Red California? Housing woes squeeze Florida’s middle class.
Six years ago, Jennifer Taylor counted herself among some 800 people a day moving into a state long considered “California on the cheap”: shorts weather in February, a decent house for not that much money, and low taxes.
Taxes are still low, and she can get her shorts out at least once a week after Groundhog Day. But in December, her rent rose by 20%, “from three figures into four figures.” And Ms. Taylor, a veterinary tech, says her middle-class dreams are fading as household costs – including the roof over her head – are rising faster than her income.
“I’m looking back and starting to wonder, why did we leave again?” she says. “Are we really better off?”
Not too long ago, a $26,000-a-year income used to guarantee middle-class status here. From Fluffy Landing to Possum Bluff, Florida was “a hopey-dreamy state,” as Sarah
