Military Officer - September 2006 - (Page 70) Priceless LIVING ALONG FLORIDA’S INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY An Active Adult Intracoastal Community From The Mid $100’s • Resident Owned Lots • Private Gated Manufactured Home Community • 960 Foot Fishing Pier • 1200 Ft. Dock with Boat Slips • Boating, Fishing & Shrimping • Clubhouse, Pool, Tennis, Shuffleboard • Only 30 minutes North of Kennedy Space Center TOLL FREE 888-963-2683 386-345-2536 www.lighthousecove.cc ideal climates, such as Hawaii and California. “Florida has an impressive selection of adult or retirement communities, from manufactured housing and trailer parks to luxury waterfront condominiums and special-interest golf or boating communities,” says Cash. “Developers seem to be aware that retiring baby boomers don’t want to live in grandpa’s trailer park, [so] moderately priced retirement communities are popping up all over.” More good news for retiring people is that with a plentiful and competitively priced rental market, it’s easy to try several locations before settling on a retirement home. Insisting on close proximity to the ocean, though, could price you out of the market. A house can be bought for between $200,000 and $1 million or more, depending solely on where it is in relation to the water. Prices also escalate for homes in upscale, gated communities or on a lakefront. On the entertainment front, Florida offers seniors much more than early bird specials. “There is a wealth of activity designed to encourage people to stay active and connected to their community,” says Cash. “However, the risk is with so many activities to choose from, it’s easy for retirees who have not yet defined what they want to do in retirement to get swept up in busywork. Some retirees may, for example, get involved in the governance of their new adult community, whereas they would never have said, ‘In retirement, I want to spend my time rewriting condo bylaws and discussing what should be planted around the flagpole.’ ” million, an increase of 7.6 percent over the same period in 2004, according to research from Visit Florida, the state’s official source for travel planning. Obviously, the downside of living in such an appealing vacation destination is the traffic. Cash says Florida is unique in the convergence of three often-dangerous groups of drivers. “Traffic headaches are more The downside of living in such an appealing destination is the traffic. For many retirees, the swelling population is the price you pay for ideal weather. than a function of the number of cars on the road,” he explains. “In Florida, tourists, who don’t know where they are going and are likely to slam on their brakes when they miss a turn; retirees, who come to a stop on the highway; and workers in a rush, who are irritated by the tourists and retirees, all combine to create less-thanideal driving conditions.” Traffic is, of course, a symptom of the larger issue of overpopulation. Former U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Fred Jung Jr. and his wife were snowbirds for several years before retiring from 100 Golden Bay Blvd. Oak Hill, FL 32759 I-95 to Exit 244 East, South on US 1, 7 miles Home sweet tourist trap The friends and family you leave behind will love to come visit you in Florida — especially your grandchildren. In fact, the number of Florida visitors in 2005 hit a record 85.8 70 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2006 www.lighthousecove.cc
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.