A couple of years ago, school administrators in Florida found themselves perplexed: Thousands of expected students never arrived on the first day of school.
It was an early sign of the Sunshine State's extraordinarly population slowdown, where the net in-migration of people -- about 35,000- reached its lowest point since anyone started keeping count (story here). Anecdotally, many former Floridians are landing in Southern burgs like Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C., where everything is cheaper and the weather still real nice. Do they miss the beach? Sure.
But how many actual Floridians actually spend much time on the water? With housing and insurance costs peaking, I imagine millions of them experience the water as more of a taunt: A place they used to be able to go, but now can't because they're having to work too hard to keep a roof over their heads.
Florida was once a dream for the American middle class. For many of those who plunged into the swamps, it's now more of a nightmare.
Iguanas, meanwhile, are moving in (story here.)
(PIX: Iguana hunter George Ward on Gasparilla Island, Fla.)
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