Hi okierut,

Delray may not be like downtown Miami, YET, but I've lived here in South Florida (Hollywood) since 1982 and what I will say is that over the past 5-7 years or so the population has exploded tremendously. And it will continue to do so. Also, the real estate market is pretty high. You do not get much land at all for the price you pay for property. Houses are packed pretty close together. I'm not trying to make it sound bad, but your comment about not wanting to move to a huge metropolitan area and you being from Oklahoma, you will definately notice the amount of people here. Driving I-95 through Palm beach, Broward, & Dade Counties can be a real nightmare! The turnpike isn't too much better anymore either.

Now I've heard that there are some great hunting areas down here (I'm new to hunting so I can't offer too much info. about that yet). Here's a link that you can check out if you haven't done so already to get some info. on Florida's Wildlife Management Areas: http://wildflorida.org/hunting/

A suggestion, I don't know if you have any commitments to Delray Beach, but you might want to check out the area around Ocala. It's a little north of Orlando, but it's just recently being built up so you can still get property at a decent price, and actually get a little bit of land! Or you can even check further north: Gainesville Tallahassee, the panhandle area...

If a heavy population is a concern to you then realize that even that area (Ocala) in about 3-5 years is going to be heavily populated. Florida is a rapidly growing state and is only going to get more & more crowded. But if you don't mind heavy congestion, then Florida, at least South Florida for now, is the place for you! Just give North & Central Florida a little more time to catch up!