In This Issue
- Can AI Help You Find Your Perfect Golf Community?
- Did the Blue Wall Hold in University Towns?
Can AI Help You Find Your Perfect Golf Community?
The recent devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, the worst of them hundreds of miles from where the storm made landfall in Florida, remind us that even supposed “safe” places are not. The western North Carolina area near Asheville had been considered safe by the tens of thousands of people who have moved there in recent years. But that faith has been destroyed along with billions of dollars in property in and around that beautiful mountain town.
Storm potential is just one of myriad factors to consider when choosing a place to live. Other climate-affected events, including tornados, windstorms, forest fires and extreme heat, can ruin an otherwise beautiful retirement. In my book, Glorious Back Nine: How to Find Your Dream Golf Home, I run through most of the other factors retirees should consider, in addition to the weather, before making a huge investment in a place to live. They include cost of living (including housing costs), medical care, crime rate, traffic and, of course, the availability and quality of local golf courses.
I decided to run those criteria through the artificially intelligent ChatGPT program that has received a lot of buzz over the last year. I hoped to build my own ranking of “best” cities, although I often challenge the accuracy of such lists published in other media. But I felt that defining the criteria carefully would give me control over the process.
It didn’t, at least not at first. Based on the criteria listed above, ChatGPT spit out the following, in ranked order, with #1 first: Raleigh, NC, Boise, ID, Colorado Springs, CO, Madison, WI, Sarasota, FL, Fargo, ND, Henderson, NV, Cedar Rapids, IA, Grand Rapids, MI, and Lexington, KY.
Colorado Springs, which does not have a mild winter, stubbornly stayed on the list…for a while.
A few (obvious) flaws jumped out from the list. Only two of the 10 cities – Raleigh and Sarasota – are popular retirement locations for golfers, especially those who wish to play year-round. Not much golf is played between November and March in the cold-winter areas around Boise, Colorado Springs, Madison, Fargo, Cedar Rapids and Grand Rapids. The golf season is only marginally longer in Henderson and Lexington. ChatGPT did not factor the availability of golf year-round because I was not specific enough; instructing these artificial intelligence programs is a little like talking with a mostly deaf uncle. If you aren’t perfectly loud and clear, what comes back at you is not especially cogent.
I went through a few more iterations of instructions before I was able to get rid of Colorado Springs, which does not have a mild winter. In the end, my final instructions were as follows:
“Please identify the 10 best places to live in the United States based on the following factors: warm summers and mild winters, an overall cost of living at or below the national average, light road traffic, the number and quality of golf courses that are playable at least 10 months per year, access to quality medical care, lack of destructive weather, low housing costs and a low crime rate.”
The final list, in rank order, was much more reasonable, if not perfect:
Palm Desert, CA, St. George, UT, Greenville, SC, Tucson, AZ, Richmond, VA, Huntsville, AL, Ocala, FL (including The Villages), Reno, NV, El Paso, TX, and Charleston, SC. (Note: Average low temperature in winter in St. George does not fall below freezing; average high during winter is in the 50s. Sweater golf two months per year seems reasonable.)
Despite my guidance for “low housing costs,” the program returned cities like Palm Desert and Charleston, not exactly bargains in real estate.
Not every city on the list checks every box equally. The median sales price of homes in Palm Desert is $625,000, not exactly a “low” housing cost. The program ignored the same issue with Charleston, whose median home listing price is $702,000. Tucson has endured 112 days of temperatures above 100 degrees this year, certainly stretching the definition of “warm” summers.
All in all, though, the list of cities generated eventually by ChatGPT provided reasonable examples; yet the exercise was something of a cautionary tale for those considering an assist from AI in their searches for a golf community home. The major caution is to not use AI as your primary search vehicle. The program appears to be helpful in identifying and ranking places based on specific criteria, but there are so many nuances to a search for a home that AI should be used as a supplement, if at all. At this point, the program’s major benefit is to save you a bit of time with the macro part of your search (i.e. identifying cities that best match your interests).
If you are in search mode and would like some assistance defining your criteria for AI, or just for yourself, please contact me. I am happy to help you refine your search to ensure you don’t waste too much time and ultimately find the golf community that best matches your interests.
Did the Blue Wall Hold in University Towns?
In most elections since the 1980s and the rapid growth in Southeast golf communities, one of the most reliable voting populations has been those close to major universities. Did this election change that pattern?
The answer is, for the most part, no. In Virginia, for example, the county that surrounds Charlottesville and the University of Virginia voted strongly for Harris, 66% to 32%. In Richmond City, home to the eponymous university, Harris garnered 82% of the vote; two adjacent counties also voted for the democrat. Norfolk is home to both universities and naval bases, and it too went for Harris, with votes of 64% in Newport News. But in the counties of Prince George and Dinwiddie, across which the campus of William & Mary University is spread and Williamsburg is located, voters chose Trump with totals of 61%.
In North Carolina, which Trump won 51% to 48% (I am rounding off), Wake, Chatham and Durham counties, home to major universities Duke, UNC and NC State, overwhelmingly went for Harris with 62%, 55% and 80% vote totals, respectively. In Asheville and Wilmington, home to major branches of the state university system, the totals were 62% (Buncombe County) and 50% (New Hanover), respectively.
Trump ran up a 58% to 40% victory in SC, but the blue wall held fast in Richland County (state capital of Columbia, home to the University of South Carolina), with Harris getting 64% of the vote.
In South Carolina, where Trump ran up a 58% to 40% victory, the blue wall held fast in Richland County (state capital of Columbia, home to the University of South Carolina), with Harris getting 64% of the vote and Trump 32%. Three counties adjacent to Richland also went for Harris.
In Georgia, where Trump won by two percentage points statewide, reliable democrat Fulton County (Atlanta), home to Emory University and other colleges, went for Harris with 72% of the vote. So too did the immediately surrounding counties. In Chatham County (Savannah), where the well-regarded Savannah School of Art & Design is located, along with Savannah State University, the votes were 59% in favor of Harris.
Trump won the state of Florida 56% to 43%. Leon County (Tallahassee), home to Florida state, cast 60% of its votes for Harris, as did adjacent Gadsden County, casting 65% of its votes for the Democrat. Alachua County, home to the University of Florida, followed suit, with 59% of its votes cast for Harris. The only other blue areas of the state were in Orange County, rural and located northwest of Orlando; Broward County (Fort Lauderdale); and Palm Beach County, the site of Mar-A-Lago, where neighbors of the new winter White House voted for Harris by .7 percentage points.
Regarding my article last month, seven readers took me to task for departing from my “free” advice about golf communities and offering unsolicited support for a candidate for President. All decided to unsubscribe. Another six wrote in strong support of my decision to use my modest platform during this extraordinary election. I salute everyone who voted, regardless of their choices, for exercising their rights as citizens.
Thanks for reading,
Larry Gavrich
Founder & Editor
Home On The Course, LLC
