being from the northeast it seems like everyone is moving or is thinking about moving to the sunshine state.Why do so many people move there only to return years later.Is the weather too nice,are they homesick,is it poor salaries.Does anyone move there and stay there?

I moved to Florida in 1975 and haven't even thought of moving back.
One only needs to look around here and tell that the vast majority of those who move down, DON'T move back!!

What are you talking about? Since when do "many people move there only to return years later"? Then who are these people, what is it now, 1000/day moving into the state? Do you not know that Florida has been on a phenomenal growth spurt for about the last 50 years, and there is no end to it?

The people who've moved here and stayed here -- that's me and my 5 million and more friends.

You think this weather is nice? Try mowing the lawn anywhere in Florida this week. This weather is awful. Gawd only knows why so many people come here, but they do.

Hello to Patrick, one of the five million and counting...

I think it depends on the time of year.
All of our friends would wish they were moving to Florida in the depths of a NYC winter.
But they got over it once winter was over.

This must be purely an East Coast thing. . . !

What about the West Coast? Isn't there any north-south migration?

On the west coast, people just move east to NV or AZ to escape the high taxes, high gas prices, high regulation, high property costs, and all the high stuff...

Hmmmm, I thought Oregon and Washington will filled with former Californians?

As one who works with elderly people, (in the northeast), I know that quite a few of them moved to more tolerable climate and have now moved back because of physical needs and illness that made it difficult to be separated from family.

No, Patrick . . . once we discovered that you can't play tennis in the rain and the surfing is lousy, we all moved back!

If the hurricanes keep up at the rate they are going this year --- many people may be moving back.

Oregon and Washington are almost as bad as California in terms of taxes. Therefore people move to NV/AZ or even UT. Not going north.

The way Vegas and Southern Utah are growing, I know people are moving there. So many people in these 2 places have second homes there. So I guess they have the best of both worlds.

I'm frankly baffled by all these people who say that Florida's climate is better than New England's.

Up here, there are a few months of the year when you have to wear a coat, and a few times most winters when you haev to shovel snow, or hire a local high-school kid to do it.

In FL, my niece has the AC on virtually all year, and most of the year it's too hot to do anything outdoors except use the pool.

You can dress up to make cold weather comfortable, there's nothing you can do about HOT or super-muggy weather. And I won't even talk about the weather they're due to have this weekend.

It is funny, isn't it? I enjoy the cold weather, in fact just love it -- but only when I'm in the north. The cold here is really awful. It is a wet cold that gets into your skin. And no one has heat here other than their central air and it's a dry heat. Not a lot of fire places that work.

I just love a nice fireplace, mountains, snow -- ah, lovely snow! I'm not real close to retiring and can't imagine being in a colder climate all year round but I do love those northern winters in the city. I love walking into a department store -- they are serious about heat up there. It's just so warm and cozy, makes me want to shop. And you can wear gloves, coats -- people in Florida don't get too serious about the cold. The attitude is, well, it will pass. And it does.

We get transferred often and I did not cry when we left Florida. Those characters from Carl Hiassen novels really do exist. My coworkers came to work in their houseshoes, for example. And I never could get all the sand out of my house either.

LOL, wsox, how true! A few months after my niece moved from Boston to West Palm Beach, she reported that her respect for Hiaasen had dropped considerably, once she had read the local newspapers for a while and saw how easy it was for him to gather material. And working for a newspaper, he must have access to stuff they can't/dont/won't even print.

She also said that the drivers down there are scarier than Boston drivers.

"she reported that her respect for Hiaasen had dropped considerably, once she had read the local newspapers for a while and saw how easy it was for him to gather material" I love it, anonymous, too funny! I'm not so sure I agree with her assessment of the drivers though--Boston may still be reigning champs in that department.

Phillyfly, you've heard of the famous "J curve", yes? People head down here from the northeast, stay a while, then turn around later and settle a ways north. My parents did it just right...snowbirds, with places both here and in MA. That's the "I curve". Home is the dot of the "I" and they just kept migrating back and forth on that flight path.

OO, what will my curve be? LOL