I've lived in three countries and moved 17 times, so I kinda have a little experience with living conditions in various places. I moved from Raleigh NC to south Florida the year before Hurricane Andrew. I also recall Hurricanes Hazel, Donna and a couple others that hit my home in Philadelphia. Mostly I can say the folk in south Florida are far better prepared for weather disasters than anywhere else I've been. As for insurance rates..if you are foolish enough (or wealthy enough) to live directly on the coast, or on a flood plain, or east of US 1, then you are gonna get hammered by the insurance. My very good homeowners policy in Broward/Ft Lauderdale was $305/year for an 1100 square foot house before Hurricane Andrew. In the 13 years after that it climbed to $2600/year for less coverage, plus $485/year for flood insurance. In 2005 I moved 350 miles north and 50 feet higher and the same very good policy on more than twice the house (3700 square foot) dropped to $730/year and no flood insurance. Oh, yeh, Florida has no personal income tax, a relatively low sales tax (6-6.5%) and low property tax with increases limited in the constitution to 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is lower.
As for living better in Boston, well, I lived there too, and I remember -30 windchill, and the worst drivers I've ever seen, and $3000/year car insurance policies, coupled with sky-high taxes. Yeh, tell me all about living in Boston.
The fact is, a place is a place, and everywhere has good and bad to it. If I had a choice, I think I'd live in Buena Vista, CO in the summer, and Ponce, Puerto Rico in the winter. Ooops, I forgot, they don't have winter in Puerto Rico.
Ride long and safe..and had a wisdom tooth pulled yesterday, so I suppose I've lost IQ points, eh?
John
ETC (SW) USN ret
The Sabre Group ret
EDS ret
'06 GL18HPNAC6