I was raised in the state of Washington on the water. It used to be that the average family could afford this type of living if they chose. In the Philippines which are comprised of 7100 islands there is a lot of waterfront and down here. It seems that the poor , or fishermen, or panboat opperators live on the water, while the farmer, or wealthy live in the uplands.
I also want to make mention of the typhoon we had here last month. We were without power for seventy five hours. Really need a generator for times like that. Without power which we take for granted in the states, our waterpump does'nt work nor do the refers and freezer. Lost a lot of food because of it. The up side was that we collected water from the roof to bathe and cook. I was telling the Lord that I really enjoy the home he gave us, but it seems funny when you don't have power and you don't know when they will turn it back on. With all the rurial area it takes time to find the breaks. Oh by the way, when it really rains we have waterfront also and were a 20 min. walk from the bay.