The Keys
Gerard Van der Leun muses on Florida- and as usual, the writing is compelling and sadly beautiful.
Simply put, Florida is full. Chock full of every urban ill you can think of with more on the way.
The roads are wedged in every direction with traffic in the Miami region that's rising up to compete with the full horror show of Los Angeles.
Sprawl continues leak out into the remaining realms of the Everglades and burst up into the sky along the beaches.
The new default state of the state seems to be that nobody except the very rich get to live next to or even near the ocean. The rest can live in the swamps or the expanding prisons. Florida's very big on prisons and laws these days and over-supplied with the men and material to support them.
The aged to very aged demographic of the state ensures that no expense will be spared when it comes to heaping law enforcement resources up to the sky -- brand new million dollar boats and brand new 12 million dollar helicopters all around --, but that nothing that has to do with education will see more than dime one.
Road repair? It is to laugh.
Upgrading fresh water resources and sewage treatment to match the hundreds of thousands of new inhabitants annually? Tell me another howler?
Yes, Florida is full. The people keep a comin' but the train done gone. And now we are on the cusp of the retirement years of the baby boomers, many looking to at last take some time off in the golden state of dead reefs, dead deer, dead water, and traffic stopped dead.
Too bad. She was, once upon a time, beautiful. Oh well, there are still plenty of places in Florida to shop.
So sad. I hope it doesn't happen here, and it probably won't. Bet you didn't even know we have our own Mardi Gras- well, crikey, it started here. (Psst- don't tell anyone. We like it just how it is.)