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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (474046)	4/22/2009 12:42:10 PM
From: tejek	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577837

Census: Drop in out-of-staters moving to Florida 2 minutes ago By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Writer (AP:ORLANDO, Fla.) For the first time since the 1940s, more people moved out of Florida last year than new residents moved in from other states as the economic slump has halted years of explosive population growth in the Sunshine State. Florida reported a net loss of 9,286 domestic residents between July 2007 and July 2008, according to U.S. Census data released this month. But that loss was offset by a net gain of 77,427 new international residents, mainly as immigrants arrived from Latin America and other points abroad. The loss of domestic residents who once flocked to the Sunshine State's beachside condo towers and palm-tree lined neighborhoods also was offset by more births than deaths during the year, according to the Census data. The Census data looked at population changes from July 2007 to July 2008 in Florida, which currently has 18.3 million residents and is the nation's fourth most populous state. It was the first time Florida has experienced a year-to-year loss in domestic migration since the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic Research began keeping records in 1972. It also was probably the first dip since shortly after World War II, when soldiers who had come to Florida for training returned home after the war, said Stanley Smith, the bureau's director. "This, I think, is much more fundamental and related to the national economic situation and the recession," Smith said. The economic crisis has also affected migration to cities in other states, as well. Figures as of July 2008 show growth slowdowns in once-booming metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix as well as Tampa, Fla., due mostly to a rapid rise of mortgage foreclosures and frozen lines of credit that has made it harder for out-of-staters to move in. Florida's 9.5 percent unemployment rate is the highest since 1975, which translates into fewer jobs to attract new workers. A nationwide housing slump also has cast trouble for out-of-state residents seeking to sell their homes to move to Florida. Growth has been the economic engine of Florida for decades. But Smith said he doesn't expect any significant population growth in the state until the national economy rebounds in a year or two. And when a recovery does occur, Florida's growth isn't likely to reach the heights it did annually this decade, he added. "Those were abnormally high," Smith said. "The economy was booming. Florida was adding a lot of jobs, it was easy to get loans for mortgages, and Florida's construction industry was booming." Factoring in the net gain of 77,427 new international residents, Florida had a total net migration gain of 68,141 people last year. Last year's loss in domestic migration also was offset by the 235,241 births compared to 176,811 deaths Florida recorded between July 2007 and July 2008. But the total migration gain was paltry considering that for the past eight years Florida averaged a combined annual gain of 293,000 domestic and international residents. "Our No. 1 industry here is growth, whether you like it or not," said Richard Crotty, mayor of Orange County, which is home to Orlando. Some Florida residents, like David Oldread, left for professional opportunities. Oldread and his family left the Orlando area last July so he could take a radio station manager's position in western Massachusetts with better prestige, pay and growth opportunity. It also didn't hurt that he was from there and still had family there who would be close by as his children, ages 7, 5 and 2 grew up. "My wife and I both love Florida. We enjoy the lifestyle ... being able to do things year-round," Oldread said. "But a lot of people who grew up in the Northeast seem to migrate back at some point." The migration slowdown to Florida seems to be part of a nationwide trend. The Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the rate of people who moved declined from 13.2 percent in 2007 to 11.9 percent in 2008, the lowest rate since the bureau began tracking in 1948. Some policy makers see a silver lining in the growth slowdown. "We can take a deep breath and do some better planning for the future," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. Dan Pennington, a community planner for 1000 Friends of Florida, the nonprofit group that calls itself the state's growth management watchdog, said Florida's growth pattern during the high migration years was "atrocious." "We were just literally sprawling houses as fast as we could across the Florida landscape," Pennington said. "Right now, people are still in a state of shock ... now the tables have totally turned." news.ino.com