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I must say I'm quite surprised to see even two people here have such a negative opinion of the state of Florida, especially one who lives there. I myself do not have a positive opinion of it. I've been there only once in my life, and that was over thirty years ago, but I do remember I wasn't a fan of the heat and humidity and the bugs, as we were there in the summer.

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But my husband had a college friend who, like my husband, attended college in The Bronx, and, unlike my husband, had grown up in The Bronx. He got married right after graduation, as did my husband and I, and as soon as he and his new wife were married they hightailed it to Florida and have lived there ever since, and that's thirty four years. They didn't want cold and snow.

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And then, about six months after we were married, and we were living near Sioux City, Iowa, my husband had a married co-worker and he and his wife, like myself, were from New Jersey. I remember when they got transferred to Florida they were over the moon, oh, it was such a glamorous destination.

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My stepsister, who like myself is originally from New Jersey, went to Florida at the age of eighteen to attend Rollins College and she has stayed there ever since. She thinks it's so wonderful. No cold and snow.

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And then it was common in New Jersey when I was young for elderly people to either move to Florida permanently or to spend the winter there. My husband's grandparents moved there for a while, until then moving on to Arizona, and my paternal grandparents would spend winters there.

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So even though I personally don't find it appealing, and have always had a vague idea that it has a high crime rate because "riff-raff" tend to migrate there, I've also always had the impression that it's generally considered glamorous and desirable.