Florida

Florida: what to say? As big as the agriculture industry is in Florida, it's completely outshone by tourism. Of course, anything that reduces tourism (like stock market crashes, mortgage banking crises, big bank bailouts, global economic recessions, etc.) causes great hardship in Florida. In 2010, the unemployment rate is running at 12% and higher, and all the news networks are saying "It hasn't been this bad in 34 years" (which is all the way back when Ronald Reagan was President and the federal government was preaching the wonders of "trickle-down economics"). But it's a great time for folks with cash to pick up real estate for pennies on the dollar... Personally, I think the flora and the fauna might be enjoying the respite from the crowds of yesteryear. And it's nice to be able to actually see the countryside without a bunch of people in between... it's just as beautiful as ever.