The population of Florida has declined for the first time since 1946:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Researchers say Florida’s population has declined for the first time in 63 years and economists are blaming – what else? – the recession.
The head of the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research says Monday that the state’s total population dropped by 58,000 in the past year. It’s the first decline since large numbers of military personnel left the state in 1946 after World War II.
Bureau director Stan Smith says not as many people are moving to the Sunshine State since its tax revenues have plunged and it has seen jobs leave. Would-be Floridians also are finding themselves stuck in homes that they can’t sell, so they can’t afford the move.
I think there are more reasons for this development than that, among them being demographic changes in states (and countries) that send people to Florida.
I expect we’ll see similar developments in California and Nevada. California may actually have a more severe problem: it could lose population from the upper income quintiles (on which the state is dependent for revenue) while gaining population from the lower income quintiles.
An article in the NYTimes over the weekend on Florida’s woes also pointed out that Florida ranks last in receiving stimulus money on a per capita basis.
I have a different explanation.
Floridians woke up one day and said, “Oh, my God, this humidity! And the roaches and the mosquitoes and the old people and the lurid serial killers and the greasy dirtbags. And did we mention the humidity?”
And so they left.
Having been a frequent visitor/temp resident to Naples since 1985 I can tell you first hand much of the influx was based upon retirees and visitors belief they could buy real estate and make a profit……………all the while enjoying the climate.
That went poof.