Pinellas County, where Treasure Island is located, is No. 1 on the list in the United States of National Flood Insurance Program policyholders who are currently receiving subsidies -- 13 percent, according to Pam Dubov, the county's property appraiser.
So, they get themselves on the hook for a house that goes for more than 1/2 mil... that's built on a flood plane, in a region that every decade or so gets a hurricane that effectively wipes off the map every dwelling in a hundred-square-mile swath. Not to mention storm surges that inundate tens of thousands of square miles of costal communities.
Of course, the rest of the time the weather is great, the sunsets are to die for, no snow, no sleet, yada yada.
The thing is, those idyllic conditions cost something. You've got to be ready to rebuild if the Big Bad Wolf blows your house down.
I wouldn't mind all those nice sunsets myself. But I look at the hurricane trade-off, and my conclusion is: "no thanks, I'm not that much of a gambler."
In past years, that gamble got picked up by the rest of the population. Most of whom don't get to enjoy the nice weather, ocean breezes, and beautiful sunsets.