Well at the time we didn’t want to take the kids out of school. I’ll take my subzero days in winter if I don’t have 90+ temperature, 90+ humidity, alligators, and hurricanes.
Alligators aren’t so bad if you can keep from falling into their ponds and swamps.
Much harder to avoid tourists and retirees.
The in-laws live in Palm Beach County, FL. Our daughter lives in Vermont.
Every now and then we look at real estate listings in both places. as both are, in theory, cheaper than our current area (DC suburbs).
Just the other day, I looked at some gorgeous places near the in-laws.
Virtually every single one of them had massive red flags in terms of environmental warnings - specifically flooding. As in, “major” to “extremely high” (or whatever was worse than “major”). As in, > 99% chance of flooding in the next 30 years.
Why would ANYONE settle in an area like that???
Note that these places are 5+ miles inland, not on a barrier island.
Interestingly, the in-laws’ place is NOT listed as being in a flood zone. A part of the development did have a flood a few months before we purchased their unit - due to a sudden, very unusual rainstorm in January. One of the units we looked at had clearly been flooded and the owners didn’t even attempt to repaint - there were water marks on the wooden closet doors etc., 6-8 inches above the floor.
Where my daughter lives, the only places that listed flood hazards were within a block or two of a creek.
My friend’s older brother bought a vacation home in the Ft. Meyers area. A few years ago it was destroyed by a tornado.
Undaunted, he bought another vacation home a few blocks away from the first. Then Hurricane Ian came along. The new house is still standing but effectively ruined by water damage.
Sounds like Bullwinkle trying to pull a rabbit out of his hat.
Reminds me of those people on that beach front property show on HGTV. “We’re buying this house for the kids and grandkids.” Nope, very like it’ll be gone by the time you pass on. It’s not a “good investment.”
One of the big problems for the coastal houses in places like Florida – sure, if you will apply enough investment to it, you can build a house that stands up to most hurricane winds. Mine in San Juan for instance – load bearing walls made of poured reinforced concrete and the roof is a slab of the same material. But the water – that is going to get ya. Wind just bends and snaps things. Water means the objects inside the house are soaked; water finds its way in through outlets and connectors and vents and gets into the installations inside the walls so they get corroded, swollen, moldy, coated in stuff; water undermines the ground the house sits on; water coats the space in sewage; water drowns you inside your intact house; if it’s an actual sea-level rise or beach loss, water cuts your property off.
That must be it. I mean, I live in Texas and I’ve never had any real desire to go to Florida for anything but to go to Disney World at least once, and to go to Cape Canaveral to see a rocket launch. Otherwise there doesn’t seem to be a lot there we don’t already have at home, including the rednecks, MAGA nuts, heat, and humidity.
If you aren’t escaping cold weather I can understand why Florida has no appeal.
For people here in Canada, trust me, there is a LOT of appeal to escaping cold weather. Some people do love winter, of course, but a lot of people despise it, and older people can find it becomes increasingly hard to deal with.
For a few years my parents would rent a house in Florida for a few months in the dead of winter. They loved it. They loved being outside a lot, my Mom is a fanatic golfer, and the warm weather was just better for them. Of course, in February-March there are no hurricanes, so that wasn’t an issue. It was a cheap option, easy to drive to, they loved it. My Dad started getting pretty sick in 2012 and died in 2015 so their last winter there was 2011, but now my Mom has a boyfriend and they go down there. For old folks who don’t have a job they can’t spend months away from, it’s a great option for getting away from the bone-shattering cold and icy roads.
When I’m old and retired, hell, I might find a southern escape. I’m more willing to try places that aren’t English-speaking, though, I know a little Spanish and can probably learn enough to get by.
My brother has lived in Costa Rica for years, and he speaks abysmal Spanish.
It gets hotter every year, I distinctly remember having to wear a jacket to work this time of year about 15 years ago. Now its shorts and t-shirt weather all the way to November. We have a successful business here or I’d be gone, the entire state is sitting on a limestone sponge, even the parts that are not submerged within our lifetime are not going to have any drinking water once the salt water gets in there.
Yep it’s Salt water intrusion.
Monroe county Fla the Keys under a minor salt water flood watch tonight. Overtopping docks and walls.
The safe drinking water and sewer treatment costs? I’d guess it’s got to be stressed.
My perception, based on various references in the media, plus reading first-hand accounts, is that Canadians think exclusively about Florida in terms of escaping the cold. Do any Canadians ever think about New Mexico or Arizona?
From experience at a job when I had to deal with some Canadian clients, 30 years ago the snowbirding generally went (let me see if I remember this right):
- British Columbians and Albertans in Southern California.
- Albertans in Vegas
- Albertans and Saskatchewanians in Arizona. I swear half of our clients’ Saskatchewan customers seemed to be in short rentals or caravan parks outside Mesa
- some Sasks, Manitobans and some Ontarians in Southern Texas
Easterners headed for Florida, mostly.
No income tax.
IME, people from the U.S. East Coast tend towards the east coast of Florida (I-95), while Midwesterners favor the Gulf Coast (I-75). Lots of Midwesterners in Arizona, too.
But why Florida? That’s really the question I want to know. Is it significantly cheaper to go to Florida from Canada vs. California/Texas/Bahamas/Mexico?
For an Eastern/Atlantic middle-class Canadian who wants to winter out, Florida is likely the most cost-efficient alternative. Hey, the place IS already built to handle a large transient population (and vastly more room for it than the AL or MS coastal counties), has long had a significant business in second-home real estate, has more familiar attractions than the Texas Gulf Coast, and is within a relatively easy drive.
@JRDelirious And in addition, different areas of FL also specifically cater to the Quebecois, offering plenty of french speaking businesses associated with tourists. The Mrs. and I stayed in such a hotel in Miami, which drew a ton of tourists from Montreal. All customer service staff there spoke french, and the restaurants were geared towards Quebecois dishes.
And we saw a LOT of signs in Hollywood, FL stating “ici on parle française”. And heard a lot of french being spoken by folks there on the beaches, boardwalks, and in the shops.
The perplexing appeal of Florida
What perplexes me is that it has any appeal whatsoever.