April 5, 2011 What a Californian thinks of Florida after 50+ days

In the Whale, returning to camp from the dinner, tomorrow's lunch on the dashl.

We remember when California was California and Florida was a California pretender.

Florida did a great job, eventually winning the citrus wars (even if many of their oranges come from Brazil), a fair amount of movie and television production, a larger version of Disneyland, popularity as a tourist destination, and a significant part of the space technology business. You could argue in the early years there was California envy - many California city names are duplicated in Florida - Hollywood, Pasadena, Venice (well, okay, so we copied Venice from Venice), and Orange County.   Both states have done great damage to exactly the things that made them attractive in the first place with hasty real estate development. 

Florida seems to be doing amazingly well for a state with no income tax and a sales tax less than California’s; California seems to be doing very poorly with a high income tax and high sales tax.  Don't know anything about Florida property taxes but expect they are high.

As Californians in Florida, we have had a great time and have learned and experienced much. We like this state.  I understand why Canadians, people from the mid-west, and those from the northeast come each winter, even retire here. But the summers must be unbearable and I like my mountains.  We're staying in California.