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It isn't just people on Cape Cod that have homes in Florida. People all over New England have a similar mindset and go to Florida to avoid New England winters. Florida basically consists of New Englanders, New Yorkers, and New Jersians (not sure if thats correct pronuction).
........ Are there a lot of retired people living in Cape Cod?
Cape Cod, demographically speaking, has one of the oldest (age wise) populations in MA. I don't have the stats in front of me, but of the 15 towns on the Cape about seven have the most senior residents in the Commonwealth. There are 351 towns in MA, so that's a pretty good percentage.
Over sixty percent of my town's population (Wellfleet) doesn't live here all year.
And keep in mind that summers on Cape Cod are cooler than the interior sections of New England, so we're much more attractive to the senior population.
I think C.M. explained it well. What you are seeing are probably former Mass. residents that moved primarily to Florida in retirement (weather, taxes), but enjoy escaping the Florida heat in the summer.
Some of they might have had a primary residence here and also a summer Cape home, and then in retirement, they sold their primary residence and bought one in Florida instead (keeping the Cape house).
This fits my grandparents perfectly. Born/raised here. My Grandfather was a surgeon at RI Hospital and they moved from Boston to Providence (keeping a beach house in Brewster). When he retired, they bought a home in W. Palm Beach and sold the house in Providence (the home in Providence sold for more than than the cost of their waterfront home in W.Palm so they actually pocketed money for retirement) and kept the Cape house.
Every May, they come to Cape Cod and spend the season there. Every October, they head back down to Florida.
The reason is that in old age (sort of... they have 21 years between them), they didn't care for the cold of winter here. They've mentioned that if Cape Cod's weather were like September all year round, they wouldn't touch Florida, but seeing as it's not, they head towards the heat in the cold months. My Grandmother (step-gram, actually) is in her 60s and insists that she's going to move to Cape Cod full time after my Grandfather passes (no mal intent, he knows this too). But as for now, they go back and forth.
Even though they're from Massachusetts, they have everything registered to their Florida address as it's cheaper for them (this is why you see SO many Florida plates here in MA). They're technically Florida residents with a home on the Cape though they'll tell you Massachusetts is and always has been "home."
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