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NewsBriefs
Ride the Wave
The Florida real estate market may be slower these days, but it’s future is Golden, according to Wall Street economist Richard Hokenson.
"Ride the wave," said Hokenson, who runs a demographics consulting firm. Like many other real estate analysts, Hokenson is counting on the wave of baby boomers rolling into retirement to bolster the Florida market.
"There's a baby boom tsunami and a fixed supply of coastal land," he said. Whether boomers can afford a Florida retirement may depend on whether they can shed their NIKEs, the acronym Hokenson banded for "No Income Kids with Education." Hokenson says population trends explain 70 percent of what happens in the economy.
Destin Doesn’t Cut It
The International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) -- the official center for Florida's 11 universities, which works with the National Hurricane Center -- created a list of the nation's 10 most vulnerable hurricane areas, and the Destin and South Walton areas didn’t make the list.
The IHRC looked at 12 criteria, including storm frequency, intensity and levee-dike failures. Other considerations include storm surge, freshwater flooding potential, coastal erosion and island breaching history.
Of the 10 areas Florida netted four spots. The rankings are:
| 1. New Orleans, LA |
6. Galveston/Houston, TX |
| 2. Lake Okeechobee, FL |
7. Cape Hatteras, NC |
| 3. Florida Keys |
8. Eastern Long Island, NY |
| 4. Coastal Mississippi |
9. Wilmington, NC |
| 5. Miami/Fort Lauderdale |
10. Tampa/St. Petersburg |
Destin Seafood Festival Draws Record Crowds
The Annual Destin Seafood Festival drew record crowds over the first weekend of October, and good times were had by all who attended.
We took the festival in Saturday night to see the old legendary rock and roll band Kansas and they played from a huge portable stage. The group has been around since 1974, but only has one original member.
The old rock n’ roll tunes were great. The seafood was abundant and prepared in every way imaginable. The festival celebrated it’s 28th year with an all-time record crowd as the weather cooled to cooperate. October is always a glorious month in Destin.
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