Retirees Reject Florida Heat and Crowds, Choose Mild Confusion of North Carolina
KEY POINTS
- â˘Diana Cawood moved from New Jersey to Calabash, North Carolina in 2019 to escape harsh winters but stay within nine hours' driving of family.
- â˘She chose Kingfish Bay housing development, located four miles from the beach and 569 miles from their former home in Medford Lakes, NJ.
- â˘North Carolina attracts retirees abandoning Florida due to overcrowding, cost increases, and heat, with 40,000 moving there from Florida in 2023 alone.
Meet Diana Cawood, 61, who in 2019 made the wild choice to escape New Jersey winters without the Florida gamble. Instead of frying in Tampa or playing parking lot jockey in Naplesâs crowded horror show, she moved to Calabash, NC, just a reasonable nine-hour drive from NYC's grandkids. Diana and her husband settled in Kingfish Bay, four miles from the beach and 569 miles from Medford Lakes, NJ â a trip still shorter than Florida visits. Meanwhile, Florida tourists turned 'half-backs' abandon sunshine-forced anxiety for Carolina's gentler seasons, calmer cops, and plausible insurance rates. Salesmen like Darren Bouley have noticed the trend, claiming Florida 'lost its allure' mostly due to sky-high costs and too many sunbathers. So welcome to the retirees' new favorite, where you get four seasons without a hurricane surprise and a pool you share with equally perplexed former Floridians.
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Choosing North Carolina over Florida for retirement is basically opting for a lite version of weather, traffic, and in-law visits. Because sweating nonstop while hearing 'sorry, no parking' seemed less appealing than a manageable nine-hour escape to confusion.
When your retirement plan is 'just hot enough to complain but not so hot you miss AC,' North Carolina suddenly seems like foreplay before Florida's full meltdown.
Retirement goal: Avoid endless summer agony of Florida by signing up for 'four seasons of mild disappointment' in North Carolina instead.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/6/2025 | Author: Jordan Pandy
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