Letter Re: The Quest for Safety: Is Jackson County, Florida America’s Ideal Retreat Locale?

Jim:

Regarding your recent comparison of Jackson County, Florida, with Lewis, County, Idaho: I lived in Marianna in 2001 and worked at a bank.  I wouldn’t recommend it at all, as a location to move to, unless you are from the South.  I actually was turned down for [membership in] the local quilt guild because I was from the North, and one business owner told me another time that they just wished we’d come down, drop our money and leave.  It is not a friendly area [to outsiders].  “Paul Revere” needs to recheck his facts. The main employers there are the seven prisons… 

If you are from the North, they do not want anything to do with you.  I did some volunteer work at a Habitat for Humanity thrift store, and directed seven [inmates on probation] (“probies”) there.

The Jackson County Floridian is their paper.  Anyone considering moving there might want to follow up on that.

After a year, I’d had enough and returned to Missouri.

Just some thoughts. – Kathi L.