[apple92680]

For those saying "there's a lot of land in Florida" etc, etc, please keep in mind that much of the land is either swamp or has a limestone layer underneath, which are both natural to the Florida peninsula.

This does not bode well, though, and has been the cause of sink holes suddenly appearing and swallowing up houses, cars and people whole.

There isn't an infinite supply of land that can just be paved over.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

The ranking below shows why so many people are fleeing the Northeast for points South....the Northeast is at extreme capacity, & residents want out....I don't blame them at all.

Who wants to live in overcrowded places with bad weather, high cost of living, an high taxes?

Great question.

Right now, here in Central Florida, we're under a tornado watch til 9pm. So there's your bad weather.
High cost of living - here in the great state of Florida, we enjoy the highest inflation increase in the country. Plus the highest property insurance rates in the country. But here in my community, the majority of us are on a fixed budget. So there's your high cost of living. They claim we have low taxes - but then they remind us that our tax responsibility is multi-fold. We have that ad valorem tax, plus a whole separate education tax, plus a significant increase in our property tax. And sewer tax. And water tax. And state sales tax, and county sales tax, and regional sales tax. So yeah - high taxes, even though they try to hide it in multiple categories. Sure - no income tax. But most of us here in my community aren't working anymore, and we still have federal income tax for interest and dividends on investments.
Overcrowding? Heh - the Villages is now so crowded that the county and the community are fighting over who's stuck expanding the main thoroughfare to accommodate the increase in traffic. The main state and county roads are still under re-construction for the same reason. The little tiny side-roads right outside the community are crumbling because we in the community are using them as short-cuts and bypasses around the construction areas, and those roads weren't built to handle the traffic.
Trying to go out to dinner at a chain restaurant on a weeknight can mean an hour wait for a table, and they don't take reservations unless you're a party of 6 or more. In this area that used to be bison pastures, wilderness, horse farms, and citrus groves, we now have over 150,000 people living here. Then add all the people who don't live here, but work here - and then all the people who don't live here, but have to drive through this area to get to work every day in some other part of these three counties.

So yeah we have overcrowding, bad weather, high cost of living, and high taxes. In Florida. It's here. It might not be in your neighborhood, but it's definitely here in Florida whether you choose to believe it or not.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

population per square mile....

Java 2,600 persons per square mile

1 New Jersey 1,283.4 per mi²
2 Rhode Island 1,074.3 per mi²
3 Massachusetts 919.82 per mi²
4 Connecticut 746.7 per mi²
5 Maryland 648.84 per mi²
6 Delaware 522.09 per mi²
7 New York 433.9 per mi²
8 Florida 416.96 per mi²

https://wisevoter.com/state-rankings...per%20mi%C2%B2.

so Florida is at "extreme" capacity.....with 1/3 of New Jersey

Once again:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/flor...-dense-ny.html

NY = 416.42/sq mi (7th)
FL = 414.8/sq mi (8th)

With the growth that's currently happening in FL and the decline in NY, more than likely, FL and NY will swap places by this year in the density ranking, if trends persist.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Once again:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/flor...-dense-ny.html

NY = 416.42/sq mi (7th)
FL = 414.8/sq mi (8th)

With the growth that's currently happening in FL and the decline in NY, more than likely, FL and NY will swap places by this year in the density ranking, if trends persist.

NY isn't particularly dense at all though.

[EscAlaMike]

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

NY isn't particularly dense at all though.

Much of Florida isn't either.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

Florida has 12,000,000 acres of public land, rivers and lakes. Combine that with all the water activities along her coasts, gulf, Florida bays, Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean... Florida is huge.

The Desert Ranch is almost 300,000 acres, one of the largest in the US.

An additional 900,000 acres have been acquired as Florida forever land.

As a side note... the largest Buffalo herd east of the Mississippi is in Florida... need space for that too.

600+ miles from Pensacola to Key West

Florida's Coast line is 1350 miles

Florida seems much larger then she is.

... just sayin'

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by EscAlaMike

Much of Florida isn't either.

My point exactly.

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by apple92680

For those saying "there's a lot of land in Florida" etc, etc, please keep in mind that much of the land is either swamp or has a limestone layer underneath, which are both natural to the Florida peninsula.

This does not bode well, though, and has been the cause of sink holes suddenly appearing and swallowing up houses, cars and people whole.

There isn't an infinite supply of land that can just be paved over.

^^^ to developers, sure there is; Sarasota's downtown has been building "up" like crazy, trees/greenery removed & more concrete than 2013 ~ result, definitely hotter than ten years ago. Money talks and downtown condominium development on "fill" lots is becoming the norm. Developers are long gone when the sink holes open up.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

^^^ to developers, sure there is; Sarasota's downtown has been building "up" like crazy, trees/greenery removed & more concrete than 2013 ~ result, definitely hotter than ten years ago. Money talks and downtown condominium development on "fill" lots is becoming the norm. Developers are long gone when the sink holes open up.

Exactly. Look no further than our coastlines, which are surrounded by barrier islands full of developments, despite the nature of a barrier island which is to shapeshift to act as a natural barrier protecting the mainland from the forces of crashing waves and tidal actions. Developers continue to build mansions and highrises all over them. Because living on an intracoastal waterway or a bay isn't enough -- people want to live on the beach!

The solution? Keep bringing in and dumping sand on those islands to maintain their form and prevent them from doing what they are supposed to do.

Developers don't care that these are highly unstable grounds. In fact, they are happily rebuilding Sanibel Island, laughing on their way to the bank, while a bunch of people seemingly forget what just happened... Until next time. At least Sanibel and Captiva are limited in how much they can build due to the high percentage of land that is protected.

Marco Island on the other hand is a ticking time bomb.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

Exactly. Look no further than our coastlines, which are surrounded by barrier islands full of developments, despite the nature of a barrier island which is to shapeshift to act as a natural barrier protecting the mainland from the forces of crashing waves and tidal actions. Developers continue to build mansions and highrises all over them. Because living on an intracoastal waterway or a bay isn't enough -- people want to live on the beach!

The solution? Keep bringing in and dumping sand on those islands to maintain their form and prevent them from doing what they are supposed to do.

Developers don't care that these are highly unstable grounds. In fact, they are happily rebuilding Sanibel Island, laughing on their way to the bank, while a bunch of people seemingly forget what just happened... Until next time. At least Sanibel and Captiva are limited in how much they can build due to the high percentage of land that is protected.

Marco Island on the other hand is a ticking time bomb.

It should be a CRIME to build on our barrier islands and coastline! There should be nothing more than stilt shacks that are easily washed away in a storm and easy (and cheap) to rebuild. One day there will be a huge, huge catastrophe - I guess no one learned anything from Ian. People got more money than brains for sure. All I can say is Mother Nature will have her revenge one day.

The other big issue is, potable water and infrastructure. THAT is what is lacking with all this new sh*t they keep building. I am absolutely disgusted at what is happening in parts of my state. l