The new, cheaper Key West

Key West was at one time the most expensive place in Florida to buy a
2,200-square-foot home, according to Coldwell Banker’s Home Price
Comparison Index. Now, however, after Hurricane Wilma and the housing
crisis, the Conch Republic’s homes are now eminently affordable, even
for working-class people who had been leaving the island in drastic
numbers due to high-priced housing. Aneta Swiecicki, a hotel
housekeeper who came to Key West from Communist Poland, bought a
three-bedroom home for $157,000 that had once been appraised for
$463,000. [Palm Beach Post]