The Dream of a Florida Retirement Is Fading for the Middle Class.
In only a short time Florida got extremely expensive. It used to be vastly cheaper than California. Now itโs only slightly cheaper, comparing like-for-like areas, etc. And yes, I do know; Iโve now lived in both places.
One of the things I liked about Florida-that-was is that it was one of the few places in the country where lower-middle-class people and the rich lived right next to each other1. Up until about 10 years ago there, that was widely true. Now neighborhoods like that have mostly disappeared.
Too bad. I liked the old Florida better.