it surprisingly tolerable in the summers (mostly staying in the AC from 9 AM through sunset)–the roads are empty, the stores and restaurants are open, and it’s pleasant weather for the most part, not that much different from the northeast, actually, Sure it’s hot and humid, but so is New York City and Boston and Toronto in the summer. As I live in Western Canada, if I’m taking an winter vacation, I want to be GAURANTEED “summer” weather. If I want to travel within the boundaries of continental US, the only place I can be pretty much GAURANTEED “summer” weather, lets say in late January, is southern Florida. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/224 "2023-01-24T15:36:55Z")
I think I’ve told this story here before. A few years ago, the big boss of our ($10B) business unit decided to grow our presence in coastal Florida. So, he announced that employees were going to receive reassignment and would be expected to accept transfer to “where the work is” or there would be consequences (he was fond of letting people know that he had moved more than a dozen times in his career). Of course, moving expenses would be covered and there would even be help in house hunting in the new location. About a month after the announcement, I ran into one of the boss’s direct reports and asked him how the relocations were going. He told me that the acceptance percentage was in the low single digits. A few weeks later, Communications started a campaign around “bringing the work to where the workers are”. Where was this population of engineers being transferred from? Coastal Southern California: San Diego and the South Bay of Los Angeles. Somehow, the extra humidity, lack of topography (surf in the morning, ski in the afternoon is a real thing, folks), and wonderful political climate in Florida wasn’t enough. Is there something I, as a SoCal resident, am missing out on in Florida? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/225 "2023-01-24T16:40:30Z")
Florida ranks in the top 10 states (#7) people are [leaving California for](https://www.kron4.com/news/where-people-in-california-are-moving-to-most/). However, I share your sentiment (as a NorCal resident). ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/226 "2023-01-24T16:49:18Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Is there something I, as a SoCal resident, am missing out on in Florida? I’m pretty sure a lot of people choose FLA over SoCal in large part due to state taxes and cost of living. My son worked for a company near Denver that wanted to relocate significant operations to Huntsville, AL. The engineers flat-out refused to relocate, so for an extended period they flew rotations of engineers to AL for something like 1 week per month, paying rent and per diem. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/227 "2023-01-24T19:05:30Z")
I was born & raised in Orange County, CA. Went to college & grad school at USC. I now live on the beach aways north of Miami, but still in the greater Miami metroblob. Compared to the Pacific, the Atlantic is much more hospitable for everything other than surfing. There is substantially no surfing here. Taxes are lower here. Prices, especially real estate prices, are lower here. Gasoline is _much_ cheaper here. The urban counties vote D, the rural parts of the state vote R. Just like in CA. My attitude to coastal CA was always that it’d be perfect if it was 15F warmer in winter and 10F warmer in summer. Coastal FL is that, plus a bit. Yes, it’s sticky in summer. But CA is damp in winter. I’ll take sticky over damp; YMMV. CA has “June gloom” a couple months a year every year and marine layers most days of the rest of the year all over SoCal. Instead FL has hurricanes every couple of decades affecting any given spot. On balance I’ll take SoFL. Despite deeply loving what SoCal was in the 1960s - early 1980s before an extra 15m people moved in. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/228 "2023-01-24T22:12:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My attitude to coastal CA was always that it’d be perfect if it was 15F warmer in winter and 10F warmer in summer. I’d hate that. And I like June Gloom. Florida is not for me. I don’t care much for the flatness, and the political climate would keep me from ever moving. Some cheap places are cheap for a reason… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/229 "2023-01-24T22:35:28Z")
> [@chela](#): > > It’s a complicated state but it grows on ya. > > [https://media.tenor.com/1L0kgeuULdwAAAAM/florida-omg.gif](https://media.tenor.com/1L0kgeuULdwAAAAM/florida-omg.gif) Is that Elon Musk throwing food at gators? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/230 "2023-01-25T00:15:16Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I’d hate that. And I like June Gloom. Florida is not for me. I don’t care much for the flatness, and the political climate would keep me from ever moving. Some cheap places are cheap for a reason… I’m no fan of flatness either. Away from the water there’s not much I consider beautiful except the women. And at my age and especially at my marital status they’re sorta irrelevant. Entertaining, but distantly so. FL, at least coastal FL is _not_ cheap. What it is is less expensive than coastal SoCal. Plenty of $10M mansions and $4M condos in my zipcode. No, I don’t own one. As to the political climate, right now our rural/urban divide is such that the ruralians control the legislature most years and the governorship most recent years. As ruralia keeps getting less populous and the big cities get bigger we’ll turn the corner. I hope. CA has certainly had their share of R governors over the years. The state’s overall public attitude is admittedly quite different. How much that matters on a daily basis to a generic citizen is an interesting conversation, but probably not germane to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/231 "2023-01-25T16:10:17Z")
I think he’s brainstorming new ideas for his boring company. BTW, is Ft Lauderdale seriously considering his tunnel idea? 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/232 "2023-01-25T17:49:42Z")
Back in the 70s, when my dad decided we should move out of Montreal to a warmer climate, he had to choose between Florida and California. Every day I thank goodness he chose California. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/233 "2023-01-25T19:21:27Z")
Very seriously, they have already spent tens of thousands of dollars studying the proposal. Personally I think it’s a stupid idea, what with the water table being mere feet below ground level and the bedrock being limestone and Fort Lauderdale already seeing occasional area flooding. There’s a _reason_ none of us build basements. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/234 "2023-01-25T19:38:17Z")
Has his Boring Company actually accomplished anything anywhere, aside from test projects? I think he somehow won a contract in Chicago for a loop from the airport to downtown but never heard of it ever progressing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/235 "2023-01-25T19:39:43Z")
They finished a tunnel in Las Vegas I think. ETA: The only non-R&D project marked complete on their site is the LVCC tunnel. > **[Projects — The Boring Company](https://www.boringcompany.com/projects#lvcc)** ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/236 "2023-01-26T00:06:30Z")
There’s hope that we’re coming to our senses. > **[Musk’s Fort Lauderdale tunnel plan may be down the tubes](https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/01/11/musks-fort-lauderdale-tunnel-plan-may-be-down-the-tubes/)** > > Plans by a company owned by Elon Musk to build tunnels underneath Fort Lauderdale connecting its downtown to the beach are now on hold. (I saw we, because although I don’t live in Fort Lauderdale proper, I’ll be there in, oh, 30 minutes. For a beer. For science.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/237 "2023-01-26T05:15:51Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > My friends tell me I’m missing the point, which is “BABES IN BIKINIS”. I point out that also comes with, urk, “MEN WHO REALLY SHOULDN’T WEAR SPEEDOS”. I don’t know about you, but give me the babes in bikinis and I won’t even notice the other thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/238 "2023-01-26T23:13:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Plenty of $10M mansions and $4M condos in my zipcode. No, I don’t own one. Is this a coy way of saying, “I own 2 or 3”? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/239 "2023-01-26T23:15:19Z")
The mayor remains hopeful for the project, he should listen to those critical of the scheme. _“Raw sewage? That’s the ‘eau de Fort Lauderdale,’” she said. “We’re thinking about drilling under the ground when what’s under the ground is coming up into the street. It’s insane. Just take care of your s—.”_ Ignore vital infrastructure but say yes to musk’s plan cart tourists to the beach. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021/240 "2023-01-27T00:48:27Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Is this a coy way of saying, “I own 2 or 3”? Nope, not even remotely. I’m _petit-bourgeois_ overall, but a total prole compared to the fat-cats around here. I couldn’t afford the wax on these folks’ yachts, much less the men to apply it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perplexing-appeal-of-florida/972021.md?page=13)