It’s beginning to get hot here in South Florida. Rich people without kids generally stay in Florida for 4-6 months per year, 183 days/year if they’re anxious to preserve Florida as their primary residence/tax domicile. If that’s how people with infinite money live we can presume that it is a good way to live, I think (perhaps the Jeffrey Epstein and friends situation is a counterargument to that principle).
Carl G. Fisher created Miami Beach and, for his second act, wanted to build out Montauk on Long Island as the summer home for all of his customers.
What if we adapt Fisher’s idea for families with K-12-age kids? We set up a school that operates mid-October through mid-April (183 days/year or a little more) in Florida and then shuts down for a week while everyone moves up to New Hampshire. The kids can finish their school year up there and then the enterprise segues into summer camp mode, with activities all day every day for the same kids. The family can enjoy the best weather/seasons in the two states. The family won’t have to pay any state income tax (constitutionally barred in Florida so that should remain the state for 183+ days; NH could have an income tax, but presently does not), even if work is done in both places. The kids and adults will have built-in social circles in both places. If a great teacher doesn’t want to move, he or she can stay in Florida year-round and do the beginning and end of the school year virtually while the in-classroom students are organized by someone who is primarily a camp counselor.
The New Hampshire operation would run like a “family camp” in which everyone could meet for meals 3X/day if desired. Florida already has tons of restaurants and recreational facilities, so it would be more of a standard family life during the winter.
The main objection that I can see to this idea is the difficulty of scaling immediately to a sufficient size. A school with fewer than 200 students would presumably be overwhelmed with regulatory compliance costs and classes of fewer than 18 students would likely seem lame. Rich people are drawn to elite schools and it would be tough for an upstart traveling school to compete with The Greene School in West Palm Beach (founded by a billionaire; gifted students only) for quality, actual and perceived.
Also, there’s the question of where in New Hampshire to locate. Portsmouth has a fantastic airport, a beautiful river and ocean access, but it is expensive. Lake Winnipesaukee has a good airport (KLCI) and is in a traditional area for summer camps, but it is more isolated. The border towns with Maskachusetts could work because they provide quick access to Logan Airport for summer vacation trips, etc.
Obviously this wouldn’t work for most of the parents of the 3.4 million-ish school-age children who live in Florida, but why couldn’t it work for the parents of about 200 children?
From Helicopter images of the New Hampshire coast in foliage season:
Concord averages 1.3 inches of snow in April, and Lake Winnipesaukee has had ice out as late as May 12.
Your plan is good, but I would do trick-or-treating in New England, and enjoy Florida until mid-May.
Earth would be a lot more hospitable if it wasn’t a logistical nightmare to live in 2 states. It’s only practical in a country like US because no-one makes anything. In other countries where everyone has a shop or an instrument, they can’t move the shop twice a year.
Snowbirding used to be possible for mere middle class mortals. You might have a shack-of-a-bungalow in Florida, but that did beat New England winters. Snowbirds could count on their neighbors who were full-time residents to keep an eye on their property while gone. I’d be worried now that some squatter would be holed-up when I got back. (Ask your real estate agent if people are likely to live in your crawlspace, prepurchase.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowbird_(person)
I grew up without AC in Southeastern VA and now in retirement only use it on extra hot nights. Growing up without AC, on those nights we’d put a wet rag on our body and get before a fan and I’d be sawing logs instantly.
How did humans survive before AC? Easy, they never got used to it. The more you use it the more you need it. How did they survive before fans? Even I grew up in the lap of luxury.
I know no one cares and most will never go without AC, and women in particular will never accept what humidity does to their hair (except my sister like me can take any amount of heat in stride) so if you want to stay married you’ll be using AC. I’m just telling you, human beings actually can survive without AC or even fans and it is not that terrible. Dehydration is far more uncomfortable, leading to nausea. I got dehydrated in California several times because I barely noticed the heat without the humidity. It is very uncomfortable and scary.
This is how I grew up as well, no AC, but we did have fans. My family and I managed through the heat both in my home country, Aleppo where it can get very hot during the summer, even at night, and here in Maskachu$etts.
That said, Los Angeles County apparently does not share our view [1]:
“Los Angeles County has set a maximum indoor temperature rule to help protect
renters without air conditioning from dangerous heat inside their rental units. High
indoor heat can cause heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which can be life-threatening.
The new rule requires rental units in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County to
maintain an indoor temperature of no more than 82°F in all habitable rooms.”
http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/docs/about/indoor-temperature-requirements-en.pdf
It’s surprising what humans can endure. When I was 10 I lived in a small town in the middle of Kansas for a while. No A/C in the cars, no A/C in the house which was situated next to a cattle feed lot. (Damned if you did, damned if you didn’t open the windows there.) The first time my father took me out to shoot a revolver, it was 114 deg. F. (July). The house did have a basement, which stayed cool enough, I guess. I also lived in Laramie, WY at 7200 ft. altitude we had a -50 deg. F. night or two per year. Dehydration is a major factor there, my skin always felt desiccated — constant moisturizer and drinking water. There were times when A/C would have been nice in the summer. (Evaporative cooling is very effective in the dry air.)
What a terrible idea, Philip! Sending kids from a red state to a blue-leaning state, at age where they can easily be manipulated, is not something I would want for my own children.
George: That’s a good point. Given the number of Massachusetts Democrats who (1) advocate for higher tax rates on the rich, and (2) want to escape the high tax rates of Massachusetts for themselves, it is only a matter of time before there are Queers for Palestine marches in Laconia.
New Hampshire is the only New England state that does not have legal recreational marijuana, so there is that. If you want true blue states with cooler summers, Montana (which does have legal weed), Wyoming, or North Dakota? Who wants their kids exposed to N.E. culture at all? I wish I hadn’t been. Phil G.’s Dude Ranch, think about it, man.
> true blue states
…true-blue red states, ahem. I can’t even tell if I’m joking anymore, unbelievably long day earning money to pay taxes to fund immigrants, gonna call it a night.