Florida Ranked Consistently High and Why Real Estate Should Recover More Quickly Here

 

It is interesting to look at a glass half full instead of half empty.  The South Florida real estate market seems to be such a separate world from our little corner in NE Florida.  We see a different demographic, growth rate, and I hope recovery rate.

Growth will, in my opinion, save us.  As the baby boomer generation retires...beginning only a few years ago...we will see a continued migration here.  We have one of the best standards of living, best climates, best environment for business, best beaches, best pretty much everything.  That said, there are almost three Floridas.  South Florida is distinctly different than North Florida.  Inland and Beaches all over Florida are very different.   Growth all over Florida is going to continue.  Nassau County, bordered by Jacksonville to the south with 20 times (roughly) the population, is a far nicer place to live.  We are, more often as years pass, becoming a bedroom community for Jacksonville and King's Bay. 

Coming trends, including fuel price increases, virtual offices and green living all point to an area like Nassau.  We have the beaches, we have great values on property, you can live and do all errands within about 10 minutes of home and in come areas can walk or ride a bike for everything.   This is one of the easiest places in the world to live.  Oh, and don't forget the short drive to Jacksonville International Airport...only about 30 minutes away.

Lets consider a few opinions:

• “Top State Business Climate.” Florida’s business climate ranked 4th among executives and 6th overall on Site Selection magazine’s 2008 Top State Business Climate rankings. Read more.

• “Best Tax Climate for Business.” Florida continues to rank among the top five states for best tax climate for business, according to a Tax Foundation survey. With no state income tax, low corporate taxes, a low unemployment insurance tax rate, and sales tax exemptions for certain business transactions, Florida has remained among the top five U.S. states since the survey’s inception. Read more.

• “#1 in Online Education.” Florida ranks top in the nation in online education, according to the Center for Digital Education, which evaluated each state’s vision, policies, programs and strategies to transform their academic environments to meet student needs. Read more.

• “Best Colleges and Universities.” Florida colleges and universities were ranked among the best by several national surveys. For instance, six Florida universities, including University of Florida at No. 2 and New College of Florida at No. 8, were named to “Kiplinger’s Best Values in Public Colleges.” These rankings recognize schools with top-flight academics and affordable costs. The University of South Florida's graduate entrepreneurship program was ranked No. 5 in the country in the 2008 ranking from The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine. Read more.

• “Top Ranked High Schools.” Florida leads the nation in Newsweek’s “Top 100 U.S. High Schools,” accounting for nearly 1 out of every 5 of the top ranked schools as measured by the magazine’s Challenge Index. Read more.

• “Top Biotech Region.” Florida was named a “Top 5 Region for Biotech” in 2008 by the industry's daily monitor, Fierce Biotech. This is Florida's second consecutive year at the top of this ranking for regions supportive of biotech development. Read more.

So, the next time you think about Florida or about Nassau County...think about just how much we have going for us.  We're far better off still than just about anywhere else in the country...and I'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the world with the same quality of life here on Amelia Island.