UF measures a 30 year low in Florida's growth rate

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EDITORIAL

We think: Florida's not the magnet it was, but there's no reason to panic

We think: Florida's not the magnet it was, but there's no reason to panic

December 28, 2008

In the winter, who wouldn't want to visit Florida?

But for a lot of people considering a place to live year-round, the state's losing its appeal.

Signs pointing to that came from the University of Florida in March, where research showed Florida's population-growth rate grinding to a 30-year low. Numbers this week from the U.S. Census Bureau, however, screamed it.

Florida topped the nation in attracting people from other states in the first half of the decade. But for the first time since Richard Nixon sat in the Oval Office, more people left Florida for other states than moved in during the 12 months ending July 1. The state's growth rate now ranks 30th.

Local governments may panic, taking a moment to wonder what went wrong before scurrying to attract more developers. But it's no mystery. Before the current meltdown, Florida's bargain property values skyrocketed, bringing them more in line with other Sun Belt states. Property insurance rates ballooned, and so did crime rates. Transit systems didn't keep pace. And funding for the state's poorly performing education system lagged. Together, they'd slow any migration.

But all is not lost. As most anyone who does live in Florida knows, the state's climate, its natural beauty, its man-made attractions, the warmth of its people, their desire to make the state a better place and their growing diversity all make Florida a wonderful place to live.

And fewer people choosing to make Florida their home could work to preserve the quality of life for those who do. Fewer people moving to Florida will mean fewer new developments that locally elected officials can't seem to live without, but whose arrival lays waste to so much of what makes the state so attractive in the first place.

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