You find two townsites, one in a northern climate and one in a sub-tropical climate, and you build two near-identical towns. You set up your property deed system so that the purchaser of lot #F-12, for example, in the northern town would also have to purchase F-12 in the sub-tropical town. Everyone would have the same address and phone number in both towns, and arrangements would be made with the post office so your mail always came to the right place.

You would have only one town government and one set of public service employees, and they would all (as a condition of their employment) move south on a set date in the fall, and move north in the spring. Commercial establishments would follow suit. Only a few caretakers would remain behind, and live year-round in the same place. Houses would be designed and landscaped in such a way as to enable minimal maintenance when uninhabited.

Houses could be much smaller, as there would be much less need to stay indoors during bad weather. Heating and cooling costs would also be much less. These savings would partially offset the cost of two sets of infrastructure. The value of not having to live through a Michigan winter or a South Texas summer....priceless.

I would envision that this model is best suited to retirement communities. However, if most of the industry that employed the inhabitants was information-based, it could work for mainstream communities as well.

Many retirees buy a motorhome and become snowbirds--a system that works well enough until you become too old to handle the motorhome. Then you are stuck in a house that is too big for you to maintain and has snow in the winter or heat and humidity in the summer. With this housing model, you could remain comfortable in a familiar house with familiar neighbors until you became too frail to travel cross-country in a luxury chartered bus.
-- RunVentura, Oct 18 2006

Sounds like the backdrop for an interesting sci-fi novel.
-- mmrtnt, Oct 18 2006


This would develop some interesting migratory patterns.
-- normzone, Oct 18 2006


Hawaii has a pretty constant climate all year round and supposedly also 12 out of the 13 world's climate systems (or something like that). You could have it all right there. Isn't coastal California a little bit like that too?
-- jmvw, Oct 19 2006


I live in coastal California, and it is nice all year round. It is a bit pricey, though, as are most places with pleasant year-round climates. Two houses could be built in low-priced locales for less than the cost of one California house.

Prices will continue to rise in all mild climate areas because the internet now allows more people to earn a living while far away from the means of production.
-- RunVentura, Oct 19 2006


I love this idea! There would have to be enough differences to keep you from forgetting which locality you were currently at. I can see going to the local convenient store: "What do you mean you dont carry Diet Rockstar?! You had them last week!"

The towns could hire identical twins to work there -- one in each location... That would be confusing...
-- MoreCowbell, Oct 19 2006


You could have an option for a move in your sleep that way no travel at all.
-- jhomrighaus, Oct 19 2006


And when the city is not used by regular inhabitants, it can be used as an always-bad-weather prison!
-- xipetotec, Oct 19 2006


Come live in the UK; the weather here is pretty uniform most of the time. That is, it rains on and off all year round, with the exception of a few days in summer. Erm. Maybe that's not quite what you're after? [+]
-- david_scothern, Oct 21 2006



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