Located about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie grew by 12,689 people to reach 118,396 over the most recent one-year period, a 12 percent jump.

The median price of a home in Port St. Lucie was $253,200 in May 2005, high by most Florida standards, but lower than the median price of $390,900 in West Palm Beach, where prices rank ninth highest in the nation.

Although Port St. Lucie was hard-hit by Florida's hurricanes last year, especially Frances and Jean, we haven't found any of our 83-member residents leaving.

"My husband and I bought a mobile home in Golf Village three years ago for $21,000, similar units are now selling for $50,000. We suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Frances, but that could happen anywhere in Florida," said Donna Stanton a State D.E.S. retiree.

Doug Barry, an MWRA retiree, bought a home in Port St. Lucie four years ago for $129,000. Today similar homes in his area are selling for $375,000. His home was hit by hurricanes twice within a two-week period causing home insurance to nearly triple in cost. "I love the weather here, but not the hurricanes, and I don't miss the cold up north. But I would return to Weymouth if the real estate there was not sky-high," Barry said.

Marge Costello, a state MDC retiree, and her husband bought a house in Port St. Lucie for about $160,000 five years ago. "It would sell for twice that amount now. Prices are escalating at the same rate as Massachusetts in this part of Florida," she said. "It's a rapidly growing coastal area and the hurricanes have not scared anyone away. People just have the damage repaired or re-build. Insurance and taxes are going crazy."

Mayor Bob Minsky says he expects the boom to continue until the population tops 300,000. "This was nothing more than an 80-square-mile swamp when they started it in 1961. People like the lifestyle here," he said.