Last year's hurricane season hasn't tempered PR in Florida.

Florida has always been a place that evenly balances its pleasures with its perils. Inviting tropical waters are prowled by thousands of sharks. Condos and theme parks teeter on reclaimed swamp land. Cities turn themselves into tourist meccas while maintaining some of the worst school systems in the nation.

Still, people of all origins flock to the state in ever-increasing numbers, whether blowing a few bucks at the gates of Disney World ...