[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

when you are freezing in chicago a 20 ft snake does not seem like much of a threat?

That depends on whether the snake is poisonous or not.

[OrlandoRE_Miracle]

We do have plenty of poisonous snakes here but the only ones I've seen personally are some harmless black snakes (called black racers?). Maybe that's because I live in an urban area though, or I have just been lucky. But I've found you usually don't encounter poisonous snakes or insects here unless you go into swamps or wooded areas where they live.

Originally Posted by KathyA11

That depends on whether the snake is poisonous or not.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by bdpop

I think you could do the picture thing with any state. All have their good and bad.

That was my point.

[Mike Peterson]

Originally Posted by jojajn

Your joking right?

Mississippi river in MN




Florida:

How does posting a picture of one of the best aspects of an area and a picture of one of the worst aspects of another area show anything.

How about this?

Minnesota


Florida

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by OrlandoRE_Miracle

We do have plenty of poisonous snakes here but the only ones I've seen personally are some harmless black snakes (called black racers?). Maybe that's because I live in an urban area though, or I have just been lucky. But I've found you usually don't encounter poisonous snakes or insects here unless you go into swamps or wooded areas where they live.

Snakes don't bother me. I loved the Snake House in the Bronx Zoo and Staten Island Zoo as a kid -- my parents couldn't get me out most of the time. A coworker used to bring her boa (Stevie, named after Stevie Ray Vaughn) in to work when he was a baby, and I loved to handle him -- he felt like velvet.

My husband, OTOH...he's not fond of them at all.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by OrlandoRE_Miracle

We do have plenty of poisonous snakes here but the only ones I've seen personally are some harmless black snakes (called black racers?). Maybe that's because I live in an urban area though, or I have just been lucky. But I've found you usually don't encounter poisonous snakes or insects here unless you go into swamps or wooded areas where they live.

EXACTLY, when I lived in Florida, i've NEVER seen any poisonous snakes, or poisonous insects, or aligators eat anybody, now that I think about it I never seen a gator period, unless they're a UF alumni. I've heard ALL the stories, they're almost like myths to me. Im not saying they arent true, but I just never had these incidesnt happen to me. Maybe some news stories over exagerrate a tad bit. And I lived in South Florida, and most of those stories seem to come from South Florida. Or maybe because I lived in an urbanized area also, but either way i've NEVER known ANYONE that has been bitten by a venomous snake, or an aligator, or poisonous insect.

[OrlandoRE_Miracle]

Those creatures are more in danger from us destroying their habitats than we are from them. Unless your building your house on stilts over a swamp your not going to see any of those things in your home except once in a blue moon. People moving down here should be much more concerned about getting in an accident with one of our psycho drivers.

Originally Posted by polo89

EXACTLY, when I lived in Florida, i've NEVER seen any poisonous snakes, or poisonous insects, or aligators eat anybody, now that I think about it I never seen a gator period, unless they're a UF alumni. I've heard ALL the stories, they're almost like myths to me. Im not saying they arent true, but I just never had these incidesnt happen to me. Maybe some news stories over exagerrate a tad bit. And I lived in South Florida, and most of those stories seem to come from South Florida. Or maybe because I lived in an urbanized area also, but either way i've NEVER known ANYONE that has been bitten by a venomous snake, or an aligator, or poisonous insect.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by jojajn

From a 2007 study:

http://www.wowonline.org/ourprograms...FL11-21-07.pdf

Are things better in florida since 2007?

What a Family of Four Would Need to Earn in Selected Urban Areas to Have Purchasing Power Equal to 300% of the U.S. Federal Poverty Level ($63,600), 2008

Cost of Living Variation - Minnesota - Kaiser State Health Facts

Whew! What a difference!?


You have so far FAILED in attacking my earlier premise: It is cheaper to live "day to day" in Florida now than it was a few years ago.

HOUSING PRICES down

INSURANCE COSTS down

TAXES down


You have done nothing but show you have marginal competence at using google.

DO things significantly change withing just a year or two? YES! Observe:

In Palm Beach County, 65.7 percent of new and existing homes sold in the county were affordable to a family making the median income of $67,600, NAHB says. That’s up from 53.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Affordability hit a low of 28.8 percent in 2006.


In the Treasure Coast, 81.4 percent of homes were affordable at the median income of $59,600. That’s up from 70.6 percent in the fourth quarter. In 2006only 20.5 percent of Treasure Coast homes were in reach of the typical family.


Real Time » Housing Affordability

[ferretlady4719]

Originally Posted by KathyA11

Snakes don't bother me. .....

My husband, OTOH...he's not fond of them at all.

Kathy, I guess we don't match the stereotype, huh? I thought it was us *women* who were supposed to be afraid of snakes, while guys were OK with them!

It's exactly the same with my husband & I. I think snakes are great (actually most reptiles are pretty cool), but my dear hubby - he does NOT like them at all. Whenever we ran into snakes in FL, he would call me to shoo them away. (I'm talking harmless species, such as black racers, king snakes, etc -- though I did trap & release a small pygmy rattler once...) I don't fault him at all though - I'm the same way about spiders - even the tiniest spider will throw me into fits . So he "rescues" me from spiders & I "rescue" him from snakes - it's all good!

I had a darling ball python named Ziggy when hubby & I first met - once things grew serious between us, it became a choice between keeping Ziggy or keeping my sweetie - he's that leery of snakes! Obviously, I kept hubby & luckily, I knew a couple who were amateur herpetologists & they gave Ziggy a great home.

[mango23]

Originally Posted by polo89

EXACTLY, when I lived in Florida, i've NEVER seen any poisonous snakes, or poisonous insects, or aligators eat anybody, now that I think about it I never seen a gator period, unless they're a UF alumni. I've heard ALL the stories, they're almost like myths to me. Im not saying they arent true, but I just never had these incidesnt happen to me. Maybe some news stories over exagerrate a tad bit. And I lived in South Florida, and most of those stories seem to come from South Florida. Or maybe because I lived in an urbanized area also, but either way i've NEVER known ANYONE that has been bitten by a venomous snake, or an aligator, or poisonous insect.

Really? I see gators all the time. You can even run into a gator on the golf course. I lived near a river that has direct access to the glades and we used to get gators come up in the back yard before we had a seawall. I will say, I have never seen a poisonous snake outside of the glades.