I lived in Florida for 5 years, from Dec 78 to Mar 83. I loved it. A bit inland in the Brandon area. It was very comfortable living.
Having traveled back to Florida many times since, the congestion is beyond belief. Florida has been flooded with people, and it is extreme.
My dream was to own a canal house where I could park a sailboat out back, and hop aboard and sail off for the day, week, etc. We flew down to Ft. Myers, and looked primarily in the Port Charlotte area. 1/4 acre lot was $152,000, and last I looked, he is asking $250,000 for a lot in one of those subdivisions that started in the 80s, and has only about 25% of the lots developed. But the view and the sunset were spectacular. This was before the last couple hurricanes that tore up the countryside destroying everything in their path.
The house next to the above lot had a couple who were both in real estate. In talking to him, he said his property insurance climbed up to $9,000 per year after the last hurricane, and that did not include flood insurance. I decided that dream had to remain a dream until I hit the Power Ball.
For those of you in Florida wanting cooler temps, we ended up buying a mountain home on a lake, the msot beautiful lake I have ever seen in the USA in North Carolina. Paradise is not a strong enougn word for this place. There are 13 houses in our gated community, the friendliest people I have ever known. A third of them are from Florida and come multiple times through the year to escape the Florida heat.
Check out lakehomes.com Our house is at Fontana Lake. The county has a population of 10,000 people. The beauty and tranquilty are unlike any where I have ever been, and I have seen just about every state in the union but a couple.