Alan, just to pipe in on why people live where they live...DH and I live and farm on land that belonged to his grandfather and father as well as some we have bought over the years. We would love to live somewhere warmer (and have high speed internet access
) but you can't relocate 2000+ acres very easily. Although we think land in Missouri is expensive, it is very reasonable compared to land in other parts of the U.S. And you have to consider the tax implications which would be very costly if we would sell. Besides all of our family lives close by and I would miss them too much to move away!
With that being said....we do hope someday to be able to spend a couple of months each winter in Florida as our DS is now farming with us....
Until then, we count our blessings about living where we do--we are less than 30 minutes from Jefferson City, our state capital; 45 minutes from Columbia, home of the Mizzou Tigers, and the Lake of the Ozarks, a beautiful lake and tourist area; and less than 2 hours from either Kansas City and St. Louis. And we are centrally located in the U.S. and can get to either coast without an extremely long airplane flight.

With that being said....we do hope someday to be able to spend a couple of months each winter in Florida as our DS is now farming with us....
Until then, we count our blessings about living where we do--we are less than 30 minutes from Jefferson City, our state capital; 45 minutes from Columbia, home of the Mizzou Tigers, and the Lake of the Ozarks, a beautiful lake and tourist area; and less than 2 hours from either Kansas City and St. Louis. And we are centrally located in the U.S. and can get to either coast without an extremely long airplane flight.