Learn me: why Florida?

Given that the mag is based in Florida, and there seem to be an awful lot of dorks living there, this seems like a good place to ask.  Why?

It's a sincere question.  I am not here to roast Florida.  I've never been there, and my knowledge of the place is limited to memes, anecdotes, stereotypes, and whatever comes over the wire about weather and politics - and let me be clear that I'm not discussing the latter one way or another, just acknowledging it as one of the few sources of information (noise) that reach me.  There's also entertainment media (of which I consume very little), which typically stereotypes the state either as Miami Vice or a Carl Hiaasen novel.  Or that b* Carole Baskin...

What little I know, or think I know, is that it's flat, sunny, hot, humid, prone to hurricanes, densely populated, and there may or may not be alligators and snakes in unexpected places.  As someone who grew up in a rural, mountainous part of the west coast and has the complexion of a vampire, those are all things I struggle with.  And it's probably not fair to the state or people who live there.  An awful lot of people either choose to stay or decide to move there, so there must be something to it.

Having confessed my considerable ignernce, I have to ask: why Florida?

I lived here first because the Air Force sent me to Hurlburt Field in Ft. Walton Beach on the panhandle.  That area wasn't as densely populated back then but after Hurby they sent me to Korea.  There I saw more snow than I ever wanted in life.  After getting out I had an opportunity to move to Jacksonville so I took it.  What I like about Jacksonville is no one is from here.  It's a great mixing pot of people from all over the country.  You learn to appreciate different cultures and ways of doing things.  We're far enough north that it's not unbearablly hot.  As far as densely populated that's only the coast and the people in Orlando.  Much of the state away from the coast is country and acreage is pretty cheap.  It's been a couple of years since I've seen a gator, can't remember the last time I saw a venomous snake.  Honestly you have four very different areas in Florida.  South Florida, Orlando, North Florida, and the Panhandle.  Other than a mountain region I think anyone could find an area or several that they would like.

Edit - You might relate to this more since you're west coast.  Thinking that Florida is all the same is like thinking all of California is like LA instead of breaking it down to South California, Central, and Northern.

I lived in New York and Michigan around my college years.  I remember the one perfect week of weather in April and another in September.  Florida has that weather form January to March.

Air conditioning is universal.  If you work inside, you are only hot when you walk to and from your car.

The government is funded by tourism so our taxes are low and fees are high.  It means my effective tax rate is lower than most other states.  On the other hand, I would not to want to live here near the poverty line because benefits are low.

We have a weird set of laws that make all arrests public records.  That leads to most of the Florida Man type news stories.  I assume dumb people live in other states too.  They just have a stronger right to privacy.

Hurricanes aren't that bad.  You see them coming if you are paying attention.  I had 8 days of notice for Milton.  Most Floridians don't leave until they are definitely getting hit by a category 3.  Living in east central Florida, Dorian in 2019 was the last one that scared me enough to consider evacuating.  Flooding is scary and tornadoes are extremely scary but they aren't limited to Florida.

I have looked at east coast alternatives.  Eastern Tennessee is probably the most likely for me.  It has a similar low tax/high fee system to fund the government.  The government sounds roughly as dysfunctional as Florida.  Trading the ocean for the Appalachian foothills is a reasonable trade.  Trading hurricanes for a month or two of 35 degrees weather with icy rain is a harder decision.

Stampie said:

Thinking that Florida is all the same is like thinking all of California is like LA instead of breaking it down to South California, Central, and Northern.

That's an excellent analogy that I was thinking of as I wrote up my first post.  I grew up in a tiny gold rush town era timber town in far northern California, and had a hell of a time explaining to people who'd only ever seen California through movies and TV that we had four seasons.  Some were surprised to learn that I had seen snow, was not wealthy, did not live on the beach, and had, in fact, never met Madonna.  Oregon is the same way; I live near Eugene, which checks all the Oregon stereotype boxes, but east of the Cascades is a very different place, and not at all homogenous. 

ojannen said:

I have looked at east coast alternatives.  Eastern Tennessee is probably the most likely for me.  It has a similar low tax/high fee system to fund the government.  The government sounds roughly as dysfunctional as Florida.  Trading the ocean for the Appalachian foothills is a reasonable trade.  Trading hurricanes for a month or two of 35 degrees weather with icy rain is a harder decision.

That's interesting.  I have roots there (Morgan County) a few generations back but, like FL, have never been.  Although I don't mind the cold and would choose TN for the geography in a heartbeat, I can see how that might be a tough decision for some.

I moved to SW FL ( SWFL=everything below Tampa) out of college in '07. The economy was on fire and I wanted to invest in real estate. Luckily I was flat broke until around 2009 and by that time the market crash had happened so I was buying duplexs for 50k, two chickens and a pack of lucky strikes. I also knew there was a demographic wave coming as the Baby Boomers retired. Basically, I came to that part of Florida to make money.

Now that I have money, I'm gone. 

A lot of mid-westerners choose to retire there because they start vacationing there when they were younger. Rte 75 goes right up through Michigan, so a lot of folks from WI, MN, MI, IN, OH, KY, etc, etc. have dreamed about retiring to the beach where they spent time when they were younger. 

 Caveat - typing this on my phone, so editing is suspect.  Items below are listed in steam of consciousness order.....beware....

I was born in TN, but my folks moved to FL when I was 13. I like both places immensely and I've traveled a lot for business.

Here's my Florida, about 20 miles from Grassroots/Classic Motorsports headquarters.  I live directly on the Intracoastal river/waterway near Ponce Inlet.  I have dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles off my dock 365 days a year.  I drop my boat in off my electric lift in 10 minutes.... Available almost 365; days a year.  As a teenager, we would waterski during Christmas vacation regularly, I live 20 minutes from Daytona Beach International Speedway and have been attending the 24 hours of and on for 50+ years and race there (SCCA).  Sebring is less than 3; hours away and I race there from time to time as well.  I see most rocket launches form the Cape Kennedy from my front yard. The weather is heavenly for about 8 months of the year (summer is brutal).  I had 100 mph wind  in my backyard Wednesday night, bit we are already 95 percent back to normal two days later (lucky that way).  Some of the best, if not the best surfing on the East Coast is two miles away as the crow flies (farther by car).  I've had my highly modified bugeye Sprite for 50 years alongside my Lotus Elan and just sold my Lotus Europa to a friend in Santa Barbara.  There's are many classics here (it's a muscle car stronghold).  Good car club activity.

We have no income tax, our state is well run.  You can do the Disney/universal/sea world thing if you like that (about 50-60 miles away).  We have the largest university in the nation (some would say second largest, but whatever...) with an excellent school of engineering (I am a grad).  Many engineers at the Cape graduated from UCF.  The boating/fishing is outstanding.. I've seen many gators, many sharks, etc. We are tropical, so that's what you get.  Comes along with bugs and snakes as wel.  I actually live in the shark bite capital of the world (really), but no one dies, the sharks don't want you and they only bite when they mistake you for food in distress.  10000 freshwater lakes, many freshwater springs. Some good diving.  Housing is reasonable and downright cheap compared to Cali.  Politics? Pretty much TV news hype.  Overpopulated?  Only the Metro areas, many beautiful areas have low population.

Downsides... Hot as hell in summer, no curvy roads, no elevation changes, so not perfect.  I really regret that as I am a twistt road guy at heart, that part is just sad.

Most laughable is Florida man stuff (I laugh too), but really, do you think that represents the state as a whole?  

​​​​Could this changes? Yep, it's well underway, people streaming constantly and that threatens everything.

Why California?  Why Michigan?  Why Georgia?  You could probably ask that question about all 50 states, they all have positives and negatives.  I lived over 40 years in PA and it'll always be "home", spent 10 years in GA.  Now in the process of moving to Florida and couldn't be happier.  I'm just outside of Melbourne.  The eye of Milton passed right over us.  Hurricanes suck, they're part of life in Florida just like tornadoes are part of life in the Midwest.  I can walk out of my condo and be on a quiet serene beach in literally 5 minutes.  I can be in Disney World in just over an hour (a huge positive for me, YMMV).  No state income tax.  I will never touch a snow shovel again.  I can be in Key Largo in just over 2 hours.  I can be at one of several road courses in a few hours.  I can wear shorts and flip flops all year.  Outside of the big cities, it's quite rural and peaceful.

...and now I can call myself Florida Man!!!!!  Life is good...

Family moved here NY/CT before I was born due to job relocation. I don't know where I'd go if I do leave, I like the area and have a good job. But hate a lot of things about the state and the people who run it. I will keep it at that. 

The "Florida Man" thing, apparently is not due to a higher level of insanity there, but more due to a law requiring all court cases to be reported to the news media.

Or so I hear.