NEW FLORIDA RESIDENT BLOG

Welcome to Paradise. In the town where I grew up, my first true winter memory was a real blizzard.  We were out of school for days, the subway shut down and people were stranded in office towers all over downtown.  The National Guard was mobilized and we couldn't even get out of our driveway.  On day 3, I remember taking a sled to the grocery store for food but we were too late.  The great part of adventure we had during that time wasn't the snow, it was trying to locate the fire hydrants in an age before they had red metal flags to address the problem. But, believe it or not that was not the winter I decided to move to Florida.  It was the winter when it snowed on April 10.  A brutal storm to survive is one thing but, a never ending, slow cascade of frozen precipitation is miserable.  At some point, that type of winter weather just becomes a blanket of despair on top of any happiness you may be feeling.  If that sounds overly dramatic you pro...

Welcome to paradise. On the street where I grew up, I lived in a pretty new home for the area.  Of course, the 1920s probably seem like a long time ago to most people but, in New England there are some superb locations in urban areas that date back to the 1700s.  I always liked the homes from the 1700s and have lived in a couple of reproduction homes, which I highly recommend.  A solid 1700s design with central air is about as good as it gets.   The questions always seems to be, will the value hold? If you like math, I think you'll believe it will. My birth city had 1,200 residents in 1640 and today has roughly 685,000.  I don't think you have to be a mathematical wizard to guess that the more demand there is for housing, the more valuable homes become.  Well, keep in mind that the day I wrote this post about 900 people moved to florida.  So yeah, the market seems strong and I for one expect it to stay that way. (Play Video) Of course...

Welcome to Paradise. I have long since ditched the last of my ties and am honestly confused when I see someone wearing one in Florida.  I suppose if you are going to court, it may be different but, even my Sarasota banker wears a polo shirt with.........wait for it.........A LOGO ON IT. So, clearly ties are out.  It's too warm part of the year and things have gotten more and more casual over time.  There seems like there have been so many changes in the last five years to society and my life.  I guess I do notice more societal changes now that I am a father.  Because I loved the show, right after Rocky was born when I got up with him we would watch old episodes of Miami Vice together.  (He was a baby - baby and never even looked at the screen and I was trying to stay awake in the middle of the night.)  It's pretty funny to watch TV Shows from the 1980s and really notice how much has changed.      Perhaps our son did pick up a pe...