Driving with my father up the "Nature Coast" to the "Forgotten Coast" of Florida in search of 'Old Florida', I can report that, for the most part, it's gone.
The long arc of coastline from north of Tampa to below Tallahassee is, it's true, largely undeveloped. That's because there's not a foot of sandy beach on the whole section. (With the exception of Cedar Key, where the smallest houses start at a quarter million.) With short rivers that bring down little sand, the coastline is marsh grass and cedar swamp. Great for fishermen, bad for condos.
Apalachicola, a great little town, is being gentrified as fast as they can, but they're hampered by a lack of tourism. West of there, and on into Pensacola, it's one condo complex or McMansion after another. The planned community of Seaside, where they filmed The Truman Show, is in that strip, and it still looks like Truman lives there. Down the road apiece, however, was an interesting 100+ acre development called Rosemary Beach; it is very high density (on the order of downtown Amsterdam) with one-lane roadways, done in the style of a European town. Shops below, or garages, with three story condos (tall and narrow, many with Dutch-style roofs) above. Some 200 units will be available to rent, as well. The place was still under construction when we passed through, but it looked like an ecologically viable solution to jamming another hundred million retiring baby boomers into coastal Florida...
30 January 2006
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