Florida

EconSouth, Spring, 2005

* Orlando apartment dwellers face higher rents and fewer choices. Occupancy levels range from approximately 90 percent to 100 percent, above the national average. Some complexes have waiting lists, and move-in incentives are being eliminated.

* Organizers of Super Bowl XXXIX, held in Jacksonville in February, say the game brought about 100,000 visitors and had a local economic impact of more than $250 million.

* Florida's orange harvest of 160 million boxes was the smallest since the 1991-92 season, when 139.8 million boxes were picked. Last summer's hurricanes reduced the crop by millions of boxes' worth of oranges.

* Orlando, a top trade-show city, posted record numbers in 2004 and anticipates another record this year. The Orange County Convention Center hosted 254 shows and meetings in 2004 with an estimated attendance of 1.36 million, up from 204 events and 1.15 million attendees in 2003.