They came for Florida's sun and sand. They got soaring costs and a culture war.

[SunSeeker]

One of the first signs Barb Carter’s move to Florida wasn’t the postcard life she’d envisioned was the armadillo infestation in her home that caused $9,000 in damages. Then came a hurricane, ever present feuding over politics, and an inability to find a doctor to remove a tumor from her liver.

After a year in the Sunshine State, Carter packed her car with whatever belongings she could fit and headed back to her home state of Kansas — selling her Florida home at a $40,000 loss and leaving behind the children and grandchildren she’d moved to be closer to.
...
But while hundreds of thousands of new residents have flocked to the state on the promise of beautiful weather, no income tax and lower costs, nearly 500,000 left in 2022, according to the most recent census data. Contributing to their move was a perfect storm of soaring insurance costs, a hostile political environment, worsening traffic and extreme weather, according to interviews with more than a dozen recent transplants and longtime residents who left the state in the past two years.
...
Costs and politics were also enough to cause Noelle Schmitz to leave the state after more than 30 years, despite her son having a year left in high school, and relocate to Winchester, Virginia. She said the politics became ever-present in her daily life — one former neighbor had a massive Trump banner in front of their house for years, and another had Trump written in big letters across their yard. When she put out a Hillary Clinton sign in 2016, it was stolen and her house was egged.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/economics/leaving-florida-rcna142316

[flamingdem]

1. Rings true

Especially about the insurance rates!

Painful but it's happening in California as well.

[SunSeeker]

2. Yes, CA property insurance rates have gone up, but not as much as in Florida.

The average cost of homeowners insurance in California is $1,250 per year. For comparison, the national average is $1,915. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/california-home-insurance#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20of%20homeowners,average%20is%20%241%2C915%20per%20year.

Homeowners insurance in Florida typically costs between $1,700 and $2,700 per year, per one study. https://www.usnews.com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/local/florida#:~:text=Homeowners%20insurance%20in%20Florida%20typically,year%2C%20based%20on%20our%20study.

And we don't have the issues with finding doctors, at least not in Southern California. Doctors love living here, so there's plenty of them, lol.

The worst thing about California is the high cost of housing. We are a victim of our own success. Everyone wants to live here, especially the rich, and that has driven up our housing prices, especially in our beautiful coastal areas. The median sale price of a home in Orange County where I live was $1.1M last month, up 15.8% since last year. THAT is what is driving working people out of California.

[Old Crank]

3. Florida is a mess.

I have an old friend who moved to Georgia. Got a motor home to visit grandkids. Soon their insurance system will collapse under the weight of claims even after the GOP gave all sorts of incentives to companies.
Then there is ocean level rise.....

[SunSeeker]

5. The sea level rise is really affecting Miami.

The streets seem to regularly flood, whether there is a hurricane or not, just a rainstorm will do it. The water has nowhere to go.

[Old Crank]

8. The GOP mayor

gets essentially no help from the state in trying to manage this problem.
According to experts from the Netherlands, they can't build a dike system because the ground the city is on allows water to percolate up from behind....

I also was reading that because coastal housing was permitted that the cities, counties,state may have to try to save as much as possible and or make the owners whole from damage of loss of property.

[jimfields33]

13. Sadly it seems the democratic voters are leaving.

Even the story indicates this. That doesn’t help Florida.

[Old Crank]

16. Florida's land mass is going away.

They will lose probably 2/3 of the state. Most will have to leave. Right now it seems like democratic voters may be the fastest to leave but the rest will have to go starting with low income people who won't beable to afford all the costs which will incease drastically as the waters come.

[AZ8theist]

4. I will know Florida is a S**THOLE when Merde Lardo is under water.

Until then........meh...

[SunSeeker]

7. Trump's presence in Florida has brought such a horrid toxicity to the state.

And the whole country. But it is really pronounced in Florida.

It is really sad. Florida used to be a laid back place. A few decades ago, nobody talked about politics there. Nobody would think to put a huge flag on their house glorifying a political candidate, let alone an odious one like Trump. But then Fox radicalized our seniors. Then Trump capitalized on that.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

6. But she said the final straw was when she couldn't find a surgeon to remove a 6-inch tumor from her liver that doctors w

But she said the final straw was when she couldn’t find a surgeon to remove a 6-inch tumor from her liver that doctors warned could burst at any moment and lead to life-threatening sepsis. After being passed among doctors, she finally found one willing to remove the tumor. But when she called to schedule the surgery, her calls went unanswered and her messages weren’t returned. After months of trying and fearing for her life, she returned to Kansas to have the procedure done.

[SunSeeker]

9. Yes, doctors are hard to come by in Florida.

They all seem go be moving to Newport Beach and Santa Monica, California. There's certainly no shortage of doctors in coastal California; there's no humidity, summers and winters are mild, there's lots of culture and arts, and doctors can afford our housing, unlike most folks. California has tons of clinics and hospitals to work at and no crazy anti-abortion laws that could land a doctor in jail. California has Medicaid expansion; folks respect doctors and science. Coastal California is doctor heaven.

[RandySF]

10. They went for low taxes, under-regulated opioids and MAGA.

[SunSeeker]

12. They're living the Rush Limbaugh dream, and close to their Orange Massiah.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

11. While politics never used to be a topic for homebuyers, Desautels said it is now a regular subject his clients bring up.

While politics never used to be a topic for homebuyers, Desautels said it is now a regular subject his clients bring up. Rather than asking about schools or amenities in a community, prospective buyers are asking him about the political affiliations of a certain neighborhood.

“One of the first things they say is, ‘I don’t want to be in one of them X or Y political party neighborhoods,’” Desautels said. “I spend hours listening to people vent to me about fleeing the communist government of XYZ and they want to come to freedom or whatever. So the politics have been the biggest issue when we get the call.”

[snowybirdie]

14. Florida is a fine place to live

Sorry folks but all the nay saying seems to be coming from non residents. We choose to spend a lot of time here over 20 years ago. The weather is great most of the time. No income tax. No tax on food. Great doctors, and a variety of good medical care. Beautiful places to visit and relax. Yes, insurance rates are high, but we've never had a problem getting it. Costs about the same as in our former Illinois home. Crime in our SW Florida area is way lower than in Illinois too. Hurricanes can be very bad, but we were smart enough to choose not be directly on the gulf and not close to streams or rivers flowing into it. I still remember hiding in closets during tornado warnings up north. At least we have time to prepare for a storm here. As for politics, meh! They come and go. When we arrived, Democrats ran the state. They will again someday again. Our day to day life isn't affected. So all in all. Florida is a nice place, much like other places with both good and bad people and lifestyles for most. Now how can anyone ever stomach living in Texas?

[SunSeeker]

17. What town in Florida do you live?

I have a relative in a suburb of Tampa, and she has a completely different experience from you.

[snowybirdie]

18. SW, south of Tampa

I have no younger relatives here to worry about abortion or the other woke nonsense of diesantis. Its not a perfect state but what one is? There's always something to bitch about anywhere. My big complaint is that the school system isn't good here. That's the future, but hopefully, with democrats in power sometime again, that can change. I guess I'm just content with life here and my own. I'm fortunate.

[SunSeeker]

19. I like your optimism about Florida. Biden's campaign seems to share it with you.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/biden-campaign-florida-winnable-2024-rcna145863

[lark]

15. It is truly sad what has happened to FL since Scott fucked us over so bad.

Of course he was followed by someone maybe even worse - Death Sentence. I am praying that abortion is on the ballot along with legal mj, but with our fucked up FL SC, there is every chance they will tank both issues because they would help Dems.