I don't know if I'm just missing the topic here or if it hasn't been broached before now.  I am curious about placing ourselves at or above/below (50-100 nm) the Equator.  I know about some of the good and some of the bad.

Good:  calm waters most year round; can build almost down to the water level without fear of being 'flooded out'; mostly out of the way of trade routes; good weather for both solar and wind turbines;

Bad:  Some tempatures are too high for comfort; calm waters most year round (will have to do somthing to make it useful for our own growing requirements, OTECs?); mostly out of the way of trade routes (if we decided to trade with others);

Some are good and bad but I wanted to know if a surface floating community would be better placed here with the proper protection from the elements (wind and sun mostly) or more of a bad idea.

Any information or even a pointer in the right direction to this topic if it's already been touched on would be greatly appreciated.

Bill