Lots of Colorado car tags down here in Florida...what gives? (Steamboat Springs: sales, renter)

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by dozener

Where is here for you? Western slope?

Denver metro

And just back from a 20 mi bike ride in shorts and short sleeves.
I just looked in up and my first ski day last year was Nov 10. Doubt I'll make it up to ski country this coming week, but hopefully soon.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

That is because they start at 1500 at my favorite place.
https://www.vogheraristorante.com

Yum!

The Florida panhandle is not consistently warm in winter. Christmas week last year, Denver was significantly warmer than what we had. Even Tampa and Orlando can have their winter cold snaps. And then there was the 2014 ice storm….

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by Willy702

I know a few people who want to move to Florida in the near future. Pretty much the normal story, they see they can buy a bigger house in Orlando area for about half the price of Denver and they are sold. Has nothing to do with the weather, everything to do with economic perceptions.

I know every area thinks they have bad traffic but Orlando is is rough by any standard. The last time we were in Tampa, we did a day trip there- going was close to 2:30 along I-4 and then my phone sent us back to our Tampa hotel pretty much by way of The Villages to avoid hitting that bottleneck again.

I have cousins in the Orlando area who love it. They were able to buy when home prices were much lower than now so they could afford good locations with easy work commutes. However anyone getting excited about the giant Orlando house for $450k or so these days will probably find themself pondering the greenness of the grass in the roadside drainage ditch while stuck in a traffic jam on a very regular basis because those houses are typically pretty far out on an overwhelmed road network

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

.... will probably find themself pondering the greenness of the grass in the roadside drainage ditch while stuck in a traffic jam on a very regular basis because those houses are typically pretty far out on an overwhelmed road network

The down side of "no income tax" states like FL and TN and TX. Been to all three, don't even want to visit them again.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

The down side of "no income tax" states like FL and TN and TX. Been to all three, don't even want to visit them again.

I don't understand the connection.... explain .

Here's the whole list... anymore on the do not visit list?
Wyoming.
Washington.
Texas.
South Dakota.
Nevada.
Florida.
Alaska
In addition, Tennessee and New Hampshire limit their tax to interest and dividend income, not income from wages.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

The down side of "no income tax" states like FL and TN and TX. Been to all three, don't even want to visit them again.

Such faulty thinking though. Roads are largely paid for by gas taxes, registration fees and federal money. Lack of state income tax makes little difference. Florida and Texas roads where congested are the same as some Colorado roads, too many cars on the road with not enough capacity for them during peak times.

And really what was so bad about visiting those places? I have no desire to live in them or spend long periods in them, but each of those states have nice enough areas for an occasional visit.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by Willy702

Such faulty thinking though. Roads are largely paid for by gas taxes, registration fees and federal money.

It's rarely that straightforward. Road taxes don't tend to pay for upgrade/expansion/replacement, and federal money is usually on a matching/partial basis, and that money comes (if ever) from general funds.

States that choke off a major revenue source show the consequences, even though they can be masked for a time by, say, a boom in oil lease/tax revenue. A great number of California's problems over the last few decades can be traced directly to the revenue choke of Prop 13.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

Originally Posted by Therblig

It's rarely that straightforward. Road taxes don't tend to pay for upgrade/expansion/replacement, and federal money is usually on a matching/partial basis, and that money comes (if ever) from general funds.

States that choke off a major revenue source show the consequences, even though they can be masked for a time by, say, a boom in oil lease/tax revenue. A great number of California's problems over the last few decades can be traced directly to the revenue choke of Prop 13.

It's not about how much in taxes is collected, it's about how government spends it. If the argument is more money makes things better or best... then it must be measurable and provable.

Florida has the #1 Higher education system in the country 5 years running and spends way less than many high tax states. How do you explain that? using your logic?

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by Dave_n_Tenn

It's not about how much in taxes is collected, it's about how government spends it. If the argument is more money makes things better or best... then it must be measurable and provable.

As most such positions devolve (after considerable argument) to "government spending it on things *I* think are important", I'll leave you to it.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

Originally Posted by Therblig

As most such positions devolve (after considerable argument) to "government spending it on things *I* think are important", I'll leave you to it.

We have examples... do we not? Fiscal responsibility can be measured. Efficiency of government can be measured. There's a discussion to be had for those who want to explore or compare ideas.

However to your point... the less government control, the better from my perspective. We can compare like for like spending. I brought up education, but there's more.