Sunshine, beaches and no state income tax. Florida has long been the paradise everyone brags about at cocktail parties. But bliss now comes with a price tag that might make you weep into your key lime pie.
Nearly half of our residents have thought about packing up their flip-flops and fleeing, while the rest have convinced themselves that skyrocketing housing costs are good for the economy.
Then, we talk about traffic. More specifically, getting around it. If crawling along I-4 has you daydreaming about sprouting wings, the state might have a solution: air taxis. Imagine hurdling above the gridlock. Cities like St. Petersburg are already plotting these vertical escape routes.
And long before the idea of air taxis, an innovator named Tony Jannus used an airboat to fly commuters across Tampa Bay. How did the first commercial airline get off the ground?
Priced out of paradise?
(0:00) Floridians love the sunshine, but the soaring cost of simply living under it has many rethinking their ZIP codes. A survey shows nearly half the state has at least wondered whether the American Dream is still affordable here. We dig into what’s pushing people out, what’s still pulling them in and whether Florida is getting too expensive to call home.
GUESTS:
- Eric Levy, assistant director of the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative
- Dante Chinni, founder of the American Communities Project
A fare to remember
(21:04) Hail the air taxi. That’s right, Florida traffic may soon go from sore spot to soar spot. The state will soon experiment with battery-powered aircraft that could whisk commuters above gridlock. We break down how they work and what’s in the works in cities like St. Petersburg.
GUEST:
- Jeff Brandes, founder and president of the Florida Policy Project
Winging in a new era
(36:00) Long before air taxis, Tampa Bay was already reaching for the skies. In 1914, the first commercial flight carried passengers from St. Petersburg to Tampa, defying skeptics who thought such scheduled trips were a pipe dream. We celebrate those pioneers and their short-lived but historic airline.
GUEST:
- Rui Farias, executive director of St. Petersburg Museum of History
