An unexpected outgrowth of the worst recession in 70 years: Sarasota has quietly become more cosmopolitan.
While hard times discouraged Midwesterners and New Englanders from moving here, more Peruvians, Italians, Brazilians, Ukranians and many others made the Gulf Coast home.
Milt and Kay Olson spend every Christmas in north central Wisconsin with their children and grandchildren, enjoying a meal together, sharing stories of Christmases past and exchanging gifts. Then they take down the Christmas tree, load up the fifth-wheel trailer and head south to escape the below-zero temperatures and snow.
Sitting outside his lakefront mobile home, Lake County snowbird Dick Risch relishes the peacefulness around him.
Until recently, Risch's winter community was packed with seasonal residents. But while most part-time residents already have left, unusually chilly temperatures up North kept some snowbirds like Risch, 68, from joining the flock just yet.
For businesses that thrive on the spending of seasonal residents, these snowbird stragglers seeking to stay warm a bit longer are a welcome economic bonus.
DUNEDIN - You can add real estate offices after restaurants, golf courses, condos and RV parks on the list of where you will find snowbirds, the perennial winter visitors from Michigan, Ontario and other parts north who began arriving in early November.
Despite the poor economy, and stronger efforts by Western states to recruit seasonal visitors affluent enough to afford two residences, more snowbirds are expected to gather in Florida this year than last, partly because of housing prices here.
Florida's most self-destructive annual sport - shooting at the snowbirds - opened last week. Did you bag your limit?
Once Easter passes, Florida's seasonal residents start flying north and northwest. They'll start coming back from October through Thanksgiving. Coincidentally, their migratory pattern tracks that of turkey vultures, for which year-rounders must mistake snowbirds, given their comments.
The temporary migration of elderly adults has a major impact on the resident populations of both sending and receiving communities. This article presents a methodology for estimating temporary migration and provides insights into migratory patterns that cannot be achieved by focusing solely on changes in place of usual residence.
