Reply #3: I-95 vs. I-75

[carpetbagger]

I-95 funnels old Yankees to the east coast.
I-75 funnels old people from the midwest to the west coast.

Beyond that, SW Florida is a bit "newer", thus attracting a more affluent group of retirees, and certainly the ones who are into white flight. The Jewish population is centered in South Florida, and more blacks live in South Florida.

If you imagine the places without retirees, South Florida is urban and SW Florida is rural. Having gone to public school in both places, I can say that SW Florida has a greater affiliation with redneckness than does South Florida. When I was in HS in Collier Co. in the 1980's, most of the native Floridians there spoke with southern accents, chewed tobacco, played with guns, drove pickup trucks if they could afford one, listened to country, etc. In Dade Co., no one did these things.