This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Lorraine English, a 72-year-old Floridian who moved to North Carolina in 2025. The dialog has been edited for size and readability.
I lived in San Francisco for a few years, however in 2000, I moved to Bradenton, Florida, a town between Sarasota and St. Petersburg. I lived there for greater than 20 years, proper alongside the Manatee River, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico.
Bradenton is a medium-sized city, however like a lot of places in Florida, it’s been growing by leaps and bounds. It has an analogous really feel to Sarasota, and it is near stunning white-sand seashores. It is also very a lot a boating neighborhood. Total, it is a good city and a good place to raise a family.
However there are downsides to residing in Bradenton. Being so near the Manatee River means seeing the results of rising sea ranges up shut. The town’s roads are susceptible to sunny-day flooding, which occurs when rising sea ranges and excessive tides push water up via storm drains, even on clear, sunny days.
Courtesy of Lorraine English
Once I first moved to Bradenton, the highway close to my residence would flood solely a few instances a yr. However over time, it occurred extra usually. Beginning about 5 or 6 years in the past, it flooded almost on daily basis through the summer season, and the water started creeping into individuals’s yards.
Over time, I additionally began noticing fiddler crabs in individuals’s yards. They’re tiny — about an inch lengthy — and so they burrow within the sand, leaving little holes behind. I keep in mind pondering, “Oh my God, the ocean is beginning to take this again.”
I did not need to endure one other hurricane
Bradenton has develop into very unaffordable — and that is occurring throughout Florida due to rising property taxes and householders’ insurance coverage prices.
Two years in the past, my householders’ insurance coverage with hurricane protection — not together with flood insurance coverage, which is a separate coverage — went as much as $7,000 a yr. On prime of that, my property taxes have been about $3,000 a yr. Altogether, I used to be round $10,000 a yr only for insurance coverage and taxes.
Regardless that I am financially secure and technically might have afforded it, I did not need to preserve paying these prices.
Courtesy of Lorraine English
I began significantly interested by leaving Bradenton — and Florida altogether — in August 2024, when Hurricane Debby hit. I used to be fully dumbfounded. My residence wasn’t immediately impacted, however I noticed so many communities fully flooded.
That is after I actually realized hurricanes in Florida, and the impacts of local weather change, are solely going to maintain getting worse — and so they did.
In September, Hurricane Helene introduced a 7-foot storm surge into my neighborhood. Fortunately, my home did not flood, however in some circumstances, houses nearer to the river noticed as a lot as 7 ft of water. Afterward, loads of my neighbors bought their houses as teardowns. Others determined to fully rehab their homes and keep, or finally bought them.
The final storm I went via in Florida was Hurricane Milton. The worst harm to my residence was to my pool cage. Milton took down one facet of it, mainly knocked it proper down. I spent about $6,500 fixing it, and truthfully, I take into account myself very fortunate.
Asheville, North Carolina was precisely what I used to be in search of
In 2023, I began different components of the USA the place I’d need to reside — locations with decrease householders’ insurance coverage and property tax prices. Asheville, North Carolina, was a type of locations.
Earlier than transferring, I put my residence in Florida in the marketplace. It was inbuilt 1951 and was a ranch-style home with three bedrooms, three bogs, and a storage. The property was actually giant, with a pool and three 150-year-old oak bushes.
Once I listed it, I received a contract fairly shortly and even had affords above my asking worth. One provide was $25,000 over the listing worth, however I ended up taking the listing worth as a result of it was a money provide. At that time, I simply wished out of Florida.
Walter Bibikow/Getty Photos
In 2025, I moved to Asheville, and I completely like it right here. It is neither too large nor too small, which I actually like. It is also stunning and surrounded by forests and mountains. I reside about half a mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway, so there are tons of trails close by. There are such a lot of songbirds and a lot wildlife.
I reside in a small neighborhood tucked right into a wooded space. I purchased a three-level condominium right here, which works out rather well as a result of my son lives with me and works from residence.
I instructed him, “I am getting older, and at some point you are going to be my caregiver, so that you may as nicely reside with me.” The setup is nice as a result of he has his personal area on the underside flooring, and I’ve mine upstairs.
I miss Florida, however I am not transferring again
Asheville does get its share of natural disasters, too, however for me, the local weather and the change of seasons make it value it. The summers aren’t boiling sizzling, and the climate truly feels livable — particularly after coping with Florida’s relentless heat and humidity.
I do miss Florida every now and then, particularly my little residence and neighborhood.
I had some actually nice pals in Bradenton, and it was such a pleasant place to be within the evenings. I might stroll west alongside Riverview Boulevard and see the sundown, or sit below the oak bushes in my yard.
However after I take into consideration all of the storms and the destruction I noticed, I could not be happier to have left Florida within the rearview mirror.