[daniellefort]

I'd rather deal with a hurricane than an unexpected tornado popping. Yes we get them in FL too but At least with a hurricane you have time to prepare for the worst, leave if you must and get to safety with your family. Hurricanes in my opinion don't even compare to a tornado valley state. It's definately not on my list of reasons to move.

[firemed]

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

I forgot something, I know you going to come back with why are you not moving to MB then? I can see that question coming.

MB is an awesome place, beautiful, reasonable etc.

But, it's cold 4 months of the year, outside of MB you have to drive forever to get to anything and there are no antiques.

MB is a growing retirment community, I owned a condo there for years, it is a great choice for someone who is in there 60-70's, but I am retiring in 2 years at 49 and it doesnt have enough for us and its too cold in Dec and Jan.

Actually, we cannot wait to move to Florida, so much to do and see!

I really can see a "huge" amount of northerners moving to Fla in the next 1-2 years, how can you pass it up?

You might be right, but I think your wrong, Florida was the place to retire in the 70s and 80s but now its a new Florida. Alot of things need to be completed for Florida to handle much more growth. And it will take tax money. I have never been to Ohio but alot of people I talk with tell me it is very depressed right now. Well Florida is starting to feel the pains also. I'm 45 and can retire today. But I'm looking at the long run. Don't put all your eggs in this basket. When the boomers start pulling all the 401k in the next 5-10 years thing will change fast.
I have been here all my life and will still have a home and land here. But I still won't bet on a foundation of optimism.

[HockeyMom72]

Florida is not a Disney World VACATION.

[backtofla]

with the huge influx moving to tn and nc, maybe we will get a break. those states are growing so fast, it will become a florida-like state if it keeps going the way its going. ppl trying to escape fla will be complaining in 5-10 yrs after the move to nc/tn, b/c it will be comparable to what we have here in fla, mainly south fla and the orlando areas. when i lived in western nc, specifically the asheville area, it was very transient. everyone was from somewhere else, and many of them just arrived. pretty soon, it will be west va or montana getting all these ppl, who knows?

[firemed]

Originally Posted by backtofla

with the huge influx moving to tn and nc, maybe we will get a break. those states are growing so fast, it will become a florida-like state if it keeps going the way its going. ppl trying to escape fla will be complaining in 5-10 yrs after the move to nc/tn, b/c it will be comparable to what we have here in fla, mainly south fla and the orlando areas. when i lived in western nc, specifically the asheville area, it was very transient. everyone was from somewhere else, and many of them just arrived. pretty soon, it will be west va or montana getting all these ppl, who knows?

Its hard to say if Tn,Nc,Ga will see the growth Florida did. Florida was on a healthy growth track and the economy was fine for years. But alot of the problem was speculation, It drove the price up too fast and we were over built as a result of it. Taxes went up as the homes increased. But the big question is
will the slowing housing market drag the economy down with it as it did in the great Miami boom in the 1920s? A 1000 people a day were moving to Florida but not last year or this year so far. Are we still putting all our faith in speculation, Or should we be planning to bring in jobs for the people here. We can't keep selling real estate to each other. I don't forsee the taxes going down significantly anytime soon. Public services are taking the biggest chunk to provide healthcare, schools, and to feed the very poor that are living in Florida. I look at it this way, with the pound worth 2 to 1 on the dollar ( half off sale for the Europeans )the supply of homes should be selling fast. But the Europeans have a tendency to research a proposition before just jumping in. So this should be a clear sign things are not looking good right now.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by firemed

A 1000 people a day were moving to Florida but not last year or this year so far. .

From yesterday's Hiassen article I posted earlier in the thread:
Despite predictions of another terrible storm season, the

state's population soared last year by nearly 431,000. Moderator cut: ...
************************************************** ***
*HOWEVER*
I got this from the Orlando Sentinel, dated Dec 22, 2006:

A U.S. census report out today shows that the boom for the Sunshine State has slowed, with Florida growing only 1.8 percent in 2006 after back-to-back years of adding more than 2 percent to the population.

So, is this just a blip?Moderator cut: ...
Link (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-mgrowth2206dec22,0,5444282.story?page=1&coll=orl-news-headlines-state - broken link)

Note that the source of statistics for each article is the same.

[floridamove2]

Originally Posted by firemed

Its hard to say if Tn,Nc,Ga will see the growth Florida did. Florida was on a healthy growth track and the economy was fine for years. But alot of the problem was speculation, It drove the price up too fast and we were over built as a result of it. Taxes went up as the homes increased. But the big question is
will the slowing housing market drag the economy down with it as it did in the great Miami boom in the 1920s? A 1000 people a day were moving to Florida but not last year or this year so far. Are we still putting all our faith in speculation, Or should we be planning to bring in jobs for the people here. We can't keep selling real estate to each other. I don't forsee the taxes going down significantly anytime soon. Public services are taking the biggest chunk to provide healthcare, schools, and to feed the very poor that are living in Florida. I look at it this way, with the pound worth 2 to 1 on the dollar ( half off sale for the Europeans )the supply of homes should be selling fast. But the Europeans have a tendency to research a proposition before just jumping in. So this should be a clear sign things are not looking good right now.

Florida is just not the same. Its strange how we think people that try to tell us about all the bad are called every name in the book. I did the same thing and found out the hard way. I can't stand it here anymore.

[OREGONRAIN]

North Carolina is the next florida already. Even out here on the west coast people talk about moving there. I have found that moving to the fast growing states is a mistake unless one is going to stay in their house all day. Crowds, and overburdened services from people from all over, and communities not able to keep up with the population increases, is not a desirable way to live. I would think that people that have lived in Florida especially for sometime would recognize where North Carolina is going and plan accordingly if wanting to relocate out of Florida. Unfortunately that planning may make us realize there is or rapidily becoming no place to go to that is desirable, so we end up relocating to places that are less desirable with less population increases.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by OREGONRAIN

North Carolina is the next florida already. Even out here on the west coast people talk about moving there. I have found that moving to the fast growing states is a mistake unless one is going to stay in their house all day. Crowds, and overburdened services from people from all over, and communities not able to keep up with the population increases, is not a desirable way to live. I would think that people that have lived in Florida especially for sometime would recognize where North Carolina is going and plan accordingly if wanting to relocate out of Florida. Unfortunately that planning may make us realize there is or rapidily becoming no place to go to that is desirable, so we end up relocating to places that are less desirable with less population increases.

Actually, North Carolina has a LONG, long way to go before it is the "next Florida." And the large cities there like Charlotte and Raleigh, are doing things to keep up with growth - like for instance Charlotte is getting a light rail system for traffic. Raleigh area is also getting to be the next Silicon Valley. I laugh when people talk about traffic in Asheville - except for a few times a year in tourist season or at Christmas, it's a walk in the park. And NC has soooooo many miles and miles of unspoiled land, beautiful parks and conservation area.

And for that matter, even Florida is not bad once you get north of Tampa Bay area. It's not really that crowded at all - miles and miles of woods and pastures - which folks would find out if they took a ride up this way now and then. I think too many people here and there just parrot what others have to say here without any first-hand knowledge themselves.

Just my .02 cents...

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

And for that matter, even Florida is not bad once you get north of Tampa Bay area. It's not really that crowded at all - miles and miles of woods and pastures - which folks would find out if they took a ride up this way now and then. I think too many people here and there just parrot what others have to say here without any first-hand knowledge themselves.

Just my .02 cents...

I agree. take a ride on the back roads in North Florida and you'll begin to wonder where people go for work. There really is a lot of open land still in North Florida. Coming home once we decided to hit some back roads off the interstate north of Lake City and there are some people who do live out in the sticks up there. It's nothing even compared to Central FL forget South FL. obviously there's a lot of untouch land up there. Just look at the fires up there. There's got to be something fueling it that keeps them going all these weeks.