We have lived all over the world and will definitely retire in Florida! We love living here and can't wait to live here all the time. Right now we are still back and forth between Florida and D.C. We are coastal in Ponte Vedra. The hurricane damage is pretty awful all over Ponte Vedra, St Augustine, and Jax. But we have power again! Very minimal damage to our home. The screen on the lanai is torn. The pool looks gross - not sure what's going on there. Our yard is a mess. But no flooding inside and no damage to the house. Newer homes in Florida are built to withstand hurricane force winds. We are up high enough that flooding isn't an issue even though we back up to water. This storm has had zero affect on our decision to stay.

I went there in December years ago. Thought the heat and humidity were appalling (and yes, I have spent many summers in DC). No way would I live in that festering swamp even if it didn't get hurricanes.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, the place is a swamp. Barely habitable even without the hurricanes.

Further evidence:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/health/florida-nursing-home-deaths/index.html

"At least 5 dead in Florida nursing home left with no A/C after Irma"

We are talking about a place where you die if the electricity is cut off. That is somewhere with a bad climate, not somewhere with a good climate!

Honestly, the place is a swamp. Barely habitable even without the hurricanes.

We're in Florida now in a part that was barely impacted by Hurricane Irma. It was freaky watching that hurricane approach Florida not knowing where it would go. Anyone looking at that storm knew that it was going to be a bad one for anyone in its path.

That said, we like living in Florida. The mid/late fall, winter and early/mid spring are really nice. Late spring, summer are hot and early fall can have some hot days, too.

I enjoy having the beach so close by. I like having beautiful resort destinations close by. I do not miss the snow and ice even a little bit. We can get heavy rains here with some flooding on the roadways at times but the water tends to drain pretty fast once the rain slacks off. I'm also not a big fan of the lightning in this state. But you get do get used to it.

I can see retiring here.

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking this because of the hurricane?
You do realize they have had hurricanes before and people who move there know the risks.
Just like people who move to California know the risks of earthquakes and those that move to Oklahoma know the risks of tornadoes.

Of course it is on the list... for some people.
It is a very retirement-friendly state.

Nope, effects of global warming. We have always had hurricanes but not two 500 year storms in a two week period,

Miami already flooded streets with normal rainfalls. There are already problems with salt water infiltrating coastal fresh water reservoirs in Southern Florida totally apart from hurricanes as sea levels increase, given that Florida is at zero sea level. There is an amazing New Yorker article about how the effects of global warming are already significant in Florida, as compared to elsewhere in the U.S.

Global warming will not be kind to Florida real eatate

It is still top of my list to retire to. I can't wait.

We plan to winter in Naples as well. We own a place their now, right near the water, but thankfully escaped okay structurally. We will have homes in the desert and the mountains, as well. Florida has always been this way. Everywhere has its own risk.

I bought a condo in Naples last year and I am retiring this December.
I plan on wintering in Naples and spend the summers in Upstate NY, the Finger Lakes area.
Summers are too hot to stay in Florida.

Nope. Moving out west.

Are you asking this because of the hurricane?
You do realize they have had hurricanes before and people who move there know the risks.
Just like people who move to California know the risks of earthquakes and those that move to Oklahoma know the risks of tornadoes.

Of course it is on the list... for some people.
It is a very retirement-friendly state.

It was never on my list.

Was never on ours.

Is FL now off the list for places to retire?