[gfmucci]

I've also lived in Florida roughly 45 years - south Florida and north Florida. If your yard is reasonably maintained, there is no issue with snakes or fire ants, unless you live in the woods. If you have mature landscaping with lots of bushes and "too thick" St. Augustine, after a number of years, you may attract an occasional critter. It is definitely an overstatement to say you can't use your yard because of snakes and fire ants, lawn or no lawn.

Insofar as heat generation from concrete is concerned, it is more related to the lightness or darkness of the surface than to material. Take beach sand for example. Beach sand on the east coast of Florida is relatively dark, it absorbs the heat and you can't walk on it without burning your feet in a summer mid-day. On the other hand, the sand along the west coast, especially along the panhandle in the Destin area is bright sugar white. At noon in mid-summer you can walk on it comfortably. It reflects instead of absorbs the heat.

So, to be able to comfortably walk on concrete, it would follow that a lighter color would be cooler. But the catch is that it also reflects more heat, possibly making the environment immediately around the house a bit warmer. Creating some shade is the remedy. My plan is to identify some small/medium sized trees and to be liberal with the planting around the perimeter of the back yard area. A lot of Queen Palms are used here. They provide some nice broken shade as they mature to 15' or taller. There are many other species that will provide some good shade when they are 5 to 10 years old. My motto at my age: plant no small trees; like Village Kahuna says: Avoid green banannas. I expect my backyard landscape budget to be $1,000 or more. Also, there are retractable awning systems, the one by Sunsetter comes to mind. I presume they would be permitted in the Courtyard Villas back yards